pacificcoasthighway – Page 3 – Emilie Bikes and Hikes

Day 9: May 17th; Eagle Cliff WA – Astoria OR; 41 miles

Nothing like starting the day with hills, rain, and logging trucks to really wake you up! We both were pretty traumatized by yesterday’s afternoon ride so getting back on the death road took some encouragement. But eventually we did and thank God the traffic at 6:45am was pretty manageable. Of course we had some close encounters, but the majority of the trucks and cars kept their distance. Eventually we made it to the end and had a nice easy 3 miles to the ferry. We got a picture with the welcome to Washington (better late than never) and got on the ferry.

Because we spent 13 miles in the rain and cold, we were freezing. All we wanted to do was find a coffee shop and warm up. After we got off the ferry, we did just that. I’m pretty sure we were 10 minutes away from hypothermia. We spent and hour and a half in a coffee shop to warm up. We even indulged in the best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had. But alas, all the stalling in the world couldn’t put off the inevitable so back on our bikes we hopped.

We only had 28 miles left, but we were still chilly and just wanted to be at our destination. We even considered asking a man at the coffee shop who had a huge truck to drive us there, but we chickened out. We mainly didn’t want to start cause the ferry man told us about a 2.5 mile steep hill that we’d encounter right away. I wish people would just leave us to find out these things on our own! Sometimes it’s nice to have a little surprise – ha! We surely did encounter that hill immediately, but I’d say 2.5 miles was a bit of an overestimate. We got over it just fine and dandy.

It was an especially pretty hill because we ascended right into a cloud of mist. Sure once we got into the cloud it was rainy, but it made for a pleasant distraction. And the big climb gave way to an awesome descent. During the descent there were times I thought it down poured for brief second or two intervals. I soon realized that the rains matched up perfectly with when trucks without mud flaps would pass by. Upon this eureka moment, I looked down at my jacket and noticed it was splattered with mud. As was my face. Cycling is such a glamorous hobby.

After a bunch more hills, we eventually made it to Astoria. This was an especially important stop because it is the official end of the Transam. It only took 103 weeks to get to it but we made it!

Along the way to Astoria, we saw a ton of white crosses along the highway, noting the death of someone along that road. Not surprised necessarily, as there are beer cans and liquor bottles littering the side of the road and the cars are going way faster than the speed limit, it is a huge reminder to ride defensively and carefully. Before she left this earth, my grandmother promised me she’d watch over me this summer, and I know she 100% is keeping that promise. I have a reminder of her on my handlebar bag and thank her for being with me every time a car gets a little too close.

We are staying with Steve, an awesome host from warm showers. We haven’t gotten to know him too well yet as he’s been working all day, but he’s super relaxed and hospitable. He lives on the steepest hill we have yet encountered. What a way to end the day.

We went out for dinner and got to explore the town a little. It’s super quirky with cute houses and sea lions! Steve said they’re a constant presence and once the novelty wears off, they’re super annoying, which makes total sense cause they’re super loud. We had a great dinner at a brewery and are turning in early. Astoria is known as the home of The Goonies, so in addition to exploring more tomorrow, we’re gonna check out some of the sights from the movie. So excited to have a day off the bike!

Day 8: May 16; Centralia – County Line Park, Eagle Cliff, WA; 61 miles

One week on the road! And we can see Oregon!! It’s teasing us. We’re camping along the Columbia river and Oregon is right across the river, staring us straight in the face. It’s not that we dislike Washington, it’s beautiful and has been treating us super well (weather, warm shower hosts, friendly strangers, not too too bad hills), but we’re ready to move on to new scenery. Plus Washington is super hard to navigate, what with all the inlets, bays, and ferry’s… we spend at least an hour a day trying to make heads and tails of maps. Who knows what Oregon has in store for us, but we’re excited.

We left the hotel today energized and ready to head to Longview. However, after a message from a warm shower host who couldn’t take us in warned us to not even consider staying in Longview, we scrambled to come up with a new plan. He said that the locals are unfriendly and advised us not to camp because of a high concentration of homeless who would likely act hostile towards us. Every day we have been out here we have been warned not to leave anything we own unseen, including bikes. After hearing so many stories about bikes being stolen from people on tours, we have gotten quite paranoid. In fact, last night we decided to take an Uber to dinner instead of riding our bikes 0.5 mile and lock them up. Even though the Uber was more expensive than dinner, it was worth it to make sure Ol’ Bess was safe and sound. We opted to completely bypass Longview and head to a park just outside of Cathlamet.

Although we got an excellent night sleep (I slept so well I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I was in my apartment and when I realized Addie wasn’t there I nearly cried) Sheena required some espresso to really wake up. Sure enough we found some 12 miles into the ride and she waited in line in the drive through.

We also got an amazing donut. Sheena and I are both trying to eat as healthy as possible, but we also want to support local businesses and taste local fare! Totally justifies total indulgence.

The first 37 miles of the ride were amazing. Rolling hills with a little mist, not nearly as cold as yesterday. It mostly looked like what I remember Kentucky looking like, including the poverty. We were chased by our first dog, coal dusted for the first time, but also met some really friendly people. We passed by one house with a cat on the front porch, to whom sheena praised with compliments. Within seconds, about 20 more cats ran out of the house to see us. Needless to say, Sheena will be moving in soon.

We stopped in Castle Rock to pick up some groceries and eat lunch. When we rolled in a gentleman exclaimed, “gosh you ladies move fast! I passed you 5 miles ago I can’t believe you made it so quickly!” That made us feel good, maybe were starting to pick up the pace?

Nah, it’s not that. Cause after lunch the rollers and good timing ended abruptly. We hit some lengthy and unpleasant hills that took a lot out of us. After 14 miles of that nonsense, we hit pretty flat terrain along the Columbia river. Sounds great! Except that the road we had to take was heavily trafficked with barely a shoulder. With windy and blind turns, it took us a great deal of time to get to our final destination. The road is used a lot by logging trucks speeding along and impatient pickup trucks who pass entirely too close. We had to stop at every turn out to prevent an anxiety attack and collect ourselves from escaping death countless times. Luckily, there is a construction light that held up traffic for around 2 minutes. Knowing this information, we knew that cars would come in waves. We timed our riding with the waves and were pretty successful for the most part. With only 2 miles left, we stopped for a bathroom break at an especially large turnout. An older couple pulled up and asked us where we were staying tonight. We said County Line Park, and a huge rush of relief washed over their face. “Oh good, we thought you were going to stay here and we couldn’t let you. Unsavory people come here late and you girls wouldn’t last the night”. Oh great, how reassuring! They told us that we had already cycled the worst of the road and the shoulder reappears. Sure enough they were right so we hot tailed it to the park to set up camp.

We’re staying in a nice campground on the river. After a good home cooked meal, we’re turning in early from pure exhaustion, likely from those last 10 miles avoiding death. We still have another 10 miles left on that road, but hopefully we leave early enough to avoid the worst of it (seriously – I don’t think we can handle another 10 miles of that same traffic!)

Day 7: May 15th; Shelton – Centralia WA; 57 miles

Today started with a bang… literally. I fell down an entire flight of steps. Now yes, I know I’m super clumsy, but- to my defense- the Parkins live in a 1920 style bungalow, meaning that the stairs are steep and shallow. That paired with just waking up, having my hands full, and wearing socks, was a recipe for disaster. So after slipping on the very first step, I had the entire flight to wake up. As did the rest of the house, and likely half the neighborhood. But I came out of it unharmed, with just a few more bruises I can add to the arsenal of bruises I’m already collecting all over my body.

Sheena and I rolled through 27 miles pretty smoothly, with the exception of mist and rain. The heat wave has definitely ended. The morning was a stark difference compared to yesterday.

I am not a fan of the cold or rain. So at our first rest stop I was grumpy and cold. We decided to take a short cut to shave off 10 miles. As we rode I warmed up and the grumpiness melted away. The route was pretty flat (compared to the previous few days) but heavily trafficked with logging and gravel trucks. There was a good shoulder, but still some trucks came a little too close. Thankfully we have some guardian angels on our side working overtime.

We rolled into Centralia around 1pm. We set up at a Starbucks to decide whether to keep going an additional 30 miles to a state park or stay in Centralia for the night. Because we spent 2 hours just sitting at Starbucks puttering around being lazy, we decided to stick to the original plan and stay put and get a hotel. While mulling over the decision, we spoke with someone who recognized the ACA maps. We talked briefly and turned out he’s running for Congress. Best of luck Dave! Great meeting you and Sally 🙂

After much debate, we finally decided on a motel in town. Nothing crazy, but definitely nice to be indoors when we know it’s going to be a chilly night tonight!

Also, as we head out in the morning (usually before 6:30am), our warm shower hosts have been taking pictures before we pedal away. We get a kick out of how miserable we look, despite getting a great stay and a great night sleep. Early morning grumpiness is a very real thing, we need to insist on taking the picture when we’re fully awake!

Day 6; May 14th: Silverdale- Shelton WA; 53 miles

After an incredible night’s sleep, the MacFarland’s greeted us with breakfast in the morning. We set out for Shelton early to beat traffic and the forewarned heat that was sure to strike in the afternoon. After getting lost a few times in Bremerton (seriously, ACA, these maps are confusing), we finally found our way and cruised through some good 17 miles before stopping at the cutest gas station convenience store and for the first time this trip, I succumbed to my chocolate milk addiction. I also made a friend with a dog who purely only wanted to hang out with me for my banana and donuts. Oh well, I miss Addie so much I’ll take whatever dog interaction I can get!

After the gas station pow wow, we moved on. We decided to take the advice of Gary and alternate from the ACA route to take a flat and shaded route by the water (rte 106). We are so happy we did! Not only was the route gorgeous, but we were shielded from the heat and traffic wasn’t so bad. Gary told us that Bill Gates owns a house on that street, though you’ll never know cause you can’t see it from the street and he even has a secret underground entrance. He was right cause we surely passed right by it without even noticing it. I guess if you’re Bill Gates, you can afford being super secrete!

Eventually 106 dumped us onto the all too famous hwy 101! Because we knew we only had 10ish miles left, we took a long lunch by a fish hatchery and literally took a nap in the gravel. Naps are one of those things where if you need one, better take it any way possible! After all, we knew we had a guaranteed shower at night, so being caked in dirt wasn’t the worst thing that could happen.

We knew we had a guaranteed shower cause once again we were using warm showers to host us. We found Larye and Judy who were kind enough to let us stay with them for the night. Larye is a retired software engineer and Judy is a retired nurse. Sound familiar to any parents I know? Hmm…

They are super sweet and made us dinner and an amazing dessert. They told us all about their love for touring and all about their family. They have great-great grandchildren, which I thought was pretty cool.

But alas, it is way past my bedtime and I’m falling asleep as I type this, so forgive any grammatical errors I may have made! We are really hoping tomorrow’s ride is just as enjoyable as today’s!

Day 5: May 13th; Fort Ebey State Park – Silverdale WA; 52 miles

Happy Mother’s Day! Especially to my mother. She is the prime example of selflessness, unwavering support, and demonstrates without fault dedication to family. Should I ever bless this earth with my own offspring, I hope to be 1/2 the mother she is… then I know I did well. Love you mom and miss you!

Despite all the trash I talked about last night’s campsite, I had the best nights sleep in the belly of the forest. Which is perfect, cause we woke up at 4:45am to catch a ferry into Port Townsend. The morning ride wasn’t bad and got to the ferry just in time. On the ferry, we got coffee and saw they had Marionberry yogurt, so we just had to have it. Sheena and I both heard of this berry, apparently it only grows in the PNW, from different avenues. If you ever seen Portlandia (again demonstrating my glorious taste in Tv) then you understand why I needed to try it. Decent stuff, nothing special. We spent some time in Port Ludlow for lunch and debated whether or not to have a “shorter day” or a longer one. Due to where we decided we’re going tomorrow, we planned on going the shorter route and stay in Silverdale.

Silverdale doesn’t have any campgrounds, nor does the town up the road Bremerton. Due to this, we decided to resort to warm showers to see if we could stay with anyone on that app. If you’re not familiar with warm showers, it’s an app where people (usually cyclists) advertise that they’re willing to host fellow cyclists at their home free of charge. They usually provide a bed, shower, and especially generous folks will cook you dinner. While practicing good caution, it can be very a useful and cheap alternative in a pinch. We were so lucky and got a few people willing to host us!

The ride into Silverdale just wasn’t fun. It was hot, the sun was super intense, and there were hill after hills. We rode on a lot of no shoulder roads, yet motorists weren’t the worst. Except one guy. I was taking a breather a top a hill (I admit, it wasn’t the smartest place to stop) but I was pretty far off the road. I heard a truck coming full Speed up the hill and saw him before he saw me. He was literally swerving onto the shoulder so I stepped back to avoid getting hit, not realizing I was stepping into a ditch. I fell backwards and Ol’ Bessie fell right on top of me. Super embarrassed (and mad at the truck driving idiot who nearly killed me), I found superhuman strength and lifted the bike off me and jumped out of the ditch. Which I realized after I got up was full of thorns that cut up my entire right leg. I had blood pouring down making for a grisly scene. I’ll spare you the picture cause it even makes me queasy. It’s all cleaned up now, so it just looks like I got into a nasty fight with a cat. And the cat won.

We did ride on what is called an engineering masterpiece, a floating bridge. Apparently it’s made of floating concrete and was a huge development in engineering cause it rises and sinks with the tide. Or something like that. I’m not really sure, cause I fell asleep after the short explanation…. it’s just a bridge.

We eventually rolled into Silverdale around 4:30pm and hauled up a huge hill to our host’s Janice and Gary house. It is a beautiful home with a gorgeous view of the water and is directly west of Seattle. On a clear night you can see the city. They were just wrapping up a huge Mother’s Day party and had lots of leftover food they offered us. We. Ate. Like. Kings. It was unbelievable – salmon, lobster tail, beet salad, asparagus, chips and dip, and the crown jewel – German chocolate cake with ice cream. It was spectacular. They offered us their shower, laundry, and Gary even helped properly fit Sheena’s bike seat. He is a fellow physical therapist who took a CEU course on biking and is a super smart guy. Janice owns a Pilate studio and is retiring this week. Lucky! The MacFarlands are super nice and an extremely interesting couple. As a family, they took a year off in 2003 to cycle the entire globe. At the time, their daughter was 18 and son was 14. Kudos to them for dealing with teenagers on a trip like that… I know at that age I would’ve been a total brat! Since then they have done a lot of other tours, including the Eerie Canal, but nothing to the globe magnitude. They even offered us advice for tomorrow’s ride and the best way to avoid traffic, hills, and heat. Western WA is experiencing a heat wave right now and we’re not loving it. No matter how much sunscreen we apply, we’re getting burnt. The sun is just super intense over here.

In order to avoid the heat, we’re waking up early again tomorrow to get most of the miles in before the heat really hits and fries us to even more of a crisp. We both have our own rooms, so we’re looking forward to what we hope is a good night’s sleep.

Little Addie even got me a Mother’s Day card… gosh I miss her.

Day 4: May 12th; San Juan State Park – Fort Ebey State Park; 40 miles

Ah, I had finally fallen into a deep sleep when I was abruptly awoken by a terrifyingly loud noise and bright lights. In a sleepy stupor, I thought it was a farmer’s tractor headed right for my tent! Ready to bolt out, my ears and brain harmonized and I recognized almost immediately the all too familiar unmistakable low gurgling sound of a Volkswagen Vanagon engine running right next to where I was laying. I am very accustomed to this noise, as that is the vehicle of choice my family used for road trips growing up. I looked at my watch and realized it was midnight and that a good night’s sleep was likely impossible at this point. After attempting to park for 15 minutes (I was about to go out there and park it myself), they killed the engine and my guess that it was a Vanagon was solidified. I recognized the sliding door slam immediately (I’m pretty sure I heard it slam more last night than I ever did in the almost 30 years I’ve known our Keane Mobile) and the sing song notes of the driver’s door opening with the keys still in the ignition. The owners were talking loudly (I guess they missed that quiet hours had started 2 hours prior to their arrival…..) so I decided to make my presence known by popping my head out of my tent in an aggressive manner, which looking back on it, was probably more comical than aggressive. Sure enough there was the van not 10 feet from my head! All my suspicions were true! Not really sure if they noted my presence, as they continued to talk loudly AND BUILD A FIRE. Ugh. But what I did notice were all the stars in the sky. It was overwhelming almost. I decided to stare at them for a while and caught 2 shooting stars and a satellite. Reason #48284 why I’m happy I got LASIK.

Well, enough about me complaining about the Vanagon people. I did eventually fall asleep and woke up a few hours later. As we were breaking down camp, we got an “ahem!” from the van folks – can you believe it?! It was almost 7am, when quiet hours ended. Apparently us talking between ourselves was more offensive than their obnoxious engine running right next to our heads. But I digress, for real this time.

We rode the 10 miles of more Appalachian type hills back to the ferry terminal. We made good time and had a delicious breakfast in town and walked around, making a stop at the farmers market. While waiting for the ferry we talked with a young man from Germany who moved here with his wife 6 months ago “just cause”. He was really sweet and really interesting to talk to. He has worked as a paramedic and a zookeeper and currently works on one of the islands as an internet technician.

During the ferry we did some planning for the next couple of days. We’re kinda itching to get out of Washington, so longer days are in our near future.

After the ferry we decided to bypass our original plan of just 10 miles to Deception Pass to add on 18 additional miles to Fort Ebey State Park. Before the ferry, we were fiddling with this plan and asked The German for his opinion. He said, “us Germans are very efficient. It’s a nice day out so you should take advantage go to the farther park.” Ah, perfect advice so we took it.

We passed through Deception Point quickly. It was insanely packed and traffic was a nightmare. It was seriously as busy as Yellowstone in mid July. We snapped some pictures and got out as quickly as possible.

The rest of the ride was not so great. We decided to follow google maps and not the ACA maps. We now know why ACA chose the roads they did. We were stuck on a pretty busy road without a shoulder for entirely too long. We rode on the sidewalk and eventually detoured to get ourselves off it.

The roads into Fort Ebey were nothing but hill after hill. The ranger who checked us in was super sweet and took us up a massive hill to the hiker biker campsite. Thanks Corey! We got to camp around 6pm, giving us plenty of time to shower and cook dinner. The sun doesn’t set around here till close to 9, so there’s lots of sunlight till pretty late.

Now let me tell you about this campsite. I don’t like it. It freaks me out. They stuck us in the middle of a Black Forrest type of unnerving setting with mossy trees all around us. Gives me the creeps. Especially when 100 meters up a trail is a beautiful open vista view area similar to where we stayed last night. And the bathrooms are 1/4 miles up the road after a huge hill. Guess I’ll be practicing getting ready for the JMT around here! But it’s only one night, right? Here’s to hoping Bigfoot doesn’t come trudging through our campsite in the middle of the night!

Day 2,May 10; Birch Bay State Park – Bay View State Park WA; 45 miles

Hello soreness and no sleep! Needless to say, after all the events that happened prior to bed, we did not have a restful night’s sleep. It rained on and off throughout the night, but we woke up to a rain free morning with birds singing. Cannibalistic birds. We attempted to hard boil eggs last night, but in the midst of all the confusion, the eggs were left behind. However, they were still edible. I ate 2 and am still living to tell the tale. We left 4 out as we got ready in the bathroom, and came back to a crow devouring them, leaving a mess. Oh well for that idea. We packed up our wet gear and got going for the day.

The morning was rainy and a little chilly. Our legs are sore from yesterday as they are still in the process of getting used to long rides. Again, I underate and practically destroyed a bag of gummy bears I bought yesterday. We stopped in Bellingham for some super fancy coffee and grocery shopping.

Washington is very similar to Western Oregon we experienced the last few days of the Transam. Dreary and wet, but still extremely beautiful. The clouds rolling into town are pretty magical and definitely add a nice ambiance to the environment. I knew I fell in love with the pacific north west 2 years ago during the Transam, today reminded me why.

Roadkill is again back in our lives as are saddle sores. Just gotta hold our breath and apply more Chamois Butt’r.

The people out here are extremely nice and friendly for the most part. They are truly interested in what we’re doing and wish us a ton of luck. I mean, even saying “we’re riding to Mexico” sounds like quite the undertaking to me. Although all these people are nice, it does take up quite a lot of time talking with them. For example, today we had a conversation with a really nice guy named Tom who talked to us for an hour about his trip down the pacific coast years ago and spots to see along the way. Although super friendly – it again took an hour. We gotta cut back on encounters like that if we want to tack on additional mileage down the road to complete this trek on time!

Today was one of the most beautiful rides I’ve been on. Yet with beauty comes danger. We were riding on a windy road without a shoulder with an abundance of cars. The cars were extremely respectful and gave us plenty of clearance, but still a little nerve wracking.

The views along the road, Chuckanut, were breathtaking. From pacific scenes straight out of a fairytale to views of the bay, it was hard to pay attention to the road. But we did and survived! In the picture below, you can see the mountains we biked through. Even from the outside it’s beautiful.

We arrived at camp much earlier today and were able to afford a much needed shower (still require quarters). We ate, set up camp, and planned for upcoming days all with plenty of sunlight AND without getting kicked out of the campsite! It’s quiet and peaceful here without the threat of rain. Hopefully we sleep better than last night.

Mosquitoes are horrible around here, for only this week apparently, adding an annoying beginning and end to our day. But, another day in the books and another beautiful sunset to end the day with!

Also, here is Addie the navigator helping with directions. Where was her wise guidance yesterday when we could’ve used it?!

Day 1, May 9; Vancouver BC – Birch Bay WA; 50 miles

Okay, maybe we should’ve trained. Today felt a lot longer than 50 miles (technically it was… keep reading) and was deceptively more hilly than the “no need for elevation maps” the ACA would lead you to believe.

We started early, 6:30 am to beat rush hour traffic. We had to ride 2 miles to the official start in the rain, which wasn’t nearly as cold as I was anticipating. The rain subsided and we had a smooth and easy ride through a really ritzy neighborhood with beautiful houses. Definitely some major wealth in that part of the city. Unfortunately, that’s where the smooth ended. Trying to find the pedestrian path to cross the Alex Fraser Bridge was a complete nightmare. The signs in Canada are less than helpful, especially when they point you in the wrong direction and leave you to wander a highly trafficked industry area for over an hour, tacking on useless mileage. Needless to say, I am not a fan of this Alex Fraser character.

Regardless, we made our way across and were greeted with Hill after hill. But, on a gloomy day, we found a Ray of sunshine. We set up to eat lunch in front of a strangers house, when that stranger pulled in not 2 minutes later. He came out to greet us and we had a little chat. He offered us to use his “washroom”, Canadians are too proper for bathrooms apparently, and wished us luck on our journey. Ray certainly showed why Canadians are considered such friendly people. He wasn’t the only person to offer a helping hand in a time of need. In search of a bathroom after many rejections, we stumbled into a supplement store with a really super friendly dog. We chatted a little with the owner who offered us a pre-workout drink to fuel our journey. Having to tackle a seemingly never ending hill, the drink is what got us over the hump.

As we approached the USA border, we stopped at a bistro cause I grossly underestimated how much food I need and I was ready to devour whatever I could find. To celebrate leaving Canada, we ordered the country’s signature dish – poutine. I can’t attest for how it tasted, cause I wolfed it down so fast, but I know it hit the spot!

Crossing the border was quite the experience. Wanting to celebrate our entry to the Motherlnd, we attempted to take pictures. Not realizing it was frowned upon, we were descended upon by a border patrol agent (live action picture below) and herded into the border patrol office. The guy who checked our passports was very friendly and wrote the offending officers a snarky note and took pictures of us in front of the border plaque.

The adrenaline of knowing we only had 10 miles left paired with the food we got at the border fueled a quick ride to the campground. So quickly, in fact, that we were literally going faster than a freight train. And eventually had to wait 15 minutes for it to pass so we could cross the street.

A few of the roads we rode on were relatively scary… no shoulder, heavily trafficked. However, the motorists were all relatively respectful and passed with plenty of room.

We’re staying at a state park in Birch Bay, and it’s extremely gorgeous. Due to the threat of rain and being the only ones in the campground, we decided to camp under a pavilion. It was perfect! We had dinner and set everything up. But wait, Not so fast! Here comes ranger Rick saying we couldn’t camp there and told us to move. Here it is, 9 at night, pitch dark, all of our stuff set up, and we had to move it. Not only up a huge steep hill, but now in the rain. Rules are rules and we did it without complaining, but man would it be nice to not have to break down a wet camp in the morning. Oh well.

But alas, the saga doesn’t end there! After moving everything, we went to get showers. We realized in despair that it was quarter showers, and we were quarter less. Sink showers it is!

All in all, surely not the greatest of days. But it can only go up from here on out!

The final countdown! May 8, 2018

Tomorrow we begin our journey from border to border and I am beyond excited. But also, I can’t lie, I’m a little nervous. I honestly haven’t ridden more than 20 miles since that fateful day 2 years ago when we ended our Transam journey. But, riding a bike is like… riding a bike. If you did it once, it’s a skill you never forget, right? Eh I guess we’ll find out soon enough!

So far everything has been going extremely smoothly. I wrapped up work and had all last week free to prepare for what I have in store for this summer as well as spend some quality time with Addie. Since I already have all the gear I need for biking, I focused mainly on preparing the the JMT. But alas Sunday came very quickly and I soon found myself on a flight to Denver. After landing, I met up with my cousin Julie and her boyfriend Adam. They showed me around the city and we visited a few cool spots, including the most massive REI I have ever seen (granted, I’ve only ever seen one other one). It was awesome catching up with them and exploring the city. I’m kicking myself now that I didn’t get a picture with them, I’ll blame it on the altitude sickness. Sheena made her joyful appearance later at night and it was great to see her after over a year of being apart.

We flew into Seattle extremely early in the morning which was fine cause both of us were miraculously able to sleep on the plane. After picking up our bags, we decided to use the Light Rail system to get to the bike shop since an Uber was ridiculously expensive at rush hour. But what we saved in money we spent in effort. Sheena was smart and packed all her gear in a roller luggage bag. Me, being the genius I am, packed a huge duffel bag. Coming in at a whopping 42.5 lbs, carrying it the 1/2 mile to the train station was a struggle. And apparently it was an obvious one because a kind soul driving an airport taxi stopped and let us hop aboard for a lift to the station. After the train ride we had another 1/2 mile walk to the bike shop. That, too, was a bear. Even more so. Seattle is a pretty hilly city, so walking with an awkward duffel bag with pot and pan handles poking you with every step of the way was pretty brutal. And here I was last blog post saying that hiking the JMT with a 40 lb bag wouldn’t be a huge deal…. maybe I should reconsider that brazen statement. But regardless, with frequent rest breaks we managed the harrowing journey and were reunited with our bikes at Velo Bike Shop.

Should you ever find yourself in Seattle with any bike needs, get your butt over to Velo Bike Shop. Even prior to arriving, they were very good at communicating with us when our bikes arrived and when they were assembled. But once we got there the manager Lloyd let us literally dump every piece of gear we had (including clothing) in the middle of the shop and organize our panniers. They offered us helpful advice for sights to see and ways to travel around the city, and even let us keep our bikes and gear in the shop while we explored the city on foot. Talk about amazing customer service! Cannot speak highly enough about everyone who works there.

Luckily for us the bike shop is in the middle of all the action in Seattle. We were able to visit the space needle, Pikes Place Market (we missed the fish throwing unfortunately), and the ever popular (and highly disgusting) gum wall. Along the way we strolled along the water and saw beautiful snow capped mountains. Both Denver and Seattle didn’t feel like major cities, at least so far as what I’m used to. There were no police sirens screaming, no ambulances wailing, and no car horns honking! Maybe it has to do with west coast mentality or the legalization of a certain something that was definitely wafting through the air, but it was so much more quiet and “chill” than what I’m used to.

After returning to Velo to pick up our bikes, we geared them up and did our first fully loaded ride of the trip! After a somewhat rocky start (with much laughing and ‘oh my god we should’ve actually trained for this’ moments) we made our way 1.3 miles of pure downhill bliss to the Amtrak station to catch the train into Vancouver. Seattle is an extremely bike friendly city and we had no fear of getting hit by a car or pedestrian.

The train was the first hiccup of the trip, and a very minor one it was. It broke down 45 min into the ride, but with some help of the engineer, it was up and running in no time. Plus where we got stuck, we had a gorgeous view of the sunset over the water.

But alas, that was not the end of our Amtrak woes. With only 15 min left in our trip, we came to a complete stop. The conductor came on the PA and announced that a freight train was stuck going up a hill and needed an additional engine to give it that extra push. This discouraged me not only because it was already midnight and we were stuck for an undetermined amount of time, but also because there was a hill so big even a train couldn’t make it, and we were headed the same direction only a couple of days later (great!) But after about an hour (I think, I fell asleep) we pulled into the station. We grabbed our bikes, went through customs and it was official, we made it to Canada and the start of the PCHT!

Being as late as it was, we were unsure whether to take the train or ride to the hostel that was only 1 mile away. Since it was warmer outside than in the train (it was freezing in the car) we decided to ride on over. Plus at 1:30am, do we really have to worry about traffic?? After a beautiful ride in the city, we arrived and checked into the Cambie Hostel in Vancouver, BC. We have to haul all our stuff up 2 floors (past a very noisy cat), but we have our own private room in which to store our bikes and gear. After all, on the ride over to the hostel, a motorist told us that Vancouver is the “bike stealing capital of the world”, so we better be careful.

Vancouver is much more like the cities I’m used to. Honking is abundant and everyone is in a hurry, pushing and shoving their way to wherever is so important that they’re going. Today we mainly did shopping for food and checked out a little of the city. We’re both super tired from having a 21 hour travel day yesterday, so we’re taking it pretty easy.

Public transportation in the pacific north west is extremely easy to use and navigate. We’ve taken light rails and trains just about everywhere so as to avoid biking in the city.

Right now we’re sitting at the Mexican restaurant under the hostel anxiously waiting to devour some tacos to celebrate taco Tuesday. We’re planning on going to bed early for a super early departure before rush hour hits. It’s looking like rain on our first day, very similar to the start of the Transam. So I’m taking that as a good sign! Can’t wait to get back on the bike and let the adventure begin!

Sheena’s Corner:

Common theme when I travel to other countries: “What part of Mexico are you from?”

There’s a cat at the hostel named Ding Dong, so now I have two Ding Dongs! *editor’s note: Sheena’s nickname for her boyfriend is Ding Dong*

2 Weeks!

I cannot believe it! Wow, how time flies when you’re genuinely and truly excited to embark on a new journey. In just over 2 weeks, Sheena and I will be starting our tour down the Pacific Coast. As the previous blog post highlighted, we will be starting the trip in Vancouver, BC and will be hugging the coast all the way down to San Diego, CA. Starting on the whole other side of the country — scratch that — in a whole entirely different country has definitely presented some issues with planning the logistics of getting the bikes and ourselves to the starting line in one piece.

Well actually, the bikes will not arrive in one piece… GASP! Ol’ Bessie (my beloved and loyal Surly Long Haul Disk Trucker) is presently being disassembled to be boxed so she can easily be shipped to a bike shop in Seattle, WA. Seattle? I can hear the doubt rising in your brains now, but, yes. Seattle. Apparently, if you ship your bike to another country, you are liable to be charged with brokerage, duties, and other completely asinine custom fees weeks later. These can cost up to $200 and are entirely dependent on the customs agent who receives and processes the bike. If that particular agent has a thing against bikes with purple handlebars (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?), I will be on the receiving end of a hefty bill that I’ll be forced to pay. Not privy to gambling OR bills from government agencies, I was not willing to take that chance. So it was either shipping the bikes to Seattle, or checking the bikes on the plane. After much debate and running the numbers, shipping the bikes to Seattle ended up being the economically best choice. Also, schlepping an awkward and heavy bike box around a crowded airport was not my idea of a fun old time.

tires

Here is the manual labor I put in myself to get the bike ready: changing the tires. After going over 5,000 miles on the same pair of tires with ONLY ONE FLAT TIRE (Guinness World record, anyone?), I decided it might not be wise to test my luck any further. I bought the same brand of tire and after what felt like an eternity (okay it was only an hour) of wrestling and sharing some unkind words with Bessie, I managed to successfully get those puppies on. Mind you, I have had practically zero practice changing tires “in a field setting”, so I’m gonna go ahead and give myself a pat on the back for not breaking anything on the bike OR myself. The engineering gene skipped me and I do not have a mechanically inclined brain… just ask my father.

So anyways, here’s the break down of our plans:

April 16th: After getting a thorough and pricey tune up at REI (she literally needed every moving piece replaced… I apparently have an abusive relationship with my bike) I dropped off ol’ Bessie at what I hope to be the capable hands of Danzeisen & Quigley. These folks are going to break her down and box it. On April 23rd, Bike Flights will pick up the bike and ship it to Seattle by April 27th, giving the shop there plentyyyy of quality time with Lil Bess to fix her up like new.

May 6th: I leave Philadelphia and arrive at Denver, where I will meet Sheena later that night. Any Denver friends want to show me around the city for a few hours?? Sheena and I will be staying in a hotel right next to the airport because….

May 7th: EXTREMELY early flight from Denver to Seattle. From there, we will be reunited with our fully assembled and fitted bikes at Velo Bike Shop. Depending on time, maybe we’ll stop for a second to see the world famous Space Needle. After getting a taste of the Seattle culture, we are catching a 7pm train (bikes will be checked in with cargo) to Vancouver BC, arriving at 11pm.

May 8-9th: We both wanted to spend some time in Vancouver to explore. Sheena found a really cool hostel for us to stay while we journey abroad. A few of my patients have spent time in the city and gave me recommendations of places to see. Will definitely have to check out a few of those sights (Buchart Gardens is at the top of the list).

May 10th: Ah, the date that will soon live in infamy! Alas, the day we will start our journey down the Pacific coast. We will be back in America this very day, so much for an exotic experience.

map

After starting, we’re going to wing a lot of the planning. Sheena got a great book highlighting the beautiful parts of the trail and places of interest to stop and see. We will likely plan 2-3 days in advance to keep us on a relatively strict 5 week schedule because we both have to be back by mid June. We plan on camping the majority of the time out there. However, there are lots of hostels (or so I’m told) we can stay at to get a little more of the culture of the area. There is also an app called Warm Showers in which people along the route offer a room or couch for you to stay in their house. Sheena and I used it once in Portland in 2016 and it ended up being a really positive experience. Along the way we’ll keep our eyes on the lookout for ones that don’t look toooo shady.

Another piece of the puzzle I had to figure out was how I was going to break news to work that I will be needing the entire summer off to pursue both this trip and the John Muir Trail. I had a very eloquent letter of resignation ready to go, signed and everything. It would be crazy for me to expect my boss and company to grant me the time off I required, so I was fully prepared to quit. I met with my boss and explained to him the situation… boy did I catch him off guard! Apparently threatening to whip out my letter of resignation letter (in the least threatening of ways) was a great bartering strategy. After speaking with the HR department, I was granted a leave of absence until the fall when I am ready to come back. My last day is April 27th, giving me just over a week to tie any loose ends I may encounter. Talk about lucky! I couldn’t be more grateful to have such a considerate boss as well as work for such an understanding company 🙂 I also have extremely supportive patients and patient families that are cheering me on back home!

Gear

Finally, here’s a picture of the gear I’m planning to take! Really, nothing fancy. I don’t know what weather to expect in the PNW (okay, yes I do. Cold and rainy. But I’m ignoring that for now… ignorance is bliss right?) so I’m packing a lot of warm clothes. Cold is my worst enemy. Anything I don’t need I’ll ship back home. We’re going to be doing a lot of our own cooking (always mindful of the all mighty dollar), so Sheena is getting a camp stove, most likely the same one we used on the TransAm. We can restock on fuel at any Walmart in the area, sure to be tons. So mostly camp stuff, clothes, bike gear that I don’t know how to use so hopefully I’ll never have to use it, and food that we’ll pick up in Vancouver. Although Addie is stealing the spotlight in the picture, she sadly will be staying behind back home. My heart breaks when I think about it, but it’ll make the return home all the more perfect. And where is the star of the show, Old Bessie? Well as I mentioned, she is in a million little pieces in a dark box somewhere. Poor girl.

So there it is! Fingers crossed the next two weeks goes smoothly and we all (bikes included) arrive safely in Vancouver in one piece!