Saturday 29 May 2010

A Question of Materiality

It sounds like a title to a novel by the British thriller writer, PD James. There was no murder, and no Detective Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, although there were a few mysteries that we’ll come back to later. But the reason for the title is that we have been coming through some towns with some curious names: after Sedro Woolley, our ride today took us through Concrete, then Rockport, to our destination for tonight, Marblemount. We’re not sure what it all means, but it’s a material scientist’s dream…

Our mysteries, however, are why it continues to rain, and why, now we are travelling East, we still don’t have a tailwind… and most of all, why it is still in the 50s here, when it is almost June, and the rest of the US appears to be experiencing a heat wave. Shucks… onwards and upwards, though.

Today, despite the constant drizzle, the fact that we (and Trusty & Steed) were covered from head to toe in grit, and that Kat got a puncture just 2 miles from our destination, we really enjoyed our 48-mile ride from Sedro Woolley to Marblemount. We rode through the Skagit River Valley, hugging the river banks almost the whole way. It’s an unattractive name for a beautiful and powerful river, with the greenest, lushest scenery you can imagine.

It all made us feel so relaxed that, when an Elk shot across the road just inches in front of Anthony, we were quite shaken up. These creatures are HUGE, and we had never imagined they could travel this fast, or just creep up on us out of nowhere… thank heavens we were just cruising along on the flat river valley with minimal traffic, rather than pegging it down one of the hills that we have encountered in recent rides.

Tonight, we are staying in a cute little hotel called Buffalo Run Inn, with a great restaurant just across the road, where we ate well tonight (fish, rice and vegetables… sound familiar?) Still, it’s good to be packing in the healthy energy food. We have a long ride tomorrow, with some serious climbing. Fingers crossed for the weather.

...And Happy Birthday Len (Anthony's brother), celebrate in style!

Us x

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