June 21, 2010
First official day of riding complete! We picked up our bikes from Fedex at about 8am and got them assembled by about 9:30am. My bike got particularly dismantled in the packing process, so I wasn’t able to get my brakes and steering setup properly. I had seen a bike shop on my way into Victoria, so I decided to take my bike there and ask for some help. The bike tech told me they were real busy, but that he would take a look at my bike because I was starting my tour. Turns out that I was real lucky to have taken the bike in to the shop because he found all sorts of things loose or just messed up in general (from the rear rack to my derailleur). He told me that he replaced all my aluminum nuts and bolts with steel ones since they’re better for touring and wished me luck on my trip after charging me close to nothing.
The Lochside Trail (path back to Sidney and the ferry) was easy to find since we had seen it on our way in as well. We almost got lost once, but a really nice older (50s) couple saw us and asked if we needed help getting somewhere. Once we told them we were heading to Sidney they told us to follow them until we got back onto the main path. I didn’t stop to take pictures since I was happy to be riding, but it was a beautiful route. We went over several long wooden bridges that crossed lakes, plenty of dirt trails, and went through neighborhoods of huge homes and vast farms. It really was a nice start to our trip.
After waiting several hours for the ferry to Anacortes, Washington, we got on and settled in for the two and a half hour ride. On the way, we bought a bunch of M&Ms and used them as chips to play poker (quarter a piece). I only mention this because I won 10 bucks from Taka and wanted to rub it in publicly. Even one of the employees on the ferry came out and gave him a hard time for losing. Other than that, the ride was real nice through the San Juan Islands, I’ve put some pictures up with this post.
Once we got to Washington, it was a short 2 mile ride to Washington Park where we’ve setup camp and I’m about to get some rest. From the short ride over I’m anticipating a lot of big hills tomorrow.
-Chris
