Day 3: Coupeville to Anacortes

May 21, 2024

This bus shelter was conveniently located for me to stop and have a snack out of the rain

Looking toward Strait of Juan De Fuca from Deception Pass

Camp set up for the night and the rain is slowing down a bit

The forecast was not wrong. Today was the biggest challenge so far. It was forecast to rain today and it did rain all day. It was heavier at times, lighter at times, but I don't think it stopped at all while I was biking.

When I got up in the morning it was raining and a bit windy with the breeze coming in off the bay. I knew that I had to break down camp and get going but I didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag. I tried to figure out all of the things that I could do without getting up. I ate some cold food for breakfast in the tent without cooking anything. I then organized my things within arm’s reach. Then I finally had to get up and get moving. I packed everything up that I could, and then finally rolled out of my tent and put that all together as quickly as possible though it did get a bit wet. So I started the day on a bit of a low.

Then things got better as I was riding. I started to get comfortable with riding through the rain. It wasn't too terrible of a downpour, so I was able to hit a nice rhythm in the first 10 miles and I started to enjoy seeing the shoreline and seeing the rural atmosphere I was rolling through. I had a nice wide shoulder, there was nothing too stressful, just a nice enjoyable ride.

Around lunchtime I stopped at a gas station to put together a meal and restock my snacks. I stopped and ate my mini donuts and some cheese sticks in the rain and then hopped back on my bike.

Later on I passed by a lagoon and saw a couple of people that were wind surfing. Well, one of them was wind surfing and offering encouragement to the other one who was in the water with his surfboard and the sail also in the water. It looked like he was trying to get up but couldn’t quite figure it out. As I saw them, I thought, wow, those guys are pretty crazy. They must be pretty dedicated to be out here in the rain. And then I thought about it for a second and realized they seem a little less crazy than me, because they can probably run to their car and turn on the heater once they're done with their wind surfing and get back to whatever they're going to do with the rest of their Tuesday.

I’d say the highlight of the day was crossing the Deception Pass bridge. This bridge was built in 1935 as part of the Works Progress Administration. This bridge consists of these two spans that are connected by a central island, with steep rock faces on each side.

After crossing the bridge, I went down to the Deception Pass State Park to see if I could find a campsite. Unfortunately, I’d already passed the Hiker Biker section of the campsite. There were openings but I’d have to pay the full rate. It wasn’t unreasonable but I just didn’t want to pay the higher rate so I continued onward. I probably should have just bitten the bullet and stayed there. I know what I'm getting at this point with the state parks and it's a good deal. So instead I continued onward and found there was a private campground about four miles further up the road. So I wouldn’t have to double back which I'm never fan of doing and I got to try something new. The services at the private campground ended up being lower than a state park standard with a higher rate. I’ll chalk that up to another lesson learned.

Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 108 miles (174 km)

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