Today was the last day of the Loop Tour, but I would be continuing on, not sure exactly where I'd end up. It was a short ride back to Montesano but I got off route in Aberdeen and wasted a bunch of time. I was about to just follow the highway, which said it was only 8 miles to Montesano, when Lon came along and got me back on route. I hung out at the high school for a while saying goodbye to people and waiting for Robert who was carrying my ukulele in the SAG wagon. Then I was off on a solo ride.
Since I had started my ride in Olympia I did not ride the day 1 route, which is what I followed today. This was the least scenic route of the tour and it was getting hot, but I was making good miles. Much of this ride was through logged over timber land with young regrowth. Not many towns along the way. I was pretty parched when I got to Matlock and got a cold drink. The miles were adding up but I didn't think I'd have any problem getting back to Hood Canal where I remembered passing a nice state park on day two.
When I hit 101 I was now retracing the ride from day one, past the Indian fireworks places and up to the big casino at the bottom of Hood Canal. I checked the map and it turned out the park I wanted to get to was still 12 miles off. I found a wonderful farm market and stopped for a break and some ice cream. I had a nice tailwind the rest of the way which really helped as I was already over 80 miles.
When I finally got to Twanoh state park and pulled in there were two other bike tourists who had just pulled in and were talking to the ranger. He said the hiker/biker camping was close to the road and we could just use a regular tent site for the same price. So i shared a campsite with Hazel and Ian, a young couple from England that were here touring. They had also done a loop of the peninsula and were now heading to Seattle and then on to Montana. One thing I like about touring solo is the people you meet.
So at 92 miles this was the longest day I had ever done on a bike tour. I felt great and it was really good to know I was capable of that kind of mileage.