Timberland Regional Library: Olympia

This week saw the start of the Thurston County Bicycle Commuter Contest and the National Bike Challenge. I've had a great week! I kicked it off riding to work, even with the questionable weather conditions and was greeted with some fantastic mornings.

Morning Field

Spots of rain on the first couple days but it wasn't bad at all. I felt really strong the first day riding to work. It's about 17 miles to work, 16 on the way back (I take a bit longer on the way to work to avoid a difficult left turn and a busy intersection).

Deschutes River

The second morning was a lot like the first. Both mornings I took the route I usually drive, which runs along Rich Rd. No shoulder, tight corners, but the drivers were considerate. It's still a bit nerve-wracking. In a few weeks construction begins to widen the road, adding bike lanes and making the corners more gradual. That'll be nice when it's done, but it's going to mean taking a different route until then.

By the third day I was tired, it was raining hard, so took an easy day, running errands in town and then back home.

Yesterday I undertook my most ambitious commute yet! I headed down the Yelm-Tenino trail to Tenino and then took 99 over Chein Hill. Although it's longer than the Rich Rd route, there's a shoulder the whole way so I felt much safer.

Then, after a few hours working in Tumwater I got back on the bike and rode down to Olympia to help with their Overdrive event.

Olympia Timberland Library

This marks the first time I've ridden to the Olympia Timberland Library on my Trek Marlin, so I can check the last Thurston county library off my list! Nice ride from Tumwater down to Olympia with bike lanes almost the whole way and even on 8th there wasn't much traffic. Plus the speed limit in Olympia is only 25 MPH, so it's a nicer city to ride in than some others.

Overdrive's Digital Bookmobile

Overdrive had provided their digital bookmobile to showcase our ebook collection and demonstrate various devices. I was on hand to talk to patrons about what we offer, and answer questions. I had a good conversation with local children's author Alan Shue about the challenges with digital publishing in this new world, and the difficulties independent authors face getting their work in libraries.

After working at the event I headed back out on the bike for the long ride home, taking the Woodland trail out to Lacey to join up with the Chehalis-Western trail. Along the way I saw lots of fallen trees from the snow and ice damage this winter, but the trail was clear and well-maintained. It's been a long time since I rode this trail and I noticed more walking/horse trails off the main trail.

It's nice seeing how improved the trail has become too. Last time I rode this way there was talk about painting one of the industrial buildings along the way — and now it's actually done!

Mural

That's only a part of the mural, but it looks good. The landscaping is coming along too. So much different than the stark scrub and dingy look it had before!

Shortly past the mural I turned up the Chehalis-Western trail and rode home, taking the Yelm-Tenino trail again at the end.

Long commute! 49.37 miles by bike today. I'm actually a bit surprised I managed to ride that far, it sets a new personal best for me. I need to work on building my mileage. It amazes me that riders on the Tour Divide do 120+ miles per day, for weeks, under much harder conditions! I dream about doing it, but sometimes it's hard to imagine being in that kind of shape. I'm working on it.

Timberland Regional Library: Tumwater

Tumwater Timberland Library

Yesterday I checked another library off my list of Timberland Regional Libraries to visit on my bicycle, when I went by the Tumwater library.

In a couple weeks I'm starting a new position with the library system and will be based at the administrative service center just a short distance away from the Tumwater library. Yesterday I was working out there for training so I decided it'd be a good day to practice the commute with the added detour by the library.

It was 39°F when I left the house at sunrise. Beautiful morning with only a few clouds but cold! I'd bundled up, though, so I wasn't actually all that cold. I'm gradually getting my gear together so that I can handle any temperature. If it was colder I might want a pair of lobster claw gloves, maybe a baklava and another layer on my legs if it got really cold. I don't want to get too warm though so it's a balancing act. On this ride it worked out just about right.

I also got to test out a new app that I installed on my Optimus V phone, called MyTracks from Google. It's a GPS app that tracks your route, live speed/distance/elevation numbers (although the elevation isn't accurate). After you're done recording your route you can share it to various Google services or with friends. It worked very well at tracking my route.


View 2011-10-19 07:31 Timberland SC in a larger map

Since it exports to Google Docs you can build a spreadsheet of your rides, which will be nice as I add mileage and track my progress.

After work I headed home without the added detour. It was much warmer on the way home so I was down to my shorts once again. I started the day riding at sunrise and finished the day riding at sunset. Not too bad!

Only one Thurston county library remains: Olympia!

Tenino Old Oregon Trail Marker

Old Oregon Trail Marker

On Friday I decided to take the long way to work, which brought me into town via the main highway / Sussex where I stopped to take a picture of this marker. I've known about it and I've even ridden by it but hadn't stopped to take a picture until now.

I found an article about this marker in an article about the Seattle to Portland ride, which points out that this was the first marker laid by Ezra Meeker. That's the cool thing about taking a minute to look at markers like this, they remind us of history. Most of the time when I've gone past this marker I didn't stop, didn't really think about it much. It becomes an invisible piece of the landscape. But on the bike you have more of an opportunity to just stop and think about what is around you. In this case, a chance to stop and look at the marker, and then think about it and read a little about the history of it, coming away feeling a bit more connected to the history of this place.

It prompted me to download The Ox Team by Ezra Meeker, which looks very interesting to read, from Google Books.

I didn't set out on the ride with the goal of riding past the marker, but I did think about it before I left. My main objective for taking the long way was to get in more mileage and hills. My route took me down the Chehalis-Western trail to Waldrick, on over to old highway 99 and then up over "Chain Hill".

Coming up on Chain Hill

Chain Hill isn't a big hill. It's about 300' of climbing over a fairly short distance, but it isn't too bad. It's just one of the bigger hills around this fairly flat area. There are bigger hills, but I'll have to go off the paved roads to find them. This route is pretty much my new commute, except with the new route I'll turn right off Waldrick instead of left. Either way ends up being about 17 miles, a little farther for the new commute. And of course with the new commute I've  got ~17.5 miles to ride to get home. On this ride I took the Yelm-Tenino trail home, so my final distance was about 7 or 8 miles less. Still, it was good practice and fun!

Timberland Regional Library: Lacey

Lacey Timberland Library

Today I got to check another library off my list of libraries to visit on my bike. I had a meeting nearby so I left with enough time to pay a visit to the library where I worked for fifteen years! It's funny the things you notice when you've been away from a place. The tree behind the sign has grown much taller, and the sign itself, something that I'd pushed to get added, has recently been repainted and touched up. It looks good!

I gave myself plenty of time to get there so I didn't have to push too hard before the meeting. It's dark this time of the year, but the sun was just starting to come up as I climbed the hill to leave Rainier.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but Mt. Rainier looked awesome

Since I had a meeting I had my clothes in the handlebar bag, I just changed when I got there. The ride to the library I took Rainier road down to where the Chehalis-Western trail joins it just at the border of Lacey. I got on the trail at that point and took it on into Lacey.

The small section of the trail that's unpaved

I turned at the junction with the Woodland trail. The last time I was here the Woodland trail wasn't complete, this section was nothing but gravel.

New, Improved Woodland Trail

After a very good day of training for all staff working in the libraries I changed back into my bike clothes and headed right back out, crossing the street to rejoin the Woodland Trail and head home.

Woodland Trail, Along Pacific

It's great that we have such fantastic trails around here, but as I mentioned in my last post, there are reasons to take to the roads too. I rode the trails through the main part of Lacey, but then took Rainier road back home. It does mean riding next to traffic doing 50 MPH, but there's a generous shoulder. There are more hills, but the main reason that I went that way today was because sticking to the Chehalis-Western trail would have added several miles each way to my ride. I ended up with ~32.5 miles round-trip as it was, and that's enough for today. All things considered I feel pretty good, but I can also feel that I worked my legs today! I might take tomorrow as a rest day.

Timberland Regional Library: Yelm

At Yelm Library

I've checked off another library building on my list of Timberland Regional Libraries to visit by bicycle! Yelm is actually the closest library to me, so this was a nice ride, but not too long. Great for helping me get used to the mountain bike.

I woke up at the crack of dawn and walked the dogs. After they were done I got ready and headed out on the bike. I'm planning a big day of writing so I wanted to get my riding done early. Plus I love early morning hours when it's cool and the sun is just coming up.

Down the Yelm-Tenino Trail

I headed out down the Yelm-Tenino Trail, not exactly a tough ride! Beautiful morning for a ride along the trail!

Cows in the Fog

The trail runs about five miles to Yelm. When I got to the end of the line I headed up E Yelm Ave / HWY 507 until I reached Clark Rd and road over to the library to get the shot. When I finished that I headed over past the cinemas to West Rd / Stevens Ave down to 1st and then on back to the trail which I took to home again.

Nice, easy ride. I didn't push too hard. My seat still isn't used to the saddle, but with only a few rides that doesn't surprise me. Despite that I'm having fun. Should get another library checked off soon!

Timberland Regional Library: Service Center

At the Service Center

This morning I checked the first building off my list of Timberland Regional Libraries to visit on my bicycle. I rode out to the Administrative Service Center. At over 17 miles that made it one of the longer distances I've ridden. I had a meeting to go to and we were car-pooling from the Service Center so that made it a good day to try riding. I left earlier than I actually needed to, just to be sure I'd have time.

Riding out I headed down the Chehalis Western Trail. I haven't ridden that far down the trail in a long time, so that was nice to see sights along the trail again.

Marker About Trail Project

The Trek Marlin 29er

Riding the bike is very different, fun, and a bit uncomfortable. I'm not used to a bike seat yet. I don't know that there's anything terribly wrong with the saddle that came on the bike, but I'm thinking of getting something different. I think I should also try bike shorts to see if that helps.

The meeting was out at the Amanda Park Library, I had a hard time imagining riding all the way out there, but one of these days I'd like to try it!

On the way home I stopped at a historical marker that I've always driven past. On the bike it was easy to swing in and stop.

George Washington Bush marker

With the heat, and the fact that I haven't ridden a bike in years, coming home took  a few minutes longer and left me pretty tired. I really like the bike and look forward to getting stronger and better at riding. There's a couple other things I want to get to make the ride nicer. A helmet mirror, so I can see when cars are coming up behind. Sunglasses, mostly to stop the bugs from hitting my eyes like the dragonfly that hit me today. Bike shorts, hopefully will make things more comfortable. And a new saddle, one that might be a bit more comfortable. I'd also like to try going to clipless pedals.

But that's for later. Right now I'm glad that I've got the bike and am building up mileage.