pdxcyclist

I've posted some pictures from a tour of the San Juan Islands we did just last weekend:

https://homepage.mac.com/bear33/PhotoAlbum7.html

My wife and I planned this trip eight years ago, but then kids happened. Last weekend we dropped them off with brother and sister-in-law, and we drove up to Anacortes and took our bikes to San Juan Island.

We stayed three nights in Friday Harbor, and our rides looked like this:

Day One: 22 mile ride on east side of San Juan Island after checking panniers into Friday's Historic Inn.

Day Two: 32.3 mile ride around Orcas Island, after a free inter-island ferry hop. Hardest riding, worst traffic, expensive lunch, but still very beautiful.

Day Three: 38 mile ride around Lopez Island, our favorite cycling island. Great views of water, farms, etc. Fantastic bakery in Lopez Village. Very friendly and very low traffic.

Day Four: 22 mile ride on west side of San Juan Island, where we sighted two pods of Orca whales. Amazing.

The mileages are short, but some of the climbs on these islands are over 12 percent. Overall, I'm really happy with having our stuff in one place, and then just island hopping to ride.

Great destination-- I hope we can go back next year.

ctyler

Thanks so much for posting your photos. I did the Trek Tri-Island ride in 1996 and rode some of those islands. What a wonderful place to ride. And having perfect weather as well. I rode through a downpour when I crossed the bridge over Deception Pass and dried my socks, etc. with the hand dryer in the men's room of the ferry terminal. Orcas Island was wonderful and the ferry rides were a bonus to the riding.

pdxcyclist

The weather was just about perfect for us-- mid-eighties in the day, and cooling off at night. It was also geat to see so many other cyclists, and the Inn even had a courtyard with an integrated bike rack where we locked up at night with no worries.

The ferries and islands reminded me of rides we did along the coast of Maine, but everything was more relaxed and less hectic. The island life reminded me of St. John in the Virgin Islands, but the weather was better and things weren't so expensive.

For us, it was a great combination of relaxing, cycling, wildlife, hanging out, crab, etc. We're lucky that the ferry dock is only about a five hour drive from our home.