It was getting towards the end of December and I had several days off of work before the end of the year so we were able to put together several rides and start making some good progress towards our goal of the Pacific about 100 miles away (200 miles both ways). The mild, damp coastal winter made for overall good riding conditions for me, but it appeared to keep most other riders off the trail as we usually had the roads and trails to ourselves. On many days, there was significant rain, so I would watch the weather and look for potential breaks in the storms that would allow us sneak in a few miles here and there as any progress is good progress. I also used the downtime to figure out a route to connect the section that we’d had to previously skip as the direct, 6 mile route had been deemed too unsafe by the trail association. The only feasible workaround I could find would add approximately 40 miles to our journey and climbing the largest hills I’d ever climbed on a bicycle, with or without the dogs and trailer. It would be a challenge, but all good adventures are.

(click photos to enlarge and see descriptions)

For the most part though, the trail was still relatively flat and more or less followed the shore near sea level, albeit rarely in sight of the water itself. The terrain itself was quite varied including being moderate woodlands, wetlands, and even prairies. The trail also passed through the small but beautiful Sequim Bay State Park before going through the streets of the town of Sequim itself. While the town sign made it look like the area was overrun by elk, all we saw were hundreds of ducks and the occasional view of the snowy Olympic Mountains in the distance. The trail itself was virtually flat here which made for smooth progress. There were also several old train bridges and trestles that had been repurposed as pedestrian bridges which gave a really great feeling to the flow of the trail and made this area quite memorable.

The trail near Sequim was pretty busy as Sequim has around 8,000 people, all of whom appeared to be out on the trail. Well, not all of them, we probably saw maybe 50-75 people, but compared to what we were used to, it was a veritable mosh pit! This was our first time riding around more than just a handful of people on a trail and it was at this time that I realized what a conversation starter the dogs are. It seemed that just about everyone who we met on the trail would smile and laugh at the dogs or remark about how cute they were or how lucky they were to have me pulling them around while they just kicked back and enjoyed the scenery. My dad has always jokingly called my dogs “The Ambassadors” as Dogzilla can be a bit moody when it comes to other dogs, but out here on the trail, they really are ambassadors and make a great ice breaker for conversations with just about everyone that we pass. It would still take several more months before I realized the true potential brought on by the dogs’ natural charisma and use it to create Pedals4Paws as a way to help the needy animals of the world.

We next found ourselves headed towards Port Angeles, the largest town on the Olympic Discovery Trail at roughly 20,000. Here, the trail offers up its most spectacular views along the shore of the Salish Sea before leaving it entirely behind and heading inland, between the mountains of the Olympic range. This made for a perfect way to end our rides for the year, to reflect on all of the challenges of Captain’s failing, though seemingly stable health, the Covid-19 pandemic, and to focus on the future. In all, we’d completed a bit over 100 miles towards our goal and had even finished roughly 30 of the extra 40 miles we would need to do in order to connect the trail and keep our continuous line going. But more importantly, the last several weeks had really boosted my confidence and showed me that I could still find ways to have adventures with my aging dogs and that we could continue to form bonds and share experiences together, even in the midst of a global crisis.