Tour de Whidbey 2023

The Night Before

I caught the Mulkiteo Ferry to Whidbey Island and drove to Fort Ebey State Park where I set up my campsite. Since money has been tight this year, I’ve been trying to camp (for free) at the state parks instead of having a hotel expense.

After I set up my campsite, I decided to ride my bike and explore the area. It was my first time staying at this state park and I figured I could explore better by bike than on foot.

The state park has a few bunkers from pre-WWII. They are always fun to walk through. I also walked along the bluff for a bit until the sun started to set. The evening was quite pleasant and I ended up walking for a couple of miles before hopping back on my bike and heading back to my camp site.

Ride Day

The morning started off a bit chilly as I departed Coupeville for the 50-mile route of Tour de Whidbey. I was about 10 miles into the ride when I rounded a turn beside the lagoon and past a bus stop when I started hearing a thump, thump, thump. Oh no! Did I just get a flat tire?

I hopped off my bike and saw a screw sticking through my rear tire. The tire wasn’t flat, however, because the the screw managed to only go through the thick tread and not into the tube. How I picked up that screw at that angle, I’ll never know, but talk about luck! If my tire had gone flat, I had a spare tube and tools to fix it, but it would have been a pain in the butt since it was the rear wheel. I would have had to disconnect wires for the motor and some other stuff to change it out. I took a photo, unscrewed the offending bit from my tire, and hopped back onto my bike and was on my merry way.

I mostly rode by myself and I tend to ride fast at around 16mph when alone. I would stop to take photos every once in a while. Towards the end of the ride, I came upon a farm stand selling sunflowers. I bought some and decorated my bike with them for the last few miles of the ride.