I meant to write this last entry for our tour much sooner — it's been two weeks since we returned — but life happens and time passes quickly. So I've had plenty of time to think about our Salish Sea tour and draw some conclusions.

Summary

Overall, it was a fantastic tour, meeting all my hopes and expectations. Since the Pacific Northwest is famous for its unpredictable and wet weather, we lucked out, weather-wise. Except for the first couple of days of rain, we enjoyed sunny skies and even a heat wave while touring Vancouver Island and through Tsawassen. The riding was fun, the scenery varied and often awe-inspiring, and the climbing doable (with or without e-bikes). I highly recommend touring this area and would do it again. The only (big) downside of this particular trip was Rich getting sick during the last week. Fortunately, we did have our vehicle, so though he took on all the driving those days, at least he got to rest and continue the tour at the same time.

Tour Pacing

Our ride average was 27 miles per day, much shorter than our usual tours, with rest/laundry/touristy days built in. One of the reasons for the shorter distances was the need to schedule in the ferry riding — a truly time-consuming activity. You have to get there early to check in, wait for boarding, the ferry ride itself, and then the waiting to disembark. And whoever was driving the truck had to get there extra early to check in and ensure space on the ferry. Another reason is simply that we're not getting any younger, and we wanted to enjoy a slow pace, with lots of time for picture-taking and spontaneous side adventures. 

The end result was leaving late in the mornings (between 10:30-11:00 most days) and arriving early with the possibility of having to wait to check into our hotels. The rides weren't long enough to stop for lunch, so in the beginning we ended up eating lunch late in the afternoon and then having a very late dinner. About halfway through the tour, we settled on waiting as long as possible and eating a very late lunch or very early dinner (however you want to think of it) at around 5:00.  

I really liked having two days in Victoria to play tourist — visit the museums, parks, and especially Butchart Park.

Still, I think if I were to do this tour again, I'd prefer to ride closer to 35 or 40 miles/day. Of course, that's not always possible, due to distances between towns and hotels and places of interest, but that would be my preference. Also (and I think I say this every time), I need to do more research ahead of time to find places of interest along the way and I need to stop and take more pictures of things that are just interesting, not necessarily scenic. 

The Roads

Washington (at least on the coast) and Canada are bicycle friendly, with lots of bicycle paths and well-defined bike lanes on the roads. The Olympic Discovery Trail, which stretches 130 miles between La Push and Port Townsend is beautiful, well-maintained, and 95% paved. The trail is not completely off road (yet), and there are stretches of it (about 30% in total) that run on city streets, but those that we rode on were low in car volume. We were on the trail part of the time to Sequim and then from Sequim to Port Angeles. I'd like to go back and ride the whole trail sometime.

Heart

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Overall, throughout the trip the pavement was good, and where the roads were narrow with little to no shoulder, the drivers we encountered were mostly patient and good-natured, giving us lots of space and passing safely when they could. Especially in Canada, whose people proved true to their reputation for politeness.

Wildlife

There were birds, of course. We saw lots of bald eagles — certainly more than I'd ever seen before on one tour, deer, and fox. On our whale watching tour off Vancouver Island, we got to see a mother humpback and her baby surfacing, along with dolphins, sea lions, and sea otters. 

The Verdict on E-bikes

I have to say it... I love, love, LOVE my new Specialized Creo 2 e-bike. Yes, it's about 10 pounds heavier than my Salsa gravel bike (which I've been touring with for the last 5-ish years), but it's geared lower and rides extremely quiet (with or without the motor). And maybe it's the geometric fit of this particular bike on my body, but I feel as though I get more power out of every pedal stroke. I often ride without using the motor assist, turning it on only for sustained climbs of over 3 or 4%. I use eco mode mostly, engaging sport mode if the grade goes above 10%. I used turbo mode twice, on very steep, short climbs of >14%. And once, just for fun, when I stopped to take a picture and then raced to catch up with the others, climbing a fairly steep hill at 17 MPH! On our longest riding day of ~40 miles, which also happened to be our biggest climbing day, I only used 30% of the battery. 

As Genny says in her blog, having an e-bike means never having to dread the climbs. And the downhills are screaming fun (all that extra weight and stability). 

As for purists who believe suffering is an integral part of bicycle riding, I say suffering is overrated. I've already proved I can ride 2,000 miles and climb 100,000 feet on my own steam. And now? I just want to enjoy the ride.

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you on the next tour!