Day 0 - Sunday, June 17, 2001
Seattle, WA
0 miles

Saturday night's arrival in Seattle went pretty smooth. Southwest Airlines is great for point to point bike touring, since their one way fares are actually half of the round trip fare - and the bike fee is only $40, instead of $50-$60! I assembled the bike (which arrived undamaged) at the airport and caught a public bus (with a bike rack on the front) headed for downtown. The youth hostel (this is a long trip, so I'm in budget travel mode) had a special bike storage room, so I didn't have to leave the bike outside. 

Normally when disassembling the bike for travel I use the tools I'm taking with me, instead of using the tools hanging in the garage. I didn't do that this time. So when putting my bike together at the airport, the allen wrench I had with me wasn't long enough to tighten the stem bolt. Luckily the hostel had some tools in the bike room. 

Today I took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island, where I met six Seattle cyclists for a 30 mile scenic (but hilly!) ride around the island. The island has a rural feel to it, despite only being a half hour ferry ride from downtown. This was followed by the ceremonial dipping of the rear wheel in the Pacific Ocean (well, Puget Sound really, but close enough) Thanks to all for a fun day!

 

So it looks like I'm throwing out the current "schedule" before I even start! I had originally planned to head out east over the Cascades via US 2. After some discussion with the group, the detour up north to catch WA 20 to cross the Cascades is well worth the extra miles. So I will do that and rejoin my original route somewhere around Missoula, Montana.

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