CycleSlogger: 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