Ahhh. I'm laying in a real bed listening to KPLU (Tacoma's incredible NPR and jazz station). What a life.
Finally quit rolling over and going back to sleep about 6:30 this morning. Made some tea and some Lipton quick food with a fancy name meaning macaroni & cheese. Had a lovely time sipping tea and reading my book, "Love Medicine" by Louise Erdrich. Slowly got everything ready and packed up and rolled out about 9:15. I thought that would be late enough to miss rush hour, but the traffic was still pretty heavy.
The first 5 miles were on the main highway, including Hood Canal Bridge, which was awful. Turned onto a side road and a vicious hill. I just wasn't warmed up for it and it was pretty painful. Stayed on quiet, hilly back roads all the way to Port Townsend at 32.5 miles and never did feel really warmed up. Riding along the water is beautiful, but you alternate between sealevel and 100-200 feet over and over and over. About the last 10 miles followed the same route Lisa and I finished our San Juan tour on. I recognized everything. It's amazing how familiar a road can be after you bike it.
I'd planned to get breakfast in Port Townsend, but the ferry to Whidbey Island was already waiting at the dock. I inhaled some yogurt and a muffin on the ferry and wasn't hungry at all 5 miles later in Coupeville. I stopped at a promising deli anyway and ate a cup of great veggie-pasta soup and got an enormous hoagie to go. It was overcast all morning, but now there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'd been waiting for it to warm up enough to change clothes. I was wearing a blue long-sleeve REI underwear shirt and identically colored tights. They do a great job of wicking the sweat away and regulating my temperature, but I looked like a superhero wearing the blue tights of justice.
So, anyway, I pulled over at the beautiful site pictured here and changed into shorts, sandals and my white longsleeve Solumbra (sunblocking) shirt. I love how easy it is to break into the bob, file through the ziplocks of clothes (stored vertically like a card catalog, thanks Lisa) and swap clothes. I kind of procrastinated changing, until I realized that it was a great excuse for a break.
Finally started to feel good about riding, even the hills. I quit dreading Deception Pass and started looking forward to it, especially since it wasn't far from Anacortes, today's destination. Followed more of our San Juan trip route, the beginning this time, and got all nostalgic. Had to ride the highway for a couple of miles and look for the turnoff to "Monkey Hill Road". I was looking forward to getting off the highway, but I hate roads with Hill in the name. This one deserved the name and my hate. Definitely the steepest hill on the ride, so far.
The side roads kept me off the highway until a couple of miles before Deception Pass. Deception is the right name for the pass. It was only about 200 feet elevation, 160 foot climb from the bottom of the pass. Like going up the driveway 2 or 3 times. Traffic was getting really nasty, so I walked the bike across the bridge on the sidewalk. It was so narrow between the bridge rail and a cable on bent poles that I could barely get through. Good thing nobody was walking the other way.
Realized when I was going through my maps that I didn't really need to go all the way into Anacortes. The Pacific Coast and Northern Tier routes intersected about 10 miles out of town. I wanted to stay in a motel so I could recharge my batteries, and my appliances' batteries. One map made me believe the only motels were in Anacortes. The other showed a bed near the route intersection. I found the Lake Campbell Motel at about 4:30. Traffic was horrible, so I decided to check it out even though I could've ridden another couple hours. It has a bathtub, two beds, a radio, power outlets, a phone jack and this beautiful view of the lake. Heaven. (It also has a tv and kitchenette, but who cares.) I wolfed half the hoagie before I even took a bath, but not long before.
Well, tomorrow I start phase two of the journey. Go East, old man.
Stats: 64.1 total miles, avg speed 11.4, max 42.4, bike time 5:35, altimeter read (since inception) 341.3 for 4900 feet today.