Erick L

Real cyclists don't take ferries:



Actually, I love taking ferries. You can just roll on most of them and they offer a different perspective than the road. I've never taken the bus, train or plane in the middle of a tour, mostly because they're a hassle and never had to. I did hitchhike when a cancelled ferry meant an extra 500km down the windy west coast of Newfoundland. I also walked a trail and had my bike shipped by boat at the other trailhead. I'm out there to enjoy myself.

Sullalto

First, look up the Olympic Discovery Trail. It's a beautiful, well maintained and very lightly trafficked rail trail that's expanded past the old rail lines. I think it goes from Port Townsend all the way to the mouth of the Quilleute River. Outside of the cities, very lightly trafficked. Lots of stealth camping opportunities(granted, the entire peninsula could be described that way). You can probably use it for the entire northern leg of the peninsula.

Second, are you going around the peninsula? Because if you're going more direct, I don't know how rideable the eastern edge is. My fuzzy recollection is that it isn't very good for cyclists. But I've only ridden it once or twice in the dark, in bad weather(when I couldn't cross the hood canal bridge due to wind).


No, not even a little bit. 101 is absolutely fine to ride. Except the ~9 miles on Lake Crescent.(and maybe the East leg) But on the lake, there is no shoulder, no visibility, and lots of log trucks barreling around 30 mph curves at 45 and/or rented RVs whose driving you also can't trust.

East Beach has absolutely minimal traffic compared to 101, even in tourist season. It is pretty wide, with better visibility and slower drivers. Not to mention much better pavement. Yeah, parts of it are only 1.75 lanes, but that means people drive slower because of it. I've never been scared to ride East Beach.

Camp David Jr Rd has maybe 20 houses and the camp on it. With a speed limit of 25 or something. Absolutely no issues. Just not much traffic, and the road itself is almost perfectly straight and level.

But look at the map again-you don't even need to get on Camp David Jr. Rd. The Spruce RR Trail connects with the Olympic Discovery Trail. It keeps going for quite some time as a divided trail separate from the 101.

It's entirely possible Olympic Hot Springs Rd will be closed to vehicular traffic(road keeps flooding/washing out), which means you have the road to yourself and can ride ride up to the hot springs there, and probably have them to yourself. If you go to the Sol Duc Hot Springs, message me. I can hook you up.

chrisx

If you walk from Oil City to Neah Bay, you will pull yourself up ropes and rope ladders of various size and shape. Ok I did not measure them, 300 feet could be an over estimate. This is something a person should do in their life. As far as I know, the last wild indians lived in Ozette, until 1933. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days talking to an 83 year old women who lived there until she was 13. There is a 1933 story about her in the Seattle times, Wild Indians in Seattle.

Lake Quilnault is a good ride, lots of waterfalls to photograph.

https://olympicdiscoverytrail.org/

Some do not agree,
It should be clear that I like the western side of the olympic peninsula best,

Some times it could be good to get off your bike and walk a spell.
Can you guess why I have a $40 cantilever brake bike?

TallTourist

I like how there are pages and pages of opinions after the first few people effectively answered it.

Metieval

I never thought of that one! thank you! like by the time I go north though eastern Kansas to Lincoln Nebraska, I may have had enough and will just rent a car to the west side of Nebraska I mean 10,000 plus miles will still be 10,000+ miles in the USA just a few less of the same oh same oh. (even in a car, crossing Nebraska East-west or west-east is yawn!!!! lol)

boomhauer

western Nebraska has it's own charms. Try Highway 2 thru the Sandhills.

jefnvk

I don't care about others bragging rights, and I presume they don't care about mine. I do what I enjoy, not what I think others will be impressed with.

Happy Feet

I think it can cut both ways.

In the best sense we could hope to be a mutual aid type society that encourages each other to get out there and do stuff. One of the hurdles the average joe faces is not being sure they can do a big trip, so when the average joe posts about one they might say "so can I". For example, I would not have ever thought of touring Iceland if I had not read about it here.

jefnvk

Sure, but I don't consider that any sort of bragging rights. I do enjoy hearing about other folks adventures, but if it turns out that they ride twice the daily distance as me or went for four months to my week and a half, I'm not comparing any of that to my own accomplishments, nor do I have any desire to push the fact that they did something like a bike and barge when mine was "tougher".

Happy Feet

Agreed.

I was quite involved in climbing when I was younger and it can be pretty competitive, even when people claim it isn't. After nearly killing myself a number of times I finally got pissed off (at myself) and dropped out of the scene and began solo climbing instead; downgrading the technical level and thus becoming non relevant but regaining that sense of doing what I wanted instead of what was "cool". That opened up a lot of years of being happily in tune with the mountains instead of the yo-yoing emotions of victory and frustration.

Same with bike touring. I look at maps for hours and hours trying to make aesthetic lines appear and my imagination gets fired up wondering what it would be like to ride them in a particular style or fashion. Of all those ideas I try to settle on a couple that will fit into my holiday schedule for the next year or so and then I plot my course accordingly. The satisfaction is not in comparing myself to others but rather being able to conceptualize, plan and carry out an idea. For me that is very rewarding but it's not something that can be compared to someone else's trip.

A married guy with kids has different parameters than a single guy, a blue collar worker than someone who can take sabbaticals, old guy compared to young, well off compared to poor etc...

I can appreciate the efforts of others but am pretty secure in my own abilities and the little goals I set for myself. The challenge is not against others but against the inertia of my own self doubt.

samanthadavies

I've been living without a car for 26 years and i'm fine so far. I either ride or take public transport - lucky i live in a city with a great public transport system.

Machka 

So ... is that what you do when you're on a cycling tour too?

How have you found the public transportation systems in other cities? Have they allowed you to take your touring bicycle on board? Which other cities have you visited?

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fietsbob

Inner Hebrides Islands off the west coast of southern Scotland is served by Caledonian Macb***** ferries, https://www.calmac.co.uk/

they had an Island Hopper deal .. leave from Ardrossan , and after a few days, you land back at the port of Oban ...







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