June 17, 2025
Screwed!
Port Ludlow to Silverdale (Mary and Sandy’s); traffic, Hood Canal Bridge, 1st plug, fritter moment, last day
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This is our last ride day of this tour. Only Jim and I rode since Amber decided to drive to Silverdale with Rich so they could shop for a new bike rack for the truck (someone hit and ran the current one while we were in Canada.)
Initially we retraced the route we rode into Port Ludlow on the first day of this tour. We climbed out of the resort and followed an undulating route to the Hood Canal Bridge. The traffic was heavy all the way through this section.
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Crossing the bridge was noisy! Lots of traffic, irregular surface-I will wear hearing protection next time I cross this bridge. Also the shoulder was littered with debris of all kinds. I was amazed we both made it across without getting a flat. I thought we were lucky.
But…we turned off the bridge and had not ridden more than 1/4 mile when Jim pulled up after hearing a noise as he pedaled. I could see a silver object imbedded in his rear tire.
Jim pulled out his plug kit. (I noticed it was a fancy one, not the very basic one he got for me. What’s with that?) He loaded up a large plug and I carefully removed the screw and put my finger over the hole to keep the air in. Jim attempted to insert the plug but it was too big so he retried with a small plug and it worked!
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1 month ago
I pulled out our invaluable electronic pump and reinflated the tire (it had only lost about 20 psi) and then we rolled on.
Now we were riding on a busy two lane highway with a rumble strip. I was very happy when we turned off onto a less traveled side road. Much of this area was residential then it became more rural and the traffic was light.
At some point we noticed the land on our right appeared to be part of a military installation, complete with secure fencing and ominous signage.
An older gentleman was walking on the left side of the road so I asked him what the name of the installation was and he replied, “Sub Base Bangor, I used to work there.” We stopped and chatted for a few minutes and when he heard we were from California, he mentioned that he had visited Napa and that he went to school at UC Riverside and was stationed at several bases in California during his naval career. After thanking him for his service, we rode on.
A short time later, Jim pulled up into a side street and announced the we needed to “fritter away some time.” He broke out what remained of our last fritter from Anacortes, this one being blueberry. He bought it 3 or 4 days ago, it has traveled well, and tasted as good as it did on the day it was bought. Maybe even better since it was eaten on the road.
Soon we entered Silverdale proper. It is an unincorporated town that appears to be both gentrifying and growing rapidly. We rode through several construction zones-at one point, the shoulder was being redone.
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Jim hopped onto the road but I just kept going down the nice smooth hardpacked gravel on the shoulder. This worked great until I started coming across these large signs saying things like “Shoulder Closed” and “Steep Dropoff” that were placed inconveniently in my way. At first I was able to shimmy my bike around the signs but eventually the shoulder narrowed and there just wasn’t enough room so I had to hop up onto the road and ride in the lane with traffic. Fortunately it wasn’t for long because within few miles we arrived at Sandy and Mary’s house.
So this marks the end of our tour for this year. Jim and I have a few days in Seattle with friends before we head back to Napa. Once the dust settles I will come back with some of our thoughts and insights we gleaned during our time here in the Pacific Northwest. Thank you all for reading this far.
Today's ride: 27 miles (43 km)
Total: 414 miles (666 km)
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1 month ago