Greetings on day 1 - a full day of riding. Breakfast in Bellingham then a quick drive to the starting point. Smiles all around, great weather, gear and maps in the ready.
And the riders are off
Today's route info from Tom:
Today the star of the ride was the weather. The 72 miles and 3000 feet of climbing were about what we expected and planned, but in previous riding trips in Western Washington we have always ridden in rain. Our average speed of 15.4 mph was pretty good considering it was the first day with all of the hills. We finished the day with a wonderful dinner, with great views and our own private deck and campfire.
Tomorrow we start out with an early wake up call and a ferry ride to the Olympic Peninsula where we will be for the next four days.
The scenic highlight for the day was the crossing of Deception Pass nine miles north of Oak Harbor on SR 20 - a cliff lined channel that separates Whidbey and Fidalgo islands. Amazing views.
Notes from the riders:
Jerry: Today was a spectacular official first day. Yesterday (the prologue) was pretty wild by comparison. The scenery was terrific as we hugged the forested shoreline south of Bellingham going toward the Port Townsend Ferry. The roads were much better than the first day and other than riding an extra 7 miles or so due to WA DOT poor marking of roads (that's our story and we're sticking to it), we survived the 72 miles and hills without any ill effects. We were on Whidbey Island for quite awhile and saw some low and slow and loud F-18's and P3's doing touch and go's. Deception pass & bridge was amazing, as picture above shows.
All good on our end - Fair weather and safe riding.
Patty
You are rolling now! No more international incidents! Keep on having fun. Cheri & Jerry
ReplyDelete