Landscaping on the FLT ALT trail

The only thing about the FLT commute home from Cheney that makes it not suck is the alternate trail at about the Mile 6 post. And really: that trail is not the rad: it's got a lot of sections of deep sand, and a bunch of tiny super steep climbs (with deep sand) that could be challenging if a guy was into that. There are exactly two fun descent sections that make the alternate FLT trail worth doing. And really, even if those weren't there -- just having an alternative to the flat paved soul-sucker that is the FLT would be welcome. So, even though I'm bitching up a storm here, I am thankful for the alt version of the FLT.

But understanding my conflicted relationship with the alt version of the FLT helps frame up even MORE bitching I"m about to go into. Happy Friday by the way.

Normally, trees felled across the trail would register as a minor annoyance. And by "felled" I am being explicit. These trees didn't blow over in the woods with no one hearing them.

Railroad people did it.

Big ass slash piles lined a section of the trail. Really: in terms of navigating, no big whoop.

But the way these guys operate is just so ridiculously focused only on efficiency that it illustrates how a bureaucracy can be optimized to just throw ethics out the window. It's easy to see how just decimating trees and the surrounding landscape by shoving them over with heavy machinery and indiscriminately pushing them aside pencils out when compared to the alternatives that would require a bit more care  for humans, animals, the environment.... you know: the rest of us that aren't concerned with the railroad bottom line.

These are the same guys that refuse to put a cover on the coal trains. Apparently, that doesn't pencil out either. Even though, a guy would think that there would be a way to balance out the books on the effect of thousands of people watching the coal trains go by -- piled with dirty ass coal flopping out and dusting up  --- like: wouldn't it make sense, if not for the right reasons, but for public perception to hide the coal under a covering? The privileged arrogance that informs this kind of thinking just amazes me.

Thursday

This is my campus bike now. Liza works a block from the Centennial Trail, so she  has my original campus bike at her office for lunchtime stolls.
Astute readers will recognize this ugly mutha as the one and only, Shogun. It just keeps on giving. The rear rim is splitting/cracked, so to keep the brakes from aggravatin' the situation, I'm running the bike in fixed mode.

Birds of prey. Praying.

More coal going to China.
Anderson Road.

Marshall Creek.
Marshall Road.

FLT at Marshall Road.
Not ridable by me.

The intent here was to capture the oppressive monochromatic turd of winterness by juxtaposing a b-slap of redness. Didn't work. And of course that's the camera's fault. 

See that hard plastic blade on the thumb of my glove?
That is friggin the stupidist glove feature ever.
Here's the scenario: cold, frozen, drippy nose. Wipe said nose violently with your thumb, as you are wont to do.
That smarts.

Bummer.

"This is what my girlfriend would look like without skin."

FLT alternative

For days that I can't go the long way home from EWU, I can still get a bit more trail and dirt by taking the trail that parallels chunks of the FLT north of Marshall.

You can see the FLT below.

Thoughts on the FLT

The Fish Lake Trail is normally a route I avoid. With the exception of the dirt bit between Scribner and Fish Lake, it's basically a flat and boring ride. Before it was paved -- the part from Sunset Highway to about Marshall Cemetery was all dirt. And it was interesting dirt: some rocky parts, some single-track, some deep water sections during spring that turned to mud. Good stuff all around.

In fact, a couple years ago, I was sort of grumpy about it getting paved. That changed as soon as I saw how many kids and families and people started using it. And they jumped on it immediately. Hard to be grumpy about that.

The FLT in 2007. Before it was paved. This is right at the intersection of FLT and Marshall Road. It was always that quiet, even in the middle of the summer.

So I'm not really annoyed by the pavement any more. The crowds and the pavement also forced me to explore all the little feeder trails and dirt paths and old roadways that connect into the FLT, which, of course, it's a good thing.

Anyway. I've spent the week out at EWU, riding the bus to Cheney in the morning and riding home in the afternoon. Two of the days I rode the single speed chiller Shogun and two of the days I took the cross bike.

On three of the four days I ended up taking the trail. My mind is in the process of getting overwhelmed with school stuff. And school hasn't even started yet. Jumping on the trail, zoning out, and processing the brain-cram is a fantastic way to wind down. It's still a boring ride, but I've got my thoughts to keep me occupied.

As it turns out, I think I'll be taking the FLT frequently over the next couple years.

TRAIL HEAD VANDALISM

Saw these two piles of car window glass in the trail head parking lot at Fish Lake the other day.

Two theft prevention tips you have probably heard before:

1 - Don't leave anything of even remote value visible in your vehicle. There are people who will break your window for a quarters worth of change (or even an eight track tape).

2 - Don't wait until you are at the trail head to hide your valuables as thieves might observe you securing items making your vehicle a desirable target.

DEDICATION OF FISH LAKE TRAIL

Just a reminder that the dedication of the newly paved portion of the Fish Lake Trail from Sunset Junction to Scribner will be held at the Milton Street Trail Head tomorrow (Friday, May 14th) beginning at 3:00 PM.

A good turnout would demonstrate support for the trail and other infrastructure projects to the elected officials who will be present and show appreciation to those who worked to make this project a reality.

FISH LAKE TRAIL DEDICATION

This Friday, May 14th, there will be a short dedication of the recently completed section of the Fish Lake Trail.

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner will be the keynote speaker, and State Senators Lisa Brown and Chris Marr and other officials are slated to attend, along with the people who put in a lot of time and energy to make the trail a reality.

The ceremony will be held at the Milton Street Trail Head at the bottom of Sunset Hill beginning at 3:00 PM.

Pedal on down and show your appreciation and support.

Note: Other sources have posted the time as Noon, but the mayors staff has confirmed that the time is, indeed, 3:00 PM.

BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

The new Sunset Junction Trail Head on the Fish Lake Trail at 3:00 PM on a blustery, threatening-to-rain Sunday afternoon.

18 of 24 parking spots were occupied and the trail was full of people.

Now, if we could only get the city (or whoever) to unlock the restrooms.

New Year's Day rain ride

The 747. I love riding this bike.
Justin and I went for a ride in the rain and disappearing snow. This is the first time I've been on the Fish Lake Trail since they paved the latest bit.



I've taken a few pictures from this vantage point over the years. Check out the picture taken from the same spot (and rambling on the FLT) from Feb 2007.

Our loop took us to Scribner, where we hopped on Cheney-Spokane for a bit before getting on to Grove. I predict that this will become a well-used route by many looking to do a quick paved loop that makes use of the Fish Lake Trail.

Dig Justin's bike:

Your basic 1983 Specialized Expedition. Fine fine ride man.

Baby it’s cold outside! Fish Lake Trail Dec. 27, 2009

Twenty-nine miles doesn’t quite qualify as “epic” but given the bitter temperature today’s ride on the Fish Lake Trail merits some kind of adjective treatment. “Freakin’ cold” comes to mind.

My sweet husband Eric Abbott (who blogs over here about his road bike racing and training) went for a 40-mile ride yesterday with his buddies from Spokane Rocket Velo. They used the new segment of Fish Lake Trail for part of the ride, and when he came back he reported that it was a really nice ride.

Since he has inspired me to train for racing too (it’s a “mixed marriage,” as I’ll be riding with the women of competing club Baddlands), we set out today for a zone 2 ride for me (specific target heart rate) and a zone 1 (recovery) for him.

We took off from the new trailhead on W. Sunset Highway just off Lindeke (behind a little quick-stop place). It was 1:30pm and the sun was shining. This should be great!

It was, but it was not a ride for the underdressed. Fortunately we had layered up since we had Eric’s experience from the day before as a guide. I’ll share in case you’re heading out for a two-hour ride during which you will sweat, the sun will start to go down, you'll face a light headwind for part of your return, and the temperature will drop from around 30 to something below that….

I was wearing a tank top, arm warmers, base layer, fleece long-sleeved top, fleece vest, and light cycling jacket (for the pockets) on top; bike shorts with leg warmers and thin fleecy running tights over those; wool socks, commuter biking shoes, full shoe covers designed mostly to keep out moisture and toe caps over those as extra wind block; earmuffs and thin cycling hat under my helmet, which has a wind cover; lobster-claw gloves; a face mask made for skiing; and sunglasses.

What I wish I had worn: one more layer on the bottom, maybe my wind-blocking North Face pants from Mountain Gear; a warmer hat because the earmuff pressure/hat hem interaction hurt after a while and I had to take the earmuffs off; full-on insulated booties of some kind over my shoes; and a better wicking layer next to my skin (turned out the tanktop was 100% cotton, and we all know cotton kills). My hands were fine—love those lobster-claw gloves! I should have taken along clear glasses for when the light dropped, since I still needed the windblock effect of wearing glasses.

The route is great, and there were quite a few people out enjoying it on foot, bike and skate. A couple of things it might be handy to know:

• Heavy-duty railroad crossing at Scribner about 7 miles out from the Government Way trailhead (watch out for those big bolts in the road). It sits at the bottom of a quick climb up to Cheney-Spokane Road, which you have to take for part of the route. Coming back down I really had to stand on my brakes so I didn’t hit the railroad crossing unprepared at a bad angle.
• Two road crossings (one at Scribner) involving gravel, sometimes heavy—got through okay with our skinny road tires.
• One long climb on Cheney-Spokane Road (no matter which direction you’re going—this seems unfair).
• Handy-dandy Fish Lake and Cheney (Mullenix Road) trailheads for water refill and biology breaks, complete with hand sanitizer (which is really cold as it dries….).

We turned around at the Cheney trailhead and headed back. There were plenty of icy patches along the route, and some glittery-diamond stretches that were pretty but slippery. Strange swooping tread marks that laced across the ice proved to be the marks of an inline skater.

We raced a small bird along one stretch—it stayed just ahead, swooping low over the little creek that runs along either side of the trail for a distance—and spotted a pretty bird that may have been a belted kingfisher (but we’re not birders). Passed two trains heading opposite our direction, which made us think about the railroad legacy that left us the opportunity for such a great trail. Upon our return to the car we realized that the remnants of Gatorade mix in our water bottles had started turning into a slushy.

Did I mention it was really freakin’ cold?

3 Things

#1. Mr. Blaine has dispatched an update on the Fish Lake Trail.

They have started paving again and are all the way to the temporary trailhead at Rosamond and Lindeke. The parking lot of the new trailhead is paved but they are still working on the bridge over I-90.

Bring on the commuters.

#2. Cyclocross

Today is the second race of the year for the Emde series. I've not raced this year. Next Sunday is 7-mile, my favorite course. We'll be having the P2P annual (and public!) meeting, so I'll miss that one too. My heart is just not in it this year. I may hit the last race at 7-mile in mid-November.

I think Jace, Steph, and Chris will be racing their first CX races today at Liberty Lake. Travis should be out there too. Good luck y'all. If anyone goes and takes pics, send them along.

#3. Joe

Joe was my first riding buddy when I moved back to Spokane about 6 years ago. When I moved here, he owned the aptly named, Joe's Coffee, down by Benniditos. He made amazing muffins, scones, and quick breads. And he had the best drip coffee in town by a mile.

I remember the cold winter morning I went into Joe's place. The windows were totally steamed over and the 3 tables were taken and interesting old-timey music was playing. Good spot man.

Anyway, Joe liked my bike. It's hard not to connect with someone who likes your bike. I ended up spending a chunk of time every morning at Joe's. Eventually, we started riding.

Joe is always down for a ride and he's always down for whatever or where ever when we ride. Good egg, that Joe.

Opportunistic Thursday Ride

Stuff weirdly worked out today where Liza and I got an unexpected couple hours to take a ride. Liza wanted to shake down the new build of the RB-1 before we take a mini-credit-card anniversary tour in the next week or so.

We took one of my favorite loops: Joe's Marshal Loop. This is a great ride: it has dirt roads, some single track, a chunk of rail trail, good climbs, fast road sections, and a nice descent or two. And it's only about 20 miles. I couldn't believe that Liza had never been on this ride before, as I ride it at least once a month or so. But thinking about it, she hasn't had a bike that would be much fun on this ride until now. The "Fat-Tired Road Bike" is the bike to end all bikes in my mind. And Liza is becoming a convert with this 650b-afied RB-1. She had a great ride today and was full of energy while I was bonking and suffering up the last few hills on the way home.

Part of the ride is on the Fish Lake Trail, which is slated for a full paving in the next year or so -- once some more money is secured. It will be interesting to see the bike traffic increase on that trail once it becomes paved. It will be a road-bike highway on the weekends for sure. Hopefully, we'll see some commute traffic on the weekdays too. I'll miss the dirt, but it will make getting out to Badger Lake and beyond a bit quicker for the last-minute S24O.

On the way to school this morning, Maddie said that she wanted "those things" (drop-bar brakes) on her tandem. I think I'll work up some small drops with dummy hoods for her. Yay.

Rolling Along

This has been a good bike weekend:
1. Liza started working at Two Wheel Transit on Thursday. She's legit. She likes it so far. I think having a knowledgeable woman in a bike shop can only help sales. I guess we'll see. Maddie and I had a great time on Saturday while Liza was at work. We rode in circles most of the day in the Wilson playground or on our back patio.

2. I took a nice shake down ride on my new Trek with David on Friday. I wanted to get some trails/rough surfaces in. We took the Fish Lake Trail out to Cheney, had a cup of coffee and rode back on Curtis rode. That is still one of my favorite rides. The Trek is great. David asked me if I could really feel the difference in the low trail as I hoped I would, and I have to say I don't. It doesn't feel bad. It certainly doesn't feel like my Atlantis, which is super trail, but I can't detect the "low trailness" of the ride. I'm not disappointed, but I think I'm a bit surprised. I also think we just adapt to different nuances in bike handling pretty quickly and I don't have the experience across a wide range of bikes to feel such subtleties. It rides nicely and I am beginning to drink the 650B kool-aide: there really does seem to be a nice balance of cushy-fast there.

3. We had some friends over on Friday night who are really interested in building some tall bikes. We've got a good pile of steel frames that I wouldn't feel awful about cutting up and we have access to some torches and welders. We may just start hacking something together here. I sure would like to find some other like-minded freaks. We've got a group of four now.

4. My buddy Alex picked up our new-to-us tandem in Seattle. We'll be getting it in April. The tandem we have now is just too big -- for both Liza and Maddie. It could work, but the Bike Friday is a great little tandem and they are super reasonable when you buy them used. Out of the box, the bike is ready for Maddie; no fussing required. It's pretty nifty: it has a Sachs internally-geared 3 speed hub with a 7 speed cassette attached to it. So all the shifting is in the rear wheel and it has the same (or similar -- I don't know the exact range) as a 21 speed. It breaks down into two pieces so you can carry it in standard (no extra fee) airline luggage. Maddie and I looked at the pics of it this morning and we're both pretty psyched.

Fish Lake Trail

There's a well-coordinated and supported effort to pave the Fish Lake Trail from Fish Lake to the Centennial Trail. Personally, I'm sort of in the middle on this one. One of my favorite quick runs is a ride through the unpaved portion of the Fish Lake Trail. I have it documented on Bikely.

I really enjoy riding Thorpe Road, which is a nice dirt county road, and hooking up to the trail at the top of the hill on Thorpe. The trail is some single-track, double-track, and contains all sorts of surfaces: sand, hard-pack, pebbles, "rail" rock. It's an interesting ride -- and fun. Right now the pavement starts about 2 miles out of Marshall and goes for about 3 miles, where you end up on a Burlington-Northern access road, cross two sets of live tracks, and then another mile to the Fish Lake Trail head parking lot, where the trail is paved to Curtis Road/Cheney. I enjoy taking a fattish-tired road bike or fixed gear on this route. So as I think about FLT being paved, it kind of bums me out, because today this is a quiet, under-used, no-traffic bike route.

Folks pushing for pavement here suggest that this will be an ideal commuter route for Cheney-Spokane commuters. Maybe so. The Cheney-Spokane Road is a good route for that too, although there are some pieces that are a bit tight.

The major cost of the project is not in paving, but in putting up overpasses over two live railroad tracks. I can't remember the numbers exactly, but what I seem to remember is that there is about a $6 million cost for this project; $4 million of which is for the overpasses. That's a good gob of money.

It's interesting what draws bike-related money -- people love the idea of multi-use paths with no traffic. I understand the draw, but if I had $6 million for bike-stuff in Spokane, I'd be pretty satisfied with the Centennial Trail. If you're a recreational cyclist; Spokane is great. You've got to be happy.

On the face of it, it sounds crazy, but, thinking about it, I'd blow most of that wad on education: teaching drivers and cyclists that it's ok and normal and lawful for cyclists to use the road. Like the "seat belt saves lives" campaign when I was a kid. There was a time no one wore seat belts. Then we were clobbered for years with TV, radio, print ads that told us to wear seat belts. In addition, there was a threat of fines if you didn't wear a seat belt.

What if we did the same for cyclist/driver-education? What if the message: "cyclists have the same rights to the road as a car; bikes are vehicles; cyclists have the same responsibility to follow the rules of the road as car drivers" was pounded into us everywhere we turned? What if we taught our kids, in school, how to safely ride in traffic? What if parents rode their kids to school, on bikes, while following traffic laws? What if the WSDOT manual and related driver training had more emphasis on bikes-as-traffic? What if your traffic violation doubled if cyclists were in the area, as we do for work zones? What if cops busted cyclists for traffic violations or riding on the sidewalk?

Eventually, I think we'd see a lot more folks riding their bikes in traffic and a lot less need for more multi-use trails.

Oh yeah, and if there was any money left over; I'd be painting some sharrows.