Biking to the Wayne golf course, Kenmore

I left at 5 am to this supposedly nice Sammamish river park and golf course located at the foot of a tiny hillock, about 100 m high. This was on the 20th of this month. The idea was to bike upto this place and climb the hill. All was fine till I reached Kenmore(about 16kms from university district) where I was supposed to take a right onto the hill climbing trail. But I kept going on towards Bothell(another 2kms), where I came across a fruit and vegetable shop.

After buying a pound of plouts (plums + apricots hybrid), the shop keeper mentioned that I had already passed Kenmore. So back I went 1 mile toward Kenmore (no sign board damn). I took one of the bridges that goes across a creek towards my destination.


But having crossed the bridge, I was unable to find the trail that would take me to the top of the hill.

The picture above shows what went wrong


Finally, I had to settle down to viewing the golf course, which was very vast and green.



The trail to nowhere

Coming back, I came through the usual route - Burke Gilman trail, which took me about an hour for 19 kms.


My next biking trip is obviously to get to the top of that elusive hill.

Running to work

I had a strange and esoteric idea last year. I wondered what it would be like to run instead of 'walk' our daily lives. You got to go to the grocery store a mile away. What's normally done is to walk the distance or bike it up. How about running it up? After all running is an extension of walking. I mean, I could crawl on my fours and go to the grocery store, but I chose instead to walk. In the same vein, I could also think of running to the grocery store. Ofcourse, there are some practical issues but they are of lesser importance right now.
The other day, I got a flat tire and since I rely heavily on my bike (the only walking I do is walk from the nearest parking location to my destination), I found it tough to walk!

Normally I leave my home 10 mins before my first class in the morning. The other day, I forgot that I coudn't use the bike. So what did I do to get to the class on time? Yep, run. Call it karma or samskara, I did the same the next day and the day after when I got the tube replaced. Those were two good days. Now, I am back to the old routine.

AR Rahman Interview

I have been looking out for interviews with AR Rahman - I found one of them with Sun TV in Tamil which was good, another one with Headlines today, which was Mediocre. But the interview that stood out was the one with CNN-IBN interviewed by Anuradha Sen Gupta. The interview wasn't a monotonous scheduled one but had quite a few improvisations of questions during the interview. My only rant is the indifference and ignorance shown by her to a few regional songs that have been well acclaimed and have won awards like Yenna solla pogirai in Kandukondain Kandukondain. Titled 'Being Rahman', it tried to bring out the character of Rahman and did a good job at that. I had recommend this video even to a casual observer, as it has some insightful replies by Rahman. You can watch it here.

Golden gardens park and beach

Located North West of the university district, this place sloping down from a mini-cliff, provides for a classic weekend getaway. Not a huge place, but many scenic locations for viewing pleasure are there. I was wishing for a sort of clear sky, but as it turned out (no surprise), it was cloudy and as I reached the place, it even began to drizzle. Add to that the early morning cold and I was pulling my jacket closer home. In India, especially in Hyderabad or Chennai, if it were to get cloudy and drizzle lightly, I would more than welcome it, I would infact go a little berserk. But that’s because when it rains in hyd, the temperature drops to a pleasant 20 – 22 degrees, not a chilly and bordering unpleasant 8-10 degrees as in Seattle.
Another disadvantage to having a misty-ish cloudy weather is that, for instance, I can see the beautiful Olympia mountains in the distance from the park, out west, but try as hard as I might, I can’t capture it half-decently despite all possible tweaks to my camera settings.
The highlights of the bike ride were meeting up with real monsters and a few good frames captured…

As I was headed out of the university, I came across a squirrel playing hide and seek on the trees.






Meet Monster 1..



Location and address..





The mini cliff descent on the way to the beach





The rail road mainly serving freight traffic from the ports of Seattle and Tacoma going up north. Amtrak commuter rail runs on these tracks too.



The olympic mountains out east..



Mystique cloudy formation..



A waterhole



The mandatory bike pic






LOST..





Aila..




Liked this pic a lot



Alai..



From the rocks



Colour



Train pics
The railway tracks pass right through the middle of the park and I was able to take a few pics of the cars (I missed the engine).







Double stack containers..



Return of the monster..
On the ride back home..

Golden gardens park and beach

"Free running" movie clip

This video is from the French movie District 13 (Banlieue 13) and stars David Belle, founder of Parkour (the sport of efficient movement).
Enjoy!