Irregular Rhythms
Three days of no riding appears to have thrown off our rhythm. We had a late start to the morning when we left Port Townsend. There was laundry to sort, a blog post to publish, and crumpets to eat. Somehow all of our gear fit on our bicycles again and we were on the road by 9:30 am or so. We experimented with taking a shortcut and found it to be along a loud, busy highway. So we returned to the route and found... a loud, busy highway. We took another shortcut and made it to highway 101. The road curved around to the town of Blyn where we took a break at a market. Mike had a very good sandwich (two kinds of cheese!) from their deli, I enjoyed some pesto pasta. Despite the good food, we were finding the day difficult. On the previous day we had walked around 6 miles while exploring Port Townsend and had, perhaps, overdone it. We were not enjoying the ride so we finished early at a campground east of Sequim (pronounced 'skwim'). The afternoon was sunny so we spread various bits of the tent over the grass in an attempt to dry it out. It sort of worked then it rained in the evening. Of course.
Today we also had a late start. This was somewhat my fault, I wanted to watch a funny video before riding. If you haven't got time for a funny video on your vacation, you're doing it wrong. Our progress was further delayed by a stop at a large grocery store to raid their bakery department. I exited with 4 banana-nut muffins, 4 apple turnovers, and an apple pie. At the time of writing - less than 12 hours later - only one muffin and one apple turnover remain. I fear they will not survive tomorrow's breakfast.
We've been watching a series of Youtube videos made by an English boat builder, Leo, who is in Sequim restoring a 100 year old wooden boat. We had hoped to swing by and see the project in person but unfortunately Leo was back in England. We didn't have the address for the project so we contented ourselves with looking at every house and shop we passed to see if there was a partially-disassembled boat next to it. No luck this time, perhaps we'll have to come back.
On the way out of Sequim we joined the Olympic Discovery Trail bike path. Initially it provided a welcome change from the highway but soon became twisty and hilly. We found it slow and infuriating. To top it off, some of the ground was covered in moss and/or wet leaves, adding fears of skidding and slipping to the mix. Mike gave it a thumbs-down on Trip Advisor and said "they must have built it before lawsuits were invented". He truly is the son (and brother!) of lawyers. The path did improve as we went along the seafront in Port Angeles. We saw Canada and a sea lion, but no orcas.
Tonight we're camping near the River Lyre at the bottom of a hill. The hill was a great end to the day's riding but what goes down must come up...
Yesterday's miles: 35
Today's: 48-ish, I think. My bike computer stopped working.
Today we also had a late start. This was somewhat my fault, I wanted to watch a funny video before riding. If you haven't got time for a funny video on your vacation, you're doing it wrong. Our progress was further delayed by a stop at a large grocery store to raid their bakery department. I exited with 4 banana-nut muffins, 4 apple turnovers, and an apple pie. At the time of writing - less than 12 hours later - only one muffin and one apple turnover remain. I fear they will not survive tomorrow's breakfast.
We've been watching a series of Youtube videos made by an English boat builder, Leo, who is in Sequim restoring a 100 year old wooden boat. We had hoped to swing by and see the project in person but unfortunately Leo was back in England. We didn't have the address for the project so we contented ourselves with looking at every house and shop we passed to see if there was a partially-disassembled boat next to it. No luck this time, perhaps we'll have to come back.
On the way out of Sequim we joined the Olympic Discovery Trail bike path. Initially it provided a welcome change from the highway but soon became twisty and hilly. We found it slow and infuriating. To top it off, some of the ground was covered in moss and/or wet leaves, adding fears of skidding and slipping to the mix. Mike gave it a thumbs-down on Trip Advisor and said "they must have built it before lawsuits were invented". He truly is the son (and brother!) of lawyers. The path did improve as we went along the seafront in Port Angeles. We saw Canada and a sea lion, but no orcas.
Tonight we're camping near the River Lyre at the bottom of a hill. The hill was a great end to the day's riding but what goes down must come up...
Yesterday's miles: 35
Today's: 48-ish, I think. My bike computer stopped working.
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| An apple tree sheds its bounty |
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| On the Olympic Discovery Trail |
As always - great pictures and great story telling! Mike, Sr.'s bike and gear is packed - everything looks so fresh and clean and shiny - and at the front door ready to load the train tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteRide safely.
Cheri
I sent you the photos of me scraped up earlier this summer. That was from riding through a wet, muddy gutter filled with leaves. The front wheel washed out in a nano-second and I went down. I broke both brake lever holders, one brake hood and all the bar tape was torn off, not to mention some bits of skin. Stay away from that sort of surface; avoid it like the plague! I am ready to board the train tomorrow. I have mixed feelings of anticipation and trepidation. Cheri says you are to go easy on me because I am The Old Guy.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to the Old Guy. Hope you have lots of fun and that your leg muscles hold up as well as your bike. Give them both a hug from us. What a great adventure. Love Debbi
ReplyDeletePart one of two: Mike, Jr. should have been at the Oceanside train station to film his parents for a comedy short this morning. For some back story, I know from Kellie's lacrosse trips that the train pulls into the station, is only there for a few minutes, and one needs to be on the platform and ready to board. For further back story, I am the cautious one, always early, and some members of the family may say that I am bossy. I am trying to be mellow and less bossy. So when Mike, Sr.'s phone directions said the trip would take 31 minutes I asked for a bit more time and we allocated 45 minutes. I would have liked more time, but I am trying not to be bossy and we did pull into the train parking lot seven minutes before boarding. The next part of the story may be TMI, but being integral to the plot, Mike, Sr. states he needs a men's room. He leaves to find facilities, I watch the train come in, the passengers board, and minutes pass by. Getting nervous, I unload the bike, front wheel, and panniers. Getting a bit more nervous, I pick up the panniers and head for the train thinking I should tell a conductor that Mike, Sr. is coming. A conductor tells me that bikes load in the front baggage car, Mike catches up with me with his bike, we make it to the front, load, hug, and the loud speaker announcement says the train doors will close in two minutes. Mike smiles, laughs, and says, "Nothing like cutting in close." and then stops and announces, "I don't have my back pack." We freeze. I say I'll go get it. The conductor says, "I'm closing these doors in two minutes." Does Mike stay or get off? I tell the conductor, "But it has his wallet and phone," as if somehow that should impact the Amtrak schedule. I run for the parking lot and, being bossy, tell Mike to stay. For your story board, you have to have the image of me running to the parking lot - age 64, overweight, and even full out, no one would consider me fast. For Katie's appreciation, I am wearing the vibrant blue Hawaiian print jacket that Grandma gave me. Katie winces when I wear this garment, but I assure you no one could miss me as I ran by. For Aunt Kellie's benefit, I am running along with the leather Coach satchel purse you gave me - if the image is a suburban comedy as least I can provide the entertainment in style, thank you Aunt Kellie. Next, as I round the corner from the platform to the car I see a dozen joggers come out of the terminal. All are lean, fit, fast, and in proper running attire. My mind flits with the idea of asking one of them to run Mike's back pack to the front of the train, but the request and explanation could consume precious seconds, so I discard the idea. However, for a film short, this has plot potential. I also thought about yelling at all of them to run for the front of the train, to generally create confusion and slow the train's departure, but I wasn't sure that I had the leadership skills to be quite that commanding, and they would probably think me a mental health situation, and if anyone tried to render aid, this could also waste precious seconds. I discarded this second idea in the reality version, but the idea has potential in a film short.
ReplyDeletePart two of two: Now, racing back to the train (I use this verb to reflect my objective, not my speed), I start thinking of options because I don't think I can make the front car before the doors close. I could hop on a back car, give Mike the back pack, and then debark at the first station and take a train back. Hopefully, my car wouldn't be towed because I am parked in a loading area. Another option is to give the back pack to a conductor in a back car and ask him to bring the pack up to Mike in the front. I don't see any conductors standing in back train car doors, however, so to try to obtain someone's attention, I start yelling, "Conductor. Conductor." I round the corner, see that Mike and a conductor are standing on the platform outside the front car with the bike and panniers unloaded. I am motioning for them to get back on the train, the conductor is looking like this is not a good day, Mike runs towards me to get the pack, we both run back to the front, the conductor loads the bike, Mike jumps on with panniers and back pack, I yell, "I love you!" and the doors close. As I leave the station I receive a text from Mike. The text reads: "Conductor to me: 'Sir, you may want to invest in a watch.'"
ReplyDeleteI laughed out loud when I read this story yesterday at our first break. Hilarious!
DeleteOh, the shame!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but that is hysterical. Why does no-one understand that arriving early saves all the above problems. Well done Chéri you should get a medal. Xx
ReplyDelete