May 18th

Milepost 158

Slept well / in the hotel / in bellingham

Wondered about eating Continental breakfast / yet rolling on Schwalbe tires.

Was passed by several groups of randonneurs who are riding to Eugene from Vancouver BC in 3 days. That’s likely as far as I’ll ride in 2 weeks!

Got great guidance from a friendly local to find today’s hidden trail near anacortes; he saved me a mile of miserable freeway.

Scenery was fabulous / famed Chucaknut Drive / cute farms / cliff overlooks / pleasant weather. Some great shoulders/bike lanes; some less great.

Traffic jam at Deception Pass meant no shoulder = no problem. These two pictures are looking in two directions from the same location:

Today was super duper hilly. I wobbled up at least 3 hills I would have walked on thursday. Feeling strong and exhausted!

received two unsolicited encouragements:

• graffiti at the top of the steepest, longest hill, in the bike lane: “Shut Up Legs!!”
• random roadie who passed me while I was pulled over to let some traffic past on a shoulderless section: “Don’t give up, it’s worth it!” (it was, in fact, worth it.)

Pulling up to the campground 30 seconds after other cyclists after passing 2 “campground full” signs was slightly stressful, especially since the campground was down a big hill and legs were exhausted. Then becoming friendly neighbors in some great hiker/biker sites at an otherwise full-go-away-motorists campground with a toasty shower.

Hot sauce made dinner palatable: snacks from my bag + cheese. I had a delicious and huge late lunch and so snack-ish dinner was perfect.

Spent some pensive time standing (my butt is tired) facing the waves on the bluff. I’m sure it makes sense that you crave additional meditative opportunities when you spend much of your day meditating.

Photo album of those pictures at full res plus a few more

Written by Chris McCraw who resides in Portland, OR but maybe his heart is on the bike?