Tour de Vine 2008

When your hobby involves riding in several organized cycling tours located around the northwestern United States you quickly get favorites. Some mean more to you than others. Some become favorites, and some become just notching training miles under your belt. The 2008 Tour de Vine would be categorized in the latter.

Tour de Vine 2008 in Wenatchee, Washington was our fifth bike tour and first half century of the year. It was recommended to me by a good friend in Wenatchee who said it was organized by Arlberg Sports, a local and reputable cycling/sporting goods store. Had I thought more of it this same friend, who cycles, has never ridden the Tour de Vine and was not riding in this one as well. No matter, my wife and I were riding this tour for the miles as the bigger picture on our radar was a 150 mile tour the weekend following.

Before I start about the ride itself, some of the conditions listed on the check-in packet caught both me and my wife's attention. "Bring your cell phone for SAG support. SAG support $10." This was a first! Of all the tours in 2008 and years past that I've done I've never heard of being charged $10 for SAG support if needed. Especially for a supported tour with a registration fee over $50. SAG support is usually if not assumed part of the deal. Apparently not in this case. So I started off on this ride with the opinion of Arlberg Sports doing this event on the cheap and I would find more evidence of this the further I rode in this "impressive" cycling tour.

Not to keep you in suspense, neither my wife or I required any SAG support on this tour. If we did, I was going to call my friend in Wenatchee and not the official SAG wagon that much was for sure. Okay, moving on... .

The ride started from the parking lot of Arlberg Sports in downtown Wenatchee and wound its way on Apple Capital Loop Trail that parallels the Columbia River and several nice city parks. This section was the flattest part of the tour since after all we are talking about Wenatchee Washington. From the trail we travelled on to city surface streets and State Highways. The first break station we rolled on to was in front of a grocery store in Cashmere. Maybe it's my stomach talking here but I tend to gauge at least partially, an organized, supported cycling tour on the rest stops and the food they provide the riders. The location of the first rest stop was fine in my opinion, the food and water was not. Tiny Dixie cups of trail mix and small packages of sliced apples were it for the food here and the water... well the water came from a five gallon water cooler container and wasn't the least bit cold. In fact, it was warm which really got me to thinking this tour is being done on the cheap. I munched on what was provided and topped off my water bottle which actually warmed up the remaining cold water that was already inside, determined to tackle more of the hills of the Wenatchee area.

The tour continued through various apple and pear orchards through Dryden to Peshastin where the second break station was located at Icicle Ridge winery. At least this break station had bagels with jam and peanut butter in addition to the bountiful feast of items from the last stop. To be consistent, the water was warm here too, and I could overhear several riders complaining that wine was not available to drink at this break station. The event volunteers at this station stated wine would be available at the dinner following the ride. Dinner by the way was not included. It more than doubled the "ride only" registration fee and yes, you would still have to fork out $10 for SAG support if needed. Riders that whined about no wine were about as smart as some of the folks who didn't follow the warning sign to the entrance of the winery. The winery is situated about 20 to 30 feet below the county road that goes by it. There is a steep unpaved driveway that travels just over a hundred feet to the facility itself. A sign is posted at the top of the driveway "Please dismount and walk your bike down drive way." This was obviously posted because the driveway was, a: very steep and b: consisted of loose dirt and gravel. At the time we spent at the Icicle Ridge winery I saw at least two riders who didn't heed this apparent suggestion and were requiring first aid kits for bloodied elbows and knees.

Halfway done at this point in the tour my wife and I decided to cycle onward and away from the brainless cyclists in the peleton. The next break station would be the Anjou Bakery just outside of Cashmere. By far this was the bright star of the tour and its only redeeming feature. The water here was bottled and in buckets of ice! At least someone in the Wenatchee area knows that water, like revenge is best served cold! Better yet Italian lemonade drinks were available along with tasty treats from the bakery. No doughnuts however, this was after all a French artisan bakery. This sheer oasis of goodness made the fourth and last break station of the Tour de Vine that much more pathetic.

Chateau Faire Le Pont Winery... sounds fancy doesn't it? Well it does and is but shouldn't have been a break station in this tour. For several reasons; a: it's less than five miles from the finish and b: it was manned by a singe male volunteer seated on a lawn chair shouting, "Come grab a bagel!" By bagel he was referring to the giant clear plastic bag of uncut bagels on the table. The bag of bagels was accompanied by you guessed it a five gallon bottle of warm water and that was it! No, I am not joking about this that was it! Warm water and a bag of uncut bagels and a tour volunteer who appeared to have no intention of getting up off his lazy ass and do anything. In his defense, what really can you do to make warm water and uncut bagels appealing? Why have a fourth break station on a fifty mile tour just over three miles from the finish? I guess that was so there was more than one winery on the tour that yes you still couldn't get wine from. This just solidified my opinion of what a poorly organized and poorly supported tour the Tour de Vine was. I don't think I'll be back for this one next year. Even if I do need some miles.

Helena One Hundred 2008

The Helena One Hundred 2008 in Cascade, Montana was our fourth bike tour of the year and a true test for my knee to see if I could complete a full century ride.

The city, more like town of Cascade, Montana is very small. It sits between Great Falls to the north and Helena to the south in eastern Montana (it is east of the Rockies). Which makes for an ideal location for a 100 mile bike tour. The tour was a tale of two rides actually. The first was the 60 mile stretch that headed south towards Helena and back. The second was a 40 miler north from Cascade towards Great Falls and back. A nice lunch break in Cascade separated the ride into two.

We started off fairly early in the day not too long after the tour opened. We got our numbers, goodie bag and tour jersey which was yellow, and returned to the vehicle for pre-ride stretching. Once on our bikes, it didn't take long to get out of town. Unfortunately within the first mile my wife could not get one of her shoes clipped into the pedal. To say this was unsettling for her would be a tremendous understatement. Being sidelined so close to the start point was not a good thing either. Numerous cyclists rode by and stopped to ask if we needed any assistance. I forced a smile on my face and graciously declined as my wife worked on the cleat of her shoe with the multi-tool I carry. After about ten minutes which seemed more like an hour she was able to clip in and we were on our merry way.

I kept a healthy distance for most of the first 60 miles as my wife was "cooling down" from her shoe problem. The path we took south of Cascade was on county roads that hugged the Missouri River almost curve for curve. The weather and route was absolutely gorgeous with the river, trees, and the Rocky Mountains that were close enough to touch. The roads were in good condition with light vehicular traffic and predominately flat. There were a pair of tall rolling hills near the start and after that they were primarily gentle rolling hills. The 60 mile course was not a circuit though everything we rode on we would see again coming back.

There were two break stations on this stretch about 15 miles apart. Both were right on the river and were well stocked with the standard bike tour fare. Breakfast bars, oranges, bananas, bagels, cookies, and of course water with optional sport drink mix if you wanted. The second break station's water tasted funny to me and not in a sports drink mix kind of way. The water just didn't taste good which made me wonder where they got it. There was a water spicket near some permanent out-houses as the break station was located next to a boat launch and small camping area. A thought occurred to me that may have been where they filled up the water chest although I'll never know for sure. When we returned to the first break station I emptied out my water bottle as the water here tasted considerably better.

Back in Cascade around high noon we were done with the 60 mile portion and enjoyed a good lunch in the city park which was nicely shaded with tall trees. My wife and I reflected on how beautiful the ride had been. While eating, we overheard another cyclist who had ridden the tour before describe the 40 mile stretch to a rider interested in doing the full century. She described it as nothing to write home about. Predominately flat and not as pretty as the 60 mile course. In my opinion after riding it, she was right.

About five miles out on the 40 miler, my wife got a puncture in her rear tire. I could both see and hear it since I was riding behind her at the time. The slime tube was spraying a green stream across the bottom of her saddle and the back of her seat post. I told her to sprint ahead to increase the rotation of the tire/tube in hopes of it self sealing. She did and I found out she can sprint pretty darn fast. Unfortunately though the tube didn't seal with enough air pressure and went flat. We dismounted and I examined the tire. It was a small puncture that the slime should have handled so I decided to re-inflate it with a CO2 cartridge. I inflated the rear tire but could still hear hissing, so I lifted the rear end of the bike by the seat post and hand cranked the pedals to spin the rear wheel fast. I then quickly squeezed the rear brake lever causing the remaining slime in the tube to move to the puncture. I did this a few times and fixed the puncture without changing tubes or patch kit. I topped off the rear tire with another CO2 cartridge and we were back in business.

The good news was that the wife's bike was fixed but the wife was exhausted from the sprint she did. With about 35 miles to go, the tour was no longer fun for her physically. The 40 mile course was an out and back again with one break station at the 17 mile mark, three miles shy of the turnaround point. My wife and I thought it strange that it wasn't the turnaround point like the second break station on the 60. A few things made this break station stand out compared to the others. The ladies that manned it were extremely friendly. There was ample supply of food since the vast majority of riders went home after the 60, and the best part was the cold watermelon! I love watermelon and it is the ideal food for cycling because it is like eating and drinking all at once. Did you know that watermelon is a great source for amino acids, vitamins A & C, and is a good source for carbohydrates! Like I said, the perfect cycling food.

The return to Cascade was a windy and lonely affair. We had a head wind for the last 20 miles and there were no cyclists or cars for that matter. Between the head wind and miles of open grass lands getting to Cascade seemed like travelling to the other end of the world. The 40 definitely wasn't as scenic as the 60 but we enjoyed the tour as a whole and plan on riding it again in 2009.

Fort 2 Fort 2008

Fort 2 Fort in Port Townsend was our third bike tour of 2008; our second metric century, and an opportunity to redeem myself. After a trip to the doctor and a MRI scan to check my knee, I was diagnosed with Illio Tibial Band Syndrome or ITBS as it is referred to in a shorter more pronounceable name. Just to clarify to some of my friends out there reading this I do NOT have IBS. (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) Not that there is anything wrong with people who suffer from that ailment. Moving on... the IT band is a band of connective tissue that runs down the side of your leg that spans from your hip to the bottom of the knee. Of all the problems you can have with your knee this is probably the one you would want to have because all you need to recover from it is to perform specific stretches to the IT band itself.


Ironically, Port Townsend is where this problem started for me and it would become the testing grounds for my freshly stretched IT bands. The weather wasn't as pleasant as our last visit to Port Townsend about a month prior. The morning saw grey clouds with sporadic showers which would eventually improve to clear skies and sunshine as the day rolled on. As the name of the tour states we started from Fort Worden state park, ride to Fort Flagler state park, then to Old Fort Townsend state park and back to Fort Worden. So actually the name of the tour should be Fort 2 Fort 2 Fort, or maybe Fort³. Anyway, it was a lot forts to ride to. The majority of Port Townsend for those who have never been, sits on a high bluff that slopes downward toward the Straight of Juan De Fuca. Fort Worden is situated at one point of the Olympic peninsula and Port Townsend is like on top of a tall box directly behind it. Fort - uneately (he he) the route out of Fort Worden took us out along the Straight and we were able to ease our way into Port Townsend. There are two other ways into town but both are very long steep climbs.


We wound our way through the residential district of Port Townsend to some county roads out of town. This is where the tour basically mimics the same route of the Rhody Tour directing us on to Highway 20 and 19 towards Chimacum. Chimacum would be the first break station point and like the Rhody Tour located at the same park right behind my grandparents old house. From there we would take West Valley road towards State Route 104 except that's where this tour changes. The route takes you about two thirds of the way to 104 and then loops you back towards Port Hadlock via various county roads. This was nice because a replay of the Rhody Tour was going through my brain as I was riding it. Also on my mind was my knee as this was the first tour back from abandoning the Inland Empire Century about two weeks prior. As with any medical condition, once you know you have something you become acutely aware of it mentally. Almost to the point of having phantom pains. But as far as my knee was concerned all systems were go at this point.


One of the odd things that stuck out in my mind about Fort 2 Fort was the distance between break station one and two. For the metric century riders it was close to thirty miles between break stations. Break station one was about fourteen miles from the start so the second break station seemed like forever to get to. During this time we came across the worst weather conditions of the tour in the form of two small rain showers that we were able to ride out of.


Riding through Port Hadlock we descended towards Marrowstone Island which is shaped like a "V". The entire first side of the island is a U.S. naval base which you promptly get directed towards the bottom of the "V" shape and to the residential side where Fort Flagler is located. On the residential side, the island makes a circuit and the first half towards Fort Flagger is riddled with minor climbs and false flats. About five miles from the second break station which was Fort Flagler my left knee was starting to feel a little tight so I stopped at a wide spot off the road and stretched for a few minutes and continued on. At Fort Flagler I took in fruit, bagels, and cookies donated from the local Food Co-OP in Port Townsend. My wife and I wandered around some of the old gun emplacements and did more stretching.



Leaving Fort Flagler the second half of the circuit around Marrowstone Island was more downhill and enjoyable. Back on the peninsula we had two nice climbs getting back to Port Hadlock where we then rode into and out of Irondale and back onto Highway 19. From Highway 19 onto 20 briefly where we turned off to go to Old Fort Townsend which involved another minor climb.


Old Fort Townsend was break station three where we did more stretching and refueled on fruit and granola bars. We didn't spend a lot of time here as it wasn't that far from Fort Flagler and we were less than 15 miles from the finish at Fort Worden. The route back to Fort Worden took us to the iconic Port Townsend paper mill like on the Rhody Tour and onto the same dirt road along the water. I wasn't quite as freaked out this time having gone this way before. In fact I rode it quite a bit faster. Having two fully functioning knees this time helped I think.


Back at Fort Worden, the route stated to go all the way to the Point Wilson lighthouse which is located at the far end of the park and return to the blimp hanger, the finish point. My wife and I are lighthouse enthusiasts and Point Wilson in particular is my personal favorite. So when she saw most of the riders blowing off the final leg of the route, concluding their respective rides at the parking lot next to the blimp hanger she was disgusted.

One of the unique perks the Fort 2 Fort tour has to offer is live music with beer and hot dogs for a small donation at the end of the ride. By the time we finished the weather was perfect the music sounded good, the Port Townsend micro brew tasted awesome and the hot dogs were good too! I think Fort 2 Fort is easier than the Rhody Tour and one of my favorite bike tours of all time.

Inland Empire Century 2008

The Inland Empire Century 2008 in Tri-Cities, Washington was our second bike tour of the year and our first century ride. The weather for the tour that day was unseasonably overcast and cool. Living in the Tri-Cities area most of my life and accustomed to the 200 plus days of sunshine a year I was disappointed to say the least.

The tour started at Howard Amon park in Richland and takes you immediately across the Columbia river into Pasco where you ride on the Sacajawea bike path which also parallels the river. The route took us back over the Columbia into Kennewick where we finished the bike path loop and headed towards West Richland. From West Richland we left the bike path and were on regular surface streets.

The first small climb came between West Richland and Benton City. Nothing major but a climb that I would describe as getting you into the mood for something steeper. It was at this point in the tour I started to feel some soreness in my left knee again. I say again because it was the same knee that gave me absolute pain during the final third stage of the Rhody Tour just a few weeks before. I was starting to worry about it a bit since I never saw a doctor to check it out for me. The reason I didn't go to the doctor is that in the weeks between the tours I had done several training rides in between and my knee felt fine. The problem with that I would later find out was that the training rides were only 10 to 15 miles a ride. More about this later.

Descending into Benton City was fun and fast. Even though the weather wasn't the greatest my spirits were high riding with so many other cyclists. The Benton City break station was busy with volunteers and cyclists refueling for the next stage. From the break station we continued on towards the small town of Prosser. This route took us from neighboring Kiona Benton with gentle rolling hills through apple orchards to the major climb of the tour called Weber Canyon. For local bike club members and cyclists who have ridden the Inland Empire Century before know Weber Canyon well for its steep and long grade. It is the type of climb that tests your fitness level and Weber Canyon's name is often spoken with in dread from cyclists who have climbed it. I however, am not one of them because this day would be the first time ever I would have to abandon a bike tour.

While cycling through the rolling hills of the Kiona Benton area my left knee started to ache much more severely. Four miles from the Benton City break station my left knee felt like it was stabbed with an ice pick. It was the same feeling as before in the Rhody Tour and like then it occurred around the 40 mile mark. The pain went away almost immediately after dismounting my Orbea. Mentally though I was devastated, unlike the Rhody Tour this time I knew I wouldn't be able to finish. As fate would have it a SAG vehicle rolled up behind me just a minute or two after I dismounted. I waved the SAG vehicle over and told him about the pain. He suggested that I call it a day since the Weber Canyon climb started about a half mile from our location. He seriously doubted I would be able to make the climb with an as yet undiagnosed knee problem. I agreed that it wouldn't be the most prudent thing to do so we loaded up my bike into the vehicle and headed back to the Benton City break station. My wife on the other hand was concerned about my knee but wanted to continue the bike tour. I told her I was fine with her wanting to finish and was impressed by her courage to continue on another 60 some odd miles alone.

I had to go back to the Benton City break station because this SAG driver's responsibility was patrolling the Prosser area of the route so I had to wait for another SAG vehicle to take me back to Richland. I had to wait for the second SAG vehicle for about 15 minutes but it seemed like an hour as I was pretty depressed at this point. The drive back to Richland also seemed to take a long time as my concern for my knee started grow more so than the fact that I had to abandon the tour. The SAG driver made some occasional small talk but finding out what was wrong with my knee was ever present on my mind. I kept thinking to myself why did this have to happen now when I just got a new bike and my love for cycling was at its peak. I was determined to get a medical diagnosis and even have surgery if need be as soon as possible so I could get back on the saddle. That's when I knew cycling was like a drug for me as I was willing to go through a hypothetical surgery at this point to keep it in my life.

About five hours later my wife finished the Inalnd Empire Century. I was so proud of her accomplishment and at the same time worried about the unknown condition with my knee.

Rhody Tour 2008

The 16th annual Rhody Tour 2008 in Port Townsend, Washington was our first bike tour of 2008 and our first ever metric century ride. Port Townsend is one of my favorite locations in Washington state for several reasons. For one thing I consider it one of the prettiest places in the state being part of the Olympic peninsula and having a predominately Victorian theme with it's homes. It also holds a dear place in my heart for the many summers I spent as a young boy with my grandparents who lived in neighboring Chimacum. From the green farm lands of the Chimacum valley to the tree lined highways leading to Port Townsend where the Strait of Juan de Fuca meets the Admiralty Inlet is truly spectacular.


The ride started with two minor climbs from the park and ride near the Safeway in Port Townsend. The climbs were not overwhelming but quickly warmed up our legs. The route wound it's way through lightly traveled residential city streets to lightly traveled county roads heading south down the Quimper peninsula which is part of the larger Olympic peninsula. The weather was perfect for cycling that day; sunny with scattered clouds, warm and virtually no wind. I overheard one of the other cyclists state the day's weather was the best of all the previous Rhody Tours.

The first break station was located in Chimacum at a park located directly behind the house where my grandparents lived. I refueled on bagels, orange slices, bananas, and water. At the park I couldn't help but reminisce about my grandparents and the times I spend in this park riding my BMX bike on the dirt trails throughout its confines. The volunteers at this break station and all the others were all very friendly.

About fifteen minutes after departing the first break station I both heard and felt a loud pop in my neck. It occurred on a steep decent down a long hill in the Chimacum valley and caused immediate pain. I was disappointed that I couldn't enjoy the quick, long decent because the pain radiated down my right shoulder all the way down my arm. To make matters worse the pain did not go away and the further I rode the more the pain built up. The pain was so intense at one point my vision was getting blurry. I knew there was a solitary gas station between the two rest stops on this stretch of the tour and decided to go all out and ride as fast as I could to buy some ibuprofen. I made it to the gas station and took four ibuprofen. My wife gave me a brief neck massage and we were on our way after a five minute pit stop.

Being about a quarter of the way into the bike tour I was hoping my metabolism was sped up enough to get the ibuprofen into my system quickly. From the gas station we cycled a gradual incline up Beaver Valley road to State Route 104 where we turned west. My hopes of a sped up metabolism came true, by the time we reached 104 my upper body pain was dulling considerably. S.R. 104 was an even longer and steeper incline that Beaver Valley road. I was annoyed with the numerous chunks of tree bark scattered throughout the shoulder of the highway. The bark had to be from all the logging trucks that travel in the area. The last thing we needed was a flat tire from a wood chip.

On SR 104 my legs felt fresh and I decided to attack the incline. I passed every rider that was ahead of me on that drawn out hill. One group of riders I passed were off the road working on flat no doubt from one of the wood chips on the shoulder. I waited for my wife to catch up at the top of the hill and she gave me the look she usually does when I sprint up an incline. We enjoyed our long decent down the hill which took us to the second rest station back on a county road just off the highway. There I took in some Gatorade, bananas, orange slices, and a few rice krispy treats. After about a fifteen minute rest we continued on to Quilicene which would be the turnaround point for the metric century riders.

The ride from the second break station to Quilicene had a bit of a surprise in store for us in the form of a significant climb. We had experienced several hills already in various lengths but this was the biggest of the tour. My wife commented that it almost reminded her of our annual Bluewood training climb that we do at least once a year that takes us from Dayton, Washington up to the Bluewood ski resort. The reason she was reminded of that was every time we came to a turn in the road we had to climb. Fortunately like the saying goes, "what goes up must come down," we reached the summit of this climb and had a steep fast descent into Quilicene. The descent was straight forward, literally and while I was trying to enjoy it I couldn't help but think that I was going to have to turn around and climb this too on our way back.

The turnaround in Quilicene was a bit of a disappointment since it was not an official break station but rather a small grocery store. Having already spent the limited cash on me for the ibuprofen earlier, the turnaround just ended up being a place to take a breather. It was about noon when we reached Quilicene and was quickly becoming the hottest time of the day. With an immediate climb looming before us to leave Quilicene we decided to continue. One nice thing about the climb out of Quilicene is that it was long and straight, so what you saw was what you got. No curves in heavily forested roads that concealed more climbing. At the beginning of the climb I could hear my wife calling my name. I looked back to see that she had stopped for a problem with her bike. The first thing I thought of was that she had a flat but was quickly relieved to find that her chain derailed. A quick fix and we were back in business.

By the time we made it to the third break station which doubled as the second we were quite tired and hungry. We took in a lot of fluids and food and enjoyed a good 15 to 20 minute rest. The sun was still shining bright and it was still very warm. We headed out to the fourth leg of tour to the next break station back in Chimacum.

About four miles from the third break station I felt a sharp and very strong pain in my left knee. The pain was so significant that I had to momentarily stop ridding. It was a unique pain not in the severity but when it would occur. If I stopped pedaling the pain went away almost immediately. But when my left knee would come to maximum flex at the top of the pedal stroke that's when it would hit me. I was hoping the pain would be temporary and popped three or four more ibuprofen in what turned out to be the most pain riddled bike tour I've experienced even to this day. The ibuprofen kicked in about twenty minutes later but it was hard to tell because unlike the neck injury the medicine only took some of the pain away.

With knee pain that did not go away, I decided to go on and not abandon the tour. I made this decision mainly out of pride, my love of the Port Townsend area, and the memory of my grandparents. I had mentally dedicated this ride to their memory. Both are buried in the Chimacum cemetery and I was not going to quit. With the decision made I had to cycle the remaining 20 miles back to Port Townsend pretty much with my right leg doing almost all of the work. This caused me to be the slow rider between my wife and I. This was a position new to me and one that I did not like.

I was now being passed by riders that we had over taken earlier in the day and my pace was about that of a turtle. It was slow going back to Chimacum and by the time we made it the fourth break station it had already packed up! I took a good ten minute break at the park in Chimacum to rest my aching left knee. During that time I also mentally prepared myself for the remaining nine to eleven miles back to Port Townsend. I could tell my wife was getting concerned about my welfare and I sternly rebuffed any suggestion to abandon the tour. I'm sure I came across as irate but it was the pain talking and not the real me. Most of the final leg back was pretty direct in the form of a good six mile stretch of state highway. I don't like riding on busy state highways but in retrospect it was a blessing in disguise. I needed to end this bike tour quickly and the shortest distance between two locations is a straight line.

After climbing a long gradual hill on S.R. 19 with one leg I was looking forward to some downhill time. We came to a point on the highway where it narrows and would be dangerous for cyclists to continue. The tour planners thought the same way and diverted the route off the highway. Descending down the county roads was fun and a relief to my knee. I almost crashed on an s-curve as my bike started to oscillate a bit. I was biking in an upright position due to knee pain and should have been crouched down using the drops of my handlebar. I touched the brakes to drop some speed and quickly regained control, but my heart was still racing down the hill.

Less than two miles to the finish line the Rhody Tour threw me another curve ball I did not expect. As we got closer to the water of Port Townsend, the route took us from highway to county road to bike path and now to a dirt path that started from the iconic paper mill on the outskirts of town! I had reservations about this to say the least with 23mm road tires I thought this was a crash waiting to happen. Fortunately the dirt path was very compact, no doubt from the annual rain fall that area gets.

The route on the dirt path was scenic to say the least. It was almost too distracting with the beautiful water of Port Townsend and Marrowstone island in the short distance it was a beautiful sight. The dirt path concluded at the dry dock shipyard area in downtown Port Townsend. The ride share/starting point for the tour was right across the street where we finished the Rhody Tour. To my surprise tour personnel were still stationed in the parking lot. My wife and I had a brief conversation with them and expressed our fondness for the event. I noticed as I was loading our bikes onto our vehicle there were some other riders who had passed us earlier doing the same. It made me feel a little better about myself. I guess even though I was riding with one leg I wasn't that slow after all.

I would grade the overall route of the tour an A for two reasons. The routes had light traffic for the most part and really highlighted the beauty of the area. I'm looking forward to this event in 2009!