Cape Disappointment 1000
Ride dates: June 22-25, 2019
by Mike Hagen

This was a very challenging ride for a variety of reasons. Chief among them were headwinds virtually all the way outbound to the Cape. Sometimes quite stiff. The weather otherwise was pretty good: mostly cloudy, not cold, some sun, bits of spitting drizzle, very few periods of rain. On Monday, the sun came out and it was fairly warm. The tailwinds were somewhat subdued on the way back, unfortunately, but at least headwinds were few after the first day.

Seven riders departed from 4th and Boundary at 6:00 a.m. Saturday. Barry was the first to abandon, at Bellingham. Maybe he had a premonition; if so, he is a very smart guy! Kyle and Will made it to Montesano before abandoning in turn. Possibly just as well: Paul and I took eight hours to ride the 140 km from Montesano to Cape Disappointment, Erik took slightly longer after leaving Montesano an hour later than us. We didn't have much time to spare before the Cape D control closed. Erik had seen Eric at Montesano on the way out, and later said that Eric had ridden through the night but was still coherent. Still later, we heard that Eric had abandoned at Montesano as well.

Paul and I made the return to Montesano much quicker with the wind at our backs and a shorter route, but there was still significant night riding to do to our planned Sunday sleep stop at the Creekside Inn just north of Hoodsport. After some frantic pushing on the 101 the next morning, we caught the 11:00 a.m. sailing from Port Townsend, and there was Will! He'd turned back after Montesano and was on, as he called it, a training ride. We saw Will again at the Pacific border crossing. "How did he get here so fast?" I said. "Maybe he went a shorter way," said Paul. "There is no shorter way!" I said. "I took the bus" said Will.

As for most 1000s, there was no pre-ride. There are a few spots along the course where a pre-ride would have allowed more clarity on the route sheet, but nothing major. That is, except for the hoped for route west of the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. Both the Ride with GPS and Strava Route tools had allowed a route via Saratoga and Nortz Roads. But when we got there, we found a "Private Property" sign and a fence and consequently detoured east via Aulds Road to Highway 20, adding about 5 km to the distance. So it goes.

Overall, the route is fairly quiet, though Washington does like their chip seal. My hands and butt were protesting by the end of the ride. Reversing the 2014 route to go south via Everett provided for a very nice decent down Olympic View Road into Edmonds, though the cost was to make overnight stops more challenging to schedule. It also meant the big climb on WA-101 around Mount Walker came on Day 3 rather than Day 1. Ouch.