Ride to Port Angeles

Neah Bay to Port Angeles: 72.1 miles
Total Mileage: 448.4 miles
Quote of the Day: "The more ups and downs, the more joy I feel.  The greater the fear, the greater happiness I feel." -Jack Kerouac

Shockingly there was another great sunrise this morning over Canada!  This morning we had to do a bit of backtracking to get out of Neah Bay, but that meant we would be riding along the coast for several miles before heading inland and back into the forest.  I may or may not have been involved in a crash while telling my one and only ghost story.  Thankfully my fall was broken by a grassy ditch so I ended up with a cut up hand and some bruises; the bike remained unscathed. 

After a hill climb, just a few miles from lunch, we pulled over to wait for the rest of our group and snacked on some blackberries. 

Right before lunch we were surprised by a 0.75 mile 9% hill climb.  I had been having a few problems with my gears and sadly half way up my chain fell off.  After putting it back on I set out to tackle the rest of the climb.  One rider did some great chalking close to the top and there were high fives all around when we arrived. 

Proof of the hill!

Today's lunch was on the beach and did not disappoint.  Before the final turn we did have a run in with a large semi truck.  We were on a huge descent and for safety reasons riders tend to put some major space between themselves.  Because the roads here are pretty curvy it makes it hard to keep track of people until everyone arrives at the bottom.  Out of no where after being unsafely passed by several cars we heard the blasting horn sound and immediately our minds went to worst case scenario.  We never found out what made the driver hit his horn, but were grateful that everyone arrived safely.

Spontaneous dance party!!

The ride post lunch was not the easiest, and we unfortunately had a lot of climbing to do after lunch.  The first hill became a running joke because after each turn the trees seemed to level out, but the thing kept going.  Ah the life of Drift West'er.

As we rolled through a town called Joyce we saws some great street name.

Once we hit downtown and caught the bike trail we assumed the ride would be relatively flat one.  Sadly, we could not have been more wrong.  It was a slow and steady climb for the last few miles and then we made our final turn of the day.  We were greeted by a huge mile long climb.  Louisa had been bonking pretty hard all afternoon and after one look at the hill she broke down.  The two of us walked the last mile and were greeted by some AC and cookies at the host. 

Build Day in Neah Bay

One of the perks of build days is we get to sleep in a little longer.  Today we did not have to arrive at the build site until 10am so we got to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and walk around the town/docks. 

The calm before the wake up storm

Good morning Canada!

Today we would be working with the Makah Tribe's affordable housing agency.  Because their housing projects are in the beginning stages, we would be building picnic tables which would be used for community beautification project. 

The first few tables were a bit difficult to put together, but we soon got into the swing of things and by the end we were banging them out like nobody's business. 

Marie was making friends with the locals.  Check out those tan lines.

Caress brought out these amazing suspenders!  Who needs directions when you have this lady and all her Habitat building experience.

Ethan and Ian get down to business.

Katie taking a few minutes away to finish up some sketches she started this morning.

Spence the birthday boy with his birthday scarves.

We got all nine tables finished minus the seating for one because we ran out of wood. Group shot!

After the build day we had a little time before dinner so the host loaded us into a couple of cars and brought us to the Cape Flattery Trail.  The trail winds through the woods and brings you to the most Northwest part of the continuous United States. 

I tried to capture the views as best I could, but my phone can only do so much people!  If any of you make it out to Washington you need to make your way up to Neah Bay.  It will not disappoint.

We made it.  We couldn't drift any further west if we tried (unless we got a boat)!

Once we got back to the parking lot we were brought to the tribe's long house where we were given a great dinner.  The director of their affordable housing talked with us about what the reservation was doing to improving housing conditions for tribal members. 

Pink at night, sailors delight. 

Sunset selfie!

That sky!!!

This website will not do the panoramic shot justice.  

We did one of those fancy "I'm in several parts of the picture."

Ride to Neah Bay

Hoh Rainforest to Neah Bay: 79.4 miles
Total Mileage: 376.3 miles
Quote of the Day: "The wilderness holds answers to questions man has not yet learned to ask." - Nancy Newhall

Today the sun was peaking through the clouds and everyone was excited to hop back on their bikes and get to Neah Bay.  There was a little concern among the riders as we had a great deal of climbing to do to get out of the rain forest (we all were loving those descents yesterday) and today would be the longest ride undertaken by all of the new riders.  

Athena was rocking a helmet of moss on the way out.

The views were much better with the sun shining.

We made it Forks, WA which is where the Twilight series takes place.  

Sadly we saw no vampires and no werewolves so basically it was a waste!

Post lunch we hit some major head winds, poor pavement and big hills.  This, in combination with lunch legs, made getting back on the bike after lunch rough.  Views like this made it a little easier to get through the afternoon.

At mile 60 we had a mandatory coffee break stop.  

Washington is filled with coffee shacks; this one had a great drift wood sculpture in the back.

Soon enough we hit the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  According to Wikipedia, it is a large body of water (about 95 miles long) that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean.  It also serves as the international boundary between Canada and the United States.

Secondary mandatory crew with the water shot. 

Game faces are on.  70 miles down and 10 miles to the host.

Another view of the Strait.  The last ten miles of the ride could have been the most beautiful riding I have ever done.  The road followed the coast and despite the town being at sea level we had a good amount of climbing to do before we reached the town center.  On a side note: as people arrived they commented on the scenery and most of the cross country riders also agreed that this was a once in a lifetime ride. 

 

With just a few miles to go, Victoria got a flat so I snuck down to the water to grab one more picture.

The view from the host also did not disappoint.  The Makah Tribe would be our host for the next two days and when we arrived snacks were already laid out for us.  As a first time host even the Bike and Build director was amazed by the hospitality.  The green in the background is Canada.  If we had a bit more energy we could have swum? swam? to the shore or at least tried to DM a boat ride. 

After a disastrous dinner at a local restaurant we headed back to the host for our first town hall/family meeting.  The rest of the night was spent reorganizing life and cleaning out the trailer/coolers.  Six riding days down and only three more to go until the part one riders leave!