“Day Two … Wahoo!”

Day One came to a close and after dinner, and after finishing my Day One blog and posting pictures, I retired to an unsettling sleep.  All night a strong wind blew from the south and that was the general direction we were going to be riding the next day.  We had looked at the ride for Day Two and we were planning on an easy, flat recovery ride down to Port Hadlock.  However, when got out of bed, and downed our breakfasts of yoghurt and oatmeal, and went outside, we could see the flags standing out straight and pointing in the very wrong direction.  We could look forward to another day of headwinds.  Well, that’s OK because a day of riding into a headwind is better than a day of not riding.  I forgot to mention during yesterday’s ride, I had a flat, so this morning I needed to find and pack another new tube and CO2 cartridge.  I spent too much time trying to figure out where I packed my spare tubes and I wish I could say they were buried by Dennie’s luggage (all of it), but it just turned out to be a bit of forgetfulness on my part.  Finally I found them in the Thule pod and we ended up departing about 15 minutes late.

Although there was the wind I mentioned, the temperature was perfect in the mid-sixties and the sky was relatively clear.  It was a beautiful day, a great day for a ride and that is what we were doing.  We were expecting a rather flat ride and we wanted to make Day Two a recovery ride because we had two long rides coming up Day Three and Day Four.  Our expectations of a flat ride were soon dashed climbing out of Anacortes.  And by the end of the day, those expectations of a flat ride were done completely away by rollers most of the day.  Rollers and headwinds, just another day in paradise.  It wasn’t extraordinary climbing, 3000 feet in fifty miles, it was just unexpected (Garmin track of Day Two).  And although the headwinds were occasionally strong, we were often sheltered by forest or by the roller we were climbing.

Scenery was outstanding, rain forests, verdant fields, mountains meeting the sea (why in the world did we think it was going to be a flat ride when all we can see are mountains meeting the sea?), inshore islands and lovely bays every time we could see through the forest.  The Deception Pass Bridge was just an awesome sight.  We even had to take a ferry to Port Townsend.  Again, this is so far removed from what we see in New Mexico.

So in two days, we are just about on schedule with just under 120 miles under our tires.  We also have climbed a bit over 5000 feet.  Jim and Bill felt strong today.  I must confess I think I was pushing harder than they were and did not feel as strong.  I think that is the result of not riding for almost two weeks and eating and drinking my way to the starting line with lovely wife Dennie and her mom, Ellie.  I am hoping my fitness level will soon return, but I need a bit of recovery time.  Next two days are longer rides and then we take the fifth day off.  I will keep you posted on how we all do; my concern level is mild.  My anticipation is high; the ride so far has been all I and we expected.