Conway north: Cold, wet, windy, and ideal

Yet another great Randonneur ride! This time it was a small group, around a dozen people. The poor turnout was understandable, because it was raining, around 40, snow along the sides of the road, gusting to 25 knots or more, and the route was a long 85 miles. But as is always the case, all you have to do is dress warmly and keep moving. The rain was sporadic, and can even be fun if you're not cold. So we kept breaks to a minimum and it went very well. The only really dicey aspects of the ride were some sudden gusts from the side. And on way south through the Skagit Valley the headwinds made the going tough at some places. But even there the bad spots only lasted a few miles before the road would turn, or you'd get into the lee of a hill.

The route was excellent and I plan to do it - or parts of it - again. The one thing I would definitely change is the last few miles where Beal Rd. hits the T-intersection of Fir & Moore. Instead of going right on Fir (which is what we did), it is better to go left on Moore and go to Skagit City Rd (or maybe Dry Slough Rd.). That is what one of the subgroups did, and they said it was much better. Our route on Fir had a bit too much traffic, and coupled with the south winds took the fun out of that stretch.

But overall I had a great time. We saw lots of eagles and herons along the way. Towards the end we passed a huge flock of snow geese. It was mostly a beautiful ride. Even the stretches that paralleled I5 were fine. There was very little traffic on Chuckanut so that was great too. The views from that road are better enjoyed from a bike than a car. And the cue sheet was flawless. My GPS came out almost exactly the same at every turn.