i signed up with a company called “Wheeling Washington” (it no longer exists). it was a 7-day bicycle ride from Seattle, WA to Long Beach, WA. it was a highly organized bicycle tour.
in 1997 i had bought a touring bicycle. it was lightweight (more lightweight than my road bicycle. i drove up to Long Beach, WA. part of the instructions for the bicycle ride was that you could fly to Seattle, WA and meet the bicycle ride there or meet a bus in Long Beach, WA. i decided to meet the bus in Long Beach, WA.
i drove my car with my bicycle on a rack on the back of the car from CA to Eugene, OR the first night and the next day made it to Long Beach, WA. there were quite a few people that were meeting the bus there. one elderly gentleman, Marvin, had a very expensive bicycle that was Italian. i ended up sitting next to him on the bus and conversing with him.
i had met some women on the bicycle ride in 1996 in CA Redwoods Tour and had told them about this tour. they were on this tour as well. it was a good meeting to see them.
the first evening was a dinner with a meeting about the first day — our ferry ride in the a.m. from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. we had rules on the ferry. there were certain cleats (on our bicycle shoes) that we could not wear and those had to be removed before you could go on the ferry — i believe they were TIME cleats. i had recessed cleats so i didn’t need to worry about that process. the first day’s mileage wasn’t bad (less than 50 mi).
Sunday, 6 Sept the road down to the ferry stop was so steep i had to get off my bicycle and walk the bike down the hill (it was as steep as a hill in San Francisco might be!). anyway, the bike ride was a good one. got a shower at the end of the day. took several photos during the day. 48.8 mi day. i bought lunch at mile 18.4
we were at a football type field and set up my tent. seating inside the building where we were to eat was limited so i ate outside. we had BBQ chicken with the fixings. i ended up walking with Marvin around town. we went to a pier and looked at the boats.
Monday, 7 Sept. i quickly got up, took down my tent & put my luggage in the trucks. I grabbed a bagel and some cream cheese and wheeled my bicycle down to the ferry. there was a 7 a.m. or 745 a.m. ferry. i chose the 7 a.m. ferry ride. it was foggy and cool that morning. there was a 1/2 hr ferry ride during which i ate my bagel. we went to Whidbey Island this time (Keystone). at mile 29.2 there was a checkpoint. i bought cookies and a Gatorade. we passed Deception Pass. we left Whidbey Island and went onto Fidelgo Island via bridges. we came upon another ferry at mile 38.9. and we took the ferry to Orcas Island. it was very windy there. i don’t remember which ferry i took — we had three options (the 1240p, 255p or the 430p). days mileage was 49.9 we ended up at a Camp Orkila and we were camping in our tents still. it was near a lake and very beautiful scenery.
Tuesday, 8 Sept we had to be at the ferry by 8a. from Camp Orkila it was 10.4 mi. so, it was hurry-scurry in the a.m. from taking down the tent, to eating breakfast, etc. we were supposed to go a round-about way to bicycle back to the ferry stop but i didn’t. i bicycled the same route we had come in on — a more direct route, and i made it to the ferry on time. i felt better about that. i didn’t feel guilty at all.
we were going to Canada — Victoria, today. we had to have our passports with us. i fell a couple of times today — couldn’t get my cleats out of the pedals quick enough. oh well. mileage this day was only 39.9. ate lunch at mile 21.5. ordered a banana/apple pie. it wasn’t too good. found salt & vinegar Pringles at lunch and bought some. when we came into town, Victoria, the traffic was quite busy. most of the cyclists i was with stopped and walked their bicycles but i kept cycling until i got to the stopping point –the Glad Tidings Pentacostal Church. i ended up putting my sleeping bag and pad on the floor of the second floor of the church. there were couches, etc and those had been commandeered by several other people already.
we ended up eating outside. we ate well for dinner — roast beef and corn on the cob. in the evening, us girls that had been hanging together went walking around town. we found a Dutch bakery that was closed. but they took a pic of me next to it.
Wednesday, 9 Sept was a ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA. the ferry wasn’t until 1030a. we had breakfast and then i took off to sightsee. i stopped at the Dutch Bakery and bought some cookies and they had some meat pies. not very Dutch to me but i bought a bagel, some pastries and a couple of turkey pies at the Dutch bakery. then i went to a tourist shop and bought a Canadian t-shirt. i remember seeing all the maple leaves on the t-shirts. i stupidly asked, “What’s with all the maple leaves?” then the proprietor said “the maple leaf is on the Canadian flag” OOOH! how dumb of me!
we took a few pics and then went to the ferry. it was a 1 hr and 35 min crossing to WA. it was sort of choppy going across the bay.
it was a windy day on the road. at mile 16.3 i ate one turkey pie. at mile 27.9 we were riding around Lake Crescent, beautiful, and someone finally helped me adjust my seat (my knee was bothering me), and i ate my second turkey pie. we had a nice long clime (2 miles). i was beginning to eat GU (a gel that has a taste and gives you energy) once an hour and finally around mile 43.1 i found some people who i could draft behind. that helped immensely. the miles that day were 56.7.
i ate and ate that evening. i had a baked potato with everything (and i mean EVERYTHING) on it. then i had a peanut butter and jelly sandwith. then i had some ice cream and cake. i was scarfing everything down everything in sight. we were at Forks, and camping again. i had not stopped for lunch that day since i was eating my turkey pies and eating GU. no wonder i ate everything in sight at dinner!
Thursday, 10 Sept was a foggy/drizzly day. it began that way and stayed that way most of the day. i had been in this area back in ’95 when i took a vacation and went to Hoh Rain Forest. i had traveled these roads with a car. it was very nice to be on a bicycle instead even though it was cold.
we had a very nice breakfast in the a.m. everything was very green and lush in that area. at mile 34.8 we had lunch at the beach. it was wet and drizzly but noone seemed to care. i just didn’t want to stay too long and get too cold. there was hamburgers, chips and cookies and M&M’s mixed with peanuts for energy. i tried to not stay too long after eating (wanted my food to digest a little), at mile 68.6 we finally came to Lake Quinault. we had camping here. it was beautiful. moss hung on the trees. we were at the Rain Forest Resort Village near the lake. i took quite a few photos of the area. dinner was salmon, salad, corn on the cob and i bought blackberry pie on my own.
Friday, 11 Sept we woke up bright and early (like any other day we’d be on this tour) and took down our tents. i was camping near the other women i’d been with and my alarm alone woke me and then i would wake them. we always woke around 6a. we went on a short hike before we left this a.m. at mile 32.2 i stopped at a Texaco market and bought a sandwich and a juice. that was my lunch. we were still in WA. at mile 46 there was a woman that was following me because she felt i was a better leader (at the time). i think she was following me too close. i turned a corner and she followed me and she said something about being on my wheel, and falling, she couldn’t get out of her pedal. i tried to keep going. i couldn’t get out of my pedal either. i finally said, i’m stopping and i fell over. she fell over too, but she fell harder. she said she hurt her shoulder bad. she sat down and i went to her. i didn’t know what she was doing behind me so close.
the van came and got her and took her to a hospital to get her shoulder x-rayed. it was not broken, only bruised, i guess. she did not ride the rest of the day. i continued riding with someone else that was riding with us. soon thereafter, we came to another ferry (Westport/Ocean Shores Ferry) that we would take us to the day’s destination — Westport. we had a lunch waiting for us at the ferry stop.
everyone had put their bicycles along a fence. i just put my bicycle along the fence with the bicycles. i did not understand that i should put my bicycle at the end of the line. i ended up catching the 245p ferry. you should have seen how many bicycles that guy got on his boat. it was a 20 minute ferry ride across to Westhaven. when we got off in Westhaven, we bicycled .9 miles to Pacific Aire RV Resort for camping.
the trucks that held our luggage didn’t come and didn’t come. it was a beautiful evening but chilly. they finally brought beer to calm us somewhat, i guess. that was the first time they’d brought beer to us.
finally about an hour after we expected the trucks, the luggage came. we really couldn’t shower without our luggage, so we couldn’t do anything. i quickly set up the tent, etc. dinner was back at the restaurant in town of Westhaven (about 1.1 miles away from the RV resort where we were). everyone banded together and walked there. some took the sweep van and went in that. i don’t remember what we ate. it ended up being 51.9 miles that day
Saturday, 12 Sept was our last day of bicyclilng. i had been wearing a purple cycling jacket. i began at 730am. i had a small breakfast at the Islander restaurant in Westhaven and then took off. everyone was talking about the woman that hurt her shoulder. she would be cycling that afternoon (after lunch). at mile 5.8 i found that some men had been drafting behind me. at mile 10.9 i stopped and got some Gatorade. they had mentioned my purple jacket, that i’d been difficult to catch up to! it was lovely weather that a.m. at mile 23.0, i began drafting behind these men (instead of they drafting behind me!). they were kind enough to keep me in their draft line for some miles until we got into Raymond, WA. i parted from these men here because one of their group was a young man, Christopher, and he rode way too fast for me.
Raymond, WA is full of interesting sculptures and i remember seeing them as we bussed through there on the way to Seattle. i wanted to bicycle through here and take pictures of my favorite sculptures — which i did. we passed, also, South Bend which is the oyster capital of the world. at mile 44.1 we had a 1/2 mile hill before lunch. at lunch, we could make any type of burrito we could want. someone in the tour group operators told us that it was “downhill” all the way from here (to Long Beach). Yeah Right! it was up and down all the way into Long Beach. i was eating GU every hour on the hour. i was glad i had brought enough with me on the tour. 80.5 miles at the end of the day!
i came to my car in Long Beach, put my bicycle on it. and drove to the Chautauqua Lodge where the luggage was stored already. i picked up my luggage and started driving towards Salem where i planned to stay that night.
my mistake was not driving on the north side of Washington. i instead crossed the bridge into OR and drove through Portland. i got lost in Portland. i ended up stopping at a Taco Bell, and drove over a parking bump (a cement one) and thankfully didn’t mess up the undercarriage of my car). finally found the freeway, and found Salem. by the time i got into Salem and got a Motel 6, i was so exhausted, i could hardly open the zipper on my luggage. someone told me the lactic acid had probably built up in my system. thus i couldn’t open my fingers.
i did get a small pizza at a local pizzeria and a large soda.
i stayed the night in Salem. left the next a.m. for home in CA. finally got home the next day. what a beautiful / crazy bicycle ride.
taynabay 