Mount Vernon, WA to Langley, BC
64.26 miles
4:18.20 hrs
33.2 max
14.9 avg
As I woke up this morning things looked pretty murky! I was not excited to start the day out in rainy weather. After slowly getting out of bed and eating breakfast, the sun had come out and the rain had gone away. Well, not fully but I immediately became excited and rushed to get everything together so I could head up towards Vancouver.
I found myself out the door by 10:30 with one planned stop in mind. I needed to go to the bike store to purchase some fenders for my bike. I had been planning on making this purchase somewhere on my journey and since I am in "the city that never stops rainning", I figured now was a good tiem. I was very decisive about the fenders that I bought but what delayed me in th ebike shop was deciding if I needed a new rain jacket and installing the fenders. The bike shop had a bunch of overstock $220 trek rain jackets on sale for $99. I know that I have a rain jacket but it leaks and my ride would be so much more pleasurable if I stayed fully dry.
In the end I decided that I would rough it to Vancouver and test out all my gear to see what exactly needed to be purchased. After the trip I have decided that I need a new rain jacket. The only question in mind is what kind, how much and where do I get the best deal. I could buy an all purpose rain jacket from REI or Patagonia and spend a crap ton of money or I could by a cycling specific jacket and spend a crap ton of money. Either way I need to find a HUGE sale. I will look tomorrow when I am in Vancouver for a deal and if I don't find one up here then i will purchase the jacket that is at the bike shop in Mount Vernon.
All this deliberation meant that I didn't leave Mount Vernon till about 1pm. I figured timing was still ok because the ride was supposed to be flat... it sort of was. There were quite a few stretches of flat but highway 11 into Bellingham (amazing views by the way!) was pretty hilly. It was nothing compared to the mountains I went through in the previous days but it wasn't a cake walk either.
With all my delays, I also stopped at a local co-op in Bellingham to get some food, I finally arrived in Langley, BC at 7:08 pm. The family that I am staying with, The Bay Family, have been nothing but wonderful to me. They gave me some food, a shower, access to laundry and most importantly a relaxing environment to socialize and have fun! Funny enough, nobody can figure out the connection/relation that lead to this arranged situation. All anyone knows is that it is a friend of a friend of a friend. Maybe someone can fill in the missing links?
