le tour de Tacoma (pics)
 

I took my bike to Tacoma on Saturday. The weather forecast called for a downpour with a side of rain, so, naturally, I took the rain bike ... only to find gorgeous sunny weather. Not that I'm complaining.

Before I left, I copied what wound up being three pages of notes, by hand, from a book that had suggested the ride. Go left here, the street name changes but keep going straight, turn here there, etc. I was keeping them in my left back pocket ... once I got to the waterfront, I wanted to see what to keep an eye out for next, and found I no longer had my notes. :( I did manage to find Point Defiance, though, and, with directions from a pedestrian, I made it back. I even recognized one of the streets the guy told me to take, thanks to having written it down earlier. :thumb: But, I missed the university district thanks to my bumbling ways.

Before the ride 'officially' started, I decided to climb the biggest hill I could find, to warm up (it was sunny, but cool and crisp). Here was the view coming back down - it's a mediocre snap shot, but it was a fun descent.

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Tacoma/DSC00137.jpg

The waterfront.

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Tacoma/DSC00141.jpg

You can never have too many pictures of your bike. :innocent:

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Tacoma/DSC00145.jpg

Here I was playing with my new toy camera, a Sony with a panorama feature.

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Tacoma/DSC00147.jpg

I didn't go this way, but it looked worth checking out next time.

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Tacoma/DSC00155.jpg

The Colvos Passage, between the peninsula and Vashon Island.

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Tacoma/DSC00161.jpg

The bridges, from Point Defiance.

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Tacoma/DSC00164.jpg

All in all, it wound up being a nice, but short ride, with about 1,600 feet of elevation gain over 25 miles. The ride I planned to take was about 30 miles.