Pretty Amazing & The Dream is Alive and Well - Day 9

The Dream is Alive and Well - Ed's Thoughts on the Journey

Today I reflected on our journey and wanted to share a few thoughts.  First is that my beloved wife and best friend of 38 years is willing to join me in my dream of doing this ride.  I would not have done it without her and her sharing in this adventure is amazing!  She has done outstanding and is one heck of a climber.  Even though she dreads the hills I can't keep up with her no matter how steep the grade is.  I would never have thought that she was willing to do a 66 mile ride followed by by a 52 mile ride today.  She is truly an amazing woman and I love her with all my heart!  I will follow her next in her dream but I'm not sure what that is.

My next thoughts are that today was truly the dream I envisioned.  It was absolutely the best bike ride I have been on!  Fifty-two miles of quiet road, with little traffic, minimal climbing and a nice bike lane along the Pacific Ocean.  What an experience it was and even though I know there will be many miles not as pleasant as today I will always cherish this ride with my dear wife.

Lastly this journey is not only about completing the goal of arriving at Mexico, but it is also about deepening my love for Jesus Christ.  Today we read John Chapter 3 and I was reminded about a book I am reading called "Crazy Love".  It gives an illustration of  using a movie about God and His creation.  In this movie we humans are in the movie for a mere 3 seconds compared to the whole feature.  In other words the movie is about God and not me!  John 3 brought this to life when John the Baptist stated that " He (Jesus) must become greater and greater and I must become less."  This journey has emphasized how insignificant I am and how great God is!  Seeing the vast mountains, the tremendous forests, the marvelous farm and ranch land, and the mighty Pacific Ocean has reminded me of our great creator!

Pretty Amazing - Sharla's Thoughts on the Journey

As we left Twin Harbors State Park this morning, we soon had beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and my comment was that this was pretty amazing. I had such a sense of wonder seeing the ocean.  There is the beauty of God's creation I see there but also the amazement we have made it so far and we will be following alongside this ocean the rest of the way.  Ed said this morning that  he thought this journey would come to an end too soon.  Those aren't exactly my thoughts. I love my husband enough to not want to stand in the way of his completing his dream and I thought I could make it with God's enabling.  I have seen God work so far.  I am enjoying the time together,  enjoying the magnificent scenery and enjoying eating lunches in small cafes along the way.  I don't enjoy the steep hills that I have to get into my bottom gears and am still huffing & puffing and out of oxygen by the time I get to the top but thankfully I think I'm getting a little stronger so the hills are manageable.  I am looking forward to continuing to see God's hand in our travels. Tonight we are staying in Bush Pioneer County Park--47 miles to the Oregon border--that also is pretty amazing.

God is Good - Day 8

Soon after leaving Shelton, we turned off Hwy 101 towards Aberdeen, the exit required us to make a right turn after the off ramp.  Sharla stopped and turned right with no problem but Ed hit an oil slick and went down. It was so slick, he could hardly stand up. Praise God that he only skinned his arm and bruised a hip a and the bike and panniers were not damaged.  This is the first crash he has had in over 30 years. 

Ed was able to meet Tom  Nostrant, the designer and distributor of the Click-stand, in Aberdeen, WA, to replace the one he lost.   Tom even met us as we entered the town.  We consider Click-stands essential for touring and appreciate Tom's superior service.

Rain was predicted for today but we only experienced a couple light sprinkles. We did put on our rain gear at one point but didn't really need it.

Yesterday Ed heard some loud clicking on his bike and discovered a 1 1/2" staple stuck in his tire. When he pulled it out, the slime in his tube immediately sealed it up without losing hardly any air.  He completed yesterday's ride and today's before discovering the tire half full of air when we got into camp.  A lesson learned was that slime is only a temporary repair and the tube still needs to be patched.  Thankfully he didn't have to change a tire on the road. 

Another thing Ed is thankful for is Sharla's Hoo Ha Ride Glide for saddle sores.  Check it out if you are interested in what it is for.

The next campground after Aberdeen was another 20 miles after we had already gone 46 miles so that made a 66 mile day.  Sharla has never riden so far in one day.  Perhaps she is getting stronger but she thinks God helped enable her too and it was generally more level and she thinks there was a bit of a tail wind.

Within walking distance of our campground, we got our first view of the Pacific Ocean.  We got a small glimpse of how Lewis & Clark must have felt.  It gave us a sense of achievement as well as appreciating God's magnificent creation.

God is Good - Day 8

Soon after leaving Shelton, we turned off Hwy 101 towards Aberdeen, the exit required us to make a right turn after the off ramp.  Sharla stopped and turned right with no problem but Ed hit an oil slick and went down. It was so slick, he could hardly stand up. Praise God that he only skinned his arm and bruised a hip a and the bike and panniers were not damaged.  This is the first crash he has had in over 30 years. 

Ed was able to meet Tom  Nostrant, the designer and distributor of the Click-stand, in Aberdeen, WA, to replace the one he lost.   Tom even met us as we entered the town.  We consider Click-stands essential for touring and appreciate Tom's superior service.

Rain was predicted for today but we only experienced a couple light sprinkles. We did put on our rain gear at one point but didn't really need it.

Yesterday Ed heard some loud clicking on his bike and discovered a 1 1/2" staple stuck in his tire. When he pulled it out, the slime in his tube immediately sealed it up without losing hardly any air.  He completed yesterday's ride and today's before discovering the tire half full of air when we got into camp.  A lesson learned was that slime is only a temporary repair and the tube still needs to be patched.  Thankfully he didn't have to change a tire on the road. 

Another thing Ed is thankful for is Sharla's Hoo Ha Ride Glide for saddle sores.  Check it out if you are interested in what it is for.

The next campground after Aberdeen was another 20 miles after we had already gone 46 miles so that made a 66 mile day.  Sharla has never riden so far in one day.  Perhaps she is getting stronger but she thinks God helped enable her too and it was generally more level and she thinks there was a bit of a tail wind.

Within walking distance of our campground, we got our first view of the Pacific Ocean.  We got a small glimpse of how Lewis & Clark must have felt.  It gave us a sense of achievement as well as appreciating God's magnificent creation.

Motel Time - Day 7

Sharla had a wierd incident when she got a big pain in the leg before leaving camp. She prayed for God to take it away which He did.  She never had another incident of it the rest of the day.  We rode 40 miles to Shelton and wanted to do some more since it was early afternoon but the next campground was another 40 miles so we decided to motel it. After one week on the road it was time to do laundry, update the blog, and have a  nice bed to sleep in. Nice ride with pretty good bike lanes but had to be alert for many logging trucks on the road. Didn't see a single biker today.

Week 1 Recap:

Rode 225 miles in 6 days of riding

Travelled from Lynnwood, WA > Edmonds > ferry to Kingston > Port Angeles > ferry to Victoria > Sidney > ferry to Anacortes > through Whidbey Island > ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend > Shelton.  

Highlights & Lessons:

Bicycle touring is a great way to meet people

Hills can be challenging

Be well organized so can get out of camp early

God's creation is evident in the Puget Sound area

Washington and Vancouver Island are great places to ride
Weather has been fantastic... no rain & perfect temperature

The Feared Mt. Walker - Day 6

Rode from Old Fort Townsand State Park to Dosewallips State Park.  Ed didn't fear Mt. Walker because he hadn't looked in the book to know that it was up ahead but Sharla had.  It was a long gradual climb but nothing steep so it went better than Sharla had feared.  A highlight of the day was stopping and picking blackberries along the side of the rode... made for a great dessert. A walk down the Dosewallips River resulted in seeing 20-30 seals.  We rode 39 miles.

Lost Click-Stand - Day 5

Rode the full length  of Whidbey Island and caught the ferry to Port Townsand.  Sharla's spirits were lifted as the hills were more manageable. We stopped for lunch in Port Townsand where Ed somehow lost his click-stand (a folding kickstand that supports a loaded touring bike and trailer very well).  We will try to replace it in Aberdeen,WA, where they are made and we will be passing through in about 3 days.  Found a stick that works but is cumbersome to carry on the trailer. Camped in Old Fort Townsand State Park in the hiker/biker campground where we were joined later by Kate, a law student in Victoria on a solo 3 week tour down the Washington & Oregon coast. She was contemplating whether it was more important to complete her goal of riding to the California border or spending more time enjoying stops along the way. 

We are also discovering that it is difficult to see all the sites along the way and still make reasonable progress and get to a campsite in the late afternoon.  It is difficult to justify spending the extra energy to do side trips (especially if it involves an uphill climb).  We rode about 35 miles today.

Northern Most Point - Day 4

Left Victoria on our way to Sidney. The trail started as the Galloping Goose Trail and then we turned off onto the Lochside Trail - which was a combination of pavement and  hard-packed dirt - great bike trail. Arrived in Sidney early and met a couple from Toronto doing a morning jog before their flight home who told us the only way we could complete our journey is through our love for one another.  

Caught ferry to Anacortes where we met fellow bicyclers, Sarah, from Seattle and her Mom from Chicago who wanted to ride some mountains. Talked to another guy who was on a motorcycle ride with friends, who wished he was on a bicycle but didn't have anyone to go with him.

Finally heading South... soon after leaving Anacortes, a couple stopped us on the road to ask some questions about our panniers. They are fellow tourers and had just ordered some Ortlieb rolling panniers and wanted to see how they compared to ours. They told us about warm showers.com where bicyclers host other bicyclists. They invited us to spend the night but we wanted to move on further down the road.

We spent the night in Deception Pass State Park where we had a secluded hiker/biker campsite.

The ride from Anacortes to where we spent the night had some tough short steep hills that Sharla called "wicked". She was a little discouraged thinking it was going to be like that the rest of the way .  We travelled about 30 miles.

Extra day in Victoria - Day 3

Spent an extra day in Victoria sightseeing and enjoying this beautiful city.  A highlight of the day was the best fish & chips (good thing we're not riding today) cooked in a little shack that we had to wait in line for 1 1/2 hrs.

Canada! - Day 2

Had a great 1st camp and met Rick & Jeana, bike tourers from Vancouver. Rick last year did an 8000 kM across Canada.  We surprised at how long it takes us to get packed up & out of camp--need to develop a plan to get faster.  Continued on the Olympic Discovery Bicycle Trail. Another beautiful ride but were disappointed the trail was closed the last 5-6 miles along Puget Sound due to tree clearing.  We had plans of catching the 12:45 ferry to Victoria but felt we were racing along the trail and remembered this trip is all about the journey and not the destination.  We saw God's hand in our plans...finding an excellent  Mexican restaurant and were able to arrange for a reasonable hotel in Victoria.  Arrived in Victoria, Canada, with daylight to spare. 

We're surprised how easy it is to strike a conversation with people along the way about our journey.  We met:
- Erik, Holly & their daughter who met hiking the Appalachian Trail
- Ernie (use to live in Denver) and Steve
- Steve, a long distance runner who got his Masters at CSU
- Brandon, a student in Victoria studying acupuncture

Finally in the saddle - Day 1 (August 22, 2012)

Got a late start. Sharla didn't get much sleep - nervous stomach but after getting on the road, was fine. First needed to work on our email list,then had to figure out our route and take some pictures. We barely managed to catch the 12:05 ferry from Edmonds to Kingston. We rode all the way to Sequim Bay State Park--47.3 miles for our first day. Beautiful ride but it also had some challenging long climbs. A highlight of the day was a stop at the picturesque Port Gamble.

Arrived

Yesterday was the first day of our journey. We got some disturbing news while waiting in Denver to catch our flight. The REI store in Lynnwood, WA (where we had our bikes shipped) called saying our bikes arrived.damaged but rideable.  When we arrived at the store, we found out how badly the REI store in Fort Collins (where we live) had packed the bikes.  No padding for protection so they had to replace a rotor on disk brakes that was bent up, one bottle cage, nicks & scratches in the paint and scratches on our Brooks saddles.  We can't praise Richard, the bike technician at the REI store in Lynnwood, enough as he spent a couple hours after we arrived there tuning up our bikes to get them in the best shape as possible considering what the Fort Collins store had done.  Unpacked everything and assembled the Bob (name of the trailer Ed will pull) and spent the night in a hotel.  This morning getting ready to head out for our first leg.

Check Ride

In order to check out our equipment and gain confidence in our ability to do this trip (especially Sharla), we did a test ride to Rocky Mountain National Park from our home a few weeks ago.  This was a 50 mile ride with over 3300 ft. of elevation gain carrying all our camping gear.  It took us 10 hours to get to the campground but 6 of that was actual riding time.  The ride was a challenge for Sharla but we made it and it did help boost her confidence--nothing on the Pacific Coast should be that challenging.  We spent the night there and returned home the next day dealing with 90+ degree temperatures once we got off the mountain.

The Dream

The Dream

Ed, for many years, has had a dream on his "bucket list" to ride a bike from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific Coast Highway.  The dream became a reality when his wife, Sharla, agreed to be a part of the adventure.  We plan to make this a journey and not a destination (which will be challenging for Ed) and are anticipating that it will take a couple of months.  Time will be spent along the way enjoying the trip, visiting new places and making new friends.  The trip will be self-supported, mostly staying in camp grounds, but motels will also be a welcome change.  The trip is due to begin next week as we fly from Colorado to Seattle where we will meet up with our bikes that were shipped through REI.  We have backpacked extensively but only done several short bike tours so this will be a new experience for both of us.  We chose to begin in Canada in August as that is the least rainy time of the year and by the time we get to Southern California we should have very pleasant weather.  The route will begin in Seattle where we will bike and ferry through Port Angeles to Victoria and on to Sidney where we will ferry back to Anacortes through the San Juan Islands.  From Anacortes we will journey south along Highway 1 and 101 to the Mexico border.  We are excited, but also have some trepidation, as this is a huge commitment for a 2000 mile adventure.

The Bikes

After much research and many test rides we both chose Novara Safari bikes.  They were comfortable to ride and come well equipped for touring.  I upgraded to disk brakes and added fenders as well as front rack for me and lights and rear flashers.  Since Ed will be carrying a majority of the weight, he chose to  pull a BOB trailer after doing extensive research.  The trailer will be accompanied by front Ortlieb panniers on Ed's bike and rear panniers on Sharla's.  Both bikes will also be equipped with handlebar bags.

The Players

Ed is a recently semi-retired 61 year old electrical engineer who resides in Fort Collins, Colorado.  He has spent over 37 years working in the power industry and really enjoyed his career.  He is also a committed Christian that wants to serve Jesus Christ in every aspect of his life.  Backpacking, sailing and biking have always been a passion and this is an opportunity to combine many aspects of backpacking with the adventure found in sailing into biking.   He is very excited that his wife, who has often been pushed past her comfort level is willing to embark on such a great adventure after over 38 years of marriage.

I'm Sharla, the other half of the Pedal Pusher team.  I'm a 59 3/4 year old mother of 3, mother-in-law of 3 and grandma of 3.  Our "kids" flew the nest to the East coast leaving this Coloradoan with her adventurous husband of 38 years.  I agreed to go on this adventure--it's downhill from Canada to Mexico, isn't it?  I anticipate seeing some amazing scenery and meeting lots of interesting people.  We praise God in whatever we do and thank Him for giving us the strength and ability to do this adventure.