Timber Land

On Monday I couldn't take it any longer — I needed to get out on my bike and ride! One big question: could I actually get to work on my bike or not?

See back in the middle of January we got a big snow storm.

Snow!

It looked real pretty at first. By the time it was done we had around 14" of snow on the ground. Then the storm turned into an ice storm that coated everything with a quarter of an inch of ice. Trees bent, bent and snapped! The sound of branches and trees breaking was constant. Some of those trees in that picture are now broken in half, most have tons of branches stripped off. Lots of damage.

So back to the biking, the roads are mostly clear by now although the branches and tree trunks still clog many of the shoulders. And I didn't know if the Parks folks had been out to clear the trail system yet. Even if they were working on it, I figured they might not have gotten finished yet.

I decided to go for it anyway and ride to work!

I left early, around 6:30 AM to give myself plenty of time in case I encountered any obstacles. It felt great to get back on the bike, riding off into the dark morning before the sun rise. My helmet headlight illuminated the road ahead. Debris from the storm littered the side of the road but since there wasn't a shoulder it was mostly off the road and didn't interfere. That lasted until I reached the Yelm-Tenino trail. As soon as I got there I encountered my first tree across my path, necessitating a stop to make my way around it.

It wasn't the first. That first stretch of trail had me questioning the wisdom of continuing. It wasn't only trees, but branches ranging from twigs to big branches several inches thick. We're talking piles and piles of branches under any tree overhanging the path. And then, of course, whole trees across the path. Some I could ride around going off the trail but others meant stopping to find a path around, over, or under!

I went down the Chehalis-Western trail and finally stopped counting trees down at two dozen. I didn't count all the rest of the debris. I could see signs that conditions had been even worse, but other trail users had dragged some material off the trail. The 29er tires helped rolling through piles of branches, or going off the trail at times.

Trees down

In some cases my only option was to carry the bike up and over trees in the path because of growth on each side of the trail.

All of this made for an interesting commute but despite the obstacle course I made fairly good time. The storm caused so much destruction, it's really too bad.

Tree Split

Whole trees that are just split apart. Some look like they got stomped on by a giant. You can look at groups of trees and see where they all got their tops broken off. It's going to be a massive effort to clean all of this up. There's already been a lot of work to get the roads somewhat clear, but it's not done yet.

Riding down Old Hwy 99 I was pleased that the shoulder was pretty much clear, giving me a good path for the last stretch to work. I felt tired after ~18 miles, but also energized by the ride.

That evening, when I headed home I just felt tired. I also discovered that the other side of Old Hwy 99 wasn't nearly as clear on my way back. Several times I encountered stretches were I had to dismount and navigate trees and massive debris piles that extended across the shoulder almost into traffic. I don't feel safe riding out in traffic at dusk and night fall when I'm dealing with lots of commuters doing 50+ MPH. The shoulder is usually fine, but in this case it made it very difficult.

Eventually I made it up to Waldrick which lacks shoulders but the speed limit is lower and the lack of shoulders meant that the road at least was clear of debris. I did get chased by dogs at one house which has been a problem before, but otherwise the cars gave me plenty of room. Unfortunately a few other things made the ride home less enjoyable.

For one thing, my batteries were getting lower and the headlight automatically switched to a lower setting that made it a harder to see. Add to that it was getting darker, it was cloudy and raining. Not the best of conditions. Plus by that point I felt pretty worn out. I haven't been riding to work enough. The stationary bike helps, but in the past couple weeks I hadn't done that much either, and even when I have ridden it I've only been doing a half-hour to forty-five minutes. It took me an hour and twenty-seven minutes to get to work. Given conditions, the trees, my fatigue and the fact that the ride home is more uphill (a little) I had figured that the ride home might take two hours.

That was pretty accurate.

So not a fast ride at all. Even as I slogged home, however, I couldn't help but enjoy parts of the ride. Riding along the trail at night is fun. I stopped at one point and listened to coyotes howling, crying, and yipping off in the darkness, a whole chorus of canine celebration. What the fallen trees added in slowing my pace, they also broke up my pace and added interest to the ride. Especially riding home when I had to stay very alert to potential obstacles.

The big question in my mind remains, how do people get in shape to do things like the Tour Divide where they're riding 150 miles each day? I was tired after my commute and it was only ~35 miles. I guess you just need to ride longer and longer, but it's hard. Hard to fit that into everything else. Riding today took over three hours. That's hard to fit in with everything else.