Medic Zero

Okay, still haven't finished writing up my ride report, as I'm very wordy, a perfectionist, and it was a long ride!

Here's the relevant portion, from Mama Stortini's Restaurant, north to the Interurban, to the Green River, to its northern terminus. If anyone's interested, I'll post a link to my much disused blog and have the rest of the ride report posted over there in the next few days.

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I was pleased to find that the first bridge over the Puyallup River had room for me. On Google Street View it showed two lanes of traffic each direction, and I was expecting to have to take a lane over the bridge. When I reached the street leading up to it though, I was surprised to find cars parked all along the right hand lane, and the lane was wide enough for me to ride alongside them in it. I was in the door zone, but there wasn't any activity in and out of the cars, so I left the one traffic lane to automobiles and rode over the bridge in the door zone. I suspect that at rush hours this lane is open to traffic and that is what the Google camera car captured on Street View.

The second bridge is actually on overpass crossing Highway 410, here I actually took the sidewalk, a rarity for me, but traffic was heavy and there weren't any pedestrians. While I hadn't changed directions or turned off the street I was on at all, it had changed names multiple times. Just the other side of the Puyallup River, in front of Mama Stortini's Restaurant it was East Main Avenue, for about a block it was "Inter Avenue East", then Main again, then Linden Drive East, and then finally Traffic Avenue after it passes the 410 cloverleaf. As far as cloverleafs go, it was the easiest I've ever crossed on a bike, really quite civilized.

As Traffic Street crosses where Sumner's Main Street turns into Bridge Street, Traffic becomes Fryar Avenue. It should be illegal to have four two streets have eight names in less than three quarters of a mile, but there you go. Fryar Avenue is pleasant, with a decent bike lane and had to have been a far superior choice to riding along the West Valley Highway (167), which is what Google suggested and is shown as being the bike route on their map. The route I had chosen also had the advantage of being flat as a pancake, all the way to Magnolia in Seattle, whereas it looks like the Highway 167 travels along low rolling hills at the edge of the valley there. They don't look like bad hills at all, and there is a bike lane there, but I was stuck in my biggest chain-ring (even if it is just a 42 tooth) and I had a long ways to go.

Just after passing a small power sub-station and some storage tanks and before Fryar Avenue makes a bend and turns into Tacoma Avenue there is a funny little bridge that has a single lane of traffic eastbound with only a sidewalk/bike lane leading the other way. I crossed the Green River for the first time here. This puts you onto 142nd Avenue East, which "T"'s into: 142 Avenue East! Actually this is right where Tacoma Avenue turns into 142nd Avenue East, so if you turn left from 142nd onto 142nd you'll be headed the right way! Sometimes I have to wonder if anywhere else has as confusing street nomenclature as Washington State. At the time all I noticed was the street sign said something different from what I expected it to, but I knew which way to turn from familiarizing myself with the maps.

142nd doesn't have a bike lane, but it does have two lanes in each direction. I settled into the right lane for the next mile and a third and kept an eye on my mirror, but the little bit of traffic I experienced passed courteously and early in the other lane. I position myself in about the lefthand wheel track in situations like this so it is unambiguous that cars will have to change lanes to pass, so that might have helped some. No problems here, unlike Seattle, I experienced level ground and good asphalt for almost every inch of my journey until I crossed the Green River for the last time near Boeing Field. It was so nice traveling on well maintained roads!

142nd T's into 24th Street East. While there is a river front trail a block to the east, it only runs for half a mile and I would've ended up going a couple of blocks out of my way to take it, so I skipped it and went one block west to 140th Avenue East on 24th. Heading north along 140th was pleasant, although it is a light industrial kind of area, the street is tree-lined, there is a center turn lane down the length of it so cars can safely pass you, and each side of the street has very wide sidewalks. In fact, the sidewalk on the west side of the street looked wide enough to be a Multi Use Path, although it is not designated as such on the map. 140th Avenue East T's into 16th Street, which promptly changes names as it crosses over the railroad tracks a whole block down, becoming Nyberg Road East. 16th/Nyberg is a two lane street (one each direction) with no shoulder, but I was only on it for three tenths of a mile and it didn't have any traffic on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend.

Hanging a right onto 136th Avenue East, I was northbound again. Another two lane street (one each direction), it mostly has a shoulder northbound and a bike lane southbound, but given the lack of traffic and my great mirror, I took the lane for the two tenths of a mile I was on it. There's a stop light at a street whose sign said Stewart as I approached from the south. Google variously calls this street either 8th Street East or Stewart Road East, depending on what zoom level you happen to be at. A phenomenon I discovered researching this trip that I hadn't noticed before that manifested itself on a number of streets. Not something that inspires confidence!

After I finally got through this light, I noticed there was a gas station with a mini-mart a little up the road I was crossing, so I made a u-turn and detoured over to it for Gatorade, water, a Payday candy bar and to use their air compressor. I didn't think that light was ever going to trigger for me and was considering running it when I noticed a car approaching behind me in my rearview mirror and so just waited for them to trigger the light. I'd swear that it is national law that gas stations need to provide air and water free, but I think I've always had to pay for it. At this Chevron station it was a dollar, but I was loaded down with plenty of quarters in advance. This particular compressor had a sticker on it saying part of the proceeds went to some charity, which I don't have great confidence in, but whatever.

After eating my Payday, drinking some of the Gatorade and a lot of water and with my tires closer to where I wanted them I set out again. I had trouble getting the air compressor to fill my tires, one more than the other. A lot of times the nozzle on these has been run over and is out of round and is hard to get a good seal on the tighter tolerances of a Presta-Schrader adapter compared to a cars tire. I think that is what was going on here. Another reason drilling out all of my rims to take Schrader tubes is on my to do list! I rarely use gas station compressors, but inevitably, when you do need to use one, you really need to use it! My tires had been feeling pretty bouncy and splashy down at about 50 PSI each, they were better at about 80 for the rear and 60 for the front, which was all I could manage with the compressor, but they still weren't where I wanted them. At least most of the bouncy bucking when I went over large bumps or pedaled hard was gone.

At some point in the less than a third of a mile since I had turned onto 136th it had changed names and become Valentine Avenue SE, and so that is what I turned back onto after my detour to the service station. After traveling on Valentine for nearly a mile the road enters a new development and a trail is on the left, just past a diamond shaped yellow road sign with a left arrow on it. I missed this, despite knowing it was there, and having the clue of the county line sign and County Line Road signalling the new development. I noticed the two former, but somehow didn't notice that I was among the new buildings until I was already nearing 5th Avenue NE. I knew that this paralleled the route I was going to take, so I just turned left onto 5th, rather than backtracking.

The trail I missed goes between the new buildings for a block and then through an intersection and across (around) a traffic circle and into Rhubarb Park. When the trail through the park nears the street to the north you will be near a small path between two of the buildings. This path puts you out onto Chicago Boulevard. This looked like a pleasant way to go, but not worth circling back for once I missed it. I'm not 100% sure this is viable, the satellite view showed a gap between houses that looked like it was going to be developed into a path, but I missed a turn a couple of blocks before and bypassed this. I'm actually curious about it. It could well be a paved path, or it could be weeds between the two houses of the new development.

After travelling down Chicago Boulevard for three tenths of a mile, turn left onto 3rd Avenue SW for another three tenths of a mile to get onto the Interurban Trail at its southern terminus, just past 3rd Place SW. There is a gravel lot here, presumably for people who drive their bikes to the trail. The trail leads north for a little over seven and half miles. This is all paved trail, about one car wide. There is at least one covered picnic shelter, but for the most part, being a power line right of way there aren't any trees, so on a hot, sunny day it was a little tough and a little bleak. Between being fatigued from working all night and still being up hours later, and not being used to the sun, my face was starting to hurt from squinting, despite my prescription sunglasses.

The Interurban Trail is just fine, but not terribly interesting or pleasant. It's nice to be separated from traffic and to be able to pedal along, but most of the route is along the backsides of industrial areas. All the street crossings except 15th Street NW and 277th Street are at grade, but they are quiet streets (between its southern terminus where I started and where I exited when it met up with the Green River trail, I don't know about street crossings on the Interurban north of there). For a wonder, there is actually a street sign where the path intersects 262nd, which is the last street before you diverge from the Interurban and cross over to the Green River Trail. One of my great frustrations with the Interurban running north out of Seattle is that most of the streets you cross on the trail are a mystery as there are no street signs posted!

Just after 262nd you will cross over the Green River on a aqua or teal and white colored bridge. As soon as you cross over the bridge take the hard switchback left (just past the blue signs). Google calls this Hawley Road, but it appeared to be the beginning of the Green River Trail to me. It runs west along the river and then passes under Highway 167. Then it turns to the north and follows the river. Google shows just a road and the HESCO barriers (like giant sandbags) all through here. I honestly can't recall, but I know the HESCO barriers have been removed and I don't remember the road, so I think there is now a proper trail all through here now.

After the trail goes under the overpass at 68th Avenue South it will briefly be on South 251st Street. Right after this there will be a small traffic circle with an apartment complex to the right and the entrance to the trail on the left of the traffic circle. The trail here is very nice and follows the river for a while (about two miles). As you pass the golf driving range you will see a green trestle bridge. Just the other side of this is another bridge for trail users. Take this across the Green River again.

After crossing over the bridge, take the immediate right onto Frager Road and follow it for almost two miles. At first, for a short way this is a public road, but it sees very little traffic. Shortly after passing the golf course it has bollards across it, restricting traffic to trail users and becomes a really nice ride alongside the river. I'm super envious of people that have access to this nice stretch of trail here.

Just shy of the two mile mark you'll see some power lines stretching over the trail and over the river. Right after this there is a rust colored bridge you want to take to cross over the river again. Take the immediate left on to Russell Road. The road will fork at what looks like a cement World War 2 "dragons tooth" tank obstacle. If you bear left here you will be back on the trail. If you stay to the right, Russell Road takes you past a large green area to the east with some raised observation towers for bird watching. To the west is a park with bathrooms. If you did bear to the right and stayed on Russell Road, the trail curves around and meets it at the end of the parks there.

The trail follows alongside the river for a pleasant nearly three miles after the parks (Van Doren's Landing Park & Playground, Anderson Park and the nature area to the east). Cross the river once again on the brown wooden bridge and follow the trail to the north along the west bank of the Green River. After two and half miles you will cross under two overpasses. Following the trail for another half mile around a bend in the river will bring you to Starfire Way and its bridge, which you will have to use to cross the river once again. As soon as you've crossed the river, follow the trail to the right where it will loop around under the bridge you just crossed over and continue as the Green River Trail once again. Shortly you will come to yet another bridge, cross over the river again on the rusty pedestrian bridge.

After about a mile from the Starfire bridge the trail will dump you out onto the sidewalk of Interurban Avenue at some casinos. Here you will have to ride the (wide) sidewalk for about three quarters of a mile. Just past (not before!) the piano store, and just before the big overpass, the trail will pick up again on the right. The trail runs for another three and half miles from here, but I've always gotten off it at 115th or Pacific Highway, so I can't really tell you what that last mile is like. The part of it I have ridden, is like almost all of the rest of the Green River Trail that I have been on, a nice ride alongside the river, on a wide path that is mostly deserted and whose users are almost uniformly courteous. Very nice!

It seems crazy to cross the river so many times, but the trail isn't continuous on either side of the river, but it's not actually bad. I did a lot of research determining which bridges to take to keep me on the trail and not have to cross on a busy arterial street either in a traffic lane or on the sidewalk. That's why I took care to note the appearance of each bridge and some landmarks right before each one. There are several other crossings that I ignored.