Donald and Mimi's first RSVP

Donald likes to set goals for biking, so going along with that idea, I set my goal; I wanted to ride a bike to Canada. Donald was not so sure it was a good idea; the ride we considered; RSVP means Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and PARTY. We really didn't want to spend our big bike trip with a bunch of partiers. But the lure of the gorgeous countryside and the challenge changed his mind. We signed up; it cost a small fortune. We had to book hotels in Bellingham and in Vancouver, neither of these are cheap places to stay. Of course, some people camp both days; but we're not campers. We also had to pay for transportation back to Seattle, both for us and the bike. After a lot of training, we decided that we were ready. Training included a lot of lovely rides, like the ride called Wenatchee Apple Century and the Northwest Tandem Rally in Corvallis where the towns welcomed us and the rest of the riders were careful and savvy. Of course the night before the ride, I couldn't sleep; I was much too excited. So I dragged my body out of bed and we arrived nice and early at the start line and quickly found our friends. While we went over to the parking lot; they thought we left, so we started the ride alone; as they took off 15 minutes early looking for us. We never caught up with them until the end of the day in Bellingham.

The riders were full of energy and one by one a million of them passed us. We knew better than to get competitive; it was going to be a long two days and we didn't want to burn out early. Besides, on our tandem we are just not very fast. (nor are we fast on singles for that matter) On one of these hills, a very big man on an ultra light carbon fiber bike passed us. He was breathing hard and moving fast. After a friendly interchange, my husband said to the guy that we could get up any hill eventually.. and the man's response was; "well, just wait until you hit THE WALL tomorrow" We are starting to worry about this wall. Could it be so bad?
The countryside is gorgeous, and when I finally woke up I started taking photos.
In no time at all we reached the first rest stop in Lake Stevens, a welcome site, where there were porta-potties and food. The long lines would appear in front of any porta potties throughout the ride but the food was pretty good and plentiful

There were many many beautiful bikes; here's a pair of Bianchi bikes looking so pretty in the bushes.
These gals must have been team leopard skin.
We're happy, feeling good and ready for more. Next chapter

Donald and Mimi ride their bikes all the way to Vancouver Canada
Donald likes to set goals for biking, so going along with that idea, I set my goal; I wanted to ride a bike to Canada. Donald was not so sure it was a good idea; the ride we considered; RSVP means Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and PARTY. We really didn't want to spend our big bike trip with a bunch of partiers. But the lure of the gorgeous countryside and the challenge changed his mind. We signed up; it cost a small fortune. We had to book hotels in Bellingham and in Vancouver, neither of these are cheap places to stay. Of course, some people camp both days; but we're not campers. We also had to pay for transportation back to Seattle, both for us and the bike. After a lot of training, we decided that we were ready. Training included a lot of lovely rides, like the ride called Wenatchee Apple Century and the Northwest Tandem Rally in Corvallis where the towns welcomed us and the rest of the riders were careful and savvy. Of course the night before the ride, I couldn't sleep; I was much too excited. So I dragged my body out of bed and we arrived nice and early at the start line and quickly found our friends. While we went over to the parking lot; they thought we left, so we started the ride alone; as they took off 15 minutes early looking for us. We never caught up with them until the end of the day in Bellingham.
Here we are on the Burke Gilman trail starting our ride; at about 630 on Friday morning.