Day Total - 40.1 miles
Trip Total - 1,274.8 miles
We got a relatively late start this morning, since today was slated to be a relatively short one by our new, high-mileage Washington standards. Partly because the terrain is much flatter and partly because we haven't had any serious headwinds, our speed in Washington has been much quicker than in Oregon and California. Thus, while a 40 mile day was about average there, it's on the low end for Washington (weather notwithstanding).
We backtracked three miles to the city of Belfair with ambulances and sheriffs speeding by in the other direction. We guessed that it had something to do with the race track down the road, but we never found out for sure. Once we got back to town, we turned onto the Old Belfair Highway, the alternate route to busy Highway 3. This was a really good road, particularly once traffic died down a few miles out of town. It was climbing gradually up the Union River Valley, but not at a steep enough grade to really slow us down. Soon enough, we crossed into Kitsap County, where we would be spending the rest of the day.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Day 33 - Elma, WA to Belfair, WA
Day Total - 56.4 miles
Trip Total - 1,234.7 miles
Dear Washington dog owners:
When your dog stands in the road barking at us and then charges me, I will pepper spray it. It is not my fault that the dog attacked me. Perhaps you should keep your animals under control - California and Oregon seem to have it figured out, why can't you?
We had to leave the hostel by 9:30 this morning, so we got up at 7:30 to make breakfast in the kitchen. It's the first and likely last time we'll be using an actual kitchen during the trip, and having a real stove was much quicker than the usual camp stove ordeal. We left just after 9:00, but instead of backtracking almost 2 miles to the Adventure Cycling route, we followed the suggestion of the hostel owner and cut off some distance by simply getting on the road north at a different place.
Trip Total - 1,234.7 miles
Dear Washington dog owners:
When your dog stands in the road barking at us and then charges me, I will pepper spray it. It is not my fault that the dog attacked me. Perhaps you should keep your animals under control - California and Oregon seem to have it figured out, why can't you?
We had to leave the hostel by 9:30 this morning, so we got up at 7:30 to make breakfast in the kitchen. It's the first and likely last time we'll be using an actual kitchen during the trip, and having a real stove was much quicker than the usual camp stove ordeal. We left just after 9:00, but instead of backtracking almost 2 miles to the Adventure Cycling route, we followed the suggestion of the hostel owner and cut off some distance by simply getting on the road north at a different place.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Day 32 - Centralia, WA to Elma, WA
Day Total - 36.7 miles
Trip Total - 1,178.3 miles
It was raining again when we woke up this morning. We waited it out as usual, which was fine, because we had another short day. We were basically going to finish what we would have done the day before had it not been for the weather. In addition, a quick check of the Google maps topo revealed a very flat route. We were folliwng the broad Chehalis River Valley down to the town of Elma, about 35 miles to the northwest.
We walked over to Jack in the Box for breakfast, at which point the rain started again, so we waited in the room until the last possible moment before leaving. At the noon checkout time, we left down the busy main road out of Centralia. Google didn't lie - it was very flat, not to mention we had a tailwind early on.
Trip Total - 1,178.3 miles
It was raining again when we woke up this morning. We waited it out as usual, which was fine, because we had another short day. We were basically going to finish what we would have done the day before had it not been for the weather. In addition, a quick check of the Google maps topo revealed a very flat route. We were folliwng the broad Chehalis River Valley down to the town of Elma, about 35 miles to the northwest.
We walked over to Jack in the Box for breakfast, at which point the rain started again, so we waited in the room until the last possible moment before leaving. At the noon checkout time, we left down the busy main road out of Centralia. Google didn't lie - it was very flat, not to mention we had a tailwind early on.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Day 31 - Toledo, WA to Centralia, WA
Day Total - 24.8 miles
Trip Total - 1,141.6 miles
Rain-shortened day. No dog chases though.
When we woke up this morning, it was raining. Hard. That's pretty much what the forecast said would happen, and it was immediately clear that we weren't going to be able to do the 60 miles we had planned. So I got back in my tent (Kevin had never left his) and read my book until around 9:30. By then, the rain had become less severe, although it hadn't stopped. I figured that it was a good time to get packed up so that we could leave once the rain stopped. Kevin had other ideas though. He, as usual, wouldn't get out of his sleeping bag, which rendered my plans pointless (in fairness, they weren't necessary either).
The rain finally stopped at about 10:30, at which point I just needed to take my tent down to be ready to go. Kevin, in the meantime, got up at 11. By the time he was ready, another band of precipitation was hitting us, so we didn't end up leaving until 1:15 in the afternoon. We were only going as far as Centralia, a little over 20 miles away though, so time wasn't really a serious issue.
Trip Total - 1,141.6 miles
Rain-shortened day. No dog chases though.
When we woke up this morning, it was raining. Hard. That's pretty much what the forecast said would happen, and it was immediately clear that we weren't going to be able to do the 60 miles we had planned. So I got back in my tent (Kevin had never left his) and read my book until around 9:30. By then, the rain had become less severe, although it hadn't stopped. I figured that it was a good time to get packed up so that we could leave once the rain stopped. Kevin had other ideas though. He, as usual, wouldn't get out of his sleeping bag, which rendered my plans pointless (in fairness, they weren't necessary either).
The rain finally stopped at about 10:30, at which point I just needed to take my tent down to be ready to go. Kevin, in the meantime, got up at 11. By the time he was ready, another band of precipitation was hitting us, so we didn't end up leaving until 1:15 in the afternoon. We were only going as far as Centralia, a little over 20 miles away though, so time wasn't really a serious issue.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Day 30 - Cathlamet, WA to Toledo, WA
Day Total - 48.7 miles
Trip Total - 1,116.8 miles
Today started easily enough, as we pulled out of camp around 10:00 onto a very flat Highway 4. We made great time upriver for the first 10 miles, despite Kevin's bike continuing to cause him problems. It worked well enough to survive the lumber trucks rushing by us though, and not much more than 45 minutes after starting, we turned onto Coal Creek Road into the hills.
This too seemed to be easy until we got to the village of Coal Creek. The problem here wasn't the road or traffic or weather though. It was dogs. All through town, dogs were barking aggressively at us, until on our way out, one got free. It ran into the road after me, of course as I hit a fairly steep section of hill. I was ready though. I had my pepper spray out, and with a flick of the safety and a quick mist, that angry dog was stopped in its tracks. I quickly left the scene as Fido went to go rub his head in the grass for a couple hours. Scoreboard: Cyclists 1, Dogs 0.
Trip Total - 1,116.8 miles
Today started easily enough, as we pulled out of camp around 10:00 onto a very flat Highway 4. We made great time upriver for the first 10 miles, despite Kevin's bike continuing to cause him problems. It worked well enough to survive the lumber trucks rushing by us though, and not much more than 45 minutes after starting, we turned onto Coal Creek Road into the hills.
This too seemed to be easy until we got to the village of Coal Creek. The problem here wasn't the road or traffic or weather though. It was dogs. All through town, dogs were barking aggressively at us, until on our way out, one got free. It ran into the road after me, of course as I hit a fairly steep section of hill. I was ready though. I had my pepper spray out, and with a flick of the safety and a quick mist, that angry dog was stopped in its tracks. I quickly left the scene as Fido went to go rub his head in the grass for a couple hours. Scoreboard: Cyclists 1, Dogs 0.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Day 29 - Astoria, OR to Cathlamet, WA
Day Total - 42.1 miles
Trip Total - 1,068.1 miles
We're camping less than 10 yards from the Columbia River.
We got out of the motel on the late side, around 10:30 in the morning. The weather looked good though, with scattered non-threatening clouds and a nice westerly wind for our eastward jaunt up the Columbia River. Getting out of Astoria was not as pleasant, however. Narrow streets with lots of traffic made the first couple miles a white-knuckle affair. Everyone was driving slowly though, so we got through without any serious scares. On our way out of town, we stopped at Safeway for groceries, which took a good half hour. With that out of the way, we pedaled east on US Route 30.
It wasn't long before we stopped again. Kevin was getting serious play in his cranks, so he stopped to try to fix the problem. At first, he thought he had a loose cassette, so he removed the rear wheel and tried to tighten it. That turned out not to be the problem though, so he tried tightening his pedals. It seemed to work, or at least lessen the problem, so we were on our way after a 45 minute stop.
Trip Total - 1,068.1 miles
We're camping less than 10 yards from the Columbia River.
We got out of the motel on the late side, around 10:30 in the morning. The weather looked good though, with scattered non-threatening clouds and a nice westerly wind for our eastward jaunt up the Columbia River. Getting out of Astoria was not as pleasant, however. Narrow streets with lots of traffic made the first couple miles a white-knuckle affair. Everyone was driving slowly though, so we got through without any serious scares. On our way out of town, we stopped at Safeway for groceries, which took a good half hour. With that out of the way, we pedaled east on US Route 30.
It wasn't long before we stopped again. Kevin was getting serious play in his cranks, so he stopped to try to fix the problem. At first, he thought he had a loose cassette, so he removed the rear wheel and tried to tighten it. That turned out not to be the problem though, so he tried tightening his pedals. It seemed to work, or at least lessen the problem, so we were on our way after a 45 minute stop.
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