Mettle

Today was one of those days to truly test my mettle. I half awoke several times in the early hours of the morning to the rage of the wind and rain outside. I remember distinctly glancing out the glass of the front door to see the flag on the front porch snapping about wildly and groaning. The wind was blowing 20mph and gusting up to 30, and of course, as always, from the opposite way I needed to go. I got around early, before my hosts were awake, hoping to give myself plenty of time to cover the distance in the bad weather. I was all ready to leave, when I came out to my bike in the shed where my host's girlfriend had insisted I should put it to be secure, to discover that my back tire, with its brand new innertube, was flat. It turned out to be a staple from the shed as the cause. Go figure.

By the time I dealt with that, I wasn't leaving nearly as early as I wanted. Then, as if just to make sure any hopes of making up for lost time were thoroughly dashed, the trail by the waterside I had been told to take was filled with joggers running a race. After weaving at a snail's pace between the runners headed the opposite way for some time, I pulled off at a side path to let the bulk of them cross, and called my dad to share a laugh at today's ill start.

Eventually I got out of Bellingham and onto Chuckanut Drive as my host had instructed me to take as an alternative, much prettier route to simply taking I5 the whole way. There were times I was cursing the extra effort of going a few miles out of the way and up the extra climbs. But in the end, it was well worth it as he said it would be, riding along the high cliffs overlooking the bay and the islands. Once I got down from the mountainous area and into the flat of the farmlands, the rain started coming down and the wind really picked up. It was rough going for quite some time. After awhile, all I wanted was to reach I5, and then reach the end of my ride.

I ate the last of my energy bars along the cliffs and then was completely out of the food I'd brought with me for the trip. I half hoped I could make it the rest of the day without needing anything else, but once I reached Mount Vernon my stomach was gnawing at me. I went into a Grocery Outlet, annoyed by the lack of a bike rack that forced me to lock up to a fence, and bought myself a king size snickers bar and some granola bars. Some may disagree, but there is a time and a place for those oversized candy bars, and that time is when you're exercising your ass off and just need all kinds of calories fast.

As I got close to my exit at Marysville (where the interstate stops being legal for bicyclists), the stream of cars coming off exits and on entrances became a bit troublesome. Crossing exits and entrances is the one time I, ever so briefly, need to be in the path of cars rather than strictly out of their way on the shoulder, and during high traffic like that, it can be just a little hairy. Sometimes I would just sit and wait on the shoulder for long stretches to get a clear shot across.

By the time I finally got into Everett, I was not only very tired but also very dirty, and very much ready to be done. I had been planning to go stay with my cousin for the evening, but I realized I just wasn't up for it. For one thing, I had no clean clothes to change into even if I did shower there, and all I wanted was to get nice and warm and clean. I made up my mind, and ended up making my way to the Everett Station and hopped the bus toward downtown, and from there the bus to home. And just like that, my Seattle-Vancouver venture was at its end.

Even after holding up relatively well through all the difficulties of a rough day like this, I admit I still don't feel completely ready for my fast-approaching adventure down the Pacific Coast. But I feel much more ready than I did before. There's bound to be a lot of difficult days like this on the coast, ones rainier, windier, and hillier too. But I've proven to myself that I've got at least a little mettle.