Shoulder on Smith was literally littered with glass, sadly saw this broken 12 pack’s twin outside Everson.I rode this loop last Saturday, July 6th, a couple of days after Independence Day, but before street sweepers could hit all the bad spots. This half rack of Corona bottles dumped on Smith Rd. wasn’t the only box of empties that I encountered on the ride. There were a few other big piles coming into Everson from the north as well as many singles and six-pack size piles here and there. I guess a silver lining is that pot/cannabis empties aren’t usually a danger to tires nor riders. Still, Independence Day has many ways to be celebrated, so I’ll just embrace the opportunity that the broken glass gave me to practice alert riding. BTW, no flats and I did attempt to clear a path for the next riders that come along.
The loop itself is one that I’ve ridden several times, not just a one off. The parts I like the most are the quiet roads to the East, North and then West of Everson. The corridor of Siper, Goodwin and Telegraph that branch off of Hwy 9 not too far North of Nugent’s Corner is a nice quiet alternative to the fast traffic of Hwy 9. I’ll take farms, rural homes and the occasional barking dog over fast moving semi trucks any day of the week. I then take Lindsay Rd off of Telegraph, then Van Buren into Everson, and after carefully riding through the narrow numpty filled corridor leaving town I hop onto Van Dyk, Wiser, and then back to Northwest Drive to complete the loop on more mostly rural roads.
With the Tour de Whatcom coming up again in just over a week, and me just coming off of a mini vacation, I’ll probably be hitting this loop again next weekend, maybe twice, so as not to die when my body is asked to ride 100 miles.
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