Loved Lopez...But Left for Friday Harbor on Thursday

FRIDAY HARBOR, SAN JUAN ISLAND, WA.--It was an exciting time as we boarded the ferry at Anacortes bound for Lopez Island last Tuesday. MaryAnn had never carried panniers before...except for two times around the parking lot just before we got on the ferry. And I had never been on a boat without getting sick. But the short 30 minute voyage went okay.

We went to Lopez Island first because it was the flattest and had the reputation of being the most laid back. We loved it. We camped at Odlin State Park which was only a mile and a half from the ferry landing. By the way, no matter where you go on any island the ferry landing is always the lowest point. Everything is uphill...and in this case we had a steep mile before we hit the campground. Odlin is beautiful. We stayed two nights, touring different parts of Lopez each day.

The first day we just went down the road to Lopez Village because MaryAnn's bike wouldn't shift into the smallest chainring. No wonder that hill seemed so steep! Lopez Bicycle Works fixed it. It was a stupid thing. MaryAnn's second bottle cage wouldn't let the derailler move over enough to get into the small chainring.
The Handlebar Facts (Day One):

• Distance: 12.3 mi.
• Ride Time: 1:32
• Avg Speed: 8.34
• Max Speed: 29.5
• Trip: 12.3

The second day on the island we went in a big loop to Spencer Spit, down to Shark Reef, up to Lopez Village again and back to Odlin. It was a beautiful ride on roads that were basically free of traffic. The only road with any significant traffic was Center Road. Most of the traffic is shortly before or after the ferry docks.

We met two Canadian couples at the campground. Both couples were biking, but one of the couples, Marlene and Dave(?), was doing fully-loaded touring like we were. They lived right across the water in Victoria, B.C.
The Handlebar Facts: (Day Two)

• Distance: 23.5
• Ride Time: 2:53
• Avg Speed: 8:33
• Max Speed: 30.8
• Trip: 35.8

We ran into Marlene and Dave again as we boarded the ferry for Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. I'm not going to list any data for today because it was only 1.5 miles to the ferry and less than half a mile from the landing to our hotel in Friday Harbor. We got rooms in Friday's Historic Inn. We got the smallest room they had...but it did have a balcony and wi-fi. The price was $99.

But the big story of the day has to be MaryAnn's anticipation of tomorrow's loaded ride to the County Park on the other side of the island. You see, although I have called it "loaded" touring, we have actually covered less than 2 miles while loaded. Such are the ironies of our happy lives. Well, tomorrow will tell.

But MaryAnn is certainly looking good over here. What is hotter than a biker chick? Nada.