Pacific Coast Bike Tour Day 1: Bremerton to Shelton, WA

Well today was our first official day on the bikes out here in good ol’ Washington State. It was a first of many things actually…

• First ever bicycle tour
• First day of riding
• First crash
• First host using WarmShowers
• First 50 mile day

Saying our Goodbyes

We started our first day on tour bright and early. By 7:00AM we were just about ready to roll. Loading up the bikes only took a few minutes and before we knew it we were hitting the road.

Chris & Tawny sent us off in perfect fashion by waving goodbye and actually following us up the road with video camera in hand. How could you not love these guys?

The First Ten

The first ten miles of our trip was a mixed bag of downhills, straightaways and what seemed like never ending uphill battles. After the first couple of miles we pulled over quickly to throw on some gloves. We’re so glad we packed our gloves because our hands were frozen from the wind on the downhills.

As soon as we hit the 10 mile mark, we pulled over to refuel our bodies with an apple and some much needed water. We thought to ourselves… “only four more of these ten mile stretches to go!”

Mile 20, 25…

After our 10 mile pitstop, mile 20 came pretty quickly. We stopped for lunch around mile 25. Our legs were feeling the pain so we decided to pull over and slap together a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the side of Route 3 South.

The Crash

Somewhere around mile 30 is when Will took his first real crash. I was quite a ways ahead at the time and as I was pushing up the last part of a hill, I heard Will shout to me. By the time I could pull over on the side of the road and look back, he had already gathered his bike and pulled along the edge of the road.

I ran down to him to make sure he was alright, thankfully he was. His leg was scraped and his shoulder was in some pain but other than that he had no real injuries. Considering he went over the handlebars, he’s lucky to have not seriously injured himself. Thankfully no cars were coming up behind him at the time because he spilled into the one lane road during the crash.

The bad part was that the clips that run along the back of one of his pannier saddlebags broke completely off during the crash.

I was able to rig up the pannier with a bungee cord so that it would hold the weight but I’m not too sure how long he will be able to ride with it like that.

The problem is that the stores most likely won’t stock parts for his Ortlieb Panniers, so he has two options at this point. One option would be to order a clip from Ortlieb directly and have it shipped to a future destination or attach the pannier permanently to the rack with some cable ties. We’re thinking he will go with the latter but we’ll see what happens.

The Final Stretch

By mile 40 we were hitting some seriously long hills. Each pedal stroke was another stroke closer to our final destination. We whipped through downtown Shelton and headed straight for our first ever WarmShowers host of the trip.

What is WarmShowers?

For those who don’t know what WarmShowers is all about, imagine CouchSurfing for cyclists. It’s a community of bicycle tourists who host cyclers that need a warm shower and maybe even some hot food or a roof over their heads. It’s not just a way to score free accommodation but it’s also a way to meet like minded people from around the world who enjoy bicycle touring.

Our First WarmShowers Host

Our first host of the trip is Alan from Shelton, WA.

As soon as we arrived at Alan’s house we jumped in the car and headed down to the local grocery store to grab some food for dinner. We settled on hamburgers and after a short afternoon nap, we threw the burgers on the grill and chatted about the best routes for us to take in order to get us out to the coast of Washington.

After dinner, Will and I spent 45 minutes soaking in the hot tub in Alan’s yard.

It was everything we needed and more after a long day of riding. We’re totally spoiled here at Alan’s. Imagine if we could plop ourselves into a hot tub every evening after our ride?

Conclusion

Overall, I’d say we had a great first day (minus Will’s crash) and a few minor issues along the way. The weather was cooler in the morning but the sun is still shining as we speak. We couldn’t ask for better weather out here in Washington this time of year, that’s for sure. I was surprised at the mileage we put in for our first day considering we didn’t train for the tour. Our legs were really feeling it but the hot tub eased some of our pain.

Tomorrow morning we will chow down on some blueberry pancakes courtesy of Alan and then pack up and hit the road for another 40-50 mile day. Well, at least we hope…

Today’s Mileage: 49 mi