Pardon me while I have a seat in a recliner to type. My bike trip was tougher than I expected, but it also showed me something I was interested in. At 67, how far could I bicycle in a day? Not as much as I’d hoped, but for 67, well, enough?

Some historical bicycle stats – mileage in a day

• 1990 204 miles (STP), road bike with skinny tires, supported
• 2000 115 miles (Just Keep Pedaling), hard-tail mountain bike, tail wind, loaded for touring
• 2010 (walked across Scotland instead)
• 2020 (Covid)
• 2026 40 miles, same bike as 2000 but with fat tires, no support

I see a trend.

Port Townsend to Sequim by Sunday afternoon
Monday morning made it to Port Angeles. Bailed on La Push because of my lack of knowledge of lodging.
Knee pain not noticeable, but was limited by stamina not joint pain.
I had to ignore most friends because they fed horror stories, not support.

Port Townsend to Sequim, yeah, it was only 40 miles, but it was also >1,700 feet of elevation. Doesn’t seem that bad in a car.

Sequim to Port Townsend was 20 miles
Much of which was flat and sweet, but there were four hills that were so abrupt (and unsigned) that I had to walk. One dumped me because I couldn’t shift fast enough, lost speed, and I fell over.
Well, I wanted to see how far I could go in a day. I found out. I wonder what I’d do on flatter terrain and skinnier tires. Or, is it all just age?

Take a step back and tell more of the story.

There’s a dashed line of a bile trail that leads from Port Townsend to La Push, out on the coast. (Olympic Discovery Trail) They say it is ~135 miles. I live in Port Townsend, ~10 miles from Point Hudson. My dead-end street also dead ends ~100 yards from a new, freshly paved portion of the trail. Duh. It’s there. I should see how far I can go, probably not in a day. Give me a few days and, cool, a long neglected bicycle vacation. 

Oops.

First, take the bus to about a mile from Point Hudson. No reason to eat up mileage that I was about to retrace. The entrance to the Olympic Discovery Trail was 1-2 miles past scenic downtown Port Townsend. Got on that, and was glad for a long climbing grade of ~1.5 miles. Usually I skip the top part of the trail because it parallels pavement, but a Wide Load was there, so, I rode until the trail intersected SR20 again. There was climbing to do, but pavement wins out over mud. Bye, trail, for a while. Up and over the hill, down the other side, and voila, my house. A convenient potty break.

Now, here is a sticky part of the trail. I won’t go into the details, but they’re building a new section to get around one mile of sketchy shoulder on SR20. They’re not done. I’ve ridden the road before. It isn’t good, but when I rode across the US I encountered far worse. Besides, it’s mostly downhill. Mostly. Still, no problems. Ride safe. Be smart. Have good luck. At the bottom, US101.

US101 goes most of the way to La Push, but the trail is supposed to let bicyclists ride there, traffic free – eventually. Like I mentioned, it is a trail of dots and dashes as various parts get built. About a mile along a very wide shoulder and I remet the trail.

I remet the trail, but in the midst of a very long climb, it took a detour that I recollect ends in a hill that is not a problem for a car, but was a grind for me. Highways with wide shoulders are paved and evenly graded. I stuck to the highway. It was a long hil. The trail again met the road, so it was as if I hadn’t detoured. A while later, it departed again (Gardner?), but I remembered it slid off to the right and skipped the peak of a hill. Thanks.

A while later there was a parking lot for the trail, and I needed a break. I was tired. I was feeling old. I was also noticing that there wasn’t any place to sit, so I sat on what I am guessing was a piece of horse infrastructure. Whew. 

Okay. Back on the trail and knowing that it was fairly flat and sliding down to sea level. Thank you, Longhouse Deli for chicken strips and potatoes. Now, about the motorcyclists who talked long and went on about their health issues…But I digress.

From there it was back onto the trail and climb my way back up into Sequim on the trail. Nice. 

Nice, but… My stamina was gone. Big bike? Long climb? Extra years? Probably all of them. But, I got there. The business district of Sequim is mostly flat. Surely I had enough energy to skip the first hotel and go for the last one? Within two miles I was hoping for stop lights, taking every excuse for a break, and pushing myself along. Somewhere in there, I missed the trail signs and didn’t care. 

They had a room. I checked in. They let me take the bike into the room, which is a luxury, and I basically collapsed. 

When I woke, I checked the mileage. Only 40 miles. Gag. Then I noticed that the program also calculates the total elevation gain, >1,700 feet. 1,700!? So much for a nice seaside ride with some ups and downs. No wonder I was tired!

And yet, I was more tired than I expected. Age; good and oh well.

I’ll skip that evening’s chronicle, but by the end of the day I decided to ride farther, to not turn and go home. Tomorrow will be better. Right?

It was. It started out with flat trails through countryside. Sweet. Here is where there should be descriptions of country settings on cool autumn mornings. Maybe later.

And here is where next time, if there is a next time, I’ll turn to go back onto the now-four-lane highway. Within the next few miles, as I mentioned above;

“…but there were four hills that were so abrupt (and unsigned) that I had to walk. One dumped me because I couldn’t shift fast enough, lost speed, and I fell over.”

Yes, it is a trail. The trail is a work in progress. Parts of the trail are excellent. This became a torture. Walking the hills was steep enough. Younger folks may not notice, but I suspect some do. I’ll take the highway with its gentle grades and wide, paved shoulders next time.

Then, the part I dreaded. I knew the road takes a steep dip with a tight corner, and I didn’t want to climb that hill, especially with my bad knee (bone-on-bone, and waiting for some hospital to schedule some surgery.) Thankfully, at the bottom of that hill, in the knee of that curve, is a trailhead parking lot. There, the trail began a downright reasonable and well-placed route to downtown Port Angeles. Whew. Thank you. I made it.

I could’ve gone farther. 20 miles hadn’t used up all my energy. But, La Push is roughly 90 miles away, and there are few, if any, motels along the way. The first part of the trail was flat, but I knew there were hills to climb. Riding into an unknown on a trail with quirks like I’d just fallen into was too much. I was done.

Fortunately, the route is serviced by a bunch of buses. I’ll skip the details, but a transit center was right there. I got on the first of a couple of buses, and got myself home.

I’d prepared for a multi-day ride. One day was possible, but highly unlikely. Two days was under a hundred each day, but I wasn’t cocky. Three days of flat riding was definitely doable. Four days was more realistic, more pleasurable. I hope to scout the rest of the route when I have a bike carrier for my car.

The ride was a reminder of my age, but it was also a reminder that sometimes the best, or at least the better, solution is to trust myself (going where others won’t, as long as I deem it feasible), to take breaks (because human bodies prefer that), and be willing to assume that something official should be wisely ignored. It is a work in progress. I’m glad they’re working on it.

I think I’m going to work on having dinner.