Day 87: "Man... That Looked Like a Bad Fall"

Wednesday, October 17th

I was prepared for the 6:30am wakeup call today. After breakfast I said goodbye to Grandpa and Mary and took to the road. Within the first 15 minutes, I managed to accidentally let my front wheel slip into the groove of a railroad crossing. Down I went. Some guy ran up and said “Man… that looked like a bad fall!” I agreed and then got moving again, but it really wasn’t that bad. Only the second major fall since I started. Not too shabby.

Getting into Seattle today was difficult. I rode the Centennial Trail, and then cut over to the Interurban Trail via Hwy 2. Part of this “cutting over” involved riding against traffic on the shoulder of a freeway off ramp. Really, really scary to someone who has never ridden the route. I kept wondering if maybe I was misreading the signs, and was destined to be a cautionary example to future cyclists in Snohomish County. It rained heavily all morning, and I stopped in Everett to warm up at a Mexican food joint.

The rain eventually stopped, and I follow the Interurban Trail with only minor difficulty; a few wrong turns but nothing major. As the day progressed, the trail got more and more convoluted and poorly marked. By the time I got to the Kings County Line the trail was ALL OVER THE PLACE, making strange nonsensical turns, so I just decided to pick a road that seemed to be major, and follow it as far as it would go. It was a great move and I followed “Meridian Rd” all the way into residential Seattle. It took a little bit of trickery and navigating, but I snaked my way through the streets and towards the downtown where my hostel for the evening was. The rain kicked in shortly before I reached Fremont, and it was intense. I was riding down a really large, steep hill by the Aurora Bridge, and it was raining harder than anything I had experienced since Ft Wayne, IN.

Other cyclists were out and about in their rain gear; commuting with ease. Every city I get to, I am impressed with the adaptability of the cyclists. I guess maybe Seattleite cyclists might be impressed with a New Yorker’s ability to weave through gridlocked traffic without stopping or slowing down. The cyclists here are not even the slightest bit concerned about riding down wet hills.

I get to the hostel and get situated. I had arranged to leave my bike with a guy from warmshowers, but instead I was able to convince the management at the hostel to let me keep the bike in the living room. Everything was working out pretty well. I went for a walk and grabbed some dinner. Seattle is exciting; lots of homeless people in the few blocks immediately surrounding where I am staying. They are very forward too; interrupting phone calls and scowling when you don’t give them money. Not nearly as laid-back as the NYC homeless. I am glad to be here, although a bit disoriented. I don’t have any idea of the layout of this city. But I guess that’s why I am staying here for the remainder of the week… to explore… and also to wait out the tropical storm that will be landing tomorrow.