May 19th

Milepost 205

Got up early (730. Not early for work-chris, but early for “no-alarm no-work-worry chris”) to use the bathroom and then decided to wake up, so was ready to roll by 9am after a quick snack. Neighbors-met-yesterday Neesa and Don recommended I take my time in Port Townsend so I decided to have breakfast/brunch there instead of my planned “next cafe I see”. I got to the ferry about 10:20 and the next one came at 11, so I posted yesterday’s blog post while I waited. Hadn’t quite gotten photos sorted before then.

Don showed me some of their cool gear (similar tent, biofuel stove that was practically smokeless and generated (small amounts of) electricity while you cooked, and gave me a couple of strips of bacon for the road, so I could make it to Port Townsend for breakfast. The ride was pleasant but hilly again, and my legs are tired again. They do feel better-ish after a sleep, so I’m not setting off in pain. I’d take a rest day if that were the case! The cruise down into the campground yesterday did lead to an immediate substantial climb out, but I chugged on through it and then proceeded with the rest of the day’s climbing and descending. So many ups and downs, much good shoulder, some missing entirely though. No bad driver experiences today or indeed any day during the trip so far!

I put my bike on a boat after the first 10 miles, to get to Port Townsend, pulling in around noon. I found a place to eat that had a place to park my bike in sight, and ate 2 hot dogs, had a soda, and then had ice cream for dessert. Puttered around the city center in PT and deem it to be the kind of town my parents would like to vacation in (but not bad for me, either).

Then I set out on a very nice 8 mile MUP (Multi-use Path, offroad, frequently paved, intended for at least bike+ped, this one had horse-signage as well though I saw no horsey trail users and very few others in general). It took me all the way from PT to the next town. Part of it was a rail trail but part was not.

There was some stunningly lush farmland that kinda made me stop and go whoa, posed as it was, right in front of the mountains, so that was also pretty great. Photos sadly did not capture it but it was win98-default-desktop-background oversaturated and just idyllic.

Pulled into another state park and today had a bit better rhythm setting up camp, got it done in good time but without moving quickly since soreness, and got a good shower in. This one did cut me off at 3 minutes as advertised. I was done scrubbing in 2.

I had thought I’d do a “short-ish” day but with the hills it felt long anyway. I hope it gets less hilly though…I guess I shouldn’t expect that it will. I’m especially sore this evening, so for the first time this trip I both took some advil and also did some stretching. Hopefully that will make the morning feel better. Supposedly there is a place that serves biscuits and gravy right up the road, so breakfast may be delightful!

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?