A few years ago, I bought a rack for my car, letting me move a bike and a kayak on the roof of my car. And, by some stroke of bad luck, I got sick with bronchitis. 😦
In my infinite wisdom, I did the ride anyway; a friend drove, and hiked off on her own with a book, which let me bring the codeine-laden cough syrup the doctor had given me. I took it slow, to go easy on my throat … so slow, in fact, that a jogger passed me. This was not my proudest moment! 😮 It was a long short ride (I took about 3 hours to cover 15 miles!), but it was a happy one.
So far all but one of the rides I’ve described have been on paved roads, and suitable for 23 mm tires. I was on a cyclocross bike for this ride, with 28 mm cross tires, which were fine for this section of the trail, but just barely enough for others.
My bike (at the time), leaning against a metal rod near the trail, with snowy peaks in the distance. Yes, I realize this is a Fredly setup.
Snoqualmie Pass is, well, a mountain pass. I feel like Captain Obvious for pointing that out, but the mountains surrounding the pass (pass being another word for low point) change the local weather systems. Clouds lose their moisture – as rain or as snow – as they climb higher into the sky to cross the Cascade Crest. West of the divide is wet country, the land of thick Douglas Fir forests; east is the dry side. There’s a sharp division, and a very slow fade. You can see it in these pictures, and in some of the other trips I’ve taken recently.
Looking east, the mountains are more rounded and less jagged, and not covered in snow.
Cycling the Pacific Northwest 