good days / [pnw roadtrip, biking a century]
Just like that, another 3 months has gone by. I spent the majority of May packing up all my belongings to put into storage for the summer, planning an insane summer road trip to Seattle, and then going on that insane road trip. We left Orange County in June, spending a weekend in Sunnyvale before hitting up Redding, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Crater Lake, Eugene, the Columbia River Gorge, McKenzie River, Bend, Portland, Sequim, Port Angeles, Olympic National Park, and finally Seattle. From Seattle, we took smaller trips to Poulsbo, North Cascades, and Mt. Rainier. I don’t even know where to start with photos, so there’s just a big dump below. I started shooting digitally again this trip, which means there’s a lot more high quality photos but the volume is overwhelming.
Highs of the trip so far:
So many beautiful national parks!
There have been many long and scenic bike rides through all different kinds of landscapes
Portland food is AMAZING. Lots of great options but Nectar Cafe and Virtuous Pie were top vegan highlights
Getting to experiment with living in different locations
The coolest little tiny home in White Salmon, WA (see below)
Getting hooked on Red Frontier (podcast series) and Never Have I Ever (TV show)
Spending time with my favorite person
Vegan sushi in Seattle
Seeing so many friends in Seattle
Joining an AAPI group bike ride around Lake Union
Cherry season
Learning pottery with the best Airbnb host ever
Moss / lakes / rivers
Successfully biking a century
Peach crisp
Lows of the trip so far:
Experiencing 116 degree weather on our last day in Portland without a place to stay in
Experiencing all the noticeable/detrimental effects of climate change firsthand
Forgetting to book / booking the wrong weekend for Hipcamps/Airbnbs
Looking for air conditioning in 110 degree weather while needing to work
Forgetting to bring 90% of my skincare routine
After about 9 months of serious commitment to a seemingly absurd goal, I finished my first century last weekend. A hundred miles is insanely far, but I knew I had to do it now or it would be a long time before I had the determination to do it again. Spending so much time biking through different cities and national parks meant I was in the best cardio shape I’d probably ever been in, so it kind of felt like now or never. So it was now! I spent hours on RideWithGPS crafting the most reasonable route. I went through many iterations of loops around Lake Washington or Lake Sammamish, but in the end, wanted to do a brand new loop that wouldn’t allow for any opportunities to turn back when the riding got tough. It was also the flattest route I could find.
The ride was sweet—it was the coolest day since we’ve arrived in Seattle, and the only day where we saw any rain at all. It was so nice to bike through the mist in Maple Valley and get a little drenched. We hit a slump around mile 50-60 where we were just hungry and tired, but a little stop at Katsu Burger and we were back on it. By mile 85 I had hit such a bikers high that we ended up with our fastest 5 mile splits at for the last 15 miles. Now that I’ve reached the goal that has consumed most of my 2021 free time (other than playing Legend of Zelda), I’m brainstorming new things to work towards.
We’re headed back to California on Saturday after a (mostly) enjoyable summer in one of my places in the world. There’s another heat wave hitting in time for our departure, a great reminder as to how quickly our climate is changing in the span of several years.
