Pedaling the Puget

Pedaling the Puget a bicycle tour around the Puget Sound

My name is Jessica.

and this is my bike Olive. Olivemybike.

My bike helps me find balance, fight climate change, and connect with communities while exploring life the

two wheel way

on the road less traveled.

I had a vision for my 2020 summer. A spoke and hub tour out of Luxembourg. But there has been a great global shift.

So I shifted and stayed closer to home for plan C:

Pedal the Puget to see the Salish Sea by saddle.

Puget Sound is both a body of water and a region of important cultural, natural and historical beauty. It is home to the Coast Salish people, who have been stewards of this region's land and waters since time immemorial. As a place-based educator, I have been teaching about the interconnections of place, people, and natural history for decades. By bike, however, I gained a new appreciation, new questions, and new connections.

I designed a loop around the Sound. I rolled from my home for a two week adventure cycle tour.

Seattle from Southworth

I aimed to explore beaches by bike at such a pace that would allow me to also relax and read books. I love a little bit of alliteration so I also ended up exploring boats, bridges, barns, beers and barreled beverages, bakeries, bonfires, Bald Eagles, Bull Kelp, and beauty along these byways, sometimes with buddies.

Enjoy the view. Enjoy the Sound.

Clicking on any image will take you to a larger one. All photographs taken on route.

Beaches

Alki Beach, Seattle, just miles from home

Low tide looking out on the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Port Townsend

Point Wilson lighthouse, guarding over Admiralty Inlet and the Straits

Misty morning on Shaw Island

Boats

Washington State Ferries

Aboard the Washington State Ferries

a paddle boarder off Spencer Spit State Park

Sunset and boats in Spencer Spit State Park.

a sailboat moored at Obstruction Pass State Park

Moored in Spencer Spit State Park

Bridges

Bridges of Puget Sound: Hood Canal Bridge; Deception Pass Bridge; Stilliguamish River Bridge on the Centennial Trail; Snohomish River Bridge.

Barns

Barns of Skagit County

Beers and other beverages

Beers and other barreled beverages: 10 barrel in a can at Kitsap Memorial State Park; San Juan Island Brewery, Friday Harbor; Rose on the Obstruction Pass State Park beach; Orcas Island Winery, Crow Valley Road, Orcas Island; Finn River Cidery, Chimacum, Washington.

Bakeries

Brown Bear Baking, Eastsound, Orcas Island

Books and bonfires

Books by the Bonfires, and a phone book that I actually used to call the kayak company. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, among others.

Sunset from San Juan County Park was on fire!

Bald Eagles

Bald Eagle, Port Townsend, Washington

Bald Eagle alights and delights.

Bull Kelp

2020 marks the 15th anniversary of publishing my first place-based poem with the Poetry on Buses program. Here is the poem called Bull Kelp.

She is bull kelp / long and thin with wild hair / ambered by the sun, / curled by the brine.

She dances at the shore / on boulders shaped liked shoulders of elephants. / The barnacled skin smoothed by lapping tides.

Underfoot the rockweed crackles / with applause.

Bull Kelp, Port Townsend, Washington

Kayaks in a bed of Bull Kelp, Lime Kiln State Park, San Juan Island.

River Otter fishing in the Bull Kelp

More river otter, Shaw Island, because they are cute.

Best spots to bike camp.

Bike camping in Washington State parks is first come first served with no reservations needed. Clockwise from upper left: Fort Worden State Park; Shaw Island County Park; San Juan County Park; sunset from SJCP tent site; Kitsap Memorial State Park; Manchester State Park.

Byways, highways, and bike trails

Kettles Trail, Whidbey Island

Scenic Byways along the Puget

Dedicated Bike trails along the route: Olympic Discovery Trail, Port Townsend; Tommy Thompson Trial, Anacortes; Mill Town Trail, Everett; Centennial Trail, Skagit to Arlington and further south; Interurban Trail, Shoreline to Seattle.

Buddies

thanks for making memories with me along parts of the journey

thanks for friends all around the Sound

stats: 350 miles; 16 days; 11 ferries; 1 sailing day; 1 half day kayak adventure; 12 nights camping; 4 nights with a roof/shelter; 4 books; 3 ride partners for overnights; 2 warmshower hosts; countless seals and wildlife; miles and miles of smiles.

olivemybike

Created By

Jessica Levine

Appreciate

Credits:

Photography by Jessica C Levine @olivemybike