This year SBC put together another San Juans bike tour in the San Juan islands. Member Steve Budde expertly organized the trip and improved on it from last year. With help from others, like Doug Parrow, he updated the routes and even removed from the itinerary an interesting gravel adventure that dominated conversations last year. Thank you, Steve!
About 18 people participated and were offered 5 islands with multiple RWGPS routes all ready to download. Most riders again stayed in the Washington Park Campground, though a few less hardy folks, like myself, opted for a hotel with a bed and shower. I have no regrets! We had dinner out the first and last nights and got together for a happy hour, with margaritas courtesy of Doug Parrow.
Based on feedback from participants, the evening happy hours in the campground were an overall favorite time. We all swapped stories about our rides that day and other adventures. Getting to know other members better and the camaraderie from riding together were also mentioned as a big bonus of trips like this. I was personally disappointed that the hills hadn’t gotten any less steep compared with last year. I figured erosion would shave off at least a percent or two on the grades in the last year. Nope, the hills were still standing tall. This was especially on Mt Constitution, where our club president achieved his personal goal that he had been training for all year and climbed all the way to the top! Great job Tim (and Kerry!).
We are excited to look for more bike tours like this for the club in the future. If you have good ideas for 3–5-day tours next summer, please let us know. Happy riding!
Debbie Miller
