Season 3 Episode 2 (9/20-9/22): It’s “All” Optional

Season 3 Episode 2 (9/20-9/22): It’s “All” Optional – 

9/20 Bellingham, WA to Anacortes, WA 43 miles 1520’ climb (ferry to Friday Harbor)

Leaving Bellingham, we quickly were on a coastal bike path that was a prelude to a day of many water views.

Bellingham, WA to Anacortes ferry terminal for ferry to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island. (SJI) Lots of water views!

By the way, there is a single island called San Juan Island and which is one of several that make up a group called the San Juan Islands.

We said goodbye to our WS hosts. Their environmental consciousness gave me much to think about how much better I can do. I loved their vegetable garden greenhouse fashioned from repurposed windows. Very Pacific Northwest!

This struck me as very wise and can probably extrapolate other lessons from this sign.

I looked for Larry’s Lattes next door, but there was none (for Curb enthusiasts!)

Well, at least they warned us. It was actually the first time we ever experienced strong tailwinds, crosswinds and headwinds all in the same day.

Easy to picture severe crosswinds across the water with no trees or buildings to break them.

Waiting to board ferries is a great place to meet up with other cyclists and exchange suggestions.

Not all cyclists wear spandex. I love her non-traditional kit. (Note: kit is the term cyclists use for attire and usually means standard cycling shorts and top.)

On board the ferry for only 5 minutes so far, I was awed by these two women who I could not believe had put together so much jigsaw puzzle so quickly. I asked them if they were Olympic puzzlers. They laughed and educated me that the ferry just leaves puzzles out, and all day long people board and work at where the prior people left off. Wouldn’t it be great if work was like that and strangers just helped complete assignments that others had begun and left in a public spot, say Starbucks?

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9/21. San Juan Island loop, ferry to Orcas Island, ride to Eastsound. 48 miles, 3,811’ climb.

Fall colors already appearing at Roche Harbor, SJI. It’s actually been quite cool. We’ve both worn leggings every day and jackets 90% of the time. Heather also wore a second layer most days.

I love what I call the “trust economy”. SJI has many farms and you see many UNATTENDED stands like this. You take the goods and leave cash. We’ve seen firewood, flowers, corn, fruit offered this way. We’ve seen this in other rural communities. In NYC, they’d take the eggs, cooler and whole farm stand.

Circumnavigating SJI on day 3 before ferry to Orcas Island. Great to ride without our fully weighted panniers that we left at the hotel.

We then took the ferry to Orcas Island and rode 10 more miles to our hotel.

Hotel selection always involves checking distances to restaurants and one mile away is not normally an issue as we both enjoy walking pre and post dinner. We often walk to restaurants at home.

So when it was time to walk a mile to town for dinner, I surprised Heather by saying let’s hitch a ride instead of walking as the area around my left knee was bothering me*.  I must say we were picked up in like a minute by a couple in a Subaru who l thought looked a bit older than us and Heather thought they were 15 years younger. Jamie and Wes moved to the area 3 years ago from Seattle and drove us right to where we were heading, even taking us into the lot to the entrance. I think my bald, 60-year old look has some advantages when playing the non-menacing hitchhiker. Upon learning we were from the east coast, they promptly said, “Welcome to the BEST coast”. Judging by the natural beauty, genuineness and kindness of everybody we’ve met, they may have something.

(*My left knee area started acting up 3 weeks before we left when I somehow injured it. No idea how. Whereas in 2021, I was concerned before about the heat and distances, and in 2022, hurricanes were my top concern, this year’s top concern is my knee especially given the climbing.)

Eastsound, Orcas Island

The 2 days of scenic beauty in the San Juan Islands felt as if we were in a movie. Literally postcard picture perfect. Feels like Alaska (especially with cool autumn temps) in “The Proposal” (Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds). Just waiting for an eagle to swoop down and grab some small dog.

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9/22. Orcas Island climb up Mt. Constitution, to ferry, then to hotel in Anacortes 38 miles, 4,244’ climb.

(Very misleading as you will see below that not all miles are created equally.)

It’s once again Heather with the sweet tooth as she deteriorates into being more like me, with 6 audible moans (I counted) over one small breakfast parfait. For someone who’s made fun of me, she’s really joined in.

It’s unbelievable how glass-like it appears, mirroring the sights.

Today’s climb up Mt. Constitution, in Moran State Park, was something we anticipated for months. It’s pretty intimidating reading about it.

Here’s the climbing profile. For those not familiar, a profile will often have a mix of green (easier climb of about 4% grade), yellow (harder) and red (hardest). Pretty darn red here. Good thing we left our panniers again at our hotel to retrieve later. It was a tough climb for sure but not as bad as the hype. I think it must be that riding without panniers just felt lighter.

Just about all of today’s climb is over a 5 mile stretch. This is extreme. As Heather has said wisely for years, “Not all miles are created equally”. And as I say, “Neither are all days”.

Celebrating well earned views after 2 hours of ascending.

For such a steep and thus rapid descent, a windshield (buff) is great to have.

The descent was great fun, with light braking on the straights and firmer braking into the hairpin, switchback turns to control speed and safely make it down in a fraction of the time it took to climb up. Well that’s my version.

I waited about 15-20 minutes at bottom for Heather and here’s her version. She hated it! She pumped her brakes constantly, squeezing as hard as possible and after every ten pumps she’d come to a full stop. Put her feet down. Shake her hands out. Clap them together to get circulation. Breathe deeply to compose herself. And start again. Ten more pumps of the brakes. Stop. clap. Breathe. Etc. Her hands and arms ached from squeezing so hard.

Waiting to board ferry back to Anacortes.

At dinner, I had the coolest service never experienced before, but I’ve since been told has been a thing in LA already. The below video shows how our meal was brought to our table.

Reflecting on our two days in the San Juan Islands, we were so grateful we added them into the trip. After all, the two days of biking resulted in ZERO forward progress from north to south, to our final destination. A goal of ours this year is to slow down our daily pace and enjoy more of each area we visit. This added 76 miles and of more consequence it added 8,055’ elevation climbing. I call these the “optional miles” to which Heather reminds me that “the whole trip is optional”. Touché.

© Copyright Mark Segal 2023.