Revisiting Marley's Favorite Rides - My First Solo Bike Tour

Dates: September 4-7, 2015

Location: Round trip from Seattle, across the Hood Canal Bridge to Bremerton and back

RideWithGPS Route

Ridden on the lands of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Skokomish, and Puyallup people. Learn who’s land you’re on at Native-land.ca

Original Blog Post (you should definitely read it! So many fun gems)

Marley smiles at the camera wearing a green bike poncho, and pink hat under a gray helmet. Her purple bike is in the background leaning against a post.

This trip was my first true solo bike adventure. I took off from work on the Friday of Labor Day, caught the ferry to Bainbridge Island and was off for adventure. My plan was three nights with four days of riding, totaling around 130 miles. I ended up finishing the trip in three days and two nights, with one unexpectedly long (but fun) day.

When I look back at this trip nearly seven years later ,a few things are seared into my memory:

-Hitting my day 2 campsite at 10am and deciding to ride another 60 miles. Oh, to have that kind of endurance again.

-Eating one of the most delicious burgers of my life and having it come back to haunt me later in the day.

-The life saving salvation of an ice cold chocolate milk from a gas station.

Looking back at these photos, I really need to go out on another solo adventure. To make decisions based on my body’s needs - hunger, thirst, energy. I need to sleep outside. I need to move under my own power.