Riding the Olympic Peninsula

We left Seattle and decided to take the ferry across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. The ferry ride was cold, but fun. Seeing the Seattle skyline fading away from the ferry really made the reality of the trip feel more immediate. We wandered around above decks a little bit, but spent the majority of the ride with the bikes. We arrived shortly thereafter on Bainbridge and began riding North on the Olympic Peninsula.

The day was partly cloudy, so bright sunshine was interspersed with rain, fog, and sleet. It was mostly nice though, and we rode through some beautiful forests and twisties up in the the Coastal Range. Eventually we decided it was time to find a place to camp after about 280 miles. The first place we tried didn't feel very welcoming so we went to a campground across the road and found a site where we could hear the ocean. There were a couple of very buff young guys there who came over and talked with us as we set up our campsite. They were trying to do the Washington trifecta, downhill skiing, surfing, and mountain biking all in one day. They were a lot of fun to talk to. Nice kids.

While I set up the tent, my husband put his bike on firewood duty and went and bought us a couple bundles of firewood. We put tarps over our bikes, and put the helmets under the tarp. We thought we were being overly cautious. It won't rain, just look at all the stars... We had zipped our sleeping bags together, but soon realized that the bags zipped together created an open tunnel that allowed the cold air to get in all the way to our feet. It didn't take too long for us to zip apart and zip back up individually. The next morning we woke to rain and 38 degrees. Fortunately it soon cleared off and started warming up. By the time we had broken camp and gotten packed it was a wonderful sunny spring morning. We rode along the Washington and Oregon Coast down to Florence about 300 miles for the day. Next up: Oregon Coast and the Redwoods

I shop REI

Like many, maybe most motorcycle riders I am always looking for farkles for my bike, clothes that are good for riding in, camping equipment to make the nights more relaxing, etc. I have gotten a lot of stuff online, and at motorcycle shops in whatever city and state I find myself, but I have one place that I keep going back to, REI.

REI is a sporting goods store. Not only is it not a motorcycle shop, it doesn't even have a motorcycle specific section. But it has the coolest stuff. I love wearing microfiber when I ride. I can wash it out wherever I am, hang it up and know that by morning it will be dry. REI has the best selection of microfiber clothes I've found any where. And the best part is they all look good enough to wear out to dinner at the end of the day, an important quality when space is limited. My favorite pants under my riding gear in summer are a pair of REI convertible pants. If it gets too hot I can zip off the legs, then zip them back on to go into town. They are so lightweight that I can swim in the shorts and know they will dry quickly. During the colder months I have a pair of windproof REI pants that add extra warmth. They look so good when I wore them to go to lunch with a friend a while back he asked me why I was so dressed up.

REI also has a great selection of camping equipment, from Jet Boil accessories to tents. They have maps, compasses, thermometers, guidebooks, everything you could ask for to get the gypsy blood flowing. If I have time to kill I love wandering around REI and usually walk out with something I can't live without, that I never even knew I wanted...

Motorcycle Camping

It's funny how much stuff I used to carry when I went camping. A huge heavy tent, cookstove, big bulky sleeping bag, and the list goes on. I still have my old backpack, and remember many trips when it was full and I had a sleeping bag strapped on the outside. Now I laugh. I can fit a weekend camping trip into my 10 year old daughter's backpack that she carries to school every day, and I camp in more comfort now than I did back then. Learning to carry everything we need to live on the road for a month or more on a bike taught me a few lessons. Like an extra rain tarp is a lot more useful than an extra pair of jeans and sweatshirt.

My husband and I now use a Big Agnes 2 man tent. It takes one person about 5 minutes to set up, even in the wind. We also have Big Agnes sleeping bags with the integrated mattress pad. They are warm and comfy even at cooler temperatures, but I still like a silk liner that I can tuck in around my neck and shoulders. It is less for the warmth, which it does provide, and more for the homey feel of a blanket. We have Big Agnes inflatable pillows that suit me alright, but that my husband doesn't think are big enough. I guess the difference is whether you just want something to lay your head on, or whether you want a pillow you can hold on to.

Rather than carrying a huge camp stove like I used to do, I now carry a Jetboil and Mountain House dinners. The Jetboil heats up water fast enough that I can be drinking my second cup of french press coffee before the Mountain House dinner has finished cooking. I've seen other options, but the Jetboil cup is the perfect size for one person, and it is such a compact system that I can use the extra space for something else.

My luxury item is a Kermit Chair. It is a completely collapsible director's chair (fits in a bag about 22 inches long and 4" by 6". It is also one of the most comfortable chairs I have sat in. Much better than our full size lawn chairs that we use on the deck at home.

For a month on the road I have my riding gear plus two pair of pants and three shirts. Everything possible is micro-fiber so it washes and dries quickly. My test is whether the clothes can fit in a helmet bag. If it's too bulky to fit in the bag, something comes out. It means I don't dress up much, but that's ok. I can do the dressy route at home anytime, the road is for adventure, excitement, and challenges.