Back to the Islands

me again

Last month I impulsively signed up for the Tour de Lopez on Lopez Island. This turned out to be one of those trips where I drive 100 miles for a 50 mile bike ride. Also I carelessly parked in the wrong area and got a $55 ticket. But this year I qualify for the senior discount so my ferry fare was only $10.50, which made up for the ticket. Sure it did. Anyway, it was worth the drive and the expense to visit the Islands again on a perfect spring day.

I haven't been back to the San Juan Islands since pre-pandemic days in the summer of 2017, when I worked at Island Bicycles. Lopez Island is quieter and more rural than San Juan or Orcas Islands, and everybody always says it is flatter too, except for the first climb up from the ferry landing. On this ride, though, the organizers found plenty of rolling hills and a few long uphill hauls. Or maybe I was just feeling them because I haven't been riding much so far this spring and have been keeping to flatter roads.

I did some big deep-breathing exercises on the first hill. I suppose people hear me and think I'm gasping for breath and won't make it to the top, but it really is intentional and it feels so good to fully expand my lungs.

After check-in I managed to lose my route map and take a wrong turn at the first opportunity. But I'd brought an old road map and even a compass, and soon enough I caught up to a group to follow, so I was able to finish the 30-mile scenic ride, including some very fun rolling hills where I got my rhythm and momentum just right for a two-wheeled roller coaster ride.

At the end of the day, the Lopez Chamber of Commerce provided a hearty lunch, snacks and beverages, and a live band. I was only able to finish half of my huge veggie burrito, with coffee and a cookie for dessert. Then I walked around Lopez Village a bit before heading back to the ferry.

 

The ferry Issaquah on the Anacortes run features a Lego replica at least six feet long, including details like little cars and trucks on the vehicle deck, and passengers visible through the windows of the upper decks. It must have been someone's pandemic shut-down passion project.

Here's a real ferry in the distance, and the car deck with cyclists waiting their turn to disembark. This was a more mature crowd of recreational cyclists, though I did get caught in the middle of a group of more competitive young women near the turnaround-point of the route.