Miles day one: 87
We left California for a 1.5 day drive to Anacortes, WA. The Northern Tier route begins at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal; we decided to drive up to the starting point the night before departure to get an idea of where to start. We also figured out how to walk Matthew’s bike down to the water so he could carry out the traditional “dipping of the wheels” at his starting point.
As nerves were amping up, we took care of last minute planning and decided to use the four gift cards to Olive Garden my mom’s partner had gifted us last Christmas (thanks, Chuck!) It was time for Matthew to carb-load in preparation for his first big ride.
As we made our orders, we found ourselves discussing our journey with the waiter.
“Wait, you mean like…pedal bike across the country?”
“Yep!” Matthew beamed.
“Nice! I wasn’t sure at first if you meant motorcycling. Like maybe you were trying to work on your motorcycle bod. That’s awesome!”
After we placed our orders, a waitress approached us.
“I heard you guys are going to start a supported bike trip across the country! I’m actually getting ready to hike through every national park in the country this summer- alone!”
Woah.
We ordered the “buy one meal get one free” special so we could have dinner at our campsite the next night. With bellies full, panniers organized, and alarm clocks set, we felt ready.
DAY 1:
By bike:
The first 20 miles I was on the highway and had a medium coke in honor of one of my childhood best friends who did the exact same trip over 10 years ago. With that energy boost I plowed through much of Anacortes to start on a trail that paralleled Route 20. While I was alone for most of it, by mile 30 I sustained 2 flats from metal wires poking in my bike. Over an hour later I was back on the road.
Another flat…
It was all amazing until I started the uphill climb after Concrete, Washington in the rain. I should have stopped for the day after 50 miles but wanted to keep going. I thought it would be amazing if I made it to New Halem to the campground.
I was so sore in New Halem but set up camp for the boss and made some oatmeal. I also made a flower bouquet from all the flowers I picked along the way.
Tired and overworked, I laid on the bench until Lauren came in and we ate OG ravioli and oatmeal.
Support SUV:
I dropped Matthew off and bid him farewell at the ferry terminal. I caught a video of him pedaling away, however I’m still trying to figure out how to share videos on this blog format. I can share this photo I caught of a doe and her fawn on my drive out of the ferry terminal, though:
UPDATE: I found that I can upload videos via Youtube- here’s the video I captured of Matthew setting off across the country by bike!
We use Google Fi for our phone service, which, in my opinion, is for the dogs. We barely had decent reception in our own apartment in California, how could I trust we’d have service in the mountains of Washington and plains of Montana? Because of this, we decided to buy burner Verizon phones. I’m glad we did!
I spent the day organizing my car and drove down to Seattle to have lunch with one of my best friends, Emily. As always, my heart was full after catching up with her!
I received a call from Matthew’s burner phone. Already Google Fi lost service. He reported two flat tires, which shocked me! His tires are supposed to be practically bomb proof (Schwalbe Marathon Plus)! Apparently he also had the wrong tubes. The valves were not the correct type. I had to make a trip to REI to purchase replacement tubes.
My jaw dropped when he told me where he was. Over 80 miles on the first day?! I found the campsite and brought over our leftovers from Olive Garden with a surprise bag of sour gummy worms for a glucose boost he’ll need tomorrow. The beautiful flowers Matthew had collected on the way were placed in his tin cup, which made for a romantic campside dinner.
Safety first- make sure you have bear spray with your meal!
It was exciting to be outdoors again with Matthew. The last time we slept in a tent was two years ago while backpacking through Big Sur and Yosemite. We miss it more than we had realized! The day ended with a gentle song composed by several owls (which apparently kept Matthew up).
Tomorrow will be the first of many challenging days to come; he will be climbing the first *two* of five mountain passes in Washington.
No Jobs, No Home, No Worries. A Shared Journey by Bike and Support SUV Across the U.S. 