Vikings, Fjords, and a Change of Plans

Making plans is a good thing. But sometimes plans need to change, especially when you’re on a ramble.

This is one of those times.

Due to acts of nature, we made a detour. In the spirit of a true ramble, we decided to forego the extreme weather currently passing through the Olympic Peninsula, alter course, and make a b-line for Olympia. That meant leaving Bainbridge and traveling through a few unexpected smaller towns and communities along the way. Discovering places you never heard about—or thought about—is a cool side effect from cyclotouring. Here are a few of those towns:

Poulsbo.
We took a short 10-mile ride off the island and found ourselves in the land of vikings. Our first priority was laundry and lunch. After that, we rolled down to one of the marinas and grabbed a coffee on the water and took in the town’s quaint Norwegian-ness. Poulsbo calls itself little Norway and for good reason.

We treated ourselves to a hot shower and a bed at the Poulsbo Inn. Everywhere you looked there were gnomes and Scandinavian paraphernalia. There was even a gnome totem pole.

Belfair.
Showers were forecasted in the afternoon, so we left Poulsbo early the next morning to beat the weather. When we hit Bremerton, the temperatures dropped, and the rain really started coming down.

A sad, rain-soaked Cortney.

Route GPS helped us find a cool route that was less busy than Highway 3 called The Old Bayfair Highway. It was lovely country. Small houses, farms, forest. Very quiet and calm—perfect for riding.

We may be hardcore, but we’re not that hardcore. We opted for another hotel to stay dry for the night.

In front of the hotel, we ran into another group of cyclists from Minneapolis who had just wrapped up their tour of the Peninsula. They were super excited to see other bike people and we had a lot of questions for each other.

As luck would have it, there was a small brewery across the street called Bent Bine Brew Co. We gave them a visit and did our best to support the local economy. The beers were good, especially after 30 miles of navigating and cycling in the rain.

Shelton.
After a good night’s rest, we packed up and were ready for a full day of biking in the rain. Well, as ready as you can be.

Most of the ride followed Highway 106 along the Hood Canal, the only saltwater fjord in the lower 48. (Save that one for trivia night.) It was a lovely way to spend the morning.

When we arrived in Union, we stopped at the deli for a quick rest and split a sandwich. There were a couple of grouchy retired guys heckling the women behind the counter as well as some of the other customers. They were harmless, but clearly made everyone uncomfortable. Maybe that’s what they were going for.

The hard falling rain and the climbing made our ride into Shelton a good challenge. We were glad to arrive at our first Warm Showers stay with our host Donna. She baked us fresh bread and gave us full run of the kitchen and we had tons of great conversation about bikes (of course), books, and family.

Sometimes things happen for a reason. This detour required a little flexibility, but we were able to see some great spots off the beaten path and meet some awesome people. Tomorrow we’re looking forward to our ride to Olympia and a couple of rest days.

-Erik