Potentially one of Seattle's last sunny, warm weekends means... Get out on your bike!
I started the weekend tour from the city after work on Friday, bolted straight to the ferry downtown, and rode up at 5:29 to be the last cyclist let on board (phenomenal timing incident #1, there were a few this trip, I'll keep count!). I took the ferry to Bainbridge Island (about a half hour) and stopped at the T&C for the weekend's groceries - pitas, peanut butter, granola, an apple, a fruit cup.
Next was the ride about 7mi north, the length of Bainbridge, to a campsite at Fay Bainbridge Park. Mostly pleasant, only one huge wall of a hill, which could be mostly my fault for choosing a random side street to take me off of the main road. This was the only point at which I wanted to call it... PAINBRIDGE ISLAND.
The campsite was busy and pleasant - right on the water, lots of cars and RVs, but bikers/hikers camping got priority on the little sites closest to the beach. I met a guy, Josh, who was touring fully loaded from Vancouver to Santa Barbara! Awesome trip! We hung out and nerded out over bikes, gear, tours, and upcoming routes over beers and a campfire before crashing.
Day 1:
Dist: 8.12
Time: 36 mins
Avg speed: 13.29
Max: 38.11
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Ferry to Bainbridge |
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Seattle shipyards+stadiums |
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Seattle from the ferry |
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There must've been 35 cyclists getting off of the 5:30 ferry. What a cool commute! Getting off looked like starting blocks at a race. |
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Plainbridge |
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Sweet campsite! |
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Being stoic |
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Josh's awesome vintage Bridgestone MB-1 |
Day 2 I got a relatively slow start in the morning, breakfasted with Josh, split up and planned to meet in Port Townsend in the evening. I had an awesome ride up North over a sketchy bridge off of Bainbridge, through Suquamish, to Point No Point (my favorite) and its lighthouse at lunch, back down South past Port Gamble, North across the 104 bridge (very cool), and North again, following the coast on some side roads suggested by lighthouse volunteers, to Port Townsend. We each got a few bike compliments from a local bike shop owner, caught up over incredible burgers at the Owl Spirit Cafe in Port Townsend, and entirely lost track of time in a state of burger bliss. I snapped out of a burger coma when I randomly decided to check the ferry schedule - the next one was leaving in 7 minutes and there wouldn't be another for another hour and a half! Shit! We bolted and were the last ones onto the ferry (phenomenal timing incidents #2&3) after a 1/2-mile sprint. Excellent. The ride to Mukilteo was about 20 minutes and our campsite was right next to the terminal at Fort Casey State Park. It had a ton of cool old war relics, but unfortunately the cyclist/hiker section of the campground was behind a wooden fence amidst a sea of RVs with generators running. We made the most of it with a 10-mile round-trip nighttime beer run (the closest store to us - not much happening on Whidbey, apparently) and battling wet wood and condensation for an extremely disappointing and difficult, underperforming campfire. The stars were phenomenal, though, so I used my rain fly as a blanket/dew shield, opting for a stellar night sky view (pun very much intended).
Day 2:
Dist: 76.61
Time: 5:49
Avg speed: 13.16
Max speed: 38.49
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Weird painted rocks. Island people... |
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This bridge was terrifying to ride on... |
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...but had some excellent views. |
Pointless venture
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At Point No Point |
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Cheez. Nice lighthouse wall. |
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Lunch at Point No Point Lighthouse - Apples, PB, Cinnamon+Flax Granola on a whole wheat pita. Also solar-charging devices and scopin' boats with my 'noculars. |
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Pointless beachgoers at Point No Point |
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Great place for a farm! |
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Some fall coloration happening in Port Gamble |
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Really contesting the acclaimed king-sizedness of this ice cream sammich but it was still the best $1.50 I spent that day. |
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Josh, dinner at Owl Spirit Cafe |
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Oh My Burger |
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A fine ship |
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You put your jacket on because it's cold on the front of the ferry |
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Yeah, like that. |
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mtns |
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Into the campsite on Whidbey |
The next day I woke up and got on the small non-RV-park side of the RV park and watched the sunrise while a ferry came in and out. Weirdly surreal and picturesque! After breakfasting on a fruit cup and some more granola, I decided to ride with Josh back to Seattle even though he was carrying a lot more crap than I was due to his coastal expedition (of which I am still envious). We had a leisurely pace and made a ton of stops, took scenic routes, and talked more than would have been possibly had the exercise actually been consistently strenuous. Friendship! Very cool to ride with someone else for a change. We made it pretty consistently through the center of Whidbey because, again, there wasn't much going on. Still very pretty in parts, though! Some stops included: potentially abandoned ferry terminal POWER HOUSE (always all caps), sign into Useless Bay (even worse than Point No Point, what is going on with these islands?!), and a self-service pottery sale. The ferry to Mukilteo was short, and we then became the grossest patrons of Patty's Eggnest, a fine diner with a few locations around town - I'd been to one in Arlington, so I was thrilled when I found out I could once again drown myself in sausage gravy in a new location. Not a lot of beautiful scenery for awhile as we bounced through Seattle's North suburbs over to the tip of Lake Washington to go to 192 Brewery Co. on the Burke-Gilman trail for a few beers to get us the rest of the 16-ish miles home. Possibly a bad idea, as we had to stop again halfway to rehydrate and refuel on pitas while laying on the side of the Burke. No problem, though! We made a full recovery and made it back to my place through familiar bike paths before it got too dark.
I also GoPro'd basically the entire day from my handlebars, save for a little bit of time after batteries died and were then charged. The GoPro is a really neat little camera, but I wish the battery life weren't so atrocious - even on a timelapse, the battery only lasts about 2.5 hours. Doesn't help me too much when I'm out riding for 10 hours a day. I'm sure they're working on it.
Day 3:
Dist: 64.34
Time: 5:29
Avg speed: 11.71
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Sunrise |
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Cliche PNW |
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Holiest log |
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Modest campsite |
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Beehive! |
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Outfit for the day. Almost. |
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2 power houses |
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POWER HOUSE |
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POWER.... CLIMB? |
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Spooky POWER HOUSE overgrowth |
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It gets worse |
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Honesty-policy-based pottery sales. I like it. |
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Ferry - gopro |
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Cool shadow gopro |
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BRUNCH |
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Burke-Gilman - gopro |
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THE LAST - gopro |
Overall, perfect distance, breakpoints, amenities, restaurants, and weather for a quick summer/fall weekend trip! My slick tires and skinny rims performed admirably, although I am pretty sure I beat them up more than I should've. Will most definitely get my more indestructible wheelset out for any heavier venture. Anyway, enough writing. Time to plan the next tour.
Mike