Sunday, June 07, 2009

You say “car-bon-AY-do,” I say “car-bon-AH-do”

Two weekends ago, we feted Bruce as he made the monumental transition into the decade that shall remain unnamed. By the end of the party, there were tentative plans in place for the Usual Suspects to ride the following Saturday. On Friday afternoon I sent quick reminder email about the next day’s ride. By the time I checked email later that day, Bruce had everyone on board for a loop in the South Sound area, starting in Puyallup.

We began the adventure at the E. Puyallup TH and rode a mostly empty trail to the town of South Prairie. I say mostly empty, because there was a 53-mile running relay happening on the trail. And while we didn’t see many runners, we did have the privilege of riding through a few relay hand off areas and ringing the bells.

scenic bridge on the Foothills Trail

The trail parallels the highway for a while, which was filled with parade of trashy hot rods on the day we were riding. (This would not be the last we would see of them.) We soon left the highway behind and rode quietly alongside the Carbon River before entering the town of South Prairie. The bike trail ended abruptly here, so we hopped on the highway and headed toward the town of Wilkeson. On the way, we ran into our hot rod friends again.

If you’ve never been to Wilkeson, it is another one of those towns time forgot. It’s about two blocks long and has a gas station, two coffee shops, a bar, a cemetery, and an Eagles Club. It also has a ginormous “Welcome to Wilkeson” sign that spans the road, making a great gentleman’s race finish line. Nick and Dave duked it out on the way into town, but it wasn’t much of a contest. (The ride wasn’t nick-named “the unofficial put the hurt on Dave ride” for nothing.)

We ran into another collection of old cars in Wilkeson. This time it was the Carbonado Canyon Model T Ford Club. I’m not quite sure how a town with a population of 621 supports an active club of Model T aficionados, but it does it in spades. (Click the thumbnail images below to expand them.)

time forgot more than the town it appears

Wilkeson seemed like as good a spot as any to stop for coffee, but we made a quick trip up to Carbonado first. We rode up the highway to “town” and looped back to the highway on a gorgeous side road before blasting downhill again. Coffee and pastries were calling afterall!

Wilkeson is not too small to support a local coffee roaster, and just about every place in town sells coffee made with their beans. If you’re in town, make sure to support Buono Coffee Co. They can’t have an easy time of it in such an out-of-the-way place.

Of the two coffee shops in town, we stopped at Skeeks. They serve a variety of pastry pockets (stuffed with savory egg fillings, jam, or PB&J), pizza, and other goodies.

While we were refueling our bodies for the second half of the ride, the Model T club turned the cranks (literally) and headed for home.

Taking that as a sign, we put the kick-stands up and headed for Buckley. Sylvia led us on a return route through the Enumclaw plateau, past Lake Tapps, and down a screaming descent back into Sumner. The descent alone made all the other miles that day worth it. A short jaunt on the bike trail and we were back at the cars, clocking EXACTLY 50 miles. (How did we do that?!)

Here’s the route for those that are interested in a repeat. Click on the title to expand the map and access the turn-by-turn directions.