ManifestDestiny2010Redux: 6/7 Port Angeles-Mukilteo, Wa

89 miles today, 9.1 on ferry 79.9 on the bike

"Got into Everett around 7:30 today. We're staying at Dan's housemate Jordan's parent's house. They made us a delicious lasagna dinner, and having a place to stay indoors after the past couple days of rain is awesome. We made the ride to Everett today from Port Angeles, and our total mileage was just under 90 miles. We left around 11 after an interesting morning.

After waking up at our campsite right on the edge of the Juan de Fuca Strait, we biked about a mile into town and my rear derailleur seized up and bent the hanger and rear dropouts on my frame. We had to wait a couple hours for the bike shop in Port Angeles to open, and at this point I thought the whole frame was toast. The guy we talked to at Sound Bikes and Kayak checked it out and bent the hanger back into place with a special tool. He said it was about the worst bend he's seen, but since it was an older steel trek frame, it was stronger and easier to bend back into place without breaking. The derailleur is still a little bent, and also just very worn out as it's 1o years old, so I'll be picking up a new one tomorrow.

The ride today was great. We started from the bike shop where we met Jay, who lived in a town just east of Sequim. He showed us an awesome bike path which ran from Port Angeles along the strait and up into the hills east of Sequim. We ate at a deli, and then went east to the ferry which took us to Whidbey Island where we biked about 25 miles through hills to the other side where we took the ferry to Everett. It was only a few miles to where we are staying. We'll have our rest day tomorrow, and then start the long haul east with Carrie and Ashley who just arrived." -Goody

It was a memorable day. The repair in the morning gave us a big sense of relief and were so happy to have Jay shepard us through the Olympic Peninsula on the Olympic Discovery Trail. We had to ride hard on busy highway 20 to catch the ferry in Port Townsend. After reaching Whidbey Island we approached two elderly individuals whose knowledge of what a bike really is was severely lacking. This encounter helped spawn one of the most profound questions of the tour. What is a bike? This question can be, of course, asked about any thing/word/concept. And it was, frequently. And we are all still figuring out what a bike really is. Goody found some money on the side of the road on Whidbey Island and then had to ride hard to catch our last ferry. I had put my body through quite a bit and the last miles were very challenging. We made the last ferry in time and then cruised over to my friend Jordon's Parents house in Mukilteo. That night we met Carrie and Ashley, the two east coast college graduate who I had found online that were ready to start a tour from Seattle to New York. We greeted the two young tourists, ate a great dinner and went to sleep.

Will frees his bike from mine at our camping spot on the Puget Sound as Pete contemplates the many forms and properties of water, the molecule of life.