August 7, 2021
Day 86 - Chehalis, WA to Twanoh state park, WA
A top left experience
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Today we got up around 620 and prepared for the day. No one was up, but Brian made auto coffee for 6 am, so we had some with oatmeal. We were just about ready to leave and Brian was up to see us off. Getting our bikes out of the garage we saw a beat to heck old mountain bike and I assumed that must have been the bike he toured with in the 80s. He confirmed my suspicion. It was about as simple as it gets: 26" rims, friction shifting, and a steel frame. He let us out of the garage and into the misty rain. It was forecasted to rain until 2 pm again, which was annoying. On the road from Chehalis towards Olympia, it was just about as redneck as you can get. A guy in a pickup with a don't tread on me sticker slowed down beside us while a car was passing to yell "get off the road!", lots of expletives involved as well. It's not the first time people have given us negative feedback in the rain. You would think that the rain would be punishment enough. I had just enough time to tell him off, but I think in the future, I'll just say "shut up damn liberal!". I think that would offend them the most. Or tell them that their family hates them. Deep beneath that macho pseudo cowboy vibe, that's something they already know. We continued on in the rain, having a real PNW experience and made it to Olympia as it started to clear up. We stopped at a trader Joe's to get lunch stuff and while eating outside, a lady gave us a coupon for a free cookie at Barnes and noble. I guess we look pretty hobo? Most people don't eat the food they just bought out front of the store. This was the third gift from Washington citizens: the first being a road map, the second being a sticker, and now this cookie voucher. The lunch was good though and we continued on towards the bottom of hood canal where it curves east.
Our destination was twanoh state park. We made it up a huge hill, ate some trader Joe's snacks and descended towards the canal. We took a right onto route 106. We had been on this road before when we visited our friends Russ and trish a couple years ago.
We were riding this busy vacation road and two guys in overalls told us to watch out for speedy cars. They didn't have shirts on, had fancy drinks in a mason jar with a handle and straws, and one of them looked just like Seth Rogan. We thanked them for the tip and continued on. The wind was really raging westbound , so we made it to the park in no time. The park was full, but Washington (like Oregon) have a no turn away policy for hiker)bikers. They reserve a couple sites just in case people show up. I was worried we would get a crappy spot or be near another late night party, but we were all alone across the street next to the boat ramp. The site was secluded and right beside the canal. It was really windy, but so awesome. Its definitely up there with best sites along with smith rock, McKenzie pass, and Togwotee pass.
We were chilling at the site when 5 dudes on bikes show up. They are all from Seattle, around our age, and super cool. They had awesome customized older bikes: some mountain bikes, some old touring bikes, and one bike with some custom fork that converted it the threadless and used a 20" bmx wheel as the front wheel. The guys were really cool and had done all sorts of hiking and touring trips. Most of them worked as baristas and one was the roaster for slate coffee. I tried to pick their brains about good coffee spots without much success, but we did swap fun stories from our trips. These guys pretty much embodied Seattle hipster grunge and were pretty fascinating. It also reminded me of how cool it is to ride and modify older bikes. I don't think any of these guys rode a bike newer than 2000. I should remember this when thinking of buying a new bike.
We all crammed our tents onto the small site and went to bed shortly after sundown. Mary and I were pretty tired, so we were the first to bed. These guys just started yesterday so they were full of energy and stayed up a bit later.
Mileage:72
Altitude gain:2600
Today's ride: 72 miles (116 km)
Total: 4,548 miles (7,319 km)
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