Tour de force — biking in the San Juan Islands is a whale of a good time

SAN JUAN ISLANDS, Wash. — Bicycle touring is a whale of a good time on the magical San Juan Islands.

Riders flock to this bicycling paradise for its varying terrain, quiet two-lane roads and scenic beaches. But the abundance of wildlife draws visitors, too. The opportunity to spot a whale was a major reason for visiting the islands for my first multiday bicycle adventure.

Every hard-earned tire rotation during my seven-day, 269-mile, self-guided tour of the islands, located some 80 miles north of Seattle in the Puget Sound, was validated when I witnessed a pod of whales playfully swimming up the shoreline of San Juan Island.

Until then, the trip had not been without a few challenges. The first day, 90-degree heat near Seattle had me wondering why I hadn't booked a cruise. And the roads to the ferry terminal in Anacortes, Wash., were busy, loud and hilly. Every passing truck rattled my nerves. I hadn't ridden next to vehicles traveling at highway speeds before.

But I stayed positive knowing my riding partner, Ross Jonak, had survived a much tougher trip last summer, when he rode coast-to-coast on his bike.

When we arrived at the ferry terminal, I was too tired and sore to care that for the first time in my life, I was wearing Spandex shorts in public.

After buying the round-trip ferry ticket between Anacortes and our first destination, Shaw Island, we were relieved to learn that bicyclists and walk-on passengers can ride for free between islands. (Summer fares for adults are $13.15, plus $4 for a bike, Wednesday-Saturday, and $11.85 Sunday-Tuesday.)

The Washington State Ferries serve the four biggest islands in the San Juans. We spent the short ferry rides taking pictures, snacking, napping and studying maps of the islands.

Shaw Island was idyllic for getting us in the island groove. The island has only one store, a post office, a school and a campground. We only saw one car on the road leading to the campground. It had a completely different feel than the roads on the mainland.

We arrived at the campground without a reservation because we'd read that most campgrounds offered designated areas for hikers and bikers.

After setting up camp, our nightly routine consisted of one person preparing the mostly canned food dinner and the other going from site to site looking for abandoned firewood.

We needed the fire to keep warm as we had decided to leave our sleeping bags behind in the Seattle heat. That turned out to be a mistake; neither of us slept well during the trip because of the cold nightly temperatures. Even in late July and August, the average high temperature in the San Juan Islands is around 70 degrees and the average low is a chilly (for summer) 50.