Pre-Start

July 30

While a national default may have been averted, nothing could keep the dynamic duo of Jerry and Dick from completing their pre-ride 116-mile adventure from Seattle to Bellingham.  Within in an hour of landing Dick and Jerry picked up their bikes from REI in Tukwila and were on the road fully-loaded and ready to ride north.  Within two blocks of departure, the first of many obstacles were encountered with a closed bike trail. Fortunately, we were rescued with the first of many helpful cyclists more than willing to offer directions.  The only problem was no two cyclists provided the same directions.  Possible bike trails in the Seattle area were a complex of confusing options only a local could figure out.   After two hours of navigating the rat maze of off-map possibilities, we successfully managed 5 miles of northernly progress and 5 miles of back and forth retracing of false starts and misunderstood directions.  The only saving grace was the excellent weather in the Seattle area - sunny skies and mid-70's.  Every bike in Seattle must have been in use on this Saturday afternoon.

Our naviational confusion was not limted to the Seattle area as we were confronted with at least an unintended 6-mile detour of cartographial mishaps.  By the end of the day, we we made it to Snohomish, WA a mere 40 miles in our 116 mile pre-rid adventure.  After a local suggested the lack of campgrounds in the area, we relented and chose one of the few motels in downtown or any where nearby for that matter.  As luck would have it, we got the last room available.  Otherwise, we would have had to ride another 20-30 miles or sleep under the deck of the local recommended Mexican restaurant where we had a nice dinner later.

Sunday, July 31


With an early 6:30 AM start from Snohomish, Jerry and Dick headed out on a great off-highway paved bike trail, called the Centennial Trail. Temperatures were cool at the start to the 76 miles ahead of us this Sunday morning enroute to Bellingham to meet up with Johnny. The trail was flat and easy to follow after the confusing mess ups out of Seattle. After about 20 miles, a light rain started, enough to hang on your glassess, but not enough to feel cold. We saw no one on this trail for several hours so we were surprised when a lone ride came up on us while we were stopped a crossing. He was friendly and asked lots of questions about our intenary offering the most important suggestion about where to have breakfast. Arlington was the place.
With the end of the Centennail Trail, we cruised into Arlington passed a police cruiser. A quick turnaround found another friendly cop with his recommendation for pancakes at Brewters. Wow, even the short stack was too much to handle, but it sure hit the spot. By now the rain had stopped, the skies were overcast, and we were grinding out some pretty impressive double-digit averages making our way along the backroads over to the I-5 corrider.


Old Highway 99 and the Pacific Coast Highway parralled I-5 and rose and fell over the next 40 miles. Mt. Vernon was our first town of any size and we hit it right at lunch time with lot's of traffic and not much sholder. A fruit stand provided a nice break in the action. The trek continued north opening up some impressive valley views over massive lakes. Lake Samish was one that provided a winding shoreline road which led to some hilly climbing on the outskirts of Bellingham.

Using Google bike maps was a little tricky with lots of turns as the city opened up before us. A quick detour through a small park put us on a four-lane busy highway for the last couple of miles to the HI Express - our destination for the meet up with Johnny. We pulled in the lobby at 3:05 PM leaving Johnny a little befuddle because of our earlier than expected arrival time. So eary, he didn't even have to time to get the beers iced down. Within minutes of our arrival, the sun shined brightly.

After long hot showers and endless pre-ride boasting, we all went out for a well deserved pizza dinnter, though we opted to walk and not ride the half mile trip to the restaurant.