To Take the Lane or Not – Rural Road Conundrums

I’m lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest, where great rural roads are a quick ferry ride away from downtown Seattle. Depending on the ferry, I can go from my doorstep to relatively quiet rural roads in under an hour. Not bad for the fastest growing city in the US with a metropolitan population of more than 3.5 million people.

Riding these roads is usually pretty uneventful, if not downright serene. Many of my favorite routes to close campsites (see this post for a quick rundown) have great shoulders for riding bikes on, and some even have dedicated bike lanes.

I get bored with the same destination over and over, however, and often find myself exploring new roads and route. These routes come to me from a variety of places – creeping on randonneuring maps, zooming in on Strava friends’ routes, and crowdsourcing. I’ll often fall back on the Washington State Gazeteer I invested in last year, which is always the most helpful in figuring out actual routes.

The challenge with these rural and suburban roads is that often they lack critical infrastructure that makes the kind of riding I like to do safe and comfortable. Sure, it’s legal for me to ride my bike there, but is it actually safe?

Bike train climbing up and out of Seabeck

I’ll give you an example- the route to Scenic Beach State Park. This park is 18 miles from the Bremerton ferry terminal, which for many people (especially weekend warriors and bike camping beginners), makes for a pretty good distance bike camping destination. The route even looks pretty benign on Ride with GPS and Google Maps- a few decent hills, and only one road named “highway.”  (Caveat- there is an actual highway option on route 3, which actually does have shoulders, but I don’t recommend it.)

Google Maps suggested route to Scenic Beach

The actual ride to get out there though is a frightening mix of blind uphill corners, long climbs, and narrow shoulders. (Another caveat, it starts out with these signs through Bremerton, which quickly transition into “Watch out for Cyclists, in Memory of XXXX”)

These signs are the best

I have Scenic Beach as a recommended spot on my list of spots within an hour-ish of Seattle, but might need to edit the description a bit. The last time I rode out there this summer I was white knuckled with fear the entire time I climbed up Northlake Way, a long, slow, twisting climb with no shoulders. As cars came up behind us, I could hear them swerving around us, as they didn’t know we’d be in front of them going so slow, nor was there a safe space for us to ride off to the side.

Notice the speed limit and shoulder conditions. Where would you ride?

So on rides like this, what do you do? Obviously, safety is paramount, as there are already far too many bike/car collisions. Also, I think it’s important to recognize our vulnerability on the road as cyclists, as we are by far the softest thing out there.

With those in mind, here is how I handle situations where I don’t have a bike lane, limited shoulder to ride on, or poor road quality:

I am as assertive, yet empathetic to road users as possible, while still taking up as much space as is possible and safe for myself. Often, this means riding just to left side of the white line (in the car lane), or sometimes, even taking the full lane. I try and wave to drivers who slow down for me, pull over when climbing in a pullout to let cars who are going slow behind me to pass, and in general, be a cooperative road user. As somebody who drives (occasionally) it can be very frustrating to see what appears to be a selfish person on a bike. I try and avoid that situation, smile at drivers, and yet still take the lane.

I also recognize my position of privilege in making this statement. I am a white woman in the USA. I do not look threatening while on a bicycle. I go slow. I am fat. Most car drivers look happy and encouraged to see me on a bicycle and more often than not, I get encouraging remarks from them. (Another post on that on another day.)

I’ve ridden with men before who get honked at, yelled at, and things thrown at them. Their experiences touring/traveling in a rural area is way different than mine, so I can’t really offer any advice for that.

CitiBike NYC - Catcalls and Close Calls

I'm in New York City this week for a few days for work meetings. NYC makes me feel so alive and is probably my favorite city. The diversity of food, people, languages- it's always so alive and happening!

Yesterday for my meeting in SoHo, I biked from Williamsburg and while it was fun and exhilarating and lovely, it was also a bit infuriating. And scary. I'll tell you why in just a minute. But first,  I'm going to digress briefly into a personal history of New York, and then I'll get back to yesterday's bike ride.

I lived here for a short in 2007 when I had an internship in Flatbush, Brooklyn. That summer was actually one of the worst summers of my life. I was newly 21, kind of figuring out that I might be bisexual, didn't really have a good handle on my finances, and was working a really crappy internship. I didn't have a good idea of the hobbies I liked to do, wasn't confident in who I was as a person, and definitely didn't take advantage of all that New York had to do. I spent most of that summer going on awkward JDates trying to meet people, taking the Q line to Coney Island and Brighton Beach, and exploring some of New York (all by train.)

I've subsequently come back to New York a number of times since 2007 and the bike culture has exploded since then. This wasn't by mistake or happen-stance either. Janette Sadik-Khan (the bike tzar) was appointed NYC Transportation Commissioner in 2007 and served until 2013. During her tenure, she implemented tons of bike-friendly policies in NYC, including building over 400 miles of bike lanes and 60 pedestrian plazas. She also led the creation of , which now has over 56,000 bikes all across New York. 

Seriously, the work she did is nothing short of transforming New York from an auto-centric city to a pedestrian and bike friendly city. You can now eat lunch in the middle of Penn Plaza (I just did today) and play ping pong, see art in the middle of Times Square, and ride your bike through dedicated bike lanes in Uptown. None of this was in place 10 years ago and it has totally transformed how people interact with the city.

Ok, so yesterday's bike ride. I'm staying at a great AirBNB in Bushwick, and it turns out, CitiBike hasn't quite made it out that far yet. The hipsters are there, but the bikes aren't yet. So I walked the half mile to the nearest station, installed the app, paid the $24 for a 3 day pass, and was off. CitiBikes are damn sturdy bikes and riding them feels good. No issues there.

I loaded up the route to Manhattan on Google Maps and had one headphone in, feeding me turn by turn directions. The ride was pretty uneventful, until I got close to the Williamsburg bridge. Here, bike traffic started to increase. I'm fairly used to Seattle super commuters passing closely and without warning, but this was on a whole different level.

Admittedly, I was going pretty slow, even by my standards. My foot is still technically broken and I wasn't super confident in where I was going, but I wasn't in people's way. I was riding to the far right of the bike lane, leaving plenty of space for folks to pass. And pass they did. Holy shit. So many people brushed by me with seemingly no concern that I was there. 

Eventually we made it through the narrow construction zone (oh hey signs in the middle of the bike lane) and onto the bridge, where there was a decent climb up the span. Morning rush hour was crawling along side us and I kid you not, I got cat called 3 times during my ride across the bridge. When I got off the bridge and riding through Manhattan, I got hollered at 4 more times. I don't know if things are just different, or I looked really good yesterday, or what was going on, but I have never felt so objectified in my life as I did yesterday.

The afternoon commute wasn't much different. 5 men hollered at me on the way home, with 2 explicitly commenting on my ass. I also almost got rear ended once on Bowery Street. 

So, while I was initially really excited about the prospect of biking in the city and how small it made this huge city feel, I'm not so sure how I feel anymore. I'll probably give it another go tomorrow, but I might stay on the Brooklyn side.

Biking on Cheng Chau Island - Hong Kong

This post is 7 months overdue. But better late than never, right?

I was fortunate to travel to Hong Kong with some friends from college in February 2017. I've traveled all over the Americas with these friends, from Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti, the Virgin Islands, to Canada, New York, California, Wisconsin, and lots of places in between. But this would be our first trip overseas together. 

Jada found round-trip tickets to Hong Kong for $300 each. He also works for W Hotels, so we were able to get a screaming deal on hotels. I, however, insisted on staying in a local neighborhood at least half the time to get a more authentic experience.

We spent the first three nights in an AirBNB in Sin Yai Pun and the last 3 in a fancy hotel in downtown Kowloon. The experiences could not have been more different.

First up, Sin Yai Pun. Wow. Sights, smells, sounds galore. 

Our apartment was on the fourth floor of a walk-up building on Queens Road Central, which turned out to be a main road in Hong Kong. It seemed to be a quite typical apartment building. Each residence had a small alter at the door with incense and a strong metal gate. Inside was very tiny, but the most efficient use of space I've ever seen. The three of us fit comfortably in a 2 bedroom, very cozy 2 bedroom apartment, with no room to be spared. At all.

Just outside the doors were lots of shops, selling everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, to dried goods (to be honest I couldn't tell you what the dried things were), to teas and herbs. There were also electronics stores, home good stores, and a 24 hour McDonalds. On our first night, battling jetlag I checked out the McDonald's and was pleasantly surprised by the sweet potato ice cream and corn on the menu!

My favorite thing about Sin Yai Pun was the restaurants and bakeries. I absolutely fell in love with the food. It definitely did not seem as if this was a very typical tourist area, as we got lots of bewildered looks when walking into restaurants. But everybody was always incredibly friendly (a recurring theme in Hong Kong throughout our trip) and accommodating for us. Even when we didn't ask for English menus, they would send out the youngest staff members to take our orders (who usually spoke English).

As I mentioned earlier, the bakeries were to die for. Seriously. If you ever go to Hong Kong, trust me and go to a bakery. Pick up a tray and pair of tongs and fill up it up with whatever looks good. It won't cost you much and it'll be the perfect snacks to take with you throughout the day. Sometimes we'd get savory surprises or sweet treats - regardless, it never came to more than $3 USD for a bag full of fresh, warm, mouth watering pastries.

Our first day in Hong Kong, we walked from Sin Yai Pun down the main street (Queens Road Central) all the way to the Mid Level Escalators. These are the world's longest outdoor escalators and they help people get from the harbour all the way up the hilly terrain to the top of the hill. During the morning they go one way, and in the afternoon they go the other. We got off periodically to check out the shops down below, eat food, and check out all the amazing things going on all around us. 

The Mid-Central Escalators

All throughout the day I was blown away by the beauty of the city, how clean the city was, and how orderly the city was despite how many people there were. It was astounding.

The rest of the week was filled with adventures in eating dim sum, riding the tram to the peak, and taking what seemed like nearly every type of public transportation possible. Seriously, Hong Kong has buses, trams, ferries, subway, taxis, and Uber. And they were all pretty easy to figure out.

We even took the train to Lantau Island to the Tin Tan Buddha and went hiking one day. Stunningly beautiful and serene.

But, this isn't really a travel blog, and while I'd be happy to give "insider" tips or whatnot, what I really want to share is about my day biking on Cheng Chau Island. 

When I travel with my college buddies, we're usually intentional about taking one or two days to ourselves to do what we want. When we went to Mexico, I took a bus alone and went snorkeling. On this trip, I took a ferry to Cheng Chau Island to explore by bicycle while they stayed back to relax.

I had heard of Cheng Chau while researching Hong Kong and bicycling, as I'm always excited to ride bikes whenever I travel. In my original research, Cheng Chau was highlighted as a low-key place to visit, ride bikes, swim, and enjoy the beaches. As it so happened, the day that I went, the weather shifted and instead of high 80s, it was cold and windy, so no beach time for me, but that meant more time for food and bike riding!

Cheng Chau is a tiny island, with a population of 22,000 and shaped like a dumbell. When you get off the ferry, it looks like photos of Europe, with rows and rows of bicycles. I was really excited about this, as it looked like these were all rental bikes. Despite this, it took me about 20 minutes to find a bicycle to rent, as I couldn't find a bike rental shop. All the bikes were unlocked, but I didn't just want to take one.

I finally ended up walking into a 7-11 and asking the clerk, who directed me to a seafood restaurant around the corner. From there, I ended up eating lunch (still not quite sure what I ate) and was able to draw a picture of a bicycle and got one to rent. This was quite surprising to me, as nearly everywhere in Hong Kong people spoke English, but Cheng Chau communication was quite a bit harder.

After giving a $10 deposit and paying $5 for the rental, I had a bike for 3 hours! Freedom!

Biking on the island was like nothing I had experienced before. The island is quite old and all the lanes are too narrow for regular cars to fit through. Because of this, nearly everyone rides either a bicycle or uses a tiny vehicle. It also gives the island a miniature feeling. Even though I was on a rickety bicycle, I was able to explore nearly all of it, taking in the sounds, smells, and tastes of this amazing place.

All too quickly my 3 hours were up and I needed to catch the ferry back to Hong Kong. I'm so excited to go explore another part of the world by bicycle.

Bikepacking Montana Trip Report

Shortly after the Gals at the Dalles trip in May, Whitney Ford Terry from the Montana contingent sent out an invite: 

Round TWO, Montana remix. I know its only been a few days but i'm always scheming. August 4-6th Whitefish loop through Glacier National Park to the lovely Polebridge Mercantile and back. You can roll your bike right up to the Amtrak station in PDX or SEA and take the train to Whitefish!

Who's in?

Without hesitation, I booked my Amtrak tickets, asked for vacation time, and it was a done deal. Logistics of figuring out how to bikepack on my bike would come later. I was going to Montana!

Gear

I rode my bike that I ride for every other ride, Surly Straggler 650b. The primary modifications I made to make this a "bikepacking" trip (instead of bikecamping) was to add a framebag, butt rocket, and a Tubus low-rider front rack. I also removed my rear rack and fenders to make it as light as possible. 

Big thanks to my friend Greg for letting me borrow his Tubus rack, Madi for letting me use her panniers, and Josh for selling me his Blackburn buttrocket!

I didn't do a good job taking a photo of my pre-packed kit but basically I took everything I usually take bike camping, with a bit more attention paid to how I pack and food. With 1 planned resupply, it was important to know exactly what my meals were going to be.

Day 0 - Transportation, Whitefish, & Whitefish Bike Retreat

I took the Amtrak train from Seattle to Whitefish on Wednesday night. The train left Seattle around 4pm and got to Montana at 7am. This gave me lots of time in Whitefish on Thursday to explore town, stop by the local bike shop (with tons of touring cyclists in town), and get some fresh veggies at the grocery store.

The plan was to meet up with the Montana contingent at the Whitefish Bike Retreat around 2pm, so I had 7 hours to relax and explore town. My initial plan was to bike the 10 miles from town to the bike retreat, but after chatting with the folks at Whitefish Cycles, they warned me that the road was an 80mph highway and I'd be better off calling the free shuttle. Taking their advice (and free gear storage), I unloaded my panniers and set off to explore town, while waiting for the 3pm shuttle.

Google Maps doesn't a very good job routing you onto the bike paths, but I eventually found a great route to the local state park where I ate lunch and psyched myself up mentally for the upcoming ride. I also found a great hidden little spot to jump in the river naked (or so I thought until a few kayakers went by. Sorry!)

After a lazy day exploring, I eventually made my way back to town where I caught the shuttle out to the Whitefish Bike Retreat. There, I met up with Whitney Ford Terry, Laurie, and Annette who drove in from Missoula. We set up camp for the night, put together their bikes, and then explored the single-track by the bike retreat. 

Single track at the bike retreat!

Now, I don't love single-track. At all. But this was fun to ride on. We rode 3 or 4 miles to a hidden alpine lake where we were the only people for miles and  I skinny-dipped for the 2nd time that day. Pure perfection!

Day 1 - Whitefish to Apgar (by way of FAFFING around)

Friday was our first actual day of planned riding, and with 30ish miles planned, we had a fairly easy day planned. We took the free shuttle back into Whitefish where we met up with the Portland based crew made up with Jocelyn, Molly, and Christy, who had just arrived on the train.

In what would come to be a theme of the weekend, we fucked around forever in Whitefish, adjusting gear, buying coffee and more groceries (is 5 tuna packets enough? No...better buy one more just in case!), and reapplying sunscreen. Finally, around 11:30am we rolled out.

The first 5ish miles were on pavement, but we quickly made a turn onto gravel and didn't see pavement again until late in the afternoon. 

The riding was super enjoyable, with mellow climbs, fast descents, and signs of wildlife all around (but no actual bear spottings.) We made a brief detour at lunch to eat by a lake and all throughout the day, our spirits were super high. We even found a spring water cache of fresh, ice cold water on the side of the road! Does it get any better?

Eventually, the gravel ran out and we were forced back into civilization in West Glacier. But civilization also meant ICE CREAM and beer! It was like Disneyland! A quick resupply, and then we were back on the path into Glacier.

Through some sort of magic, just after the entrance to Glacier National Park, we took a bike path all the way to the Apgar Campground. This meant we avoided all the cars and were able to ride on most of the most beautiful bike paths I've ever been on. Highly recommend!

Day 2 - Apgar to Polebridge

I had been nervous about Day 2 since seeing the route. It was planned to be 44 miles and nearly 4,200 feet of climbing, including a mountain pass.

Our route was intended to take us through Glacier National Park on the Inside North Fork Road , which is the least visited part of the park. Only the first 6 miles are open to cars, after which it is hiker-biker only. The entire road is also gravel and dirt. Woo wee, here we go.

Jocelyn admiring the scenery on Day 2.

We did not make it all the way to our intended destination. A combination of rougher going roads, slower traveling speeds, and challenging riding slowed us down. 

But oh my gosh was it pretty. After a seemingly endless climb, we eventually hit a plateau that was bursting with wild flowers and new growth. As you can see in the photo of Jocelyn, the area had a wildfire a few years ago, so most of the big trees were gone, but there was tons of new growth. 

We also encountered more bear poop than I ever want to see again. Thankfully, no actual bears, but I was definitely on watch for them. Most of us, myself included were riding with bear spray. Mine was in my feedbag (attached to my handlebars), which is usually used for snacks and a camera. For this ride, it was for bear spray.  At some point I noticed however that my feed bag was empty. Bummer. Somebody gets a good ground score!

Anyway, late in the day we eventually made it to Polebridge, which is the cutest little town ever. They've got a bar, a mercantile/bakery, a few houses, and a hostel. But that was the best damn little town I've been to in my life. 

The bakery offers up excellent home baked goods, cold beers, and great food. They also give a free pastry if you arrive via foot or bike, which was absolutely amazing after riding all day.

All of us practically collapsed on the porch of the mercantile, replenishing calories and dreading the remaining 17 miles for the day. It was all uphill over Red Meadow pass. And boy did we not want to do it. Somebody came up with the idea of sleeping in Polebridge and once I heard that, I knew I wasn't getting back on my bike for any significant distance.

We made arrangements to camp at the hostel, which offered a real kitchen and SHOWERS! I know it had only been 2 days, but damn did I need a shower. I'm not really cut out for the life of a long-distance/real bike packer. I like my creature comforts.

We also got to watch a solar film festival that was touring through the town, which was pretty cool.

Day 3 - Polebridge to Whitefish

Sunday presented two options: complete the original route, including Red Meadow pass for the return to Whitefish, or a much lower elevation, similar distance route. I was still pretty gassed from the previous day's riding and was not stoked on a huge climb. I made the decision to take the alternate route, which looked to be about 50 miles back to Whitefish through Columbia Falls. One of the other women, Christy also decided to join me.

Our plan to get back to Whitefish from Polebridge

We all left together early Sunday and split off at mile 1 for what would prove to be the longest distance day yet. The first 30ish miles were all gravel, but they followed the river from Polebridge to Columbia Falls. This meant the elevation gain/loss was minimal and the riding was pretty easy. The kind of gravel riding that I love and excel on.

#roadslikethese 

At some point, the gravel transitioned back to pavement, the speed limit went from 25 to 70 (WTF?!) and the magic sort of drained out of the trip. It was also nearing 95 degrees, and we were ready to be done with the riding.

After many stops in the river to cool off/refill water (hooray for portable filtration), we made it back to Whitefish. About an hour later, the rest of the crew arrived who had taken the other route and we were a big happy family yet again.

We stuffed our faces with celebratory burgers and beers, took lots of pictures of our dirty bikes, and said our goodbyes. I got on the train back to Seattle with a full heart, tan (and dusty) legs, and a yearning for more riding in Montana.

Huge thanks to Whitney for putting the route together for us (adapted from this Bikepacking route), and for all of the other women for their encouragement and companionship on the ride!