Our final few hours in the saddle beckon, (well on this trip anyway). We intend to cycle about 25 miles from Solana Beach to our Warm Showers hosts in San Diego, where we’ll drop off our bags and then (with our travel documents) cycle the last 14 miles to the USA/Mexico border.
We hope that we’ll be able to go across, have our photo taken, then cycle back – just so we can complete our border-to-border trip. We’ve heard so many different and conflicting stories about the USA/Mexico border on our trip so we’re not sure what to expect – watch this space!
I’ve been dreading today’s section of our cycling trip for some time. Travelling into Los Angeles, the most car-dominated city in the USA, by bicycle is not for the foolhardy. To be honest the first 40-50 miles from Ventura to Santa Monica via Malibu were not as bad as I’d expected. Most of the way there was a broad shoulder or a cycle route. Even when we reached Santa Monica and had to head towards downtown LA the roads were signed bike routes and passed quiet residential streets for about 20 blocks. Then we had to turn onto Wilshire Boulevard for about ten miles of car dominated hell. This is when the nerves started to fray. I suggested we could try to see if there was a quieter parallel street we could use. Garmin said not and Mike wanted me to look at the Garmin map. I wouldn’t as to me there seemed no point as Mike was going to follow Garmin come what may. Mike still wanted me to look at the Garmin map, I still refused, this conversation repeated itself several times until I finally blew and cycled off into car-hell that is Wilshire Blvd. I only went two blocks then stopped to wait for Mike, but it was two blocks too far. A silence has descended on our holiday. Hopefully it won’t last long and providing we can get out of LA ok tomorrow and in one piece, (and speaking) we can resume normal holiday communications, which have been rather good up to now.
On a positive note the hotel were fine about us putting our bikes in our room (something we were slightly anxious about in LA) so Mr Van Nicholas and Mr Condor have a very nice 12th floor view towards the Hollywood Hills, the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory.
As we’ve headed south I’ve been expecting to see more Mexican-inspired architecture and generally this has been the case. What I wasn’t expecting was to find myself in Denmark, but that’s where we appear to be, having arrived in Solvang!
Solvang translates from Danish to mean ‘sunny fields’. The town was settled in 1911 by Danish immigrants and they tried to recreated a bit of Denmark right here in sunny California. In addition to timber framed buildings, there are windmills, lots of shops selling Danish pastries in abundance and a statue of the Little Mermaid and its creator Hans Christian Anderson. It’s all very lovely and a bit weird at the same time. Who knows where we might arrive next on our travels?
We’ve met lots of nice pets on our travels (and their owners of course), but we have also seen some alarming animal sights.
In San Francisco we saw a man walking his cat on a leash – I suppose I should have expected this since it was the Castro. When passing through San Luis Obispo yesterday morning we saw a dog wearing a babies’ nappy. Initially I thought it must have been incontinent but then overheard the owner talking to a friend. It turns out the dog had come on heat the day before she was due to be spayed. Fortunately the nappy prevented us and other customers being put off our morning pastries.
The most alarming animal image we’ve seen was in the Giant Redwoods. I know that the USA has a strong gun culture but I wasn’t expecting it to have extended to a familiar children’s character, but sure enough there was Paddington Bear with a riffle. Heaven help anyone who touches his marmalade sandwiches! Whatever next, Tinky-Winky with an AK46 or Thomas the Tank Engine pulling a cruise missile? Guns are one bit of American culture I can definitely do without.
As we head further south in California the landscape is becoming far more arid. Gone are the lush ferns and dense pine forests that were so familiar in Washington, Oregon and northern California and hello to palm trees. The sun has been our constant companion so far today, from the look of the earth it has been around these parts for a while. The grass is very yellow and brown which makes the dark skinned cattle stand out very clearly. The only break in the dry landscape comes with artificially irrigated land such as golf courses or private gardens, these too would shrivel if it weren’t for the constant sprinklers at work, (not sure I approve of such a carefree use of good water when California apparently has water shortages). Lots of suncream needed today – quite a contrast to the weather in the UK at the moment.
Near the end of our long (and hilly) 104 mile ride today (Sunday 11 Sept, 2011), we came across a beach near San Simeon, home to a colony of Elephant Seals. The perfect end to the day.
Being on a long road trip often brings to mind ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’, the movie about three drag queens travelling across the Australian outback in a converted bus. Clearly we don’t have a bus and we are not drag queens, (at least we weren’t last time I checked). But we are covering awesome distances. Today was one of those long stretches, 120+ miles and at points, as the Pacific coastline stretched out ahead of us into the distance, my mind flashed back to the scene in Priscilla when they are looking out over miles and miles of desert as far as the eye can see. I have to admit I have wondered about attaching a long flowing piece of pink chiffon to the bike and blasting out opera through a sound system. However, Mike’s luggage weight restrictions have prevented either of these items being available.
Having any additional drag (geddit?!) while struggling against the awful headwinds we faced today would not have been pleasant, so I suppose the chiffon-bicycle-opera combo will just have to wait for another day.
From San Francisco to Santa Cruz (75 miles) was constant headwind, a shame as it distracted our attention from the really pleasant coastline.
We’ve had another Priscilla moment as we passed (twice) a young guy on a bike laden with four bags, a tent and even a guitar on his back. We’d passed him before in the Redwoods and Eurika, but a bit like the Hare and the Tortoise, he keeps overtaking us! Those familiar with Priscilla will recall the women running across the outback pushing some strange ball who keeps overtaking the coach – this young guy is our equivalent.
Thankfully the wind turned after Santa Cruz, but it still meant that we arrived in Seaside after dark – over an hour later than scheduled. Nick our host was just going out as we arrived – to spend the evening mountain biking in the light of the full moon. We were welcomed by his fiancé Katie who chatted with us all evening and gave some good advice on a Mexican take-away. Today’s exertions have left us pretty weary, so we’re off to sleep now. Only 100 miles to cover tomorrow.
We worked out our final cycle route for today last night using the Garmin/Google map combo. It looks like it will be a wonderful ride on route 35, then Highway 1 all along the coast from San Francisco to near Monterey.
The slightly down side is that it’s a bit longer that we’d thought at nearly 120 miles, but we’ve done it before and we can do it again. Mike was a little displeased at the length of today’s journey, but I know he’ll be fine riding it, especially now our bikes have been fine tuned, tyres pumped etc (fingers crossed for no technical problems) and it was worth it to spend two whole lovely days in SF.
Sadly the old girl didn’t show us her Golden Gate properly, we only got a peak of the top of the towers through the fog, so we’ll just have to return one day. I’m sure we shall.
As we’ve already established on this blog, Mike is a bit of a train spotter. The sound of an American train horn blaring or level crossing bell clanking cause his ears prick up!
It’s now time to out myself as a plant spotter, although this won’t be much of a surprise to those of you that know me. As we’ve travelled southwards I’ve loved watching the fauna change. In British Columbia fir trees and ferns predominated, through Washington State more huge pine and poplar forests. In Portland we saw the most beautiful roses, the city is called the ‘Rose City’ as the climate is near perfect for these blooms. In Oregon we saw the rain forests; so-called because of the damp climate that provides perfect conditions for the moss and lichen that grows all over the bark of the trees. Sometimes the moss hangs low, apparently it’s called ‘old man’s beard’ by the locals.
Following the coast through Oregon the plants were similar to those you’d find on the British coast: broom and gorse growing wild and Agapanthus and Hydrangeas popular in gardens. The giant redwoods were amazing, but they have already had a mention on the blog.
Not until we reached California did we start to see more arid plants. Succulents, palms, Red Hot Pokers, Douglas Fir, lots of wild fennel and of course Californian poppies. The bright orange flowers are so synonymous with the state they are in fact the state flower. The other plant that grows wild in all of the verges is Pampas grass – they’ve been everywhere since we arrived in California. It’s strange how a plant considered synonymous with the 1970s naff in the UK are so dramatic and impressive here. The other plant that has stuck out on our journey through California is what locals call Naked Ladies. These bright pink lillys have been growing everywhere. The stems are bare of leaves (hence the naked phrase), but the flowers are incredibly pink. Thankfully, they are the only naked ladies we’ve seen so far on our travels!
Summary – day 12 – Fort Bragg to Sea Ranch (Tuesday 6 September) Posted by Mike
Estimate: 65 miles, actual: 70.62 miles Avg. speed: 15.0 mph Cumulative distance: 1,006.41 miles – we’ve gone through 1,000 miles – well over half-way now. About 800 miles to go!
As we weren’t going to be cycling so far today, we stayed in bed a little longer than usual and had some time to look at the attractive and well-maintained gardens at the Surf Motel and Gardens. The gardens were arranged all the way around the building and in the centre of a large courtyard/car park. There were fountains, gazebos and benches among the planting – it looked really quite special and quite unusual for a fairly inexpensive motel.
We knew that there was a rather nice bicycle store in Fort Bragg and we’d spotted the Fort Bragg Cyclery in a rather large impressive-looking building on Main Street as we rode into town the previous evening. We went back into town to pay them a visit; we needed some spare inner tubes and puncture repair patches, (the ones in Matthew’s puncture repair kit are self-adhesive … these are useless and shouldn’t be used!). The Fort Bragg Cyclery is on the major north/south Pacific coast cycle route, so does good trade with touring cyclist. They have a visitor’s book – so I left an entry telling of our trip celebrating my upcoming 50th birthday and left our blog address – I wonder if the number of hits will increase as a result?!
Matthew picked up a ‘Buildings to Bragg About’ leaflet – a short guide to some of the historic buildings in Fort Bragg and since there was still plenty of time before we needed to set off, we decided to take a bicycle tour of the town and check them out. Many of the older buildings along the Californian coast were destroyed in the 1907 earthquake. So most of the older buildings are from just after then. We had a look at St Michael and All Angels church-a 1902 shingle-style building with a lovely arcaded entrance to a hall on one side; an arts and crafts house and a fantastic 1938 ‘Streamline Moderne’ house – painted white with corner windows; the 1938 Cotton Auditorium built as part of the New Deal and part of secondary school buildings; the 1922 Fort Bragg City Hall, with a big US flag on the side and finally there were lots of interesting wooden shop buildings with apartments above.
Outside a Starbucks coffee shop, we spotted a bicycle, heavily laden with touring equipment. Inside we met Torrie, from Portland and a student of Marine Biological and Art at Oregon State University. An unusual combination, I thought. She’s yet another cyclist who’s interested in a career in environmental conservation work after she graduates. We also spotted two hitchhikers in Fort Bragg (separately); the first that we’ve seen on this trip.
We eventually left Fort Bragg at about 1.00 and headed south on Highway 1 through Caspar, Mendocino, Little River, Albion, past a rather curious little Catholic Cemetery high on a bluff at Cuffeys Cove and bathed in mist, rather reminiscent of a 1950s horror film!
On to Manchester, where we met a delightful woman who was staffing a Save Our Libraries desk in the entrance to the general store.
Point Arena and St Orres followed before – where we passed a Russian-style inn and restaurant.
Puncture #4 (Matthew – rear – again) just before we arrived in Sea Ranch. I didn’t notice that Matthew wasn’t right behind me when I arrived, so had to go back to find him!
It’s been a day of real contrasts: up and down, warm and cold. The road was quiet and characterised by short steep climbs followed by longish curving descents. We were often right by the sea and the cold fog was fairly thick all along the coast. If the road moved inland a little or climbed higher up, we’d find ourselves enjoying warm sunshine. It was an odd sensation. Mostly we were riding in fog, so the few good views out to sea were really appreciated. As we riding along in the mist, we could often hear the waves and once we heard sea lions.
Sea Ranch doesn’t have a town centre, as such. Rather, it’s a series of very nicely designed houses that are well-spaced out in roads that run off Highway 1 towards the sea. There’s a lovely unity of design and appearance to the houses – fairly square and angular, single storey, with large picture windows, wide verandas and all in a uniform silver-grey wood. The houses stand in a wide open grassland, just a few metres from the sea.
Bob and Sophia (+ Tender the beautiful doe-eyed greyhound + Cecil the cat), gave us an extremely warm welcome and made us very comfortable. Bob is a computer programmer, working on games software. Sophia works to prepare environmental impact assessments/reports for new developments. We were little surprised to learn that although they’re listed on Warm Showers, they don’t cycle themselves. Bob is a big hiker, though. Still, it’s really wonderful to come across such generous, warm-hearted, interesting people who are prepared to open up their home to passing cyclists and tourers.
We had a wonderful dinner of pasta and fresh warm bread and told stories from our trip and learned a little about them, too. They’re aiming to live small and minimise their impact, which was quite a boost to some of the things that I’ve been thinking about the importance of consuming less, wasting less and just generally trying to think more about how we live. After dinner we talked until late, while Matthew tickled Tender’s tummy – she looked fantastically relaxed on her back with her fine big paws in the air – it reminded me a little of being back home with our cat, who likes having his tummy tickled, too.
Bob and Sophia are planning a trip to Spain at Easter and we talked about some of the places that they could visit there. Hope they get to the UK, it would be lovely to see them again.
Americans are well known for their big hospitality, they are also renowned for their large portion sizes! The global rise in food prices does not appear to have dampened the American desire for ‘super-size’ portions. In a recent interview, the actor Rob Lowe said the thing that he most disliked about his appearance was his ‘muffin-top’. With this I concur with Mr Lowe.
For those of you unfamiliar with the phrase ‘muffin-top’. The muffin-top refers to the bulge that occurs above the waistband, similar to the bulge that appears around the top of a muffin when the content has expanded and overhangs the case during cooking.
I’m afraid that my dreams of being able to eat whatever I like on this holiday have been somewhat confounded by the stubbornness of my muffin-top to reduce – in fact some persons, (I’m sure you can guess who) have suggested that my overhang has increased! I know that all this cycling is likely to increase muscle – but not in this particular part of the body, so I’m afraid that avoiding action is required. It’s easy on the muffins from now on – so less of the ‘eating for England’ and more skinny portions methinks!
Our day began with the final few miles of the Avenue of the Giants. The scent from the redwoods and the wild fennel was almost enough to give us a natural high for the rest of the day. The sun was scorching as we left Miranda and stayed with us for a good while.
Passes the first road sign for San Francisco –
Most of today was downhill from the redwoods to the sea, but two significant climbs took us high up through pine forests before bringing us back down on a fast and twisty white-knuckle descent. As we climbed, so did our body temperatures and we built up quite a sweat. The temperature stayed high too – until we descended. As we whizzed down, so did the temperature. By the time we reached the bottom of the descent we were back in the sea-fog. This stayed with us pretty much all the way in to Fort Bragg. It’s a strange kind of fog, not the thick stuff we get in the UK that hangs close to the ground. This fog hovers overhead, blocking out the sun and appearing very spooky as trees and mountains vanish into it above our heads.
Before we started our ascent we stopped at a garage to get sone refreshments. We took advantage of the facilities while we were at it. As we stood by eating, one of the customers heard us talking and asked if I was French! He then went onto ask if ‘we wanted to get high before we set off’. We politely declined as neither of us have ever taken weed or any other mind-bending substances, (I’ve always found there to be plenty of daily occurrences to bend my mind without further assistance). As it turned out the climbs ahead of us provided plenty of highs for one day.
Today has been our longest day’s ride so far and the longest of our trip. 122 miles covered today from the foggy coast of north California to the sun-dappled giant redwoods. The final 30 miles were along the Avenue of the Giants – phenomenal, words can’t really describe how awesome these trees are. As it turned out, an unfortunate puncture (a thin piece of wire put three holes in the same inner tube), that held us up by about 30 minutes earlier turned out to be a blessing as it meant we had the avenue virtually to ourselves – hardly any cars at all. We were treated to wafts of cedar, pine and fennel that grows wild along the roadside wherever the sunlight gets through the trees. Tonight we’re sleeping amongst the trees in a wooden cabin – magical. If we weren’t both so sleepy after our long ride it would also be romantic!
Every holiday has them – the days that don’t go to plan or the off-day. The days that you’d quite like to delete. This was one of them. Today should have been an excellent day, beginning with the final 40 miles of Oregon coast and ending with the start of the superb giant redwood forests. Although we got both, fate also intervened leading to some less favourable occurrences. First we had headwind almost all day, as any cyclist knows this saps your soul. It also holds your speed right back, (so we didn’t reach our goal of averaging 15mph today).
Second we had punctures. Not one but two – one of which was a slow one which we pumped up twice to keep us going.
Finally we had cold fog. So much for welcome to sunny California! From the moment we passed the state border it was a virtual ‘white-out’. It made climbing through the redwoods pretty eerie – although reaching the viewing point above the clouds was amazing, (it was like being in a plane above clouds) before we descended at high speed (terrifyingly) into the fog again. All of this made our ride the longest yet and very tiring. It was a huge relief to get to the Ravenwood Motel in Klameth, our (very comfortable) refuge for tonight. A good night’s rest is what’s needed and a less challenging day tomorrow (fingers crossed).
Cars in the USA are huge. Almost every one that passes is an SUV (the equivalent of Land Rover in the UK). Of course they’re fitted with all mod cons including air-conditioning – but who needs all that expense? As the temperature rises, the touring cyclists can take advantage of the free air-conditioner provided by mother nature. Not only do we get free air-con, we also get free air freshener in a variety of scents. We’ve had fantastic pine forest (think magic tree car air fresheners – but a million times better), ocean breeze (with real ocean), sand dune spray (with exfoliating sand) and cedar sensation (courtesy of the redwood trunks being transported by logging trucks along our route). It’s only a pity that there isn’t a ‘nose-press’ option on this blog for me to share these scents with you. I’m afraid you’ll have to use your imagination (or just visit the toilet cleaner aisle in your nearest supermarket for a very poor approximation!).
Before we set off, when telling people about our trip lots of people would say “Why do you want to cycle 1800 miles?”
There are clearly many reasons: the thrill of travelling, seeing sights we’d miss if travelling in a car, the challenge and sense of achievement of doing such a journey by bicycle – all very good reasons. There is of course one other good reason – cake! The average male needs to consume about 2500 calories a day. When you’re pedalling around 100 miles a day you can add easily an extra 1500 calories to that.
So ‘guilt-free’ indulgence is the name of the game. Cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner – and while we’re at it, throw in a few muesli bars to munch on whilst in the saddle. So far I’ve sampled several local delicacies: blueberry fritter, blueberry muffins, blueberry scone (can you see a blueberry trend here!), Portland coffee cake, morning buns, (we all like nice morning bun, don’t we!), oatmeal cookies, (not to be confused with biscuits), banana bread, croissants … the choice just goes on and on … all delicious!
I should point out that we are also consuming more nutritious food stuffs too, (fruit, veg, soya protein etc) and that so far not so much as a lick of ice cream has passed my lips. 1400 or so miles left to go though, so still plenty of time for that when we reach sunny California.
Today has been our first full day of cycling on route 101 along the Pacific Ocean. You don’t have to travel far to be reminded of the power of the sea and wind. In Neskowin, our port for last night, our room looked out over the creek towards the sea. Washed high up on the beach was a huge tree stump that could only have been moved by an almighty storm. Further along the coast there were several signs of the ocean’s attempt to take chunks out of the road. The most startling reminder of the danger from the sea are the frequent road signs telling you that you’re entering a ‘Tsunami hazard zone’. Alongside the usual fire evacuation signs in our hotel were Tsunami evacuation emergency procedures. It’s a very stark reminder that the awful scenes we saw in Japan recently could easily affect any part of this coastline. Fingers crossed that the earth won’t move while we’re here. Thankfully the power of nature helped us on our way today – blowing us all the way! It would be nice if that keeps up all the way to Mexico, but I don’t expect that it will!
There is a saying in the UK, usually referring to women and their dads, that they are likely to ‘marry their fathers’. In these increasingly progressive days of civil partnerships, I think that this phrase is increasingly relevant for gay couples too.
Actually, I have thought for some time that I ‘married my dad’. Not literally, of course, (that would be very odd) and in fact not even technically, as Mike and I are not married or civil-partnered; but after 17 years together I think we’re ‘as good as’. When I say ‘marry my dad’, I mean that Mike and my Dad seem to share a lot of similar interests: engineering marvels (especially transport-related) such as steam and high-speed trains; planes airbus vs Boeing, the beauty of Concorde, trams (and th lack of them in UK cities); computers: they can talk about spreadsheets – yes, they talk about Excel spreadsheets! On many occasions!! All that has always been more-or-less apparent, but it now seems that not only have I ‘married my dad’, it also appears that I’ve ‘married my aunty’ too! Aunt Janet can barely take two steps down the street before she’s struck up a conversation with a complete stranger and found out half their life story. Since we left the UK I can’t leave Mike for five minutes before he, too, has become engaged in conversation with complete strangers – and it’s getting worse.
Since we crossed the border into the USA, he has become very adept at working ‘The Blog’ into any conversations with strangers. I’m wondering if he’s working on commission for WordPress! This is all a bit strange for someone who often says ruefully that he is an introvert and anti-social. Not that I’m complaining about his new found sociability – I’m simply observing it. It’s quite nice to have things that remind you of people you love all wrapped up in your lifetime companion. However, if you’re on the USA west coast this week looking for peace and tranquility, beware – there is a talkative British cyclist on the move!
As Mike has mentioned previously, we’ve been amazed by the number of hits the blog has been getting every day. Today we were even more amazed by something. As we cycled away from Roberto’s house into Portland city centre on our way towards Neskowin, a cyclist came up beside me and said ‘Hi Matthew, where are you cycling today?’ – I was gobsmacked, how did she know my name? I said “We’re riding to San Diego”, she said “I know that. But where are you going today?” The cyclist in question turned out to be Lisa, one of the very kind people who had responded to our last-minute pleas for accommodation in Portland. She’d been reading our blog and recognised us from the photos. What is the chance of running into someone like that? Pretty slim I’d have thought.
Anyway, we stopped and chatted for a bit. It was great to get to meet Lisa and thank her in person for her offer of accommodation. Our appreciation and gratitude of Warm Showers just keeps growing.
No, not the shoes and clothing store, but Washington state logging country. This morning’s ride from Centralia took us through vast timber plantations – mainly poplar and giant pines. We’d been advised in advance to be careful of the large logging trucks that would be on the road, but we were pretty lucky as all the loaded wagons seemed to be heading in the other direction to ours. The few trucks that did pass us were empty and gave us a very wide berth and a friendly honk of the horn. The full trucks were enormous – almost double the length of a standard UK lorry with vast tree trunks stacked up on them.when empty the timber trucks did a very clever trick of collapsing down with the back part of the truck sitting on the front.
Cycling through the USA is a fantastic way to see real America. The pace we’re travelling at means that we can see stuff that we’d probably miss if we were going by car. At one part of our trip today it really felt as though we’d been transported into the set of the Walton’s. There were traditional timber houses with porches, people driving around in old Chrysler and Ford pick-up trucks from the 50s and a real feeling of old-town America. If we’d been travelling by car, we would probably have zipped down the Interstate 5 and missed all that. Today was the day we also left Washington state and entered Oregon. So in true Walton’s style it’s goodnight Seattle, goodnight Centralia and goodnight to route signs with George Washington’s profile on. So, hello to Oregon, Portland and route 101 down the Pacific coast and onto California, but that’s for another blog entry…
As is usually the case on our holidays, we’re having much fun touring the aisles of local supermarkets. We’re not doing as well as my nephew Toby, who on a recent trip to France played ‘supermarket bingo’ and attempted to visit at least one branch of every chain possible. So far we’ve only been to Safeway’s (thrice) and Wal-Mart. ASDA is part of Wal-Mart, so that will give you an idea what that’s like. Curiously, all the clothes in Wal-Mart are the same ‘George’ brand that are available in the UK – this used to be an ASDA brand. Wal-Mart have imported it to the USA and ‘supersized it’ for the larger consumer. Safeway’s is a bit more like Sainsbury’s, which explains why we’ve been to three branches! I’m beginning to wonder whether I should sign up for one of their loyalty clubcards! One thing we’ve not found yet is soya yogurt, although they do have soya milk. – often sold by the gallon! What would anyone do with a gallon of soya milk? Recipe ideas, anyone? They are very big on gluten-free things, my sister-in-law Richmal would have a ball here. Last night we noticed that the Halloween merchandise has started to emerge on the shelves – a sure sign of summer drawing to a close. I had a very happy 20 minutes checking out, (and stealing) ideas from a copy of Martha Stewart’s Halloween magazine. For our UK readers unfamiliar with Ms Stewart – think Delia Smith on steroids with a sprinkling of Oprah for good measure, (oh, and a criminal record for tax avoidance, you’d think someone might want to lie low after that sort of thing). I think I’m going to excel myself with goodies for trick and treaters this year – watch and weep Delia!
Some readers of this blog may have detected a slight difference of writing style in some recent posts. This can be explained by a ghost writer, one – I might add – who was initially quite dismissive of this blog! So, dear reader, some tips to help you identify the ghost writer’s posts as opposed to those written by me – Matthew.
1. The ghost writer tends to appear late at night.
2. The ghost writer does tend to write lengthy blog entries.
3. The ghost writer uses impeccable grammar and spelling (unlike me).
There are no prizes for guessing the ghost writers identity (*Mike edit: that should be writer’s identity! You asked for that, I think!!). They are most welcome to contribute to this blog and I hope you’re finding our combined blogging enjoyable!
It’s a bit foggy in Seattle this morning. In fact it was sunny when we left Aaron’s house, but as we dropped down into the valley and towards the coast the fog started to envelop us. It will probably burn off later, so should be another nice ride. We’ve stopped off at (another) Starbuck’s for breakfast before setting off – well, when in Seattle, do as they do!
Quite a lot of our route so far has been running alongside railway tracks. After bicycles and aeroplanes, the train is the next favourite transport thing on Mike’s list of OCD transport obsessions, (he likes trams, rapid-transit subway systems, gliders, hot air balloons, Lego … does this remind you of anyone Nicky?!). When we hear the horn of the train or the clanking bell of a level-crossing, Mike is transfixed until the said transportation chugs past with its extraordinary long cargo. Mike can stare at US trains with a smile on his face for some time as they’re so long that it can take an age for one to go past. I’m trying to coax him into cycling at the same time as a train is passing. I also tried to take a picture of one for Mike today, but it doesn’t really capture the scale of the train, so it may not persuade him to keep on riding when the train horn sounds!
We’ve arrived in Seattle – another beautiful day to be cycling, with clear blue skies and warm temperatures. The route has been a bit mixed, with some really quiet roads running parallel to the Interstate highway and then some quite busy roads into Seattle from the north with mile after mile of shopping outlets.
When we reached Seattle the bike lanes and cyclists became far more prominent. The stopping and starting through the suburbs meant we only really had time to have a quick drink in Starbucks – well we had to, didn’t we? As it is their home town.
We were heading toward Aaron’s Bike Shop, (Aaron is our Warm Showers host tonight) when he spotted us as he was heading back home with his son. We must have stood out as British touring cyclists as he shouted out our names as we cycled past on the other side of the road – it felt odd to be recognised in a place that we’ve never been to before.
We’re just about to tuck into some tabbouleh while we sit around a camp fire in Aaron’s garden. Chilling out in Seattle is fun. Will sleep well tonight I think.
We left Vancouver at about 11.30am. Cycle routes in the city are good but like any city you’re unfamiliar with, you end up stoping and starting to check maps and reassure yourself that you’re going in the right direction. The first part of today’s ride after leaving central Vancouver was fairly built up and not very pleasant to cycle through. Things improved after we got past the US border. The border has a lovely landscaped park with the peace arch sitting in the middle. Around the arch were beautiful flower beds, trees and artwork. Mike snapped some shots and even asked some passing tourists to take pictures of us.
We were expecting that it could take a while to get throughout the border and we were correct. Unlike the cars that seemed to queue for a short while and then drove through, pedestrians and cyclists wishing to cross were herded in the custom building where we had to fill in more forms, answer more questions and pay for the privilege! We’d already paid online to enter the USA – but apparently that only counts if one enters by air! So we’ve had to pay twice! What a disgrace – anyone would think they didn’t want us! The road after the border was much nicer and quieter.
We stopped this afternoon for a break in Bellingham (pronounced Bellingeham). We also had a doughnut each at Rocket Donuts – lovely they were too. The final stretch of today’s ride was along a beautiful wooded valley beside the sea called Chuckanut Bay. Matthew, our Warmshowers host in Vancouver recommended it and he was certainly right. If you’re ever passing through Washington State it’s well worth a visit.
After Chuckanut Bay, we emerged from the woods onto the flat and fertile plains before reaching Mount Vernon. We passed by lots of organic farms. There are lots of wonderful things about touring cycling, including that it’s a great pace to see the world, but I really love that you not only see stuff – you can smell it too. We cycled through pine forests and camomile fields today – both were a scent sensation.
Matthew and Mike Travel from Bristol 
