You've Gotta Ride North to South

While planning the trip I was told by an experienced cyclist - who shall remain nameless - "Dude, you've got to go up to Seattle and ride back down. Otherwise you'll be battling the wind the entire route." Naturally, Monday's leg included a bang on the nose headwind for most of the route. Today's 72-mile leg to Longview will also feature a 13 mph wind out of the due south according to Accuweather. Rain is also possible.

As to yesterday's route, it was a tale of two rides. Starting out on the ferry to Bremerton the seas were calm the skies were sunny and Seattle receded quickly into the distance. After an hour of cruising past idyllic islands and spectacular beach houses we landed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The immediate waterfront in Bremerton is nice but things quickly go downhill as you move out of town and the first half of the ride, until I was past Shelton pretty much sucked. Washington State Route 3 is not an ideal road for cyclists. While there is a shoulder and it is smooth and clear of debris, it's not very wide and traffic is constant. A good chunk of the traffic is trucks - I really hate the logging trucks.

After Shelton, however, I was able to route along a variety of country roads such as SE Cole, SE Lynch and Old Olympic Highway and the ride became just what I was seeking - quiet, smooth country roads with minimal traffic through pine forests and along horse ranches and estuaries. The final 30 miles to Washington's state capital of Olympia were really great riding. The town itself is also quite pretty.

It also shares a few things in common with San Francisco. It's on the water, it's hilly and it's proud.

Due to some a couple of wrong turns here and there yesterday's ride turned out a bit longer than necessary. Hopefully today will be better. The route does appear to be a good one. Here's the Strava map from yesterday. 68 miles and 3,600' of climbing.