A few ways to beat the heat wave in the Pacific Northwest

Cyclists ride past rafters floating down the Cedar River

When I headed down the driveway on my bicycle this afternoon, I was looking to cool off. While I was successful, I found many other people trying to beat the heat in ways other than bicycling.

With temperatures getting into the 90s this weekend, I found cool breezes and shady byways on my bicycle ride.

If you're looking for a good bike ride on Sunday, the most excellent 16th annual Tour de Kitsap is just a cool ferry ride away from Seattle. You can register at the Silver Beach Hotel from 7 to 10:30 a.m., or at the ferry terminal in Bremerton. See the flyer (.doc) for more information.

You can go for a bike ride on your own. On Saturday, I headed out shady May Valley Road, looped down to Issaquah and returned to Cedar Ridge Road to the Cedar River Trail, which took me to Renton. When I wasn't in the shade, I was catching some good breezes.

Along the way I spotted people getting cool by catching the thermals and hang-gliding off Tiger Mountain. Hang gliders and paragliders have been soaring here since the early 1990s. They're fun to watch; I assume it's a good way to stay cool after you've carried your gear up to the launch at Poo-Poo Point.

The Cedar River Trail had lots of shade and a steady breeze that kept me cool. Lots of kayakers and inner-tubers floated down the cold river that gets its start up in the Cascade Mountains.

The breeze carried me along right through Renton. I stopped at this weekend's Renton River Days where a hot cyclist can get an iced-cold lemonade or sno-cone or get doused by a fire hose.

River Days is at Liberty Park, right at the foot of the Cedar River Trail. You can't miss it. Check out some more pictures at the Picaroon blog.

So, just as I've found before, I stayed cool on the bike as long as I was moving. The ride home along the east side of Lake Washington was comfortable until I had to tackle the hill up to my neighborhood. Yes, the 2 miles of mostly uphill pedaling heated me up, but by then I was home and simply turned the hose on my head.