Somers

Magnolia

Lazy Mountain

Cairnes

Della

Easy peasy - just kidding, literally had to walk the bike twice, only two times when I have to walk the bike. Finished the trip in 20 calendar days, but technically since I started day 1 at 3:48pm, and I finished today at ~1:30pm local time, or 3:30pm Chicago time, I actually did close to 2200 miles in 19 days. Quite impressive.

Started early today so had some early morning light in the forest which was nice. Photos taken yesterday in Leavenworth were at noon and the light cannot be worse, what a waste, but I pretty much cannot control the time☹️

Ride into Seattle was quite nice, covered the good bits of US 2 going through multiple small towns including Sultan where there's a very good bakery (also recommended by the host in Wenatchee). Had to double up my orders. Then I got into the first climb that I couldn't go up - Komoot's first suggestion was to go through NE Novelty Hill Rd into Seattle, I looked at the street view and the gradients and knew that would be a stretch, so i rerouted to NE Woodinville Duvall Rd. Arrived at Woodinville Duvall Rd only to find it closed, detour suggested? Novelty Hill Rd, which was legitimately steep, especially on right turns (because you are taking the inside of the turn, making it even steeper). At one point I just unclipped and walked because falling off wouldn't be fun. As I walked I heard one driver yelling at me, I don't know if that was mockery, swearing, or cheering.

Got into Redmond to stop for coffee but mostly to wait for bike shops to open (at 12pm, supposedly). Met a cyclist couple and they asked where I was riding from, I could have said Money Creek Campground but I instead said Chicago and it was my 20th day😂 They talked about there being many cyclists in Seattle and Portland and every year there are fondos to Portland and Vancouver from Seattle. They also mentioned that one of their fellow cyclist (who's retired) is attempting to do 100 miles each day for a year. The takeaway is that unemployment is the key to doing long miles, being unemployed AND not broke is even better.

Got more and more bike trails as I got closer to Seattle; the trails separated me from highway-like traffic which was very good, though navigating them for the first time is admittedly kind of difficult (the multiple construction sites only made it worse, but I can see things will be much nicer once all the construction is done). Had to walk again at 19th Ave East, that street was no joke, especially when I need to start from a stop after waiting for traffic, but at least I made it to downtown right before 3:30pm Chicago time (yes I became aware of it in Redmond and was assessing what pace I needed the whole time afterwards).

Seattle looks nice (maybe too nice that many homeless decided to gather around downtown). Walked around Pike Place Market, saw the original Starbucks I believe, and got some nice photos. Weather is getting hot over the weekend and Wenatchee is getting to 43°C (109.4°F) on Tuesday so I am glad that I escaped that because climbing in such weather under the afternoon sun is just outright deadly, not something I would even attempt doing unsupported.

Staying at the Green Tortoise Hostel until Tuesday morning to take the Amtrak to Santa Barbara. I know this has been said many times, but train services in the US is just... uhhh. Ticket is expensive ($262 including $20 bike fees and you only get a coach seat, without meals; much more expensive than plane tickets), speed is slow (35 hrs to LA), and I heard that even the out-of-pocket meal options in Cafe are not great. I am mostly only doing Amtrak because it's a first time experience... and the train station isn't even close to the university, compared to the airport which is nextdoor🤨

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William Chiu

Chicago to Seattle Day 20 - Skykomish to Seattle

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