BALLE On! The 2007 West Coast Tour

Well, we have finally hit Oregon and, to be exact, the Oregon Trail. Two explorers, Lewis and Clark, followed the Columbia River in search of the ocean and found it here. They are quite popular figures around here. Lots of things are named after the two of them. Day 6 was a long but doable 82 miles of cycling. Lisa missed about 10 miles during route planning so we grinned and beared it. It actually wasn't too bad. Today will be the test of sore muscles.

It's nice to see the ocean again. We have also returned to the land of fresh local and organic food. Astoria is an interesting town with a couple of worker owned co-ops, some buy local stickers in windows and other progressive stores. It seems to be waking up from a long period of difficult economic times.

We treated ourselves to a hostel for the night and a meal at the Brew Pub. After this there will be a number of state park options for camping along the coast. If the weather holds out and we don't get very much rain we'll be content to camp by the sea.

It was all going so well. Perhaps too good to be true. Derek, while riding to Elma, WA for our 4th night of camping, had a wee accident on the bike. It happened suddenly; Bryan and Laura witnessed it first-hand. The damage? One deep gash and big time road rash, torn cycling shorts, torn t-shirt, a bent rear derrailer, and one sad cyclist drooling at the prospect of others enjoying beautiful Western Washington.

The others enjoyed the riding that day and had the good luck that our route took us into Oakville, WA home to Wild Thyme Farm. Bryan had visited the farm last year for one of the free monthly workshops they give on subjects like sustainable forestry, riparian restoration, food forests, and berry orcharding, and suggested we all check it out.

We took a short detour from our route, dodged five or six farm dogs and rode into the farm. One of the several brothers who own the farm, John Henrikson, stepped away from work at a portable saw mill to greet us, and ended up explaining his sustainable forestry (Forest Steward Council-certified) practice and giving us a tour of the farm. Wild Thyme is 150 acres of mixed conifer and deciduous forest, household gardens and riparian zone, managed for the long term by John and his brothers.

We watched his crew mill parts of a huge old alder that would normally be thrown away or chipped. Some of the boards drying in the old barn had beautiful and distinct patterning--where other timber operations see problem wood, John has seen resources and high-value specialty timber. Business is ramping up at Wild Thyme.

Given the beauty we saw (food everywhere, and a healthy managed forest), John's enthusiasm for his work, and the profitability of their operation, it's not hard to imagine that the other local timber managers and foresters who attend his workshops would see a new way forward for sustainable forestry...and our route certainly took us by enough clear cuts to demonstrate the prevailing "alternative".

Off the beaten path. That’s how we are describing the milk run of backroads that are leading us through the Olympic Peninsula in Washington back to the coast. No complaints here though. We are blessed with warm weather, no rain and beautiful back woods and country roads that so far, have not been filled with too many out of control hills.

We have been riding along the coasts of the Puget Sound enjoying ocean vistas a plenty. There has been no shortage of rural settings and cottage country homes to admire.

We picked up Bryan on Day 3 after a long hot day of riding. We camped on the side of Hood Canal at Belfair State Park (we love state parks!!!) and woke up to the preparations for a big environmental day called Environmental Explorations for many local seventh-grade students. One very keen local Public water safety guy gave us the lowdown on the plight of the Hood Canal. This large canal that looks like any wide river has coastal wetlands, tidal creatures (oysters, crabs, clams) and raptors that are less common than in past times. It has suffered the consequences of years of abuse and there is now a comeback of people wanting to clean it up and curb the development (mainly residential now) that continues to threaten it.

So how are we feeling in these early days?? Really well for the most part, although there are some sore muscles. It is always nice to eat a yummy meal at the end of the day and hang out. The nights are getting warm so our warm winter sleeping bags seem a little silly at this point. Welcome to the land of rapidly changing temperatures. Onwards to the coast!

The BALLE On! Tour is an organized tour of individuals cycling from Vancouver, BC to San Francisco, CA to attend the 2007 BALLE conference in Berkeley on May 31. We are cycling along the Pacific Coast Highway stopping at BALLE networks along the way.

BALLE On! began yesterday on May 13th from Richmond, BC with Derek, Lisa and Laura. It started with a bit of an exploration through farming roads with a quest to meet the car at the border. We thought it might make sense to at least be in the vicinity together so our cycling story seemed legit. And it worked, they thought it was too weird to ask many questions and let us through. And thus begins our long journey to San Francisco/Berkley, CA.

We camped in a gorgeous State Park south of Bellingham (Larabee). Nice park but bloody cold.

The next day Lisa and Laura took off and Derek went back to Bellingham to get food for dinner and to meet with Ritama, one of the two graphic designers for the BALLE On! branding.

Here, Lisa and Derek are sitting at the campsite on Whidbey Island planning the next day's route and schedule.

Please stay tuned as the tour progresses!