Went to sleep with the sound of rain on the tent. I woke up a couple of times to the sound of the rain continuing. Not really hard, but coming down anyway. By the time I woke it had stopped. I got dressed putting on my long riding tights because it was very chilly and likely to be raining today, my riding jersey and riding jacket. Took down my tent and headed off to breakfast. The cafeteria was almost filled with only a couple of empty seats when I got there. The scrambled eggs and English muffins tasted good.
Were departed about 8AM for the water to dip our tires in the salt water. The on to the ride. The land scape into more agricultural and we stopped at the a small town about 12 miles into the ride for coffee. After about 30 minutes, we were on the road again. Shortly afterwares, a sprinkling rain started. With the overcast weather and cool temperatures, it was the moving forward on the bicycle that keep us from getting too cold.
The picnic stop was serving hot soup as well as salad and sandwiches. It tasted great, but we needed to get back on the road 'cause we were starting to chill just standing around.
After a couple of miles the rain started to taper off and our clothes began to dry out warmth returned to our hands and feet. With only a 17 miles a coffee stop appeared on the right hand side of the road. It was time to stop for another latte.
The rest of the ride was more inclined at a 4-5% grade and sometimes 6%. The traffic that been dogging us on Route 2 began to thin out and the shoulders became a bit wider. Five miles from Skykomish the route took us off route 2 into a very quite road with trees covered with hanging moss. With all the rain, the plants here seemed very happy.
We pulled into the school close to 2PM. By 3 my tent was up and I was showered. The water was even hot for the shower. We took a short walk to the local bar for a couple of beers before dinner.
The ride tomorrow will be some climbing at the start followed by a long downhill to Winachachee. It should be fun and a bit warmer as well.
brrrr, I got chilly just reading this. It's nice and sunny here!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember that first day being any sort of gradient. Must be getting senile.
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