Randonneuring

In previous summers one of my favorite rides was from Bellingham through Ferndale to Birch Bay, where I would cruise through the state park and along the bayside road, then treat myself to ice cream and espresso.  This ride is 30-40 miles one way, depending on the exact route, which is a tiring day-trip for me and really made me earn my ice cream.  Today I tried a different route from my new base in Ferndale.

I rode out of town on Portal Way, crossing under I-90, where the state of Washington has reconstructed the on- and off-ramps and added bike lanes, sidewalks and landscaping.  The route on the Ferndale side of the freeway is now much safer and more pleasant, though the rest of the way is still unimproved.

From downtown Ferndale it's four miles on Portal Way to the Grandview overpass, and eight miles to shopping opportunities at the Birch Bay Outlet Mall.  The road is two lanes with a 50mph speed limit, but since it parallels the freeway the traffic isn't too heavy.  The pavement is mostly cement sections with regular seams, and the white fog lines mark the pavement edge, but there are wide sand and gravel shoulders, which for parts of the way are smooth and packed enough to be about as comfortable to ride as the pavement with its regular bumps at the seams and irregular cracks and patches.

From the Outlet Mall, a left turn on to Birch Bay-Lynden Road takes you to the beach.  It's three miles to the C-Store on Birch Bay Drive, a confectioners known for their chocolate Easter bunnies, which is about half-way between the BBL Road/beach drive intersection and the state park.  At Birch Bay State Park you'll find camping, restrooms with showers (fifty cents for three minutes), beach walking and cook-outs, and digging for shellfish, but red tides are common.

One warning:  DO NOT cross the freeway on the Grandview overpass, unless you're in the mood for twenty or more miles of extra rambling.  The overpass leads to an MC Escher time-warp of county road that winds around past suburban homes, horse ranches and farms, but doesn't seem to connect with anything.  There seems to be a huge area east of the freeway that isn't linked to any other neighborhoods or communities.  I've spent an hour or two following a winding road with only dead-end turn-offs, trying to find my way back to a main road.  It's pretty and interesting, but allow an afternoon for exploring, bring a map and compass, and extra of food and water.

I rode about 53 miles, which was more than I was really prepared for, and I didn't even stop for ice cream.