Sedro-Wooley - Marblemont, WA: Tailwinds all the way, baby! - The Granny Panties Tour

June 12, 2015

Sedro-Wooley - Marblemont, WA: Tailwinds all the way, baby!

Buffalo Run Inn $103. includes tax. Not bicycle friendly at all. Do you really need to stay here? Look up the number yourself. You've been warned. Maybe I'll change my opinion later, I doubt it.

Reading the negative reviews on trip advisor from other cyclists re rude owner and having to leave bikes in front. Owner's snide answer was not allowing horses inside either. Not quite the same. Someone suggested the Skagit River Resort two miles before town. They have cheaper cabins and a restaurant on site. That might be the place to try.

Jacinto finds out that his mom has crossed the border to Brownsville after many, many years of trying to get her a visa. Yay!

Oren and I agreed we would head out around 8 AM again. Another easy day. This time to position us for the big climb coming up. Gulp. I had oatmeal in the room. Jacinto had Chinese leftovers from a couple of days ago. He also had leftovers from last night, so the pressure was on to eat all of that food.

Oren and I agreed to ride Hwy 20 and then evaluate if we wanted to take the ACA side trip at Rockport. It was 52 degrees, overcast, and a tailwind as we left. The overcast part worried me some, but it was only a 10% chance of rain for the day. I was a touch cool. Oren had on two shirts and a jacket. That's what happens when you don't have any fat to spare. Me, I still have some!

We had a great 4 foot shoulder. If only the whole trip could be like this. No logging trucks, hardly any semis. Really not much traffic at all. It was all good. A few little climbs. I did get the granny gear once. It still works. :)

Our first stop, 16 miles in. What the heck, we're on vacation.

Our first chocolate milk of the trip. I have full fat milk, 540 calories in the bottle. Oren uses restraint and goes for 1% - 480 calories in the bottle.

We had hardly left our first break spot before we summited this pass. Good thing we had that high calorie milk!

Oren stopped at a store to use the bathroom. We both decided to go for a chocolate milk. Heck, that's a lot of calories! The store had a huge selection of Mike's Hard beverages. I only knew of lemonade, but they had mango flavor and lots others. Keep that in mind for later today.

While we were sitting on the convenient bench outside, Oren noted that the pick up buying gas had a Ted Nugent for president sticker. It also had a rifle in the back window. Oren wanted to take a photo, but wasn't sure it was a good idea.

Typical scenery for the day. Mighty fine, eh?

Oren was very gentlemanly and kept me in sight all day. I kept stopping for one thing or another and he would stop and wait. At one point I caught up with him and asked if he saw what looked like a couple of sticks of dynamite at the edge of the road. He had and thought the same thing. I told him it was less than a mile back there, we should go take a photo. But we didn't want to back track.

Mike started in Reno in May. He's wandering around visiting family, planning to wrap up his tour in late August or September. It sounds like a fine trip. He is the first bicycle tourist we've seen so far. Mike said he has seen a number of people, all going the same direction we are.

Jacinto caught up to us just past Concrete. We agreed to stop and eat in Rockport. If we only knew then what we know now. There were several places to eat in Concrete.

All three of us together. How often will that happen this trip?

My barn shot for the day. There wasn't quite as many barns today.

We stopped in Concrete and discussed eating. Neither of us were hungry. Looking at the ACA map, the next town, Rockport, had a grocery. We decided to stop there. I called Jacinto to see where he was. Right behind us! He had just eaten some leftovers and wasn't hungry either. Off we went. Highway 20 was still mighty nice. Smooth pavement and not much traffic. We had a fabulous tailwind.

The gas station (grocery store?) in Lockport was closed. We took the ACA side trip and paused to see what there was to eat in our panniers.

We stopped in Rockport. There was a closed gas station. Was that the grocery also? Knowing ACA maps, yes, a gas station counted as a grocery. Hmmm, the guys thought we should go on down Road 530, the ACA side trip. They thought town would be off the highway. Off we went. We finished 530 and turned left only Rocport Cascade Road. No. No town. We pulled over to see what we had to eat. I finished Jacinto's leftovers. Oren had dehydrated peanut butter his wife had purchased. He didn't think it was necessary to mix with water. He could just shake it out in his pita and then take a few swigs of water as he chewed. That worked just fine. Men.

I told the guys to go on ahead, I had eaten enough I was going to pedal slowly. This was a very nice piece. Kind of rough chip and seal surface but hardly any traffic at all. Lots of shade and tree cover.

I caught up to the guys waiting. Look - how nice. They were waiting because a big dog had come out and chased Jacinto. At first the dog was running along the fence barking. That was fine. Then at the end of the fence was a hole and the dog got out. That wasn't so fine. Oren had pepper spray. Jacinto and I both picked up a couple of rocks. We rode cautiously past the dog's house. A couple was outside. No dog. Perhaps they heard the dog barking and put it inside? At any rate, no dog.

We had a big curve in the road, then there we were at Marblemont. We had an excellent riding day.

Oren had peanut butter powder to pour in his pita. Somehow I think the idea is to reconstitute the powder. But why do something you don't have to?

Rockport Cascade Road was nice and deserted. Lots of trees for cover.

Jacinto turned around and came back to warn us about the big dog that got out the hole in the fence. Oren got his pepper spray out. Jacinto and I both picked up rocks. As we went past, no sign at all of the dog. There were people outside, so maybe they heard the rucus the first time and called the dog in.

We knew to go across the street from the motel to the restaurant to register. They had a sign outside saying bicycle food. Plus a sign on the inside door for cyclists to take off their cleats. Hmm, that didn't feel good, but they have a point. We changed shoes. The check in lady was VERY unfriendly. She shouldn't be working hospitality. Maybe something happened earlier in her day, but . . . . mostly I was unhappy because we had a go round about where to put the bikes. I understand if she doesn't want the bikes inside. But she insisted we lock them up in the front next to the highway. I asked if we could put them around back behind the fence. Out of sight, out of mind. Very reluctantly we got a yes. I'm not sure why that was such an issue. So - that exchange is the reason I wouldn't stay here or suggest anyone does stay here.

To be fair, the towels are nice and thick. The pillows are fluffy. But, I resent having to spend my money here. I would have left if there had been another choice. I can't imagine why putting our bikes behind the fence was such an issue. OK. Rant over.

The continental breakfast has already been laid out. Four prepackaged donuts, cookies (also packaged?). That looked like it. We ended up next door at the combination gas station/hardware store to see what they had for breakfast. I purchased an Angry Orchard hard cider (remember that Mike's Lemonade I was thinking of earlier?) - unthinkingly I popped the top in the store, then walked outside. I walked back in and the clerk chased me out. Which I know was the appropriate thing to do, he didn't have an open container license. I know enough to know that. But it was the tone. Marblemont in general isn't on my happy list. Hopefully dinner is better and changes my mind.

Later - we went to dinner to Mondo's. It was very good. The guys had Chinese food and I had a huge steak with salad and fries. I can't believe I ate it all. I should have great fuel for tomorrow!

Tomorrow is our big day. No more easy, sleeping in days. We have to get rolling and climb those passes. The weather looks great. Bob told us last night the weather is typically rainy until late June, then nice in July and August. He says it looks like a perfect day, blue skies and not too hot. We'll just have to go slow and pace ourselves.

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 112 miles (180 km)

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