Day 7 – Lake Sylvia State Park, WA. – 91 km
Nice day for riding. Sunny, warm and rolling hills. Roadside shoulders non-existent in a few too many spots. That, combined with the frequent rumblings-by of fully-loaded logging trucks and semi-trailer trucks makes for some exciting times on the bike.
We stopped for lunch in McCleary, and sat at an outdoor table in the sunshine. An old guy in t-shirt, suspenders and jeans walks by and strikes up conversation by asking about our bikes. He then casually mentions he recently sold 19 bikes from his garage. Turns out he’s an old-time/long-time cyclist. He told us all about his various rides, his longest ride (Seattle to Portand – 105 miles) the best routes for where we’re going, to be careful of the RVs (driven by “old guys like me”), etc. It was all very pleasant and friendly, but he must have gone on for 15 minutes, only stopping when our lunch arrived.
As we ate lunch another cyclist – 60-ish, well tanned and fit looking with a long braided ponytail under his helmet – pulled up to the cafe and sat at the next table and started to tell us all about his riding adventures. Riding from Florida to California, around the Olympic Penninsula, etc.
Earlier in our campsite, as we were packing up to start for the day, a lean 60-ish woman with long grey hair and over-sized sunglasses ambled up and started to chat…and chat… We heard all about her experiences with the WA county justice system and the its predilection for handing out fines for dubious misdemeanours – DUI on marijuana is the current big one. “It’s all based on a system of racketeering.” We heard about her work as an artist doing metal sculptures. She claims to have sold $150K worth of her work to some millionaire who has mansions all over the place and a swimming pool with an island modelled on Pirates of the Caribbean. Why am I not surprised to hear of this? In fact, I fully believe it. All of it. Anything is possible in America.
The further takeaway from today’s encounters: There’s no denying how friendly people here are – they certainly do like to talk. But they don’t tend to ask many questions.