Today I road Singletrack
Today we woke up on the shores of Lake Crescent. I don't think I can say enough about how gorgeous this lake is. After packing up camp we immediately started climbing. I shouldn't be surprised though since we had to come down a bunch of hills to the lake proper. I much prefer going down to going up.
Still fighting tenderness (probably should have done more climbing training), we found low gear and slowly spun up the hills. Our first destination for the day was a singletrack trail known as the Olympic Adventure Trail. I was using my Wahoo device to help find the way but the trail entrance was trickily hidden and I was greatly enjoying bombing down this lovely winding highway. Needless to say...... I missed it. I was probably a 1/2 mile or more down the road before I slowed enough to feel comfortable enough looking at my computer only to notice that I'm not where I'm supposed to be. Back up the hill I go.
So what's singletrack? If you're not familiar singletrack typically refers to skinnier dirt trails rather than wide paved or gravel trails. They are typically wide enough for one rider to pass at a time. They can be in all sorts of terrain from flat to mountainous, and have conditions of dirt, rocks, logs, and more.
We were nervous about what this trail would hold. All we had were a few pictures and a few reviews. These are all subjective though. Alex is probably the strongest singletrack rider of the group and I am arguably the weakest. We decided to give it a go, and I was fully prepared to do a bunch of hike-a-bike walking.
The trail is really pretty. It winds up and down through different terrains and ridges. you can tell that the folks who built and care for this trail care deeply about their work and the landscape around it. I meandered from deep forest down in the valleys up to the top of ridges where you could see all the way out to the Puget Sound. Several sections were steep. Steep up and steep down. Many of the ups where the aforementioned hike-a-bike. Some of the downs were way too steep so I had to use the breaks as I was walking to keep my bike from flying away from me. I also wasn't much of a fan of areas that felt that I was on the edge of a ledge. One wobble and I would be in pretty serious trouble. So I walked those as well. Of the 20 miles I probably walked 6-8 miles, and the whole thing took me about 6 hours. But I had plenty of water and snacks, so by the end I was still in a good mood.
I mentioned yesterday that I wasn't the biggest fan of singletrack riding. I find it can be stressful and scary which causes me to tense up. Tensing up is perhaps that last thing you want to do when riding singletrack. But am going to be PROUD of the parts that I did do. i pushed myself to ride a few sections that I would have freaked out on before. I pushed myself to ease up on the breaks a little bit when going down some of the downhills to really let the bike fly. Oh does this bike want to fly. When I got to the end I was so excited I yelled out loud. Was there anybody there to hear it? No. But I didn't care. I was so excited that I pushed myself and came out with a win.
After the singletrack it was pretty much downhill into town. We crossed the Elwha river known for it's fisheries. I was amazed that where the bridge was the river seems to make an almost 90 degree turn. All the way down back to Port Angeles where I giant burrito awaited my arrival at the Devil's Lunchbox.
The Cluck Norris. I didn't even look at what was in it. I was tired enough and the name was clever enough that I didn't care. Oh it was good.
This is the point at which our lovely friends Barb and Curt left us with all of our gear. From here on out we would have to carry everything we needed. It was another 20 miles of winding bike trail (and a few more hills) to the town of Sequim (pronounced squim) where we stopped at The Salty Girls Seafood Co. I've be trying to have plenty of ocean fare since I'm in the Pacific Northwest. At this point I was so very tired. I think the singletrack had finally caught up to me. My crab sandwich was delightfully tasty.
Another 4 miles to camp at Sequim State Park and I was done. I don't think I would have done another mile.
Miles Ridden Today: 55.67
Total Miles: 123.97
After a few years of you kicking my butt on road/gravel and you saying your not that good at single track, I got to ride a little single track with you. I thought you were being modest about your abilities. You were not. I am not that good either. But to see what you rode is impressive. I am uber jealous of your trip. The scenery is unbelievable.