Day 26 & 27 - Monterey to Morro Bay, CA

Riding out of Monterey and past Big Sur yesterday was a hell of a 68 mile haul. Definitely one of the most challenging rides yet second to only the Lost Coast. The hills weren’t quite as steep, but I rode the distance of both LC days combined. The headwinds were also just kicking me in the teeth. I was shocked by how heavy the car traffic was even with the road closure up ahead. It wasn’t until about 15 or so miles out from the slide when the traffic trickled down. Conveniently there is a USFS campground with hiker/biker sites just a few miles north of the roadblock. When I was checking in I spoke to the park ranger about my trip and she asked where I was headed in the morning. After speaking for a bit I reluctantly confirmed her suspicion that I was planning on traversing the slide. Thankfully that went over well as I was mostly just told to be careful. 

For the first time in awhile I set an alarm to wake up to - 3:00AM. I packed up the bike and was off riding in the chilly dark. It was only a few miles from the campground so I arrived at the road block by 4am. Making sure to turn out my headlamp and rear blinker so that none of Gorda’s 200 residents saw me I proceeded to walk around the gate. I knew from here that the actual rockslide was a mile away. I rode half of the way there to make sure I couldn’t be seen from town and then stopped at a vista point as I wanted the first hint of daylight before continuing to, and then walking over, whatever was ahead. Standing around in the dark on a closed road for close to an hour was somehow both serene and creepy at the same time. It was just me, the plants, and the ocean. 

I’d hoped that I was going to be able to roll the bike over the slide with all the gear still attached. When I got to the slide that idea was abruptly dismissed. It was bad, maybe not worse than I imagined in terms of danger, but the chunks of rock were substantial in size. I made the first trip over while carrying both panniers and my handlebar bag. Then went back and hoisted the bike onto my shoulder. In all it was about 200 feet of rough rock with some sections being 6 feet wide with a death drop on one side. I told myself that if I began to trip I’d drop my body to the ground instead of trying to regain balance. It was about 5:15 by the time I was loading the gear back up on the other side and the sun was nearly up. The next gate was only half a mile from here after which bikes, but no cars, were technically permitted. I crossed it and felt a huge surge of relief as plausible deniability of ever being on the closed portion sank in. A hundred feet later I passed a construction trailer with lights on and people inside. I think they saw me, but it wasn’t their place to give a shit. 

The next 10 miles was still blocked off to vehicles, so aside from the construction crew headed into work I had the road all to myself. I rolled over a sharp rock that burst my rear tire and tube I guess because the day wasn’t difficult enough as it was. 60 miles later I made it to a state park in Morro Bay. California has been absolutely wicked compared to Washington and Oregon. This state don’t play, at least on the coast. The tour would have been incomplete in my mind without both the Lost Coast & Big Sur so I’m glad I got to do them. 

Day 24 & 25 - San Francisco to Monterey, CA

The vacation from the vacation this weekend was extremely enjoyable. Definitely refreshing to have all of our modern creature comforts at my fingertips again. After a BBQ on Saturday, and subsequent recovery day Sunday, it was time to get back to being a homeless vagrant before I became consumed with complacency. 

Early Monday morning I set off to the Golden Gate to continue on this journey. Unfortunately,  the turnoff right before the bridge was missed and so I didn’t actually ride over it and snap a shot of the beautiful landmark. I ended up pushing off around 10:30 somewhere about a mile south of the toll plaza. The ride through San Fran was really cool! I’ve driven through the business districts a few times, but this was a new perspective as I rode through residential backroads. I’d assumed the ride yesterday would have me rolling through development for most of the day, and then was surprised to find myself back in the sticks ten miles into it. The hot sun and lack of rain was in stark contrast to what I’ve encountered over the past few days, and seemed to melt the miles away even deep into the afternoon. At mile 50 there was a hostel, but was fully booked. At mile 60 a KOA that was price gouging. At that point there was roughly two hours of daylight left, but fresh legs inspired me to push on and make an 83 mile day to spend the night in Santa Cruz. When I reached town it was dark and oh so easy to whip out that credit card for a motel room. 

45 more miles today (Tuesday) brought me into a campground in Monterey. Plenty of country roads and even a good chunk of bike trail, which is just such a better day than I had on US 1 during Memorial Day. I’ll hit the town of Big Sur tomorrow, but the road closure I need to traverse across is still a ways south around Gorda, CA. Tomorrow I’ll make it to camp just above that town with the hopes of crossing the slide area Thursday morning. Further planning on all that is needed and that’s what I’ll be researching tonight. Not sure what happens if you’re caught on a closed highway, but intend not to find out. 

Day 23 - Fort Ross to Windsor, CA

It’s been a 1250 mile journey from Vancouver, BC back to my doorstep in Windsor, CA. Cutting inland 30 miles to visit home was not part of the original route, but a couple of issues arose in the past week. My intent was to meet family along the route just north of San Francisco somewhere in Marin County. Due to the breakdown after the Lost Coast fiasco it became hard to gauge which days would be best to book the campsite, and now after waiting too long everything is booked solid due to the holiday weekend. Secondly, I made a regretful decision a few mornings ago that ruined my contact lenses. I have hard lenses, a bit different from normal soft lenses, that are supposed to last a year or two before replacement with proper care. Each morning the lenses go in my eyes, and then the container gets rinsed with hot water then thoroughly dried. Well the other morning I was at a place that had no hot water and so I decided to fill the lense holder with hand-cleaner thinking I’d remember that evening to rinse it out before putting the lenses and lense solution in. Of course I forgot about the hand-cleaner and ended up mixing that with the contact solution. I remembered the next morning when I went to put the lenses in my eyes and they burned like hell. After rinsing them off and trying again I discovered the combination of fluids caused some sort of chemical reaction that rendered the contacts useless.

So arriving in Windsor around 11 this morning my first stop was to my optometrist so we could get a new set ordered. I didn’t write about the first issue I had with contact lenses in which on my very first day of this trip one popped out while riding and couldn’t be found. I hadn’t even made it out of Canada at that point! I had a new one shipped to me in Astoria for $200, and now I’m at a grand total of $600 in vision fees for the ride. That more than sucks ass, but I see so much better with those over my glasses. Anyway, that’s my rantish bit for the day. I’ve still got 2000 miles to go on this trip! After a rest day, or maybe two, here in a familiar bed I’m gonna “cheat” about 50 miles by getting driven to the Golden Gate to continue on from there. I’m a big proponent of “ride continuity” and so this decision didn’t come lightly. However, if you have a medical or mechanical issue that needs attention you need to mind it instead of adding unnecessary stress to the ride. Of course having lived out here going on a year I’ve also already seen the next 50 miles many times. So that’s the plan for now - rest up, see friends and family, wash these vile articles of clothing, and then set off towards LA in a day or two.

Day 22 - Little River to Fort Ross, CA

70 more miles of cold coastal scenery ridden today as I broke into Sonoma County. Not much to report on, mostly a lot of head down, grind it out kind of action. The highlight of my day came in Elk, CA when I stopped about 15 miles in for breakfast at Queenie’s diner. I may of just been starving (I usually am these days) but it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. It’s probably just the starving thing and the fact that breakfast is typically a caffeine pill and one of those peanut-butter filled cheddar cracker packs you remember from childhood. I’ve discovered on this trip how cheap and efficient those guys are. Camping out tonight in Stillwater Cove County Park. Hard to believe San Fran is only 100 miles down the road from here!

Day 20 & 21 - Myers Flat to Little River, CA

As suspected Myers Flat, CA was not the most exciting town in the world to be stranded in. I stopped into the little coffee shop in town, then the general store, and finally made it to drive-thru redwood tree attraction (with no car so I was let in for free). After that I had exhausted the town’s attractions. I walked about the RV Park making small talk to pass the time, and then read at the river for a bit. Tuesday morning I tracked the package and saw it was out for delivery from Eureka some 50 miles away. I knew it’d be awhile so I did some housekeeping cleaning the bike and the tent. Thankfully the RV park manager was cool about me staying past checkout time without charging, and when the package did arrive shortly after 3pm they called right away for me to come pick it up. My life raft out of Myers Flat was finally here! Two new foldable tires and a functioning air pump. Setting out so late in the day meant I was only able to make it 30 miles to Richardson Grove State Park just south of Benbow. California State Parks seem to all be just $5 for their hiker/biker sites, which is much appreciated. 

Wednesday was an enjoyable 75 mile day that brought me onto US 1 and back to the Pacific. Before the heavy climb of the day into Leggett I met another tourist on the road who had biked from San Diego to Arcata and was now headed back home. We got to the top of the 2000 foot hill and bombed down to sea level before hitting some steep rollers into Fort Bragg. After stopping in town for a meal and a couple of beers he decided to grab a motel and call it a day. In an effort to make up time I pushed on to Van Damme State Park. Getting in just after 6pm I had plenty of time to setup camp and grab the shower I’d missed yesterday. Pretty tired from the ride and there’s no cell service here. Going to try and get to sleep early and do another long haul tomorrow. 

Day 18 & 19 - Eureka to Myers Flat (Lost Coast)

Wow. Glad I did it, and glad it’s over! The 70 mile loop around the Lost Coast is insanely brutal. Saturday morning I grabbed an Uber from the motel to go pickup my bike from the shop before riding back to the motel, grabbing the gear, and setting off down the 101. Ferndale, CA is the gateway to the northern entrance to Mattole Road (the Lost Coast road).  It’s about 20 miles from Eureka to Ferndale, with the last 10 miles being backroads. When I was five miles out from Mattole I began seeing detour signs and notice of a road closure ahead. I checked the map on my phone and saw the alternate route would have been a long backtrack to catch the 101. I’m not a huge fan of undoing miles so I rode past the signs until I ran into the barricade that was blocking off a massive sinkhole. I unloaded the bike and moved things over on foot until I was on the other side loaded back up and ready to pedal on. Looking back on it this was an omen of what the rest of that day, and the next, had in store. 

Upon reaching Mattole Rd in Ferndale the first thing I saw was a cyclist flying down the steep decline out and into town. As luck would have it, I just happened to be hitting this part of my route the same day the annual “Tour of the Unknown Coast” was taking place. This event is a hundred mile cycling race that starts and ends in Ferndale by having you go 30 miles inland to catch the southern entrance to Mattole before riding the 70 mile loop back into Ferndale. It is regarded as the toughest century race in California, and I will vouch for that any day. So, I ended up being the one guy headed south waving and nodding to the many headed north. It was fun to shout words of encouragement to cyclists on their 90th mile! They typically replied jokingly that I was going the wrong way, or were wishing me good luck on account of the loaded bike. I then hit an aid station for the race around mile 23 and they hooked me up nicely, which was needed as Mattole has caused me to update my definition of a difficult climb. 

I spent the night at a campground 36 miles into the loop. I barely had enough energy to setup camp and cook dinner. After a few minutes of some movie I had downloaded I was out and slept incredibly well. The next morning I wasn’t in a huge rush to set out knowing what I was going to have to do to climb out of this crater. When I did get to it I had a ten mile warmup to the blip on the map of Honeydew. There was a general store in town that didn’t open for another hour. The only water I had was from the campground and it tasted like ass, but thankfully the shopkeeper responded to my knocking and sold me a gallon of water. I was glad to have it as the next 5 miles went straight upwards, violently. I finally reached a false summit for a mile and then went right back to climbing. When the terrain finally shifted to a downward trend it didn’t take long for me to realize how stupidly dangerous a fast descent is on this road. From what I’ve heard, this road hasn’t been properly maintained in close to twenty years. Locals spray paint messages near really bad areas, but it seems to fall on deaf ears at Humboldt County. On my descents I was always playing a rigorous game of dodge-the-pothole/gravel/landslide. On a road like this where when you release the brakes for a couple of seconds you’re suddenly at 35mph this was not easy. 

After carefully cruising back down I had a scenic ride through the Humboldt Redwoods when suddenly the rear tire went flat. I patched it and continued riding only to have it happen again a few miles later. I inspected the tire at this point seeing a huge tear in the sidewall. Not repairable. After another patch I pumped it back up for ten minutes then my shitty pump took the valve stem with it when I detached it releasing all of the air I’d worked to put in. Thankfully someone pulled over and lent me their pump which worked significantly better. One mile later it was flat again and I was officially broken down in the town of Myers Flat. There aren’t too many options for me here in this quaint town. It was either a boutique hotel or an overpriced RV Park. I had to go RV Park, and order new tires overnight from Amazon as I asked around in town and there aren’t any bike tires for sale near here. Sadly it’s Sunday so overnight means Tuesday and that equates to an unwanted zero day tomorrow. I’m bummed out being forced off a day in a town that I was supposed to fly by, but what can I do? I’ll make the best of it tomorrow and try to make up the miles another day. I’m just thankful this didn’t happen while on the Lost Coast. 

Day 17 - Trinidad, CA to Eureka, CA

I took an easier day and almost coasted 35 miles into Eureka this morning. I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not I’m going to ride the Lost Coast or take an inland route to bypass it. When I set out from Vancouver I very much I intended to, but with the knee issue my degree of certainty had faded over the last couple of weeks. This morning when I woke I knew I’d be remiss if I passed up the opportunity.

While I’m not exactly 100% my bike is in worse shape. It turns out the $8 Chinese brake pads I installed right before the trip were not the greatest value ever because they had already worn nearly all the way down. Shifting has become a bit erratic due to a gunked up drivetrain. If I’m doing this 70 mile rural stretch with absolutely gargantuan hills I needed the bike to be serviced first. Eureka is about 15 miles from the northern entrance to the Lost Coast and has a great bike shop. It made sense to drop the bike off to get the work done then spend the night here in town. I’ll pick it up in the morning and try to make it 55 miles to a primitive campsite south of Petrolia. Sunday morning I’ll wake up and climb what is known as “The Wall”. You can see why in the elevation profile below, and understand my concern about brakes! It’ll be a challenge, but one that I’ve been looking forward to for some time now. There won’t be cell service so I’ll be posting a recap in a couple of days. Should be a fun weekend!

Day 16 - Crescent City, CA to Trinidad, CA

57 mostly uphill miles ridden today to get to Patrick’s Point State Park for the night. The climb south out of Crescent City is one I’ve heard mentioned a few times as being memorable and I can confirm it certainly lived up to the hype. The upside was that my legs were ready, and the scenery just fantastic. Gigantic redwoods as far as the eye could see. None of those pitiful baby redwood trees that Oregon has. After the climb, and subsequent epic descent, while grabbing a snack met a northbound cyclist who had started all the way down in Baja. In chatting I inquired about upcoming road closures from mudslides. The main one I was worried about is just south of Big Sur, and while the road is closed until September it’s still passable by bicycle. The road is “safe”, but you have to wait until the guards leave in the evening or you’ll be stopped. Good intel I can put to use in a couple of weeks!

As I gained a total of 4,000 feet of elevation today there was another huge climb up next. Grinning like an idiot flying down the other side I heard an odd noise and wondered what kind of bird it was coming from. When the sound was still present after a couple of miles I looked down and saw my rear tire was almost entirely flat. After patching it on the side of the road I discovered I had brought along with me the biggest piece of shit bike pump on earth. It took over 10 minutes to get the tire up to an acceptable PSI level. A dude from Germany on a motorcycle pulled over and said he had a compressor, but there was no way to adapt it to the Presta valve of the bike tube. Nice guy though, and I enjoyed hearing about his 10k kilometer journey through the US and Canada. After getting the tire back on it was nearing 3 o’clock and I had about 30 miles left to go to get to camp. Kind of a later arrival than I wanted, but the campsite tonight was only $5 and is situated right by the ocean. 

Day 15 - Gold Beach, OR to Crescent City, CA

Home sweet home! Sort of...I’m way up North here in Crescent City after crossing the state border this afternoon. There’s a buy-in of around 3000 feet of elevation to enter California from Oregon, but it levels out at the border for a smooth ride into the state’s first major town. I’ve now cycled 837 miles since leaving Vancouver. Who needs a car, right? Here in town there was one camping option at an RV Park that was asking $45 for a tent site. I’m good paying the extra 10 for a motel as that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I was able to get my laundry done and restock the pannier pantry to prepare for some long stretches between towns that lay ahead. Now time to relax!

Day 14 - Denmark, OR to Gold Beach, OR

The ride today was the tale of the two Oregons I have come to know. The morning ride was gorgeous, sunny, and on country backroads. That was followed by the rolling out of some less desirable conditions coming at me one at a time. The road turned stressful by late morning, followed by cold coastal winds, and finally as I had made it a shade over 40 miles into Gold Beach the cold rain began. The next campground, aside from the one in this town, was 30 miles away in Brookings. I didn’t have that in me today especially with the weather having rapidly turned on me. I’ll be in California tomorrow either way, so it was a good day to set up camp early then bike back to town for a real dinner. I’m super pumped to break into the home state tomorrow! A plethora of coastal miles to pedal there and it’s about time I start researching the areas washed out by mudslides to route accordingly.

Day 13 - North Bend, OR to Denmark, OR

I was relieved to get off the highway for the first 35 of today’s 49 mile ride. For roughly the last  200 miles the 101 has cut inland and gone from a road with slower paced tourists to a speedway. I’ve come to welcome the hills anyway as the long climbs followed by downhill “free” miles seem to keep my knee happier than the flats. One of the first backroads on the route today absolutely fit the bill for this. Make no mistake, the devils were hills and I counted far more than seven! Halfway up the steepest one someone had left a pretty funny message on the pavement.

Later in the day when rolling through Bandon, OR I came across a home that had some awesome driftwood sculptures around the yard. There was one of a T-Rex, another of fisherman, and my favorite which was the cyclist. As I was stopping to grab pictures the artist came out to check the mail and we chatted for a bit about them. Being located on the adventure cycling route he see’s plenty of cycle tourists parked in front of this sculpture.

Tonight it’s back to camping and I’m here in a KOA that actually has hiker/biker rates. I wanted to go about 40 to 50 miles today and this was the only option in that range. KOAs definitely have their upsides, and when they’re not overpriced are a solid option.

Day 12 - Florence, OR to North Bend, OR

As expected I passed out early last night and had a fantastic, albeit cold slumber in the tent yesterday evening. The first few climbs and descents on US 101 today were encumbered with the densest fog, and I was lucky to see the headlights of a car coming up behind me within 30 feet or so. I finally took the earbuds out and paid close attention to the sound of oncoming traffic. By noon I’d made it 35 miles to the nearest state park, but didn’t feel that was enough to hang my hat on. It’s a real balancing act that I’m going through right now as my mind and aerobic capacity want that 100 mile day, but the injury says otherwise. The living to fight another day strategy has been working thus far, and I know that’ll be the only way to make it the next 2,500 miles. With that said, no easy peasy ride taken today in the 62 miles to North Bend. So much time spent on the trafficy 101 burned me the F out. Rewards points got me a free hotel here with a jacuzzi, in which this entire post was written from, a plush bed and free breakfast. Didn’t have any laundry detergent sadly so we’ll see how all my smelly clothes turn out just on the extra hot cycle. Tomorrow I may really, possibly, conceivably do fewer miles. Maybe.

Day 11 - Lincoln City, OR to Florence, OR

The plan today was to take an easier 50ish mile day and meet up with the two cyclists from last night in a USFS campground. There wasn’t much between the two locations except amazing Pacific coastline, so I ate in the town of Yachats about 5 miles out from the originally planned destination. After the lunch break I had stiffened up significantly and what I thought were the final five miles didn’t feel too nice. I learned a lesson when I arrived about the difference between the fantastic Oregon State Parks and the US Forest Service areas. The former has $8 hiker/biker rates as well as free showers at every single park. The USFS Park wanted $26 to pitch a tent and they didn’t have showers at all. The camp host ended up offering a bit of a discount, but I asked them to let the two I was meeting up with know that’d I’d gone to the closet State Park if/when they arrived. I spent the better part of an hour weighing the decision to stay there while I did what I could to loosen back up. Once I was back on the road I caught a second wind pain-wise and made quick work of the extra miles. There’s no cell service here in the park, though, which is more troublesome to this millennial than I care to admit. Nobody else here (yet) and it’s getting colddd. Possibly a real early night for me. 

Day 10 - Manhattan Beach, OR to Lincoln City, OR

73 more miles today brought me into Devil’s Lake State Park. Oregon continued it’s assault on the gap in my fitness involving long, charming climbs. 3400 feet of elevation gained and 2300 calories shed according to Strava which isn’t aware of the extra weight I have in tote. Twice today I was on extended climbs, once at 30 miles in and the other came painfully late in the day as I was uphill most of the way into Lincoln City this afternoon. During that second climb I snapped the photo above of the word danger written twice in two different colors of what appeared to be sidewalk chalk. Not knowing what perils lay ahead I bravely pedaled forth to find a one inch drop and a change from tarmac to gravel for roughly fifty yards before it switched back to pavement. I’m just glad I lived to tell the tale! Here in camp I’ve got some great company. After the all important beer run I hung out with the girl from Paris whom had set out hiking for 3 weeks on the PCT before quitting to switch to cycling and a dude from Marin County who is cranking out over a century a day. We had a great time and will hopefully be meeting up tomorrow evening again. How many bonus points do I get for finding a Blockbuster Video?

Day 9 - Astoria, OR to Manhattan Beach, OR

Well I was back doing the pedaling thing today after convincing myself to part with the motel room a bit later than I normally set out following a night in the tent. Creature comforts are just too damn comfortable! From Astoria the route took me inland through Ft. Clatsop State Park for 20 tame miles before handing me off to the Pacific. I passed through a tunnel around Arch Cape and then began the grand climb of the day. I’m sure glad I had a week of training if today was any indicator of what the rest of the coast will be like. Halfway into the 5 mile ascent seemingly out of nowhere it begins to pour. Pulling to the side of the road I start digging through my panniers looking for the rain gear which of course is buried down at the bottom after having been lucky with the weather up until now. I’ll be sure that all stays front and center moving forward as cold rain really sucks. Once the climb was over I enjoyed the first of many incredible views of the Pacific Ocean, and reached camp with 53 miles total.

Day 8 - Cathlamet, WA to Astoria, OR

Up at 6am this morning I was so excited to break into a new state (and arrive in my rest-day town) that I was climbing hills before 7am this morning. I was 14 miles away from the Cathlamet, WA -> Westport, OR ferry when I set off and was determined to make the 8 o’clock departure. A few rolling hills later it flattened out and I cranked just as hard as Mr. Wonky knee would allow. Success was had as I rolled onto the boat three minutes to the hour.

Upon arrival into Westport I grabbed food & coffee at a newly opened cafe. They were happy to hear that they were located right on an ACA route and would be seeing plenty of cyclists in the coming months. I inquired about the elevation of the road ahead, which is, from a morale standpoint something that I really need to stop asking about.  It actually did work for me this time to know that the worst of it was right in front of me. It took almost 30 minutes to reach that summit, but was followed by an epic 4 mile descent. 42 cumulative miles later I was in Astoria checking into my campsite at Motel 6. I love biking and camping, but damn does a bed feel nice after a week in the tent!

My first stop here in Astoria was the local bike shop. I got the bike’s chain and drivetrain cleaned up and we also fine tuned my saddle position which will hopefully save the knee from exploding. Really cool staff here that gave me a tour of their store which had a straight bicycle graveyard down in the basement. Tomorrow I’m planning to ship some extra weight home and take a self-guided tour of the local breweries. Thursday begins a whole new venture down the Pacific Coast!

Day 7 - Toledo, WA to Cathlamet, WA

42 miles gingerly ridden today and 40ish more to go to Astoria. The beautiful state of Washington has almost been conquered! I have a ridiculous view of the Columbia River from my campsite tonight. Above is a massive logging ship that passed by earlier, and I’m told by my neighbor here in camp that if it were loaded the red part of the boat would be fully submerged. Aside from barges you can also spot seals and other wildlife out on the river. It’s a real nice spot to spend my final night in Washington. From what I’ve been hearing this state was my warmup ride and shit’s about to get real on the Oregon Coast. I’m really hoping that the knee will cooperate and be ready for the challenge after the Wednesday rest day.

Day 6 - Elma, WA to Toledo, WA

Today I made my first 70 mile ride, and while I feel accomplished it’s going to be the last of that distance until I can get this knee healthy. I waited until I hit Centralia this morning at about 35 miles in to have breakfast. Nothing majorly wrong until that point, but since I felt it beginning to flare-up I popped into a store and bought a knee brace hoping it would help. It seemed to make walking less painful, but riding worse. An hour later I ended up removing it and taking a long roadside rest before even attempting to ride again. It took me a total of 7 hours in saddle to make the miles after starting the day with a much faster pace and then limping along the rest of the way. I finally made a point to fill up a zip-lock with ice on my way into camp tonight and I should have been doing this for the past few days. It’s 80 miles from here to Astoria, OR and I’m just going to chop that up into two days and see if that helps. At this point it’s also probably looking like a rest day in Astoria would be a solid idea. This knee issue stems from a running injury last October, but they have a great bike shop in town and a fitting adjustment is on my agenda just in case. On a positive note I came across another one of my favorite road signs and discovered what 40mph feels like on a bicycle!

Day 5 - Belfair, WA to Elma, WA

The weekend is here and the parks are starting to get busier.  I met a nice group of RV’ers from Tacoma that I sat around the fire with before crashing last night.  This morning was the coldest of the trip thus far, and to get out of the tent I had to take a caffeine pill then scamper to the heated bathroom to put on every layer I had.  After that of course the morning ritual of breaking down camp and then I was off and pedaling by 7am.  Steady hills greeted me for the 30 miles from Belfair to Shelton. With Shelton being the biggest town of the day I’d hoped for something better, but with Dairy Queen the only spot open in town I settled for it.  After lunch I had 26 more miles to get to Elma and thankfully they were almost Florida flat because my knee was barking.  It actually hurts more to walk than to pedal which is good...I guess?  I’m staying in Elma RV Park tonight and was greeted with homemade chocolate chip cookies that they give to all their cycling guests.  Awesome spot with clean facilities and laundry machines which comes at a convenient time with zero clean clothes left in the panniers.  56 miles down today and it’s looking like tomorrow will be another 60 or so to make it into Toledo.

Day 4 - Poulsbo, WA to Belfair, WA

The abbreviated day I needed yesterday culminated into a 40 mile ride for me today.  Aches and pains are present in both legs as I work to whip them into touring shape.  I was hoping for an easy recovery day today and ended up actually getting it!  The weather was cold and the threat of rain hung in the sky all day, but I stayed dry.  No headwinds to speak of with plenty of flat riding and way more downhill coasts with easy-graded climbs.  Knowing I’d be taking a breather today I ate a big breakfast at a cafe and sat around for an hour drinking coffee.  I opened my banking app and found a branch nearby and rode over to withdrawal some cash.  I had lost my debit card right before beginning the trip, and while explaining this to the teller was delighted to find out they could print me a new one in house while I waited.  Pretty cool!  

Ten miles out from where I’m staying tonight in Belfair State Park I finally found someone else riding a bike with a bunch of stuff strapped to it.  I’ve been wondering where my touring brethren are as at this point on my last trip I’d already met quite a few.  This, however, was no ordinary encounter as this was “SuperDave”.  This old fella has been riding up and down the Pacific Coast for the last 15 years!  I’d seen mention of him in multiple touring blogs I’d read in planning for this tour.  He’s undoubtably met thousands of cycle tourists over the years.  We chatted for about 20 minutes before heading on down the road.  He told me to tell his friends in Monterey when I get there that he is doing okay.  I’m not sure who exactly I’m supposed to tell this to, but maybe I’ll find out?  Anyway, early to bed tonight in hopes of healing the ailments.  Happy Friday to all, and of course “May the 4th be with you”.

Day 3 - Anacortes, WA to Poulsbo, WA

Have you ever thought about what your favorite road sign is?  After today I sure as shit know mine.  I was up early again and back in the saddle by around 7:30.  I’m starting to recall certain elements from my previous tour, and the biggest one that came to me today is that the first 5 miles in the morning are always the worst.  Joints are clicking and muscles are burning.  Every part of your body except (maybe) your brain are just asking what was so bad about that warm cozy sleeping bag you so readily abandoned?  As such, yea, I had difficulty getting going and had rapidly resolved to stopping at a county park 40 miles away.  27 miles in I arrived at the ferry that goes from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend at around 10:30. The next boat didn’t leave for a bit and I ended up losing over 2 hours before reaching Port Townsend. 

Getting back to pedaling I spent the next hour on a reinvigorating bike path that ended just shy of the originally planned campsite.  Aside from the obvious physical stressors of riding I also find it draining to constantly be looking up at the helmet mirror making sure death isn’t headed for you.  Feeling strong I pressed on across 22 more miles of rolling “gentle” hills as the lady at the grocery store phrased it.  Not so much.  I did finally make it into Kitsap State Park for the evening where I treated myself to a double shower.  I’ll explain my comedy of errors I’ve had with Washington State Park’s shower token system another time.  62 miles today!

Day 2 - Birch Bay, WA to Anacortes, Wa

Today ended up being a pretty early test of will after starting off smoothly.  In making every effort to avoid getting stuck with the rest of the bill for last night’s campsite I was packed up and back on the road by 7am this morning.  By 9:30 I had made it 25 miles into Bellingham. I hadn’t had anything for breakfast and was starving by then.  I ended up raiding a grocery store for a chicken samosa, two donuts, and a cup of coffee.  One of the perks to bike touring is throwing calories straight out the window because the furnace is hot, and anything will burn.  Following breakfast/lunch I pushed on into 15 miles of rolling hills, spending much of this time alternating between 5mph and 25mph.  Pretty views helped ease the burden as I traveled along the Puget Sound.  I unfortunately had my right knee start chirping a bit later in the day so I’ll need to make sure to monitor that. All in all it was a 64 mile day that brought me into Deception Pass State Park for the evening.

Day 1 - Vancouver, BC to Birch Bay, WA

The trip officially got underway today with a 59 mile ride from Vancouver to Birch Bay State Park.  I left the hotel around 8am, grabbed my final Tim Hortons meal of the trip, and biked the 3 miles to the official starting point shown on my map. After that today was all about wrong turns and correcting them. Cycling through big cities is exciting, but following directions with frequent turns is difficult to do without stopping too often.  There was also a detour with very poor signage for the bridge pictured below that I wasted a nice chunk of time chasing down.  Arriving at the border around 2pm I attempted to ride through the vehicle checkpoint, but was ushered to the pedestrian pass through which meant having to park the bike, go inside, and wait 20 minutes for them to have an available agent to check my passport. All good - they were friendly and let me grab a selfie before riding back into the USA.  Here in Birch Bay I was expecting hiker/biker campsites, but the self-checkin signs stated the cheapest site was $25. I tried calling the number that was posted to ask about the $12 dollar sites I saw online but the number was disconnected. As a result, I grabbed a $35 site and slipped $15 into the envelop. The park is virtually empty so hopefully nothing will backfire there.