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.

April 30th - Vancouver, BC

After a 21 hour train ride to Seattle and 3 hour bus ride I’ve finally made it to my favorite country that I’ve never been to.  The Amtrak ride was difficult to find sleep on due to a cabin mate that snored like a Mack truck. Around 2am I finally slipped down to the empty cafe car and drifted off for a bit before they started to reopen around 5am.  The older gentlemen I was sitting next to in my proper seat was riding up to Seattle from his home in LA only to turn around and head back on the south bound train the next day. A testament to the gorgeous scenery this inland route has to offer - and thankfully inland as to not spoil anything coastal for me. 

Following a customs check at the border the bus dropped me off a couple of kilometers away from my hotel so I set off in the brisk Vancouver night to find it.  Notttt a great part of town to traverse at night but as far as I could tell there was no reason to worry just a lot of homeless folk. Checked in at 1:30 in the morning and passed out the second my head hit the pillow. 

Woke up around 8am and was deadset on having my first Tim Hortons experience.  I don’t have any statistics to back this up, but I think Timmy’s are more common in Canada than McDonald’s are in the homeland. As such, within a 5 minute walk I was inhaling a TH breakfast burrito that was magical after an Amtrak pretzel dinner the previous evening. 

Post-breakfast I showered, grabbed the bike, and headed out for a mini tour of Vancouver.  My budget friendly hotel while basic had the enormous perk of being just slightly east of downtown.  I pedaled around the bike-friendly city for an hour before beginning an amazing 10 mile loop around the famous Stanley Park.  Breathtaking views of downtown and North Vancouver were available here.  Now back at the hotel to quickly post this before walking around to find a good dinner spot and some Canadian pals.  Tomorrow it begins.

A New Adventure - Vancouver, BC to Lake Tahoe, CA

Nearly 6 years ago to the day I completed my first bike tour across the Southern portion of the US.  It was an incredible experience that I knew back then I'd never forget.  It's always nice to read through the old blog here and try and relive some of the magic that is cycle touring - definitely glad that I chose to chronicle it like I did.  

Fast forward to 2018 and here I am on the precipice of diving into a whole new adventure.  During the first trip I ran into quite a few touring cyclists whom were not on their inaugural trip.  I distinctly remember hearing about how, if the trip was enjoyable to me, I'd plan another one down the line.  I suppose they knew what they were talking about.

When in the planning stages of this new tour I quickly decided that the preference was to see as much of the West Coast as possible having moved out to California last year.  In researching Adventure Cycling's map offerings for this region I was excited to see that the Pacific Coast is widely considered a world class cycling route.  It begins in Vancouver, BC and with only a few exceptions has you riding right along the ocean all the way to San Diego, CA.  I immediately knew this would be a part of the route, but the two concerns were that I'd already been through San Diego on the last trip, and that at roughly 1,700 miles the tour wasn't going to be quite long enough to fill the gap of free time I'd carved out.  My goal was to have the tour end in Lake Tahoe, CA in early July as a I have a family vacation scheduled there.  To not end up cycling back the same way I'd came I pieced together some other routes that will take me East once I reach Los Angeles.  From there I'll make my way to the Grand Canyon before looping back Northwest via Utah and Nevada to get back into California.

The idea for this trip was hatched back at the beginning of the year, and I can't believe how fast time has flown since then.  In just 5 days I'll be boarding the train that'll take me to the starting line.  So many hours have gone into preparation and planning, but soon it'll just be time to pedal.  I'll be trying to update the blog as frequently as possible, although on my last tour I chose to bring a netbook with me which made the blogging easier.  This time I'll just be rolling with an iPhone, so we'll see how that goes.  Please feel free to comment on the entries as extra motivation is always welcomed.  The trip will officially be underway on May 1st!

Gear breakdown (loosely from left to right):  Sleeping bag, tent poles, tent, sleeping pad, towel & wash cloth, inflatable pillow, rain suite, rain shoe covers, cycling shorts, camelbak, spare tubes, lifestraw filter, cleaning wipes, cycling gloves, shorts, underwear, t-shirts, maps, passport, socks, long johns, toilet paper, mess kit, stove, fuel canisters, bike light, head lamp, sunscreen, vitamins, caffeine pills, bear mace, air pump, chain grease, chainlink tool, tube repair kit, bike muli-tool, tire lever, duct tape, camera, kindle, solar power bank

It all packs pretty neatly into rear paniers, a handlebar bag, and a couple compression bags
Weighing in at just over 35 lbs

The noble steed packed and ready for the journey