Yesterday’s Ride Is A Passing Memory

There have been few days lately that I would call days that were pleasant to ride a motorcycle. I have gotten out a little in between storms but the air is always chilly and the sun, if it’s out, doesn’t add much warmth. On Saturday it did not rain, as promised, and the temps were getting up over 50 degrees! A ride was in order, but with all the craziness lately I hadn’t thought much about where I would ride.

The day turned out to be overcast, but dry. Dave and I got a slow start, and around 1:30pm finally got the bikes out and decided we would ride to West Seattle and visit an old friend. It’s about a 40 minute ride, all on I-5 until you are actually in West Seattle. Downtown Seattle is across the water from West Seattle, which is a separate city with a small downtown and quaint views of the whole southwestern Puget Sound.

We saddled up and rode on I-5 a while. Since it was Saturday of a holiday weekend, the traffic wasn’t kind. We sat in stop-and-go traffic once we neared north Seattle, until we got through the city. For the first time that I can remember, I was actually too warm in the sun on the bike. The freeway opened up then and we flew ahead and onto the West Seattle Bridge. The views were awesome of the Seattle waterfront and the shipping barges, while on the other side Mount Rainier was ‘out’. Since it was all interstate riding I couldn’t stop to take photos. I wish I could share every ride with my readers.

We visited our friend for a while and then headed back home. As we rode on the interstate I started getting into the rhythm of the road. We rode across the 520 floating bridge which goes East/West across the southern end of Lake Washington, back over to the 405 going north. Every once in a while the wind was gusty and I would feel it fighting against the bike. It took a lot of work and concentration to overcome it.

It was a short but fun ride and I got a good stretch of fast freeway driving in. I could see getting into the smooth rhythm of the interstate, but it is still a lot more work than going on the side roads at a more leisurely speed. I like to see the sights as I ride. Today the rain is back and cooler temps too. The weather people are promising rain every day for the near future. It was a wonderful day ride while it lasted.