Ride to Aberdeen

Pe Ell to Aberdeen: 56.2 miles

Total Mileage: 185.1 miles

Quote of the Day: Rivers and roads, rivers and roads, rivers 'til I reach you.

The potatoes made another appearance at breakfast this morning as cheesy, bacon-y potatoes.  Ziplock bags were again provided and I may or may not have thrown some in my hydration pack for a midmorning snack.

This morning I headed out with Louisa, Scurp and Alyssa.  We, like a lot of other riders, followed the chalking and within the first few miles we were LOST.  Thankfully we were only a few miles off the cue sheet.  There was a group of riders who made it seven miles before being flagged down by the pastor in his RV.  Who knows where they would have ended had he not been going home. 

Back on the cue sheet we soon found out the road was closed to a single lane.  While waiting for our turn, I told a story from my Southern trip where our group was held up by a local blasting project and despite our best efforts of hustling down the road, we all needed to hitch a ride trough the construction area.  Literally two minutes later, the forewoman told us that bikes could travel along the construction route, but only if the were escorted by a company truck.  Our group made it just in time; had we gotten there later who knows how long the wait would have been.

Escorts are things all Bike and Builders look forward to and on day three we had gotten ours.
Here is the crew, post escort, eating hills for breakfast!!

Louisa and I made a quick stop at a local car mechanic shop.
They had a lot of great old cars and signs like the ones below. 

A few hundred feet down the hill we found a fishing pond.
We took a much better #ussie with a metal fish cut out, but I have no idea where that picture went. 

A few hundred feet later we found today's lunch spot.  One of the perks to riding in the Pacific Northwest is there are blackberries around every turn.  They definitely make it better when you have to pull over for someone to change a flat. 

About a mile after lunch we started seeing some great metal cutouts along the road.  Kelton and I decided to grab a quick drink with a local before cranking out the final miles of the ride.  Not surprisingly, we were greeted by a lot more long steep hills.  Thankfully the grade was less steep and made it much easier than yesterdays climbs.  About 15 miles outside the host we stopped with a bunch of other riders to try some local blackberry ice cream; it did not disappoint. 

Dinner that night would be in, wait for it, the Aberdeen Museum of History.  This could very well be a Bike and Build first and was as cool as it sounds.  Before we sat down to dinner with the local affordable housing agency, we wandered around to get edumicated.

Ethan and Jeff are on the hunt for the fire.
What sweetens the deal is they are in one of the town's original fire trucks. 

Athena and I were keeping a close look out for ice burgs.

Scurp is waiting for her Gatorade on the rocks.
She could be waiting an awful long time because the store is stuck in the early 20th century.

After we wrapped up with dinner the leaders stood up and gave a brief presentation of the history, logistics and fundraising of Bike and Build.  Similarly, NeighborWorks, the local affordable housing agency, told us a little about their organization.  They do a great deal of home repairs, as well as offer subsidized housing programs, loans and home buyer education classes.  It turns out we would be painting the exterior of two local homes; fingers crossed the rain holds off tomorrow!