Bay View, WA

Vancouver’s love for bikes and pedestrians fills me with desire. I mean, the city-designed infrastructure for it was crazy; def have a crush on it.

We started our tour out the door and on the road quickly. Beautiful weather allowed quads to hammer even with shaky highway 2-mile-long bridge crossings. A pitter of rain began near the border, which had its own crossing/check-in for cyclists. Swinging into Washington was accompanied by a solid hiker-biker site at Birch Bay State Park. Sun, drops of patter, and verde now fill my scene. Day 1 done.

Now in Vancouver and ready to ride tomorrow morning. Fast moving events seem to sit on the horizon of my thoughts of yesterday. Arriving in Seattle and meeting up with Maria, spontaneity with exploring the city, arriving in Vancouver, and packing bags – there is a lot of shit.

We decided this morning that in an embracing moment of “hey, we’re here, let’s do this!” to throw on four additional days to circumnavigate the Olympic Peninsula by riding around Olympic National Park. I will fuck up Edward and any vampires when we arrive in Forks.

Two days driving up the chains of mountains def leaves me thirsty to come back and bike this route. A Utah to AZ route makes my legs jiggle in anticipation.

The Great Salt Lake and a drive up the Wasatch National Forest on the road to Park City brought brine and green into focus. We headed over to Antelope Island State Park out in the Great Salt Lake where wild herds of bison (on the shore directly above), pronghorn, and big horn sheep roam. After this outdoor splendor, we absolutely slogged through the western farming plains/valleys until we reached Boise. Tomorrow Washington.

Heading north on our way to Salt Lake City, we stopped at Horseshoe Bend and were blown away by the opportunity to see a wild California Condor sitting on the edge of the lookout. The national park ranger next to us was equally dumbfounded. The largest flying bird in North America as well as one of the most endangered.

My sweet tongue sang juicy words of lightheaded rapture. Killer view with carrion bird. Oh yes this journey is fine.

Yo, this is my blog for the ride.  Enjoy the grass and walk on it as you please.  

Honestly, this is one significant event.  It has sat on the horizon for some time now and I’m pumped to get it going.  Walk back 2.5 years and you’ll find me passively engaging life.  Yes, there was some active pursuit of challenge, but the sum of my existence seemed centered on merely getting by.