Day 5 – Seattle to Lake Easton – Safe Return Doubtful

79 miles (127 km) – Total so far: 360 miles (579 km)

Time riding (9 hours 10 mins) Max speed 43.8 mph Average speed 10.3 mph Altitude 675 meters asl Left at 7:50 am Arrived at 6:50 pm

Today was always going to be one of the longest of the course, if not the longest.

Getting out of Seattle takes time despite the GPS. I aimed for the highway 520 bridge and suspected no bicycles were allowed. My options were an additional 10 km. So it was by bus to cross the bridge, and fortunately for me the driver was very interested and had excellent local knowledge. He directed me to Redmond (an affluent new town growing rapidly with investment, not least from Microsoft). From there the 202 east to Falls City, and then some climbing past Snoqualmie Falls to North Bend.

I was at North Bend just after 12 and had done well. After a bit of lunch another few kilometres out of town to the Trailhead for the track up over Snoqualmie Pass. The trail (called the John Wayne Pioneer Trail) heads all the way across Washington state. I was joining it. It also doesn’t go to the pass itself as it skirts through a 2 mile tunnel, the longest bike rail trail tunnel in the world. The trail is gravel, and climbs to 800 meters at about 4% gradient over 18 miles. On my cyclocross that was at about 8-9 mph, and exhausting.

The tunnel is some reward though. It’s cool and dark, so a headtorch is needed, and certainly worth the experience.

From the end of the tunnel it’s another 18 miles to Lake Easton, with no other option of any services since North Bend. Now the gravel was much deeper and looser, and at times almost impossible to ride. Although the trail loses 100 meters in height this was not noticeable trudging through the gravel.

Hence a late arrival on a Friday evening at a very busy Lake Easton State Park site, as it is easy to reach for Seattle weekenders. The tent was up very quickly, and a ride of a mile back to the Turtle saloon for unhealthy but much needed dinner and a couple of beers. A long day.