Category: N/A

We got back on our bikes today. No real riding still, but we’re camping tonight and ready for our ride tomorrow. There are two big positives from this unexpected stop in Olympia, WA. First, I got to watch the Uruguay vs. South Korea game this morning and the first half of the USA vs. Ghana game (which I won’t even begin to comment on). Second, Taka and I got some much needed rest. I know we’ve only been riding for a few days, but our legs were in shock from the 0-60 we put them through in order to start this trip. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll do our 50 mile ride at a good pace and be in Bay Center, WA by 5pm or earlier.

So back to today’s happenings. I got a really nice free breakfast at the hotel (eggs, ham, potatoes, homemade bread, fresh orange juice) and waited in the room until checkout at 11am. The bike shop didn’t open until 11am and our bus wasn’t scheduled until 1:10pm. We got to the bus stop right after checkout, Taka went to get his bike, and when he came back I went to find a place to watch some of the US game. I came back with plenty of time to get everything ready for quick loading and unloading from the county bus we were waiting on. It got there about 10 minutes early and we got all of our stuff to the back of the bus. We got to Montesano after about an hour and fifteen minute ride, ate some lunch, and then made our way up to Lake Sylvia State Park. We climbed up a pretty steep hill to get here, and when we made it to the entrance they had a “Camp Sites Full” sign waiting for us. I asked a ranger on duty about it and she said she always keeps some hiker/biker sites available. Our hiker/biker site is actually pretty cool, you go up a mini trail and camp elevated from everyone else. There are two little sites where we’re staying and the other one is empty, so it’s like our own private area. The lake here is pretty nice as well, I may have to come back here in my car. They have multiple campsites right on the water. That’s about it, time to get some rest for tomorrow’s ride.

-Chris

’m in Olympia, Washington now. This was not the planned route, but we had some bike troubles today. Taka’s pedal FELL OFF! The pedal literally came out of the crank and couldn’t go back in because the threading in the crank was completely stripped. This happened just after the 2 mile mark of our ride today. I saw that Shelton was another 10 miles up, so we tried to make it there. Taka electric taped the hell out of his pedal and he made it another 7 miles where the pedal came off again and that was pretty much the end of it. He bought some Krazy Glue at a nearby gas station, we waited about 30 minutes for it to dry, but no dice. I ended up biking the 3 miles up to the Shelton exit, another 2 miles into the nearest hardware store (there was no bike shop there) and bought some strong adhesives. In the meantime, Taka had found a Walmart and bought an epoxy compound. I waited on the 101 off the Shelton exit for an hour while the glue dried on the pedal. I saw him coming down the hill to the exit where I was waiting, just to see the pedal fall off of his bike again right before he reached the exit.

At this point, we decided to get to the closest bike shop (which I had already looked into and it was Olympia, WA). As we were trying to figure out the best way to get there, a Mason County bus went by with a phone number on it. Taka called the number and they actually sent a bus to come get us. We loaded our bikes on the bus and they drove us a short way to the civic center in Shelton where we could catch the main bus to Olympia (this ride was free by the way). As we got on the 2^nd bus to Olympia, the bus driver handed us a post-it with an address to a bike shop in Olympia and said it was near one of her stops. Apparently the Mason County Transit department had phoned her for us and told her the situation. We sat in the back of the bus with my trailer and a couple of makeshift shady characters. Two of them were young and eager to talk to us, the third was a real shady looking guy who looked like he had spent a good amount of time in jail (Taka just reminded me that he had said he did jail time). Funny note on that subject was that some guy in front of us with a Mohawk was bumping some Britney Spears sounding music and the thug looking dude pushed his shoulder and told him to turn it down or at least “change that chick music” and then proceeded to make fun of him as he did it.

So, after the three guys in the back, the bus driver, and a couple of people riding towards the front of the bus telling us where all the bike shops in downtown Olympia were, we went out on our way. We got to the bike shop and a real cool tech helped us out. He’ll have Taka’s bike ready tomorrow morning with new cranks, new pedals, and a new set of gears added. Also, I asked him to take a look at my handlebar which had felt a bit loose since I had it shipped. Turns out he had called the manufacturer for my particular stem regarding the same issue and he had it tightened for me within 2 minutes. After we left the bike shop we found a hotel in the capitol district and figured out our plans for the next few days. We then went to the Bay Buff Café and I had one of the best dinners I could ask for; peppercorn New York Steak, garlic mashed potatoes, garlic prawns, and crème brulee.

So, crazy day, but it all worked out pretty well in the long run and we’ll be back on the road tomorrow.

-Chris

Today was a short ride, only about 30 miles. We could have done more, but the next campsite wasn’t for 45 miles (which is our ride tomorrow). It was a nice ride through the Hood Canal today, nice views of the ocean through towns that have lots of oyster farms. We ended at Potlatch State Park at about 3:30pm, so we got some decent rest today. Hopefully that rest will pay off tomorrow. We’re both pretty damn sore, but I’m optimistic that it will only get better from this point on. Our campsite is nice (we have a creek right next to us) and the ocean is about 100 yards from us as well. I’ve put up some pictures. Side note: I ate a burger and shake in Hoodsport (about 4-5 miles from our campsite), it was delicious. Second side note: we finally have a bunch of hikers/bikers camping next to us.

Third Side Note: When I walked from our campsite to the beach to take the pictures below, I got stopped within 1 minute by a cop asking if I had a tattoo on my neck. I thought he was joking, but he was totally serious. Apparently the cops and their canine unit had just chased a guy into this area wearing “biker type” shorts and a tattoo on his neck.

-Chris

We successfully went up and down US 101 through Mt. Walker today. It wasn’t too bad, it was about 4 miles of straight uphill, followed by 4 miles of much needed downhill. I can’t think of too many times I’ve felt as great as coming down that mountain going about 30 mph on my bike. Other than that, we had some nice rolling hills today, a few tough, steep uphill climbs, but a nice ride for the most part. We had 28 miles to the next campsite, so we decided to stop just past the 40 mile mark. It’s a nice, well maintained campground, almost looks like El Dorado Park in Long Beach, but with bigger trees, more insects, and a beach across the highway. We got in by 5pm today, so we had some time to relax, eat peacefully, and setup camp without rushing. Again, no pictures today, I’ll do my best to take some tomorrow.

Day 2 of riding and it was a rough one. We started off the day with some ridiculous hills, it got better for a little while, then more uphill. We rode for about 8 hours (excluding a ferry ride and lunch). You never really notice the terrain that you’re driving on, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated having a car more than right now. 40 miles later, we’re here on the last and biggest island.

I didn’t get any pictures today because I didn’t want to take my camera out of my trailer bag after it was all packed. We did see some great nature scenes today (even though it was jaded by the uphill climb while we were passing them for the most part). About 8 miles into the ride we passed Deception Pass (a narrow bridge over a river between the two islands). The fog was thick below us and looked amazing over the water with the boats going through it. Taka got some pictures, so I’ll put those up when I get them. We followed the coast pretty directly today and got to see the ocean a lot, sometimes with houses in front of it, sometimes with medium sized farms in front of it. After the ferry ride, we had a short 3 mile bike ride to Fort Worden State Park, but we had some trouble finding the campsites. Apparently there are two campsite areas, one on the beach and one a little bit higher up, but we couldn’t find either in the short span of patience we gave the search. Instead, we ran into a hostel and decided to stay here. It worked out pretty well, I think I needed the nice hot shower.

All in all the day was pretty hard, but I’m looking forward to moving on tomorrow. Tomorrow we ride uphill until almost the summit of Walker Mountain here in Washington, but that means we get a nice long downhill ride once we pass the peak. Wish me luck tomorrow!

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

Today was a pretty nice day. We were supposed to go whale watching at 10am, but I received a call to our room right before we left telling us that they didn’t book enough people to go out, so they wanted us to wait for the 1:30pm trip. After realizing that we didn’t have anything better to do, we agreed to wait. We had to check out of the room by 11am, so we went down to the ocean after that and hung out there for the remaining 2 hours. The scenery is just like those British Columbia commercials, amazingly calm and pleasant.

Once we got to Sea Quest (whale watching office) we left our bags in their office and suited up after a little more waiting. I’ve put a couple of pictures in the gallery below of the jumpsuits they had us put on. We got on the boat pretty quickly (12 of us) and started off into the San Juan Island area to find the whales. Apparently they get 3 or 4 different families of whales that come out every single Summer to feast on the salmon out here. The ride out was real fun, we were going about 27 knots over some turbulent waters so it made for a great ride. It took about 20 minutes to get to the whales and it was fantastic. It’s not like whale watching back home in Long Beach where they hope to catch a whale on the tour; these guys know there are whales and they really do group up (we saw about 17-18 of them). It was hard to catch pictures of them as they leapt out of the water or blew water out of their blow holes, but I managed to get a couple of decent shots. The driver turned off the engine of the boat once we were within about 100 meters, but the whales found their way over to us and at one point came straight at us and under our boat (there’s a few close up shots in the picture gallery that weren’t zoomed). After a while on the wavy waters, I started getting a little bit seasick (we were out there for 3 hours), nothing too bad, but some of those waves were not comfortable in the least bit. I wasn’t the only one, when I looked around on our small boat, about 6 of the others were sitting and trying to settle their nausea. On the ride back we made a pit stop near some seals and private islands and then headed straight back for Sidney. Once back, we headed for the bus stop.

It was about a 20 minute bus ride into Victoria, then a 20-30 minute walk to our hotel. This should be our last wait in British Columbia before we get our bikes early Monday morning. We ate at the bar on the second floor of the hotel and then watched some of the open mic night performers before heading in for the night.

So here’s what’s going on. My Japanese friend and I got to Sidney, BC yesterday at about 1:30pm, I have been on the phone pretty consistently with Fedex since yesterday starting at about 10am because they delayed our bikes again from today (Friday) to Monday, June 21^st. Keep in mind that our bicycles were supposed to be here yesterday (same day that we landed).

Now back to the play by play blog. We’re in Sidney, caught up on some sleep yesterday, watched the NBA Finals (no comment), and then crashed for the night.

Today I woke up and got on the phone with Fedex immediately, was told that our packages were delayed again, but then found out that that wasn’t true when I called the Fedex in Portland, Oregon. As of now, I am still expecting our equipment on Monday. We booked a hotel in Victoria, BC for Saturday and Sunday night so that we can pick up our stuff early in the morning and for a change in scenery. It actually is really nice and pleasant in Sidney, but the town couldn’t be any smaller. I’ll be uploading some pictures with this post of the ocean, but know that the whole town is about 6 blocks long (population 12,000 according to the visitor center, but I think they’re inflating the number a bit).

That’s pretty much it for now, I will update as things progress.

-Chris