Katie MacDonald - Bike the US for MS
Before I get to my daily updates, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who donated to my Pacific Coast ride. Thank you so so much to my amazing family, Janice, John & Tracey, Soo Jung, Austin, the McKennas, Jane & Brian, Jay, Lauren, Paul, Steve, Allison, Shirley, Val, Alex, and Nick. Your support means the world to me, and I wouldn't be able to do this ride without you. Day 1 - Aug. 6 - Seattle to Shelton - 43.9 miSharon’s alarm was set for 7:15am, but I woke up in the Edgewater Hotel at 6:45 and couldn’t get back to sleep. I showered, packed up the room, then headed out to the trailer to put everything in my cubby. I was worried it wouldn’t fit, but thankfully it did. After I got my bike out of the room, we hung out around the trailer until 8:20, and then headed down to the water for the tire tip - the exact same beach where I ended the Northern Tier last summer. Soo Jung surprised me and showed up for the tire dip, and it was great to see her. We got some photos, and then headed out to start the Pac Coast. We rode 1.5mi down the waterfront to the ferry terminal, and waited about an hour to catch the 10am ferry to Bremerton. The ferry ride was fun, and we got some great views of Seattle from the water. After the ferry, it was an easy 15mi to the first rest stop in Belfair. After the rest stop, things got a bit hillier. The first climb we encountered was 0.5mi, and 12-15% grade - ouch. I rode with Sharon, Shannon, and Melissa for most of the day, and it was a good group. When we got to town, we stopped for food at Denny’s, and then went grocery shopping so we’d have food for dinner. I didn’t eat enough today, so I was starving by the time we finally got a meal. After that, it was a quick two miles to camp at Donna’s house. Sharon, Shannon, and I set up our tents outside, and then spent the evening chilling in the house and down by the trailer. We also got in a FaceTime with Catherine, which was awesome. Day one, done! Day 2 - Aug. 7 - Shelton to Centralia - 64.3miWoke up before my alarm again this morning, to dogs barking and other cyclists packing up. We had a goal of being in the road by 7:30, but ended up heading out early at 7:15am. It was a little chilly and quite foggy this morning, and I was slow moving, so I got dropped pretty quickly when we started climbing. At rest stop one, I grabbed breakfast at a diner in Elma with Sarah, Kurt, Eddie, and Michael. After rest stop one, it really started to heat up. We also came across a road closure, but the construction guys let us walk our bikes around the giant hole in the road. Rode alone again until rest stop two, but got some good podcast time in. I rode with Sarah for the last 10mi, and the road had a wide shoulder so we were able to chat. Camp tonight is at Immanual Lutheran Church, and they provided us with a taco bar for dinner, followed by cookies and ice cream bars for dessert. After dinner, a few of us had a yoga/stretching session led by Jen, which was really nice. Day 3 - Aug. 8 - Centralia to Castle Rock - 41.5miToday was a pretty chill day. We woke up at 6:45am, and were treated to a lovely breakfast set out by Scott and Roberta from the church. Most of the ladies hit the road together at 8am, but ended up splitting into smaller groups. I rode with Andrea, Sarah, and Amanda for most of the morning, and we had a great ride. We took it nice and easy, and got to chat along the way. Incredibly foggy again this morning. There were a couple small climbs, but the 16% grade downhill made it all worth it. It was so steep it looked like a wall from the bottom, and I hit a top speed of 42mph. Rest stop one was across from a gas station, so I got a bag of Doritos, and we hung out for a bit. Eddie and Alison joined our group after the rest stop. At one point we hit construction, and had to ride on the left side of the road, following a pilot car. In Toledo, Sarah and I got ahead of the group, and rode together for the rest of the day. Most of the second half of the day was along a nice river, and we stopped to take a few photos. We are camping tonight, at Toutle River RV Resort. The facilities here are incredible, but the one flaw is that there is an incredibly loud train that goes by at least once an hour. We spent the afternoon hanging out by the poor with some cider, and then ended up ordering pizza because there are no restaurants nearby. Tomorrow we enter Oregon, which is very exciting, and then we have a rest day the following day. Calling it a night a bit early at 9:30pm, because I don't think I am going to sleep very well with that train going by. Day 4 - Aug. 9 - Castle Rock, WA to Astoria, OR - 73.8miWoke up this morning to Sharon saying "Katie, we are literally the last ones here". Stuck my head out my tent, and sure enough only a few tents were remaining, including Sarah, Sharon, and I. Surprisingly, I slept pretty well last night, and only woke up to the train twice. As we were getting ready, I noticed that Sarah and I had different maps, with different routes for the day. We talked to the route leaders, and it turns out I had an older map for some reason. We followed Sarah's map to rest stop one, and only made one wrong turn, which Sarah caught almost immediately. In Castle Rock, there was a bike path with some cute minion road posts. Rest stop one was on the side of the road, about 20mi in to the day. We rode with Kurt and Eddie for a little while after the rest stop, but couldn't keep up once we got to the first climb. This section of the ride was beautiful, with the Colombia river to our left, and cliffs to our right. There were a few more climbs as we approach rest stop two, but nothing too horrible. The whole team was at rest stop two, because we all wanted to get on the ferry to Oregon at the same time. I got some chicken fingers and a Twix bar for a quick lunch, and then we rode as a team to the ferry. As we were waiting at the ferry, we took lots of pictures with the Washington state sign. It also started to get pretty warm, so everyone was taking off their extra layers. The ferry was a quick ride, and we crossed our first state line! After a quick pit stop at the Shell station, I rode with Andrea and Kaylyn for the next little while, which included our first significant climb - about 600ft. There was a nice overlook at the top, and we stopped to refill our water. After a nice descent, we stopped at a gas station for some more food. Here we met Lynda, a local lady who insisted showing us the songs she had recorded with her singing. She sat in her car with the stereo on full blast so we could hear it from where we were sitting on the sidewalk. After this stop, I rode mostly by myself for the last 15mi. At one point I got stuck behind a line painting truck for 10 minutes or so. The bike path coming into Astoria was a little bumpy, but had a great view and you could hear the sea lions in the water. There was a short steep climb up to the church, which ended the ride. Back at the trailer, I found out that Frank and Mike had collided while riding on the bike path, turns out Frank broke his elbow, and is going to be heading home. It really sucks to lose a teammate like this, especially so early on in the trip. Bummed that he had to leave, but I'm sure he'll be back to ride again next year. After chilling at the trailer for a bit, I made my way down to the aquatic centre for a shower, and then met up with a bunch of people for dinner at Bouy Brewhouse. It's a super cool place right on the water, with a section of glass floor so you can see the water. We had such a good time hanging out here. The bar also has a really cool "pay it forward" wall, where people leave money for other people to claim. We ended up leaving $47 to someone living with MS, who wants to eat or drink there. Really fun night, and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.
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katie macdonald
Summer 2016, I biked 4,295 miles, coast to coast across the USA to raise money and awareness for MS. March 2017, I biked self-contained from San Francisco to San Diego with my friend Carissa. August 2017 I connected the dots and biked from Seattle to San Francisco. Summer 2018 I am heading to the UK! Follow my journey here! Miles biked for MS:
6,800.13
Updated August 27, 2018 Archives
January 2019
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