Fall Ride or It's Been a While Since a Slogger Post?

Ok, one of my followers (I think there are two) mentioned to me today they had not seen a post from the Slogger world in quite some time. Well... I said it's soggy here in the Pacific North Wet and I'm busy gathering nuts for the long winter and I ain't got no time to do no stinkin' riding. Well... this is sort of true. I have been riding, but just not posting to the Slogger-sphere. In fact today I went for a short fall jaunt. I put my winter fenders on the Seven a few weeks back and so today, she was the bike of choice. Ahhh... life feels good. I like easy pedaling, like the crisp fall and like that I am still doing some riding. I've even been having flashes of ideas for next summers touring season. I can see an even longer multi-day tour... maybe from here to Montana! I can see an enduro-tour with the Fargo set up with the mountain bike tires and I head off into the dirt roads of the local mountains. Oh yah - gonna be great! I was just talking to the side kick last night I really had a great summer! The highlight was the Cascade Traverse By-Pedal Expedition to Save the Endangered Human Folly for sure. But, I continued the riding 'life style' through the summer and now into the fall. I ain't got no complaints. Anyway - enjoy the photo!

Recap: Weekend Tour of Whidbey

Well... all is done. I'm home - chillin' with my side kick and Luna the wonder dog. What a ride I had this weekend. Left on Friday, rode 58, camped, got up, rode 30, camped with the aforementioned chill crew and came home - by car, recollectin' and replaying in my head the great time I had. First camp trip for me by bike. First bike overnight for me - leaving from my very own front door. When I finally got to camp on Friday - there was something very satisfying, knowing I had used my very own propulsion system to get there. Well, to be fair - for just the part on the Puget Sound, I used the very able boat of the Washington State Ferry system, Cathlamet to travel from Mulkiteo to Clinton on Whidbey Island. But the rest, all 90 miles was by my own two rotating, pedaling feet. I swilled some whiskey Friday night, stared at the stars and felt proud of the journey I had done that day.

Day 1: Kenmore to Ebey State Park, Whidbey Island.
58 miles
Ferry Ride
Back roads of Whidbey Island.
Camped at Fort Ebey State Park

Day 2: Ebey State Park to Anacortes.
30 miles
Stopped at Deception Pass
Camped at Washington Park in Anacortes.

Day 3: Anacortes to Kenmore.
With Jen and Luna.
By car. (Yes, I know this does not count!).


Here is the sat tracker my trip.

The Burro - loaded up and ready.

This shot is about 10 minutes from my house , going over I-5. Thought it would make a great pic... me heading out, the rat race being left behind.

 Waiting for the Mulkiteo to Clinton Ferry.

On the ferry.

Coming into Coupeville.

At camp. First pic!

Dinner of champions.

These next few shots, were taken from the bluff by my campground - only about 100 feet from my tent!

Slept... ah, ok. Had a stiff neck from a cobbled pillow I put together. But- this is breakfast!

I stayed at Fort Ebey State Park. The park is was originally built as a coastal defense fort in World War II. Here is one of the bunkers.

An old gun turret foundation.

An old pill box.

So, I had some shifting problems on the first day. For some reason the front derailleur would not shift down to the lower chain ring. It was a minor annoyance for the day - but at times it made it quite difficult to run up a steep grade. I decided to take a look Saturday morning to see if I could find out what the issue was. I had just added a set of fenders to the bike and low and behold - the front rear fender was impinging the down shifts. I just needed to get some room between the fender and the derailleur...  Well, I found an appropriate sized stick, zip tied it in and all was fine. Nice job I thought!

Buffalo just off the road on Saturday - heading to Anacortes.

Road art!

So, I stopped at Starbucks in Oak Harbor for coffee and went to the bathroom. When I came out - I saw this young kid doing something strange around the Burro. As I got closer - I noticed he had dropped his latte... and it had splashed my front tire and fender. I felt bad for the kid and was trying to make lite of the situation and said "oh man, you got latte on my bike!" He sort of smiled and then I said - "no worries - its one of those stories I'll tell about my trip and its sort of an adventure anyway." That seemed to help him a bit.

These are at the entry to NAS Whidbey, just north of Oak Harbor. This was a very cool part of my trip to see these. Here is what the NAS Whidbey website says about their mission:

NAS Whidbey Island is the premier naval aviation installation in the Pacific Northwest and home of all Navy tactical electronic attack squadrons flying the EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler. Adding to the depth and capability of the air station are four P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol squadrons and two Fleet Reconnaissance squadrons flying the EP-3E Aries.

When I booked a camp site - it had a disclaimer that at any point in time, day or night, Navy jet maneuvers may be passing over head. Fortunately, all was quiet - but I did hear some really mesmerizing and haunting owl calls late Friday night.

Way off in the distance is Mt Baker. Man, what a day!

Deception Pass - just south of Anacortes.

The current just rips though there! Its a narrow pinch point that connects Skagit Bay with the Puget sound. Here is a link to a video showing how intense it can be in this area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B3sd0XRFBE

Looking west into the Sound.

Finally, some shots in Anacortes. Looking at the ferries coming from Sidney, BC.

And... Luna. :)

Made It!

57 miles up Whidbey Island. Camping. Beautiful day in the PNW! Now it's time for beer.

I'm off! 1000 Miles From Nowhere.

Headin' out this morning. Ridin' on a high, gonna be 75 today in the Puget Sound. Last night set the tone - saw Dwight Yokum in concert! Gonna dedicate my trip to the song "1000 Miles From Nowhere" by Dwight. Corny? Nah. Apropos for bangin' the pedals, on your solitary journey. The concert was awesome. OK enough about last night - gotta go now!



I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
And there's no place I wanna be

I got heartaches in my pocket
I got echoes in my head
And all that I keep hearing
Are the cruel, cruel things that you said

I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
And there's no place I wanna be

Oh I, oh I, oh I, I, I, I
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dwight+yoakam/1000+miles+from+nowhere_20806698.html ]
I've got bruises on my memories
I've got tear stains on my hands
And in the mirror there's a vision
Of what used to be a man

I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
And there's no place I wanna be

I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
And there's no place I wanna be

Oh, I

I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere

Go, no go? Go.

Have passed the point of no return this evening. Have made the necessary commitments, scratched the proverbial noggin a few times, asked the dog for feedback and have checked the 5 day extended forecast. 'Tis a GO! This Friday will see the Salsa Fargo and me, sloggin' up Whidbey Island, camping Friday night and then heading north to Anacortes for another night of camping. This is not technically a "bike overnight" or an S24O- but pretty durn close. This will be the first time for me with camping gear on the bike. As you might recall, my Grand Tour - that silly ride I did three months ago, was all hotel supported. This ride is tent, bag and pad supported! It also is supported by my ever capable, terminus support crew - my S.O. and Luna, the slap-happy wonder dog. They will be meeting me at the Saturday night camping spot - we'll light a fire, hoist a dram of bourbon and celebrate the trip! As I said the weather is supposed to be in the 75-80s and not much rain in sight. Magical September weather for the PNW. So- I may post a few updates if I can get my phone to blog. But more than likely - I'll recap when I get back and post some pictures.

Cheers Slogger Mates!

Taint' Gonna Do It!

I ain't gonna lay over and play dead this fall. I will ride, I will explore. Something is a brewin', something is a stewin'. I keep hearing in my head - go man go. Go man go!

Yessir, I am planning a new ride for mid September. A long weekend, somewhere local - bust outta my front door, ride and ride some more.

In the mean time, until I have more details - enjoy a pic my venerable sidekick, in all things sans hellish, epic, two wheeled journeys into no man's lands, took while we sat at a pub in Seattle. Had to chuckle on this one for sure.

(In case you don't know what the taint is in reference to bicycling ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taint )

Great, funny story. What's the point of riding long on dirt roads just to reach a lousy convenience store? Exactly.

http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/lost-and-found?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Story-_-lost-found

Mount Rainier - Sunday Ride Up To Sunrise

Goes without saying - this ride has been on my ride list for more than a few years. I just never seem to get my grit together and make the two hour drive south toward the mother of all lahar making machines - Mount Rainier. Sunrise, at an elevation of 6,400 feet is the highest point that can be reached by vehicle at Mount Rainier National Park. Notice I said vehicle. Technically speaking a vehicle can be any manner of legal conveyance - including the lowly bicycle. The road to Sunrise starts in the NE corner of the park and from the White River entrance to the park, at 3500 feet - climbs steadily, up to the top at 6,400 feet. I'd say there is never any grade bigger than 6% and the total distance is about 15 miles. Not too bad really. It was a beautiful day and even though it has been 6 weeks since my tour - I felt I was still in pretty good shape. Anyway - please enjoy the pics - I even through some in that I was trying to be "artistic" on.

Cheers!

Click on any pic for a larger size.