Ian and I rode together today. He was planning to head south and then circle back up US 101 but had to change his plans because of detours around slides on 101. He's headed to either Bainbridge or Vashon Island tomorrow, and I'll continue south. It was really nice to ride with someone for the day. We pretty much followed the Adventure Cycling map's back roads to keep away from the traffic, but we went out own way once we hit Silverdale. There aren't too many camping spots in this area. We stopped by the Chamber of Commerce in Silverdale and got directions to the state park (which the woman in the office told us was flat, no hills). It was a beautiful route - but the last uphill almost killed me. It was steep and long. But the downhill prior to that was amazing. We were screaming downhill when I looked up and saw Mount Rainier in the distance. Beautiful.
It was a very hilly day today, probably the hilliest so far. It seems that there are pretty severe bluffs leading up from the water - and we were following the coastline for quite a while. I'd seen Puget Sound on maps before, but I'd never really appreciated how many islands and peninsulas there were.
We crossed the Hood Canal this morning on a floating bridge. It was freaky - not because of the floating part, but because it had almost no shoulder, no sidewalk, and metal bridge decks in several places. You definitely had to pay attention to where you were going.
We set up camp, unloaded the bikes, and then rode back out to find a restaurant for dinner. In the process, we ended up riding most of the direct route from the Chamber of Commerce to the campground. I don't regret the route that we took earlier because it was beautiful - but it turns out that the direct route was flat! As usual, it's not a good idea to believe someone who is not a biker when they tell you there are no hills. The route we took from the Chamber of Commerce was definitely hilly!
