Having previously scouted out the whereabouts of the trailhead, we drove easily to Tenino to park in the spacious parking lot. While Susan got herself geared up (she always takes much longer than I as she gathers ALL her stuff), I rode a bit around the area. I found this wall to be interesting though I am not quite sure how the carvings memorialize the veterans. No matter, I thought they were quite interesting and well done.
One more item before finally joining Susan for our ride start.
This ride would bring us to or through three Farmer’s Markets, and the first was right here in Tenino a block away. We did not purchase anything and I took only this one photo. See some blue sky in the photo!
And then we were off to Yelm.
Not only was the trail a delight, there were very few cyclists using it. Maybe the previous days of rain deterred them, maybe it is simply not a well used trail. We rather enjoyed having it mostly to ourselves.
I do like train bridges, and most anything about trains (thanks to my friend John D), but this one held the added advantage of capturing one of the items on my challenge list. ;’-).
The next Market was a very small and one we simply passed by in the town Rainier, as we could see there would be nothing of interest to us.
The next Market was a very small and one we simply passed by in the town Rainier, as we could see there would be nothing of interest to us.
Logging town.
On to Yelm for our final Market where we had lunch and an ice cream — YAY. Everyone (including me) always chides Susan for carrying those buckets no matter the ride (and they are fairly full of stuff) but everyone (including me) is happy when they become useful. On some rides it has been because there are all kinds of things to help with breakdowns of various kinds (like losing a screw from your pedal), all kinds of things that could be needed for some first aid fixes (like a bee sting or a scrape), and all kinds of things, with extra, for weather needs (some rain, some cold). This time they served us as seats for our lunch and ice cream break. Susan deserves to feel ‘smug’.
Yelm being the end of the trail and our turn around point, we headed back with a stop in Rainier to pick up dinner for later. Who knew that a Shell station would have such really good pizza (and you can get your espresso too). Susan spied two women walking our way carrying what were obviously pizza boxes. She (of course) stopped to talk with them about the pizza and they said it is “delicious”. And it was. Needless to say, Susan was able to strap the pizza on the top of those (useful) buckets.
My last sighting …
And now my somewhat bad news. Our bikes had been covered with a tarp during the buckets of rain that poured on us for two days, and Susan’s bike was not in the least bit harmed. Mine (I want to say ‘of course’) was not so fortunate. Rain got into my dashboard odometer and seems to have totally destroyed it.
It kind of worked for a little for much of the ride. By ‘worked’ I mean I could still use the gears though I could not see anything on the screen.
After our longer stop to buy the pizza, nothing worked. That meant I would pedal back to the van under my own (awesome) power. The bike is heavy with all the eBike stuff — battery, motor, gearing — and fortunately, except for a few minor inclines, the trail was flat. So I finished the final 7+ miles with no power but my own. That at least made me feel good that I could do it. Once again however, I will be without my bike for a while until we find a fix. Thanks to Susan’s generosity, and the fact that we ride identical bikes, I will be riding hers for a while (again).
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