Lars’ Notes: 

We started the day’s ride from Belfair, WA. Lise dropped us at our endpoint from yesterday and we set off in a Southwest direction. The weather was cool and cloudy, we were, once again, trying to thread the needle and miss the rain. The scenery was nice for the first ⅘ miles, coastal views and nice overlooks. We then turned left and hit our first doozy of a hill. This came on fast and hit a lung bursting 15% in a few places. We nailed it; Both Kirsten and I charged ahead with energy and enthusiasm. From then on…May the winds always be at your back and the sun upon your face…NOT SO MUCH! More like the wind in your face the entire time and no sun at all. I guess we knew there would be days like this to challenge us, we were right!. The wind definitely challenged us, but what seemed worse was the road surface. A rough, chip sealed pavement plagued us for 90% of the ride. This may not seem like a big deal, but Kirsten and I loathed this stuff. Even on gradual downhill gradients, we needed to pump the pedals hard. That, along with the wind reduced our speed and burned our legs for most of the day. The terrain was pretty easy to ride, gentle, rolling hills. With a normal road surface and a slight wind, we should have been cruising at 18-20 mph easy (much was a downward grade)…we were struggling to maintain 12 to 14 mph. The scenery was a mostly dense forested landscape. It was clear from the not so subtle clear cut scars that we were in timber country! Today and tomorrow, our direction was southwest, heading for the coast. Fingers crossed for no more chip sealed pavement and more favorable winds. Today was character building 🙂