Bellingham to Port Orchard in Five Days May 15-19, 2006
Day 1
We had to take Jon’s van that he co-owns with brother Andy up to Bellingham for at least the duration of our trip which provided the perfect opportunity to take a little test trip on our bikes to see how they perform, how we perform and how the rest of the gear performs. We spent the night at Andy’s new condo which was great and turned out to be the perfect starting point to hook up with Highway 9 and head south.
The next day it was beautiful, the sun was out, blue skies, slight breeze and the only thing we had to do was ride our bikes. We started out a little later than hoped as there were a few more last minute adjustments to be done to the bikes. We didn’t leave until closer to 1000 which worked out better with traffic. Out in the suburbs of Bellingham – easy riding, wide shoulder, courteous drivers. We had a pretty good idea of where we needed to go but stopped briefly to talk to a policeman on a coffee break to double check. Yep, we were going the right way. Two right turns later we were on highway 9 now all we had to do was follow it south and it would take us right into Sedro Wooley which was our destination. A little more traffic but there was plenty of room for everyone. Lots of new construction going on in Bellingham. Before long we passed a sign that said “Welcome to Bellingham”. Hmmm, I don’t remember officially leaving Bellingham and I definitely know that I don’t want to be entering Bellingham (or re-entering as the case may be). Something was not right.
“Did you see that sign?”
“Yeah, let’s pull over”
Left, right, north, south. Funny, it kind of all looks the same when you’re not familiar with the area. OK, two right turns does have us going in a U shaped direction.Admittedly, I am not so great with navigation when it comes to the north-south stuff. I’m better with land marks (ie turn left at the quickie mart) which probably isn’t going to be especially helpful. The good news is that we’re not too proud to ask for directions.
All righty! Back in the saddle and headed in the right direction (no really, we are). It was rural America at it’s finest. We pedaled past cows, horses, emus and alpachas, old people sitting on their porch waving hello. You could smell the warm, fresh cut hay which reminded my of my grandfather’s farm. We pedaled along happily over rolling hills, stopped occasionally for water or a photo-op. It was closer to 1400 when it dawned on us to put on some sunblock. We had little sample sizes we picked up at the Bike Expo that I threw into the bag just before we left. It came with a coupon. Whoa, we were about four hours too late. Jon lifted the sleeve of his shirt and the farmers tan/burn was glaringly apparent and tender. We both had sunburned shins (a hazard with recumbents since you’re pedaling with your legs up). I had applied the facial moisturizer with SPF 30 that morning but had sweated it off a while back. We slathered on the sunblock that we had, ate some chocolate to console ourselves and continued on our marry way.
One thing I had read and heard time and again was not to wait until you’re hungry or thirsty to eat or drink. Good advice, and I wholeheartedly support any kind of wisdom that encourages eating and/or drinking.
We pulled into Sedro Wooley around mid to late afternoon STARVING. OK, we’re two for two in the Later rather than Sooner category. First place in sight: Subway. One six inch sub and fountain drink later and Jon with his chocolate chip cookies we were feeling a lot better. Conveniently, the parks department was just kitty corner to Subway so we pedaled over and found out that there was no camping in Sedro Wooley. The closest campground was about 7miles away. Now, we had already clocked in our 50 miles for the day and with my body digesting my sandwich and getting used to the idea of being off the bike 7miles seemed far. But first, Grandpa’s house, which was also pretty close to the Subway – mere blocks in fact. We had a good chat, and showed him the bikes. A brief stop at the Food Pavilion for some staples and we were headed for the campsite. It was around 7pm by this time, clouds were coming in which meant a headwind. We were within a couple miles of the campsite when my blood sugar decided to take a dive – a good time to stop for dinner. There we were on the side of the road between fields of who knows what in Skagit Valley eating pretzels and hummus, trail mix and water. We made it to the campsite, pitched our tent and hit the showers. A hot shower cost fifty cents for 3 minutes which is a rip since the first 40 seconds are spent waiting for the hot water to go through the pipes!
We learned a lot that first day. Sunblock, sunblock, sunblock. Eating is good – doing it on a regular basis is even better. I can ride a fully loaded bike over 50 miles in one day. Jon says he learned that “Sherry can ride that far in one day – that’s a comforting thought”. The farthest I had ever ridden in the past was about 28 miles, overall I felt pretty good but worried about the repercussions I might feel the next morning. We had seen quite a few recumbents on today’s ride which was cool. We knew we had a short ride ahead of us the next day. We averaged over 10 miles an hour which exceeded our expectations. In other words – we rocked! Knowing this, we climbed into our sleeping bags without stretching or giving each other massages as we had discussed during the planning phase of this short journey and promptly fell asleep.
