July 11 Lopez ... no San Juan ... wait no, Orcas Island

We had planned to cycle Lopez island, the flattest of the main islands making up the San Juan Islands, but we missed the ferry by about 30 seconds. Since the next one to Lopez wasn't for another three hours, we got on the next ferry instead, which went to Orcas Island, the hilliest. We'd planned to do Orcas on a previous trip but never made it, so today was just as good a day, since we were already here and there was no way we were going to meet up with our group.

The ferry was listing on one side and then the other and it made a horrible sound when they turned. I told Harold I was expecting it to blow up or flip over, and thankfully he laughed, so I knew I was overreacting. We pulled into Shaw Island first, then landed in Orcas Island, a 45 minute trip from Anacortes. There's always a hill right off the ferry and Orcas was a bigger hill than the usual. As we waited with some other cyclists for the cars to go on by, we saw the most beautiful polished wood kayak go past on an old rusty 70's Mazda, laughing at how the kayak was worth 10 times the car. One of the guys with us said "I don't even own a car, but my bike is worth a good bit too."

 On the way down the other side of the hill, I noticed  there was a squeaking noise coming from the front of my bike. When I got faster, it got louder. I was afraid the front tire was going to either blow up or fall off. I seem to have a fixation with the fear of things blowing up.

We stopped and looked at it a few times, but couldn't see anything wrong, until we eventually turned it upside down and took both tires off. We found a little wire staple sticking in my back tire, taking it out and being thankful for my thicker treads, but knew that couldn't have been the problem. Then we noticed the kickstand was so loose it was almost flopping. Thankfully that was the problem, and it had only taken up 45 minutes of our ride to figure it out. Oh well, it was nice to have it fixed and on we went.

Just down the road I saw this big dead rodent in the middle of the road, calling out to Harold "What is that thing?"

"It's a squirrel." He quickly responded.

"That is not a squirrel!" I scoffed. "It's way too big!"

"It's a fox squirrel." He yelled back. "they get that big!"

"I don't think we have fox squirrels here! I'm googling that!" I challenged, to which he just shrugged his shoulders.

The sun came out as we cycled up and down the hilly countryside. Another 10 minutes down the road, I came across this horrible stench and looked over to the side of the road to see a fly covered deer corpse. The smell and view were so disgusting, I was sure it would invade my nightmares later.

We came out alongside the water, and on the side of the road were four beautiful, huge sparkling, twinkling, jingling metallic wind chimes. There wasn't a sign or anything saying who made them or how they came to be there, but they really were so magical.

We got to Eastsound Village on the north end of the island, where we stopped for lunch. This is a very quaint seaside town, the only one large enough to be deemed a city on Orcas, but still very small. It's made up of small boutique hotels, restaurants, and artsy tourist shops. We first went downstairs to the pub but it was overflowing with people watching the World Cup game, so we went upstairs where we had a beautiful view of the waterfront.

After lunch, we headed out along Crescent Beach, then up the hill to a wine shop where we tasted wines from Lopez and San Juan Islands. We'd visited San Juan Vineyards on a previous trip and knew we liked the Merlot-Cabernet blend but also liked the Lopez wines, both whites and reds, but in the end we bought two reds, the Merlot-Cab from San Juan and a Merlot from Lopez. The islands aren't hot enough to grow red wine varieties, so they grow whites and get their reds from the Yakima Valley.

Wine in bags, we headed up north to the ocean, and then cut back west, cutting through some streets that showed as public on maps but were gated against cars with Private signs. We chose to ignore them and continued on, coming out by the airport, then we cut around town, to head back down south again. Along the way there was more roadkill to smell and view. When I visit Arkansas, I am always surprised by how much roadkill they have there, and I'd figured it was because they just don't have the billions of acres of wild lands we do up here, and I expect that's what also happens on the islands as well.

I have this love-hate-fear thing going on with my cleats on my cycling shoes. Last year was my first experience using them on my bike, having only used them for spinning before that. Like an noob, I fell over pretty much every time I clipped in. This year, because we've been training Toonie on the back of my bike, I decided to get used to only clipping in on one side. Some times I switch sides but for the most part I clip in on the left and leave the right unclipped. Yesterday as we were coming up one of the bigger hills, I figured, "Hey Tracey, you can handle clipping in both sides. You're not gonna forget to check anymore, you always check. Besides it'll help a lot to get up this hill." So I clipped in and I was right, the hill was much easier. Sailing down the other side, I geared up to the highest so I could eventually pedal and then at the bottom I sailed around the corner to a new hill. I know now I geared down way too fast, and my chain came completely off, bringing me to a stall on the hill and as I stood there, for that brief second, the thoughts that went through my head were:

First, the panic starts ..."Oh %&^$, I'm clipped in!"

Immediately followed by ... "I'm trapped! I'm falling!"

Fear and horror come into play ... "Oh please don't let me fall in a bloated, maggot infested deer corpse!"

And finally, my pride makes a showing ... "Please don't let anyone see this!"

Thankfully, there were no corpses in the immediate area, just a ditch and a hill to slide and roll down into. As I laid there catching my breath, trying to decide how hurt I was, cars drove by and people leaned out, to ask if we were okay, but Harold waved them on. Realizing there was no one except Harold to see me, I let myself cry. I'm not sure if it was from pain, embarrassment, or the relief that I hadn't ended up in a pile of rancid, infested roadkill.

Harold helped me up and we had a discussion about the way I'm shifting and we figured out my gearing logic was all screwed up. After that, I followed Harold's instruction, only to find it made the hills so much easier! My fall now had a purpose.

We cruised up and down the hills back down to Orcas Village where we waited for the next ferry, talking to other people waiting. Due to all the exploring we've done down here, we actually have a clue where people are from. One family with the most adorable puppy was from Concrete where we'd cycled in June, whereas another was from near Mukilteo, south of where we'd been a few weeks later.

On the ferry back, we read a bunch of leaflets and magazines about the local areas and were amused to find the info about the Olympic Peninsula now includes a big section on the tiny little town of Forks and the fictional Twilight characters.

On the ferries, our bikes get tied in at the front. So we need to be down there to get them untied and unlocked and ready to be the first off, before the cars. When we got down there, the wind was so strong and cold, even in the full sun, it was freezing cold. I stood huddled behind an SUV while Harold got out our windbreakers, then waited until we got closer in, to untie and be ready to get off.


Once we got home, I did follow through and google "fox squirrel orcas island" and didn't find anything saying they are found there. However, another search for "fox squirrel washington state" came back with results showing that Fox Squirrels are found on the mainland here, so perhaps Harold is right after all.

Some days you think you should have maybe just stayed in bed, but this absolutely wasn't one of them. At the very least, my tire and kickstand were saved, I have no broken bones, and I completely missed falling on even one corpse.

June 25-27 Meetup: Whidbey, Fidalgo and San Juan Islands, WA

I joined a few Meetup groups from Seattle since they tend to do some thing up near here and I'm also interested in what they are doing down there. One of them doesn't have a lot of events but when they do they are at least a weekend or longer, typically cycling, but also kayaking trips.

The ride we joined them on was starting from South Whidbey Island, then up onto Fidalgo Island, and a ferry ride over to San Juan and Orcas islands. The first evening we all met up in the camp site at South Whidbey State Park. State and County Parks have this interesting rule, that if you arrive on bike or on foot, you will never be turned away. They typically have Hiker-Biker sites that will allow many people to group camp together and you pay by the tent. Unfortunately, since most of the people on this trip were on road bikes, the organizer brought along his SUV to support everyone's gear. That meant we didn't qualify for the Hiker-Biker sites but we were able to get reserved sites here so it wasn't a problem.

People came in at all different times. We were the only ones coming from the north, and we arrived by car so we we there first. About a half hour later, the organizer and a few others showed up. Then later, those who had cycled up from the ferry showed up.

The group was comprised of techie and engineer folk. One worked at Microsoft, another at Disney, one at Boeing, another at Amazon. We had an Indian engineer here on a work visa who had this snarky sense of humour I enjoyed but Harold didn't. He told me that he puts off a lot of people here with his humour and when I told him I found him very amusing, he said it must be the Brit in me, since British get the snarky stuff.

The Microsoft guy was amazingly stereotypical. Very small and slight, I'm sure he was very smart, but he was completely socially inept. He was so rude in his ways, and he really got on my nerves, but you know, this happens a lot with geeks, so I gave him a pass.

The guy from Boeing was an uber-athlete. He'd gone to West Point and been a flight officer, before leaving to work at Boeing. His bike, made of Titanium, came apart into pieces for travel. It was both very strong and very light. He had a personality that was almost braggardly, but then he'd pull back and say something silly and you'd realize he was teasing. He was a very fun guy to be around.

One of the other engineers was a young guy of 28 who shocked me when I found out his age. Here was a man, in very good shape, very mature, seemed to have a wealth of knowledge, and yet I was old enough to be his Mother!!! He'd gone to Dartmouth and ridden on the cycling team there.

There were three other women on the ride, and I was proud of myself for being the only one to do the entire ride. One of the women worked for Disney, and made me laugh when she told me about how seriously they take the mouse there. People have actually been let go for drawing pictures of Mickey in situations they don't approve of. They are told "Don't mess with the mouse! Ironically or fittingly (not exactly sure which), she also told me that at Disney, as a part of their company credo of accepting alternative lifestyles, it is accepted for those who choose to live as Furries to wear their costumes at work.

One of the other women there was early retired. She had made a lot of money in the high stress, crazy houred financial industry of yesteryear, and now spends her life living in Seattle, Paris, and a hotel she owns in the Bahamas. Born in Japan, her parents had immigrated to Seattle when she was very young. She has a very interesting accent, a  mishmash of American, Japanese, and French. She runs marathons and had very muscular legs. One of the guys nicknamed her drumsticks because of them. She hadn't done any cycling in years however, and had just bought a bike to come along on the ride. She did really well, since she was in such good condition, but if you don't have a lot of hours of recent experience sitting on a bike seat, it can be very hard on your backside.

The third woman was from Denmark and had met her husband online years ago, eventually marrying and moving here. They were riding a tandem bike together and brought along their two dogs in a trailer.

The first day we rode up through Coupeville, where we promptly lost 3 people. I was the only one to notice since Harold was one of the missing. Usually he is just up ahead of me, and will stop if I get behind, but I was pretty sure he'd been behind me when we left Coupeville and then when I looked back he had vanished. I thought maybe I had made a mistake, that he was up ahead but was worried something had happened so I waited, then moved along at a really slow pace, hoping he'd catch up. I caught up to two of the group and told them I thought we'd lost my husband but they were pretty sure we were the last ones. That didn't make sense to me, but I decided to push faster and catch up to the group to see if they were right. I was half worried something had happened to him, and half angry that he'd leave me behind ... but I knew he'd never done that before.

The group was stopped at the next turn about 5 miles down the road. My heart sank when I saw he wasn't one of them. I told them he was missing and was headed back to look for him and was a little upset when I felt I wasn't heard. I raced back to Coupeville just wanting to find Harold safe and sound and was so overjoyed when after 4 or 5 disappointments of seeing riders that weren't him, there he was with two others. I hadn't even realized two others were missing!

I asked them what had happened and they'd got cut off by traffic and missed seeing where we'd turned, then ended up in the midst of a country fair and had to backtrack in a number of different directions before asking someone how to get to Oak Harbor. We quickly made our way back to the turn where three of the faster guys were waiting and we made our way to meet up for the lunch stop at Oak Harbor.

Nothing tastes as wonderful as bagels and hummus and fruit on a long ride. We ate off the front of the organizers SUV and it was the most wonderful meal. Then we were back on the road, where we'd agreed to meet up again at Deception Pass

Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island. The first Europeans to see Deception Pass were members of the 1790 expedition of Manuel Quimper on the Princesa Real. The Spanish gave it the name Boca de Flon.  A group of sailors led by Joseph Whidbey, part of the Vancouver Expedition, found and mapped Deception Pass on June 1, 1792. George Vancouver gave it the name "Deception" because it had appeared to be a narrow bay instead of a strait.




The bridges are high up over the water, with beautiful vistas east and west. The sun was shining when we got there and we just sat and looked out, feeling the beauty invigorating our hearts, before riding on again, all the way up to Anacortes. We got there with only minutes to spare, and raced onto the ferry, which sailed right away.

Once on the other side, we rode a short distance to the beautiful Lakedale campgrounds, situated on a series of fresh water lakes, in the middle of the island. We had originally planned to go to San Juan County Park. Unfortunately because we had an SUV along with us, we weren't eligible for the Hiker-Biker sites and the regular sites were all full. Harold and I will definitely plan to camp there when we go there alone. That area is known to be the best place in North America to see whales from land.




That night we had dinner and drinks and them headed to bed. The guys in the site beside us had been drinking all day and were loud and obnoxious when we got there but thankfully they were all passed out early so we had a good nights sleep.

The next morning it was decided we weren't going to make it to Orcas Island since the ferry schedule made it that we couldn't get there until afternoon and we had a long ride to get back to South Whidbey. As we were packing up we saw a black fox. It was so exciting since I'd never seen one before. The interesting thing about the islands is since there aren't any bears or wolves, or hunting, the wildlife is both abundant and not very afraid.

We spread out more along the way back, meeting in Deception Pass and Oak Harbour and finally at the campgrounds where we'd all met up Friday night. We changed, said our goodbyes and headed off for home.

June 19, 2010 Petal Pedal Ride in Silverton, OR

For this weekend, we had to make a choice between going to George, WA for the Rock n Ride, or Silverton, OR, for the Petal Pedal. Both would require a hotel and were towns we'd not been to before, and both were close to wine country. Silverton was about 1.5hrs further, but it was all on I5, whereas George would have taken some smaller highways.

I came to make the decision, as I was fooling around on Priceline. I made an error and selected the lower grade rooms and of course my bid was taken. Luckily I didn't pay more than the room cost normally, but I had to worry all the way down there that we'd be in a bedbug infested place. Once a bid is won, and you are given the hotel information, you cannot get your money back. So our decision was made, and I quickly went over to the ride web site and registered.

We left Friday afternoon, and figured we'd be there about 9pm but we encountered one traffic jam after another, starting in Bellingham and following us all the way down to Portland. We ended up getting in at about 11pm. I was so relieved to find the motel, though older, was actually well looked after, and even kinda pretty. My first aggravation is that they charge a $1.50 fee for use of the safe, which you can have refunded the next morning if you don't use it. My second aggravation was waking up the next morning to find out that the office didn't open until 7am and we had to leave at 6:30. So no breakfast and no safe refund.

We headed out into the country, following the directions I had received from Google Maps, and got to the Oregon Gardens, in Silverton, in plenty of time to have breakfast, which was included in our ride price. They had all sorts of samples of power bars, gels, candies and drinks and the bike repair guy gave us little boxes of tube repair items. It was like being a kid in a candy store.

This wasn't a timed ride, so we were free to leave when we wanted. It was a little overcast outside but there was no rain at all. We headed out, going up, and up, and up, into the countryside, along with 1,000 other riders. The first rest stop was at the quarter way mark, on the side of a big hill. The view was wonderful, with the valley laying way below us, and it felt so great to be able to look down and know we had just cycled all the way up here.

People who do these rides typically have small, light, road bikes. They're flashy, weigh next to nothing, and go like hell. Our bikes tend to get a lot of notice. As we were starting we heard a guy say to another "Those are touring bikes!" and it feels like every third person either asks us what kind of bike we are riding, remarks on how well we do on "those" bikes, or asks how we can handle doing a ride like this with "those heavy bikes". In some ways it frustrates me, knowing we'd be so much faster if we'd opted for road bikes, but really we want the freedom of being able to be self supported, to be able to carry all our gear with us on long and short trips. Besides ... another year we can buy the road bikes, maybe even a tandem! Everyone needs at least 3 bikes!

On and up we went, for the first 50km, into Silver Falls State Park. The actual falls were just beautiful. Pretty much everyone had to stop for a picture break. Then we had a wonderful 8 mile downhill plunge to the next rest stop. It was a wonderful bit of fun and well worth the previous climbing.

The second half of the ride was more flat, through the rolling hills of the Willamette Valley. We rode alongside all different sorts of smells, both pungent and attractive. A man wearing a big red maple leaf jersey raced past me and I wanted to catch up and show him my maple leaf socks, but I restrained myself. It was hard not to stop at wineries we past by, and the hardest place to pass by was a farm shop where they were selling home made strawberry shortcake with local berries, cream and cake! We pushed on, and were happily rewarded with the same strawberry shortcake at our next rest stop. Funnily though, it was the watermelon I enjoyed more.

The thing I hate about valley rides is that we always get head winds, and they always turn on us, rarely do we get a tail wind. The last quarter was like this, all head wind, but the sun had appeared and it was truly beautiful so we rode on back to the Oregon Dinner for the Salmon dinner and Microbrew beer we had been promised. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the salmon as it was rather cold and I really would have preferred wine. We stayed for one beer and then decided to leave to go on up to Portland.

I've never spent anytime in Portland, just driving through on the highway to somewhere else, typically in pouring rain. It was a nice surprise to drive into the downtown on a nice sunny afternoon and find a festival going on. It looked like Mardi Gras was happening. I was wishing I'd made a Priceline bid for a room somewhere, as the few hotels we went to were already full. After a walk through the city, we decided to drive on, back as far north as we could make it. I believe I fell asleep somewhere around Olympia and Harold got us back to Everett before he just couldn't go on any longer and we checked in at a cheap, roadside chain motel for the night.

The next morning we got up and drove back to Birch Bay, with our afternoon free to sit out along the bay, drinking wine and enjoying a beautiful day.

June 13, 2010 Birch Bay to Fairhaven

Since December 2008, we have been taking part in group events through Meetup.com. There are all different sorts of events posted such as hiking, cycling, kayaking, camping, walking, running, games etc. You search for your area and your interests and get a list of events to keep you busy. Before we started spending most of our weekends in the US, we would do 2 to 4 Meetup events per week, one each on Saturday and Sunday, and another 1 or two on weekdays. I actually had to cut myself back as there were some weekends I would sign up for one event during the day and another at night and it became too much. I've known some people who will go from event to event, doing 3 or more in a day.

Bellingham has a Meetup group but it can't compare to the multitude of what's available in Vancouver, so we've had to get used to doing more on our own. I still keep an eye out for any events taking place near us so I was excited to see the Vancouver Bicycle Meetup Group was planning to cycle from the border, down to Fairhaven and back.

We arranged to meet the group at 9:50am on Saturday morning in Birch Bay but they were a little late so we waited about a half hour. We had planned to take Toonie, our Chihuahua, on the back of my bike but it was overcast and cool so we left her at home. We saw the group coming from a long ways back, since there were 19 of them, so we were on our bikes and ready when they arrived.

First along Birch Bay Drive, then through the State Park. The road is so nice there since it was all torn up and repaved this winter. I love the speeds I can get on that section. Turning off the road, we traveled along a closed road owned by BP Oil ... yes, those bad oil polluting guys ... to Cherry Point. Other than the Oil refinery further in, this is a very beautiful area. It first runs south before turning inland, becoming Aldergrove Road. We followed the road up to Kickerville, then traveled South to Rainbow, then left on Mountain View Road all the way into Ferndale.

We stopped at Ferndale for a bio-break, then rode to the river where there is a beautiful little trail running alongside. We followed this for a short distance until it ended, then continued down Ferndale road to Marine Drive. Marine Drive became Eldridge, and we turned off at Seaview and Roeder, which took us to the port where we rode down along the seawall, before getting back on Roeder and into downtown Bellingham.

Turning right on Cornwall, which is more like a lane than a road, we continued south for a few blocks before turning off and up to Boulevard Street which took us right into Fairhaven.

There were just too many of us to descend onto one restaurant so we separated for an hour and a half. Harold and I had brought PB&J sandwiches and fruit but with the cold, wet weather, I was really wanting a bowl of soup. We chose Skylarks Hidden Cafe because it had soup and sandwiches, and a covered patio so we didn't have to take the panniers off the bikes. We shared a sandwich and both had a cup of Italian Chicken soup, which was very yummy. Then we raced over to the wine shop to buy a bottle of Distant Bay Cabernet Sauvignon as it's the cheapest place we've found that particular wine.

Worrying that we might be late, we rushed back to the meeting spot, to find there were still a few people missing. They arrived a few minutes later and we took off again, up along Old Fairhaven Parkway, then a left on 30th street, right on Donovan, and left on 32nd street. We took this for a way down until we hit Fielding, turned right and came in behind REI.

REI is an outdoor gear store, organized as a co-op. You must purchase a membership and each year you receive dividends you may use for purchases. They are almost identical to the Mountain Equipment Coop store we also belong to in Vancouver, with comparable prices and items.

Harold and I had just been down to REI the day before, and the weather had suddenly cleared up, with brilliant blue sun filled skies, so we opted to stay outside and have a frappucino, while watching people go by. This REI is right by Western Washington University so they get a lot of school kids here. Bellingham has a definite outdoorsy, hippie, grunge quality to it, so you see a lot of messy hair and dreads, and messy, unmatched clothing. This can only be carried well by the young. Once they're over about 25 it just looks like they are homeless.

There is one couple who seems to live outside here, begging for money. I find them most memorable because of the beautiful Golden Retriever they have. Back in February, they almost got my money because I saw the woman alone with the dog with a sign that said "Cold, Sick and need a motel." and my heart went out to that dog ... then her dreadlocked husband came up to Harold and was putting a ton of pressure on him for a handout and it changed my mind. Since then we've seen them there everytime.

We all got back on our bikes, to ride North along N. Samish Highway, then left on E. Maple Street, right on Ellis street, right on N State, and left on James Street, bringing us to Trader Joe's. This is another favorite store of ours. We went in to sample some food, and coffee, and purchase an Indian meal kit we love. Coming back out, I saw an older woman with long white hair, wearing those big see-saw heeled shoes companies are flouting as the best fitness shoes. I asked how she liked them and was rewarded by a long sermon about the wonders of her particular shoes, which are MTB brand, and are much better than the copycats such as Skechers.

The group was all back together so we took off along Alabama street, then right on Cornwall, and right on Northwest Avenue. We went up under I5 then followed this road for a long way until we reached W Smith Road, where we turned left, and waited for the group to meet up again. Someone asked me whether we lived in Birch Bay and after telling them that we just spend our weekends down there, it was agreed by everyone (except us) that next time we were to supply breakfast and an ending bbq for the group.

We took Smith Road back under I5 and turned right on Hovander, then left on Main Street, into Ferndale. Our path crossed over for a few blocks then we turned right on 3rd. Half a block in we saw a Chihuahua Mexican Grill and Cantina. I made a mental note to return here for dinner sometime. Up ahead we came to new roads and bike paths but they didn't go on for long. We took a right on Washington, then a left on Portal and went straight under I5 yet again.

Portal Way took us all the way up north, back under I5 again, through Custer, and up towards the Birch Bay turnoff. A few of us broke away and raced ahead, enjoying the beautiful day with relatively little wind. At Birch Bay-Lynden Road, we stopped and waited for everyone to pass by, saying goodbye to them and letting the leader know we were headed off. Then we headed out towards the ocean, against the wind, of course, and cruised back into Birch Bay from the northwest.

All in all, a great day.

Birch Bay to Fairhaven

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

June 5, 2010 SWAN Century Sedro Woolley Ride

The SWAN Century and Family Fun Ride offered 3 different lengths, 13, 58, and 100 miles. This was the second year they had the ride in Sedro Woolley, coinciding with a town festival on the main street. The entry fees from the ride go to support children and give small loans to women in Bolivia and Kenya.

We opted for the 58 miles (100km, what they call a Metric Century ride) as this was more than we'd ever done before. We arrived at 6:30am, just as the check-in was opening. At this point it was a little cloudy and cold, and we stayed bundled up while pinning on our numbers and looking over the course map. Harold's number was 198 and mine was 199.

The ride started at 7:30am and within the first half hour we'd stripped off most of our layers since the sun had come out. The first few miles we were a large 70 person group, we owned the road! Then we all began to spread out. One poor guy had a flat before we even got out of the town limits.

The wind was quite strong, and we were riding straight into it. It felt like we were riding uphill and with the gravelly country road, it made for a tougher ride than we'd hoped for, but we pushed on. Some miles seemed to go on forever, being very tough, while others were much  nicer and flew by. Our legs never got a respite from hard pedaling however. I found myself wishing we had more hills, so at least we'd get some downhill releases!

We rode right past the first water stop in Lyman, but were ready for a break in Raser State Park. After a bio-break, a couple orange quarters, half a banana, and Gatorade, we were back on route to Concrete.

Early settlers came to the Baker River in 1871, originally calling the settlement on the west bank "Minnehaha". In 1890, the townsite was platted by Magnus Miller, a post office was set up, and the name "Baker" was adopted. On the east bank of the river, the community that sprang up around the Washington Portland Cement Company (1905) was named "Cement City". After the Superior Portland Cement Company plant (1908) was built in Baker, it was decided to merge the two towns, and in 1909, after much discussion, the new community settled on the name "Concrete".

Concrete was the half way point. A quaint little old town, I was surprised I'd never been there before. It sits atop a hill, beside a river and falls turned dam. We were welcomed to this rest spot by 4 very cute and sweet cheerleaders. Everyone got a cheer and lots of up and down jumping.

The guy with the flat caught up to us at Concrete. He had a brand new carbon fiber racing bike and he was fast on that thing. I get a little frustrated with the fact we can't do the same speeds on our heavier aluminum touring bikes, but keep reminding myself they are for a different purpose.

Harold had moved his seat up a bit before today's ride and by this time, he was realizing that had been a mistake since his knee was really hurting. He moved the seat back and we hoped he'd be okay from here.

After more Gatorade and a shared cookie and orange, we cycled down the hill and crossed to the south side of Skagit River for the trip back to Sedro Woolley.

We had been hoping the wind would be behind us on the way back, but would have been just as happy with no wind at all. The last thing we wanted was to continue with the headwinds in our faces .... and that's exactly what we got. Still, it was a beautiful ride back down, with very few cars.

Half way back we passed the same guy with more trouble with his flat tire. I guess he didn't get out what had caused the first flat and it punctured his spare tube. The ride was over for him and the support truck picked him up and took him to the end.

Our last rest stop was 13 miles before the end where the same cheerleaders were there to meet us. At the 2 mile mark, I got a huge influx of energy and surged ahead of Harold, racing for the finish line.

Lunch was included with the registration, and it was the best meatball sub and salad I'd ever tasted. We decided against having the included ice cream cone and instead drove back to Birch Bay in time for Saturday Sips wine sampling at our local CJ Wijns.

SWAN Sedro Woolley Century

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

May 24, 2010 Chuckanut Drive and Lake Samish Circle route

We drove down to Fairhaven, where we parked, at the top end of Chuckanut, then began our cycle down along one of the most beautiful winding coastal roads in the US. We were definitely cursing the fact we'd forgotten the camera, as the views were breathtaking ... and I mean that in a very un-Seinfeld-like way. Along the way we passed by two seafood restaurants we'd definitely like to come back to at a later date.

Chuckanut Drive is a gorgeous road that winds between the Chuckanut Mountain Range and the shores of Samish Bay, south from the city of Bellingham to the Skagit Valley. Along the way riders enjoy spectacular views of the islands and inland waters off the northwest Washington coast. At one time Chuckanut Drive was the main road south of Bellingham. It is now a scenic highway, popular with tourists, car-commercial photographers, and, of course, bicyclists. Terrain: hilly and windy roads, especially along Chuckanut Drive.

Just a bit after the coast road comes out onto the flat farmlands, we turned left onto Colony Road, following it up and around in a semi circle going back up north again, connecting with Lake Samish Road. We decided on following the lake around on the west side, away from the Interstate and discovered a beautiful, sleepy, little lakeside community I'd sped by a thousand times on I5 but never actually been in.

After the lake comes a series of climbs up, back and forth under the Interstate. Going north, the hill is steeper but shorter. If we'd gone south, we'd have had a very long, but much less steep climb. I think I prefer how we did it as we got a great long winding roll down the other side and back to our car. At 28 miles (45km) we both felt like we could have gone much further. Next time we definitely will.

Chuckanut Drive and Lake Samish

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

April 26, 2010 - San Juan Island

I had arranged to buy some used camping equipment from a kayak tour company on San Juan Island, so we decided this would be a great first trip for our new bikes.

We woke up early to drive from Birch Bay to Anacortes, WA and made it just in time to catch the  ferry to Friday Harbor. They let the cyclists and pedestrians on first so we rode along the empty car deck to the front where we tied and locked up our bikes, and headed upstairs.

The Washington State DOT ferries are very old, and dated, in contrast to even our oldest BC ferries. The interiors looked like they could use an overhaul, but the views outside were beautiful and the voyage was just over an hour long.

Arriving in Friday Harbor, we were off first, along with the pedestrians. We made our way up the hill from the ferry and through town. The course I had planned on, lead us counter clockwise around the island, about 32 miles (52km) plus a few more miles off the roads.

Right away, as we started riding, I noticed my brakes rubbing as I cycled. They never seemed to let go completely, making for a harder and aggravating ride. We had noticed this issue the day I bought the bike so we'd already taken it back once and they swore they'd fixed it. I put on my iPod and tried to ignore the sound and problem but it definitely put a damper on things.

A few miles outside town, on Roche Harbor Road, we stopped at San Juan Vineyards to sample their wines. They charge $1 per taste so we sampled a few and settled on their 2007 Cabernet-Merlot blend.

This is a blend of 50% Merlot from Kestrel View Estates, Yakima Valley with Brix at 27; 25% Cabernet-Sauvignon from Kestrel View Estates, Yakima Valley with Brix at 25; and 25% Cabernet Franc from Alder Ridge vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills Ava, Brix at 26.

Harold tried to fix the issue with my breaks at our stop here, but when I got back on, the sound and feel was exactly the same. It was very hard not to get in a funk about it, but we had been looking forward to this ride, and I knew we had another 30 miles to go, so I pasted a smile on my face, plugged the headphones back in my ears and kept telling myself I was having a wonderful time.

The terrain along the north side is rolling hills all the way up to Roche Harbor, about 8 miles (13km) from town. I was unprepared for the ambiance and glamour of this resort area. The bay is filled with yachts of the filthy rich.

Named in honor of Richard Roche, who served under British Captain Henry Kellett in 1846 and Captain James Charles Prevost in 1857-60. The resort was formerly a company town surrounding the Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company, which was incorporated in 1886. Lime production was a major industry and revenue source for a corporation run by John S. McMillin, whose ashes are buried in a large mausoleum nearby. The focal point of the resort is the historic Hotel de Haro, where Theodore Roosevelt stayed in 1907.

We headed back inland a bit and down the coast to the English Camp National Historic park. This is the site of the British Army camp during the Pig War set up in 1859 as response to a border dispute triggered by the killing of a pig. The camp, and the American camp on the south of the island, were occupied for 12 years, until the Treaty of Washington was signed, negotiated by Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany. The British abandoned their camp in November 1872, while the American camp was disbanded in July 1874.


The terrain became more hilly at this point. We had a long crawl up, which was agonizing on my bike since it felt like I had to push twice as hard, then the hill down was a welcome relief. Harold had been offering to switch bikes with me, but I had turned him down until we got about half way around to San Juan County Park. The park contains rustic campsites right on the coast and more importantly has hiker-biker campsites. We are told, during whale season, this is one of the best places to see whales, dolphins and porpoises from shore. The absolute best whale watching site is supposedly from Lime Kiln State Park, just down the road, considered one of the best land based Orca viewing areas anywhere.

The road runs right along the coast down the southwest side and this is where the biggest hills come in. Now that Harold and I had switched bikes, I didn't have the pain of having to push twice as hard, but even though Harold had tried to adjust our seats, the fit wasn't right and it was a pretty painful ride. The views of Vancouver Island and the waters between were just awesome however, and it was hard to maintain a bad mood.

Cutting back along the south side, we decided against going to American Camp since we had to be back in Friday Harbor to meet the guy who was selling us the camping gear, and to be honest, I was quite happy to be finishing. We waited for him in a seaside lounge, enjoying an appetizer and a glass of wine. He arrived with a beautiful old yellow lab, and we plied him with questions about the islands and whale watching, then packed up our newly purchased equipment, and boarded the ferry back to the mainland.

San Juan Island

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com