Day 11: Cathlamet, WA to Astoria, OR
Day 11: Cathlamet, WA to Astoria, OR
Miles: 32
What I rode by: the Columbia River, the ability to keep track of time
Our day started with a 10-minute ferry ride across the Columbia River to Westport, OR. We took this ferry (and this route) for two reasons: to visit our friends in Washington and to avoid the Astoria bridge. This bridge connects Washington and Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River, is over four miles long, climbs up from both sides, has metal grating and no bike lane. Every cyclist we heard from who has ridden over it says it was the scariest part of their trip. One guy said he just wanted to curl up into a fetal position in the middle. So, we went this way and took the ferry. After that, it was a long climb, lunch with another breve, and a rolly ride into Astoria.
Ferry captain
Our bikes on the ferry
Oregon!
Day 10: Castle Rock to Cathlamet, WA
Day 10: Castle Rock to Cathlamet, WA
Miles: 42
What I rode by: yard sales, metal tines of a leaf rake, various car parts, the last of the Cascades
We had strong headwinds today as we rode west along the Columbia River. Kristen’s feet got so hot they almost exploded (her words). We stayed in a charming little campground at the marina in Cathlamet.
For the second time on our trip a fellow camper (Jim, his son Lance, and uncle Dean) stopped by to tell us he saw us on the road today. The first time was the first night in Birch Bay. Someone there said he saw us at the border crossing and we made good time to the campground. Jim has done a lot bike racing and offered us anything we needed. We got to share s’mores and gin and tonics (in bike bottles) around their campfire, and a couple of bananas for the road the next morning.
We're offsetting our carbon footprint by charging batteries on sunny days.
The choices were slim at the nearby gas station. I MacGyvered my pots to make a pizza oven.
Day 9: Rochester to Castle Rock, WA
Day 9: Rochester to Castle Rock, WA
Miles: 48
What I rode by: 16% downgrade, a dog rolling on its back in the grass, weak women?, tractor tires
Where to start? Today was a lovely day of riding. Early on, some guy driving around the country roads of Washington slowly drove by asking us if we had found his blue change purse. His bike was on the back of his car and he must have lost it on his ride. We found it about an hour later but he was nowhere to be found. So, if you know of anyone in Washington looking for a blue change purse, have him contact me and I’ll tell him where we hid it. We had no desire to take it with us because it was filled with heavy coins.
We found your change purse!
We rode by a lot of dogs today. One of them was rolling back and forth on his back in the middle of the grass. Happy dog. Later in the day, we came across a curious advertisement for an amazing prescription to cure weak women. Hmmm, that’s not us and here’s a picture of me stacking tires to prove it. That one goes out to my pals at Gymnazo.
Weak women my ass.
See, strong from flipping tires at Gymnazo!
Day 8: Shelton to Rochester, WA
Day 8: Shelton to Rochester, WA
Miles: 52
What I rode by: logging, wildflowers, where the headwind turned into a tailwind
Janice and Martha dropped us off a bit south of Gig Harbor because of the traffic in the area. (They looked after us like we were little ducklings.) Our ride in the morning took us through a logging area. White and yellow wildflowers grew everywhere the trees were thin or young trees were just growing back. I had a breve at our lunch stop for the extra calories. Then we camped at some RV park that had hot showers and was located too close to the railroad tracks. Large, hulking freight trains lumbered by throughout the night blowing their whistles.
Kristen and our bike angel Martha.
Your wood deck could have come from here.
Day 7: Rest day in Gig Harbor, WA
Day 7: Rest day in Gig Harbor, WA
We did laundry and ran a few errands. We bought dehydrated split pea soup mix to have for dinner at the campgrounds. Don’t worry, we eat more than just split pea soup for dinner, a lot more. In the afternoon, we sat out on the deck with everything in the shade but our white feet. We had dinner with Martha, Janice, Ann, and Beverly. It was fun spending time with all of them.
Day 6: Oak Bay to Poulsbo
Day 6: Oak Bay to Poulsbo, WA
Miles: 28
What I rode by: my attention span
Today was a short day because we were picked up by Kristen’s friend Martha and her friend Janice. They live in Gig Harbor, which was out of the way for us, so we got a ride! We went to Janice and Ann’s house for a cookout that night and helped Ann with her variety of shades and fabric for sun control on their deck that overlooks Henderson Bay
Day 5: Oak Harbor to Oak Bay
Day 5: Oak Harbor to Oak Bay, WA
Miles: 35 (that includes the ferry ride)
What I rode by: ferry ride, bald eagles
We rode through peaceful neighborhoods. Kristen raced a tractor, and won! We rode the ferry to Port Townsend. Remember my famous Binners Market flag? Well, it got put to good use today. After getting off the ferry, some man came up to us and asked us if our flags came off our bikes. What an odd question. Turns out that he locked his keys in the car and he thought he could unlock it with one of our flags. One flag was too short, but somebody had electrical tape. Two flags didn’t quite cut it. But, two flags with a carbiner taped open to the end were up to the task of pulling the keys out of the ignition! The whole time this was going on, their six or so children were giving advice like: “Next time, don’t lock the keys in the car.” “Leave the widow down more so you can just reach in.” “Bring the keys with you.” Such obvious advice.
Kristen beats out the tractor at the line.
Port Townsend from the ferry with Mt. Baker in the background. I climbed that.
Two flags and one carabiner to open the car.
The whole family stands in awe of my Binners Market flag doing its magic in their car.
Day 4: Bellingham to Oak Harbor
Day 4: South Bellingham to Oak Harbor, WA
Miles: 43
What I rode by: dog tag, Deception Pass
Instead of staying for the rest of the summer, we left our good friends Ari and Molly this misty morning and headed toward the islands in Puget Sound. We followed picturesque Chuckanut Drive along the waters edge south of Bellingham in the morning where I took a picture of this dog tag on top of a guardrail post.
Dog tag
The rolling hills turned into a flat road along the water. We had lunch at the Rhododendron Cafe where a nice couple next to us gave of the names and numbers of their relative around southern Washington and Portland in case we had an emergency. We rode onto Fidalgo Island after lunch and then to Whidbey Island over Deception Pass, under which the tide was rushing through.
All in all, it was a windy day (the second of many).
Deception Pass
Day 2 (and 3): Rest days in Bellingham
After our stressful ride out of Vancouver, we took two days off. We were going to ride on day 2 to my friend Ari’s house in Bellingham but she had to go into work early so came to pick us up at the campground instead. She whipped up some delicious quesadillas for lunch and then headed to work. We did our laundry and took naps on the deck with Hank and Rhona (the dogs) and the duck.
On Day 3, we went through all of our stuff, and with Ari’s keen sense of the necessary (from her experience in hiking the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail) mailed 16 pounds home! We picked strawberries in the afternoon with Ari and Molly (her Mom). After picking strawberries, Kristen and I helped with some chores around the house. Molly discovered the female duck had been laying eggs under the duck house and had piled up a collection of rotten, exploding eggs. I helped out by burying the eggs in the yard. Two exploded on me, and by exploded I mean blew like Mt. St. Helens with egg goo and sulfur abound. Kristen helped out by breaking their garage door.
The tags for this post are in honor of Ari and Molly, bike angels, and derived from the term trail angels: people who help out hikers on any of the Appalachian, Pacific Crest or Continental Divide Trails.
We mailed over 16 pounds of excess home!
Ari, Lynne and Molly picking strawberries
Hank
Rhona
Day 1: Vancouver to the US
What I rode by today: The smells of Vancouver.
Today was our first day on the road and it started with an escorted ride down the hotel’s freight elevator. We headed off through the streets, traffic, and bridges of Vancouver. After bridge #2, and looking a little lost underneath it, a cyclist named Frank stopped and offered to guide us through the city. We then made our way to River Road and the theme of today’s post: the smell of things. You see, when you’re riding a bicycle, things pass by so much slower than in a car or a train. Following a branch of the Fraser River, we rode by an industrial area of Vancouver. Building after building and shop after shop, we rode by one smell after another. Paint fumes. Plastic. Wood. Chinese food. Petroleum. Some of these were on the aptly named Vulcan Road.
Back to Frank. He couldn’t understand why our bike map was taking us a certain way at times and would suggest other routes. We resisted because those tended to be higher traffic areas. We finally parted ways shortly after crossing the Alex Fraser Bridge. The bridge has a bike lane that is separated from vehicle traffic but seemed more of an after thought. The bridge is almost a kilometer long and about 150 meters tall, but as long as you don’t see yourself as that special piece of straw on a camel’s back, it’s just another bridge to ride over.
Day 1: Vancouver, BC to Birch Bay State Park, WA
Miles: ~50
Rainfall: 10 minutes (sprinkle)
Riding down in the freight elevator
Bridge #1
Border ahead
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