The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Sunday was my last day in Port McNeill. It definitely is a neat little town. Last weekend was their OrcaFest, so they had the a vendor area, a kid’s activity area and their annual parade. It’s not the Rose Parade, but it’s something the whole town looks forward to. And when did the Royal Canadian Mounties trade in their horses for quads? That’s just wrong! What would Bullwinkle say about that?

When riding my bike around town, I found an interesting object – the world’s largest burl! I’ve included the fact sheet, but it’s about 8′ across!

On Sunday I took the time to do some preventative maintenance on my bike. I found that by lubing my bearings and running the tires at full pressure, my bike seems to roll easier. Maybe it’s just in my mind, but I’ll believe it!

I also took the time to do a little craft project. I had seen something similar in a gallery, so I had to try it! The coloring was care of some boysenberries I found nearby.

At the end of the day, another cyclist rolled into camp. I introduced myself and invited Jordan to join me in my campsite. Jordan started in Fairbanks and plans on riding to Cabo as well. His schedule is different though, as he plans on spending time with various friends as he goes south. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet up somewhere between here and there.

Yesterday, was when things got bad and ugly. I started riding south from Port McNeill and the air started getting smokey. I continued to ride until I reached a little town named Woss. After breathing all that smoke, I had to recouperate and found a room not far off the highway. This morning I looked outside and it looked foggy. When I opened the door to check, the smell of smoke confirmed that it was smoke, not fog. And so I packed up, put a bandana over my face and rolled south. The bandana worked well, but the thought of getting another sinus infection doesn’t appeal to me, so tomorrow I’ll ride another 45-50 miles and probably catch a shuttle somewhere south where the smoke or the island ends. We’ll see!

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