Last night I went on an (somewhat) epic bike ride to Vashon Island. I left my house with Eli after 4pm, and rode around West Seattle via the Alki trail, which was gorgeous, especially as we got closer to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal and the sunset through the clouds made the puget sound look especially peaceful.
At the ferry we met up with another friend on bicycle, and by the time the ferry brought us to Vashon island it was night time. This made for an especially fun ride on the island, which starts with a long nearly-verticle climb, then leveling off into long stretches of dark desolate lonely highway. I stupidly forgot my front light, and during the ride I could only see via the light of a few stars and the flashing red blinking of Eli's back-light, except when blinded by the headlights of passing cars.
We rode from one side of Vashon Island to the other, barely knowing where we were going, and eventually we got to Chandler & Caitlin's. When we got there, the house was filled with shrieking little children playing with each other or chasing the cat, and their parents. After saying Hi to the birthday boy (Chandler), I had some kinda off-putting conversations with some opinionated Vashonites, then got some wine and me and Eli retreated to a back area where a couple men in their 60's were talking, well removed from the rest of the party.
I ended up talking to them and had a great time - one of them made the wine I was drinking, which was delicious, and the other has spend the past 30 years living by himself in a secluded cabin in the woods. We talked about radical politics in Seattle in the past, them remembering fondly the Black Panthers, and radical Natives who took over Ft Lawton. We talked a lot about bike touring, too, as the latter of the two has been regularly doing epic cross-country rides for the past thirty years, included four consecutive RAMROD trips in his 40's. He's 66 now, and still rides constantly.
It's funny how I've met a number people who are of "retirement age" who are more active than I am. I'm in my 20's, the prime of my life. It's encouraging, though, meeting these people, especially when they tell me that they didn't really get very active until they were in their late 30's or early 40's.
I ended up getting pretty drunk, and had a great time hanging out with friends there, eating pizza (vegan for me, of course) and talking about farm-life. In the morning they had crepes, and I made all of us spicey yam & potato vegan latkas. I took off shortly after breakfast, and the ride back was soggy, but pleasant.

It's rare that I go on long bike rides, or go to anywhere in rural areas. I think I'm going to do both of those things more often this year.