Recapping the Final Ride - Charlie

First off, thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way. We’ve loved seeing texts, comments, and Instagram DMs from all of our loved ones; it really made us feel like there was a crowd cheering us on the whole way. We will certainly continue the blog at least for the next week or so with some summarizing blogs and reflections. I wanted to give a recap of the final day, because it deserves it!

It began in Port Angeles, a port town facing Canada. PA could be really beautiful - it’s on the water, there’s a small downtown at the bottom of a hill, and a waterfront park sits by the pier. Instead, it’s a pit. We spied a good-looking cafe on Yelp, though, which would be enough to get us off to a fast start. Unfortunately it was closed, planning to reopen on June 17th. Great, that’s what we get for being early. So instead, we strained the beans that have been sitting in Maddie’s pannier for a month and ate them cold with some Triscuits. The breakfast of champions!

For some reason the beginning of the ride took forever. It was a combination of hills, bumpy roads, and our muscles taking a while to warm up. After just 16 miles in an hour and 40 minutes we stopped at a general store to grab some snacks and collect ourselves. There were still over 50 miles to go!

Shortly thereafter we turned off of highway 101 and onto E Beach Rd. A guy at the bike shop in Poulsbo advised us on this route, and when we came to the junction we could see why. There was a large silver button in front of a large sign that read “Warning: bikers on road.” Next to the button there were instructions: “Bikers, there will be limited visibility and no shoulder for the next 11 miles. Use this button to turn on the flashing lights. They will stay on for one hour (11 mph pace).” You know it’s a dangerous road to bike on when the road signs are actually warning you in advance. So instead we veered off onto E Beach, a very minor detour.

E Beach brought us up to the northern side of Crescent Lake. It was a quiet road. There weren’t even any markings in the center of the road to divide it in half. The entire street was lined by massive trees on both sides, which created a sort of canopy above us. You could see houses a bit below, right on the water. They seemed almost impossible to access, but I’m sure once you were there you’d never want to leave. The lake was a stunning blue color. Maddie likened it to the color of blue Gatorade, and indeed, it looked like someone had dumped thousands of gallons of Blue 132 in the water. There also wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so the sun was free to light up the trees and water - it was spectacular. Once we reached the northern edge of the lake we turned west and returned to the Olympic Discovery Trail.

Eventually the ODT will be an unbroken trail from Port Townsend to the Pacific Ocean. For now there are many breaks and chunks where you have to ride on the road. The parts that are trails are fantastic though, and the ODT does a great job with its signage; you always know exactly where you should be going, and there are maps at every trailhead. This section of the ODT along Crescent Lake was the best yet. Not just the best section of the ODT, the best section of trail we have ridden on the entire trip! Maddie said it may have been the most beautiful thing she’s seen in her life. Not only was there the magnificent water beside us to our left, but there was also the rainforest all around us. These trees were so large and densely packed, it was like nothing we’d seen before. Sunlight couldn’t get through in many spots. Ferns and mosses ran rampant all around. The smell of the rainforest surrounded us. It was a magical ride. Along the way we passed a sign for “the Devil’s Punchbowl”. We dropped our bikes and did a short hike along a narrow, dirt ridge to get down to the lake, where a bridge crossed over a pool, tucked into a small pocket on the lake’s edge. The water was so enticing (that blue was really spectacular) but it would have been freezing and we had more riding ahead of us. At this point we weren’t even halfway to our destination, which felt really wrong because we’d been working hard.

The rest of the trail ride was uphill at a low grade. When we reached the end of the trail it was 2:50 and we’d probably gone about 31 miles, meaning there were 39 to go. My parents had said they’d arrive at the beach around 5:30, and we wanted to get there after them, so everything was aligning nicely. We returned to the highway and started flying. At this point we were hundreds of miles above sea level, so we knew it was all downhill to the finish! The highway was lined by some beautiful yellow wildflowers. The trees were billowing in the wind; with their branches hanging out above the road I could almost imagine they were fans, leaning out with their arms extended, cheering us on down the home stretch.

The last 25 or so miles are a bit of a blur. We made a couple turns and all of a sudden with 10 miles to go we reached the road that would take us to Rialto Beach. (Our original plan to head to La Push was switched at the last minute because the Indian Reservation La Push is located on, is closed due to covid these days. Luckily Rialto is just next door, so it was an easy audible.) At some point a car started honking behind us. We turned, and it was my parents! Seeing them was all the incentive I needed to pedal even harder. Maddie said when she saw them she almost cried. Maddie also later told me that she couldn’t believe I was pedaling so fast for our last 10 miles together. Once I saw my parents and started to realize we were about to hit the finish line, I wasn’t going to slow down.

It’s so hard to describe how I was feeling as we came to the end and reached the beach. Mostly thrilled, and a little relieved. It was also weirdly normal, too. This was the expected the outcome, basically never in doubt. It’s not like winning a big basketball game, where you dont feel the joy of victory until the final buzzer sounds. For the entire trip we felt joy. Each and every day was a minor victory in itself. By the time we reached the beach, we were used to winning. But wow, actually rolling the bikes onto the beach and touching the water was such a great feeling. I felt like I was in a dream. And then you touch the water and it’s like, now what? Just like that, everything we’d been working towards for over two months was wrapped up in an instant. Maddie and I took many pictures and spent some time soaking in the views. It was a beautiful, rocky beach; the sun was beginning to set right there in front of us.

My parents had picked up some meat and cheese and fruit and chips and salsa and desserts as well. We spread out on a picnic table nearby and spent an hour laughing and chatting and basking in our victory. What a fantastic end to the trip.

I’m not sure if I’ll know what to do with myself for the next week. It’s kind of sad to think the biking has come to an end (at least for now). My mom says it‘s the feeling of the day after a wedding. I’ve never had a wedding, and she’s never biked across the country, but I think we’re on the same page. We will spend a few days in Seattle sight-seeing for a bit, and then return home to the east coast. Like I said, we will have some recap blogs coming in the next few days, so stay tuned! And once again, thank you to everyone who has supported us, especially the ones who make up the 140 or so views on our blog everyday!

- Charlie