Larrabee State Park is a nice park but the camping leaves a whole lot to be desired. The site was beautiful but the trains, six in total...yes I said six...made sleeping difficult. (At least for me!) The tracks were right behind the campsite and the road was right above us.
Enough complaining for now. We were up at 6:00 to the sound of raindrops. That is not what we wanted to hear when we wanted to take down the tent. We scrambled to pack everything onto the bikes and coasted to the picnic shelter area where we unpacked again in order to have our coffee and oatmeal. We were on the road by 8:15. It was not raining but about 15 minutes later we were forced to put on our rain jackets as the rain began. We rode in the rain off and on all day. Day 3 and 2 days of rain...our luck continues!
The rain was only part of our issue today. As we left Chuckanut Drive behind we rode through some re-claimed farmland...and yes it was flat...but the wind began to pick up and at times made the flat riding difficult. That was nothing compared to the end of the day when the winds were extremely strong, so strong that controlling the bikes in the crosswind was difficult. And did I mention the climbing? The last 50 kms. of today's ride was a series of climbs followed by quick down hills. Nothing that 'Granny' could not handle but tiring just the same. We are checked into the Coupville Inn in Coupville. We are about to go out for dinner. Our tent is almost dry out on our balcony. I am sure the people from the Inn will be glad to see us pack that stuff away.
And for those people who think that the ride today was awful, you would be wrong! The views on Chuckanut Drive and on State Highway 20 through Deception Pass were spectacular. We also got to talk to other 'touring cyclists' today. First we stopped and exchanged blogs with a couple from Montreal who are on a long bike journey eventually with a destination of San Diego. They have already covered 9000 km. since mid May. Hope to see them again as they will surely overtake us on the coast after they stop off in Victoria. The second cyclist was a guy who had cycled from San Francisco to Vancouver in the Spring and was on his way back to San Francisco by way of Seattle.
Trip Distance = 82.44 km. Time on the Bikes = 5 hours 18 minutes. Average Speed = 15.55 km. Maximum Speed = 42.53 km. Wildlife Sightings = Great Blue Herons (by the dozens), Stellar Jay, Kingfisher, Rabbit.
Deception Pass Bridge - Our First Taste of Crosswinds
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