We hadn’t gone 15 miles after baptizing our bike in the ocean before our first fall. In fact, we were still within Seattle’s city limits. Our right front pannier bounced off its rack when we went over a tree root. It started dragging and spinning on the ground next to the wheel while I tried to slow down and keep it out of the spokes. I was successful in stopping but in the chaos of it all Mags forgot that she needed to twist out of her new clipless pedals. So when we stopped I stood up and she and the bike just flopped over. The whole thing was a little embarrassing.
The day did get better from there. In Snohomish, WA we met Tom, a retiree from Boeing and a fellow cycling fanatic. He pulled over to the side of the road and asked us if we were looking for a place to camp. He told us that he had 2 acres in Machias that we were welcome to stay on. The directions he gave us were a little confusing, but we eventually found the place. He had about 30 bikes, two sailboats and a tent trailer. He said we could sleep in one of the sailboats if we wanted. We opted for the grass in the back instead.
Tom, Pepe and Sherpa were great hosts.
In the morning Tom fed us giant bowls of oatmeal, pastries and fruit. We played with his dogs and even shot his bow and arrow. We didn’t kill anything, but I think we may have lost an arrow. As we were leaving, I told Tom that if the rest of the people we met along our way were half as nice as he had been, then we were going to have a great trip. It is refreshing to know that there are still great people like Tom in this world.
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