Tacoma and other thoughts.

Jamie and I arrived in Washington on Thursday. We immediately rode 45 miles south to Tacoma, where we met a long-time friend, Jake Nelko. The first few miles of riding in Seattle were rather hair-raising. We were forced to ride along a major thoroughfare that was full of traffic and over zealous drivers. The route was marked as a bike-friendly one, and even though the street had bike signs all along its corridor--announcing to drivers that they were to share the space with cyclists--most of the motorists completely disregarded our right to be there. Within ten seconds of pedaling out into the traffic, I was nearly run off of the road by a large SUV (of course). Jamie was cut off by a semi-truck that didn't have the decency to give her the right of way, which of course, she had. All of this stress was exacerbated by the fact that we were both perched upon 85 pound bikes that were loaded with camping gear. Needless to say, Seattle (downtown) was not much fun. However, about 5 miles south of the city limits, the riding began to open up and the course down to Tacoma was smooth as silk. We rode along bike paths and state routes, through ever-green forests, along the Green River, and right past imposing Mt. Rainier. All at once, we had exited the stress of the city and entered into the sanguine Seattle suburbs. After two days of a sedentary existence on the Amtrak train, Jamie and me were relishing the time spent riding and sweating down to Tacoma. We rode at a pretty good clip and made the 40 miles in about 3 hours. As we rode, our balance improved, the initial stiffness in our knees gave way, and our bodies became one with our bikes. All of this, naturally, ended upon getting to Tacoma, where beer, fried food, and friends were on hand to upend our riding bliss---not that it was a problem!

While in Tacoma, Jamie and I sampled many local beers, ate excellent food, relaxed along the Puget Sound, jammed out with local rockers Michelle from the Club, and indulged by eating one too many Rainier Cherries. Tacoma itself, I have found, is nothing like Seattle. It's a blue collar port city. Downtown is dominated by massive cranes that work the docks. There are few distinguishing architectural features and the housing stock is solidly middle-class. But what the city lacks in glitz and maybe Seattle glamour, it makes up for in its accessibility, lack of pretension, and excellent food! The weather was unrelentingly hot the past few days, which I hear is rather rare for these parts. I was hoping to experience a few rainy evenings in the Northwest, but instead was cursed to wallow in my own sweat.

We spent our final day in Tacoma visiting Seattle. I have a lot to write about our experience in the city, but my time on the computer is coming to a quick end. While there, we took a quick walking tour learning about public art, ate an excellent brunch, went down to the public fish market, and in a the most random moment of our trip so far, ran into two Waynesburg friends, Tyler Amy and his wife Mary Beth!

More pictures and writings to come!