52 Miles
We left Northshore church at about 8:00 a.m and took some back roads to get to Route 2, our primary route for the next several days.
The Church We stayed in in Woodinville
We rode first to Duvall on 203 and then up to Monroe. The road to Monroe was quiet and good cycling. At about the time we hit Route 2 in Monroe we saw several riders in the Cycle America group- about 80 in the group.
Since it was Sunday, the traffic on Route 2 was heavy. We went east through Sultan and met Tim, our support SAG in Gold Bar. At that stop it began to rain heavily so everyone got under a roof that had picnic tables.
Tim parked the trailer near a shelter for our snack break
Stopping for a snack break on Hwy 2 in the rain
Farther along- on Steven's Pass Route Two
With raingear heading up the Cascades
Our group didn't mind the rain, ate a good lunch and then started climbing the Cascades past Baring, finally to Skykomish. It was very cold and damp when we got to the Skykomish Highschool at about 300 p.m. We saw many other riders from Cycle America arriving too.
Ed and I walked around town and went to a pub where we saw cyclists from the other group. We also saw that the many town buildings were being lifted so the soil could be clean. Many years ago the trains dumped oil into the ground contaminating the surrounding area.
The high school that evening was packed with bicyclists from both groups. Ed and I took the "blue room" upstairs to lay out our sleeping bags.
The riding conditions were rolling at first then a gradual climb on Route 2.
Skykomish Highschool where our group and a group of 80 cycles from Cycle America stayed the night.
Ken and others ready to move into the high school for the evening
Having a beer with my riding partner Ed at a Skykomish Pub
Our nightly meeting in a hallway of the high school
The beer was good that night, and we had a nice conversation in the pub with cyclists from the Cycle America group.
ReplyDelete