Today was seized! I wasn’t quite as adventurous as I had planned to be: originally I was going to bike camp on Bainbridge Island, but my friend who was to come along had to work. Then I was going to camp solo, but the weather forecast scared me off from that. Naturally, it turned out gorgeous today so you all have me to thank for that!

Here’s my modest day-trip bag of stuff:

This post is titled “New Cap Day” on account of my new MEOW cap from Back Alley Bike Repair, picked up 30 minutes before the ferry came. I have one that says BABR on the brim, but I’ve wanted a MEOW one for a long time, and Ben just got a new shipment.

Going back to MEOW caps, Back Alley Bike Repair, living for the now, and my mention of a friend in the hospital in my 30 Days of Biking 2015 begins post, Ben’s girlfriend, Shannon, is the friend in the hospital and one of the coolest people I know and I’d love if you visited the Sonsie Pals website they just set up for her. Send her your thoughts/prayers/good vibes and if possible, a donation for rehabilitation. Thank you!

I rode the ferry with two visitors from Germany. They flew in yesterday–and coincidentally had visited Back Alley Bike Repair. We looked at maps together and they told about their planned trip biking down to Los Angeles. Today they were just going to Port Angeles. It put my little trip to Fay Bainbridge in perspective. They also said it wouldn’t rain today.

It rained today.

That’s my friend Maritess behind me, on her new single-occupant bike! She also rides a mamachari with her son.

Fortunately, the rain stopped by the time we reached Fay Bainbridge Park so I showed her around the various camping spots and we played at the beach a bit, but mostly hid in the picnic shelter and ate my snacks.

My purpose of the trip was to find a better route back from Fay to the ferry for summer bike camping with kids and I think I’ve done it! Still flatter than the scenic route, but not as congested at the end. And it still includes Frog Rock.

I was so sure we had dodged the rain and Seattle was grey and miserable, but a peek through the ferry window proved me wrong:

Obligatory “Watching Seattle loom closer silhouette shot” of Maritess. I insisted a friendly passenger allow me to take a photo of him in the same pose with his phone. It’s the best!

While the weather was camping friendly, I’m glad we were back in civilization because we were able to hook up with a friend, just in town for a day, from Los Angeles. I got to see baby pictures on his phone that aren’t on Facebook and hear about his new bike trailer:
Boyd: “We haven’t used it much yet, but it’s the most popular one.”
Me: “Oh, the Chariot! Yeah, people here get that one because you can add a cross-country skiing attachment.”
Boyd: “…”
They’ll just be riding a couple miles to the beach.

Just to include some talk about camping in the day, I met up with my friend Alyssa at Chuck’s Hop Shop (yes, I made kissing noises when I touched our bike tires for the picture below). We looked at maps and planned out our two-family bike camping Spring Break trip. Can’t wait!

And finally home, alone with my new cap! For a day I had expected to spend completely alone with my thoughts after dropping the kids at school at 9:30, I had very few moments to myself. All in all, a perfect New Cap Day.

Miles biked: 32.6
Bikes biked: 1

Miles biked cumulative: 67.6
Bikes biked cumulative: 3