Woodinville to Skykomish, 50 miles

As we loaded the trailer with our gear it started to drizzle a bit. A few of us waited about one hour to see if it would break. I sat and enjoyed a few more cups of coffee before heading out. Around 8 am Tom, John H. and Ian decided to start riding.

About 10 miles into the ride the drizzle stopped and I was riding in just shorts and a long sleeve shirt. Temps now were in the 60's.

In Duvall we turned north on the Duvall/Monroe Rod to head to Route 2. We stopped in a park to have an snack and take a rest near Monroe. Then we connected to Route 2 in the center of town. As we were riding through town I saw to my right a group of riders had stopped for coffee and pastries at a bakery. Chris was waving at us as we rode north.

Once on Route 2 the traffic picked up quite a bit. First town was Sultan and then we had a lunch stop in Gold Bar. It was now dry as we ate our lunch under he gazebo. The last time I rode here it was pouring rain.

Traveling farther east there were some rolling hills but the ride wasn't too steep all the way to Skykomish. As we got closer to Skykomish the clouds began to break up and there was some sun.

There were two young riders eating at the cafe attached to our hotel. These guys were on a cross country ride and were almost done with their trip ending in Seattle. They were traveling ultra light and rode on the interstate from Minnesota to Spokane. One guy had only one jersey that he washed every night.

we also met a solo rider, Ed traveling to New Jersey. He was 73 and very friendly.

The hotel in Skykomish was rustic and I shared a room with Portland John.

Getting reading to ride with a some drizzle

The weather improved around Duvall

We headed north to Monroe and then jumped onto Hwy 2. The traffic was heavy here for the rest of the day. However, since it was not raining and we had cool temps, it was pleasant.

Our lunch stop was in Gold Bar and I ended up staying there for over a hour since I didn't want to reach Skykomish too soon.

Lunch stop

From the lunch spot we had about 20 miles to Skykomish. As we headed east it turned partly cloudy and about 70 degrees. It was very comfortable with shorts and a short sleeve jersey at this point.

Arrived in Skykomish around 2 pm and went to the Cascadia hotel.

Inside our hotel I saw a book with a title similar to what Sharon ( a BAA 2010) rider used to say.

This afternoon it stayed around 70 so most people used the clothes line.

Tonight the tour is treating us to dinner in the hotel restaurant.