Dolly's Bike Blog

It was raining when we left Centralia this morning and the rain continued for 14 miles, over an hour and a half.  And the temperature remained in the 40s.

At mile 3, we had our first climb, over 1 1/2 miles long – not much fun when your legs are not yet warmed up – but I just keep pedaling – and, of course, it was raining.  At mile 12, we had a steep descent of 16% with a nice long runoff – I’m sure my speed was over 30 mph for some part of the downhill.

By mile 19, my hands were freezing, even though the rain had stopped.  There was a gas station and I bought a pair of rubber work gloves which did the trick as far as warming up my hands.  And Peggy, Donna and I stopped in Toledo for some lunch at Donna’s Place.

We followed the Cowlitz River for several miles, stopping in Castle Rock at The Vault for tea – Don and I had stopped there during the Santana tour and I recommended it to my fellow cyclists, many of whom had stopped before me.

The attraction in our final destination in Longview is the Nutty Narrows, so I took a detour off course to check one out, and was able to FaceTime with Ana and Yoseph, my grandchildren, to share the sight.

If the 56 miles of pedaling wasn’t enough, Barbara and I walked to Lake Sacajawea before dinner.

My roommate tonight is Pat from Vermont who has been on 17 WomanTours.

57.76 miles on Garmin, 10.85 mph, 2965.8 ascent (max speed 35.75 mph)

Relive:  https://www.relive.cc/view/1193798487

The threat of rain was with us much of the day.  We started about 8 am with drizzle and a beautiful rainbow.  Another quick climb early, before our legs are warmed up.  Low lying clouds surrounded the hills and pine trees.

About mile 10 we entered a construction zone and were escorted by guide car on an unpaved portion of the road.  The surface was moderately firm and we appreciated that they let us ride as a group, without any cars behind us.  Earlier we had seen a number of large trailer trucks and found out they were carrying gravel for this road project.

At mile 14 we had our first sag stop in Bucks Prairie, and it started to rain – only lasted for a mile, but it was typical of the day: rain jacket on, rain jacket off.  I finally just left the rain covers on my front and rear packs so I didn’t have to deal with them all day.

At mile 26, we stopped for some warm soup at Miller House in Elma.  The hostess was most kind and the local senior citizens were fascinated by us all.

At mile 28 and again at mile 42 we crossed the Chehalis River and entered the Chehalis Reservation. Naturally they have a casino, the Lucky Eagle, which was over 1/2 mile off the road, so we did not visit. We did have a sag stop in the gas station parking lot.

We had expected storms, possibly thunderstorms, as we neared Centralia, but instead we were greeted by cool sunshine.  I made a stop at the Outlet Malls to purchase some added clothes for warmth – I confess I am not properly prepared for these cooler temperatures.

Though the intermittent drizzle was a nuisance, the hardest part of the day was the pavement – it would seem that most of the roads we are riding have been paved with chip-seal, a more bumpy surface that is hard on the hands, arms, shoulders and really saps the energy.  Sometimes the shoulder will have a smoother surface remaining from the original pavement and I look forward to riding that.

63.71 miles – 11.62 mph, 2434.4 ft of ascent (the numbers on my handlebar Garmin differ from those recorded in Relive, but you get the general idea.)

Relive:  https://www.relive.cc/view/1192295233

Forgot:  Roommate last night was Marilee from near Syracuse, NY. She was our SAG support today. Several years ago she hiked from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the South Rim in one day (WOW).

Tonight’s roommate is Susan from Santa Cruz.  We biked together on the Atlantic Coast tour.

The pavement on the left is chip-seal, on the right the smoother, more comfortable surface.

No Relive today as I went far afield “dolly-gagging.”

When I realized that our route was only 40.5 miles today and word was that the town of Shelton was less than exciting, I decided to go “sightseeing”.  With permission from Guide Patty, I decided to wander into Bremerton, just to see what I might see.  The other night, Vickie had mentioned some fountains near the waterfront, so I planned a route to the Ferry Terminal.  There were some steep downhills and significant uphills to get into the downtown.  I passed numerous memorials and lots of recognition of the Navy Shipyard located in Bremerton.  See photos below.

After about 8 miles of wandering, I decided to try to link up with the WT route, only to find that the most direct solution was the shoulder of SR3, a less than desirable alternative.  So I figured out how to retrace my route and linked up to the WT route at mile 1.

Half a mile later was a steep hill (8-13%), but I have been able to stay on my bike and pedal slowly.  At mile 4 on the WT route (mile 10 for me) began a valley route, though the first miles may have had a slight uphill, as I was unable to get my speed up over 8 mph.  As recommended I stopped at Starbuck’s in Belair, also passing 2 cannibas retailers (noted on the Washington State Cannibas map) – no stopping at either for me.

At mile 20 (30) was another steep uphill (11% for 1/2 mile), slow and steady.. before turning onto Mason Lake Drive – very large lake, with lots of summer homes all around.  I spoke to a local woman who indicated that the water was a comfortable temperature in July and August, and that the lake was natural and fed by an underground source.

About that time, it began to rain and I covered up my trunk bag and handlebar bag and put on my rain jacket.  It would rain for 10-15 minutes, clear a bit, then rain again.  This continued all the way into Shelton.

Stopped for a candy bar and soda at Lake Limerick store, a needed rest at about 43 miles.  As I rode into Shelton, the route took us briefly on a paved trail beside the road, and up and down one final hill.

I had been told that Shelton was at the western most point of Puget Sound, only to discover that a large lumber mill and train tracks occupies the lower end of the Bay.

DQ was less than a mile from the hotel, so I made the obligatory stop, though I was feeling cold from the rain (temperatures were in high 50 degrees).

Due to threat of rain, we did not do dinner circle tonight, but many gathered in rooms to dine together. And map meeting was standing in the parking lot, as it was not raining.

52.89 miles, 9.88 mph, 3605.6 ft ascent (I certainly am not getting any faster!)