Life in Coupeville

We just returned from a week celebrating a friends 51st birthday denial. It was lots of fun and a very pretty town.

Having said that, winters there are 20 below in February and the guy at the sporting good store said you can’t see anything due to the fog effect. Wow, I’ll take Coupeville’s 50 degree winter instead.

And they didn’t have a bookstore. Kind of weird. About five sporting good stores, and some books at the drug store, but no dedicated bookstore. Our library has them beat too.

The mountain biking was advertised as being superb. Well, those folks haven’t been to Whidbey Island. They had one trail, yes, one at the local State Park. Then we tried another “great ride”–a gravel fire road uphill for thirteen miles. Yes, that’s climbing a mountain, but that’s not mountain biking in my book, at least not the kind I like. If you drove about 40 minutes, you could get to some better stuff, but 40 minutes…geez.

I’d rather bike from the parking lot at Krueger Commons and go mountain biking at Fort Ebey State Park. Single track. It’s like nirvana. The salal and ferns brush your arms as you weave in and out of the trees, up and down like a roller coaster.  Heck, you could drive twenty minutes to bike Deception Pass, or if you like 40 minute drives, enjoy the rocky, sloggy mess near Anacortes. All singletrack, all twisty and fun. Out of all those great biking venues, Fort Ebey is definitely tops.

I only did one road bike ride. It was nice and flat, which I appreciate since I’m out of shape, but the road had these crazy divots missing between sections. Spin, drop, clunk, spin, drop, clunk. Another option was zooming along the Highway out of town. Great bike lanes and folks around there are very bike friendly–giving you lots of room–thanks!–but it’s a busy, busy road. I’ll stick to winding on the quiet roads around Coupeville.

Speaking of which, lately I’ve seen a few road bikers on the stretch of Hwy 20 between Madrona/Libbey going into Coupeville. There is a paved bike/hike/walking lane on the right side of the road, or you could avoid this section which is trafficked (you can bike all from one end of Whidbey to the other and stay off Hwy 20), by going on picturesque Madrona. Yes, there is barely a shoulder and it’s shady. So, be aware as you enjoy the views of Penn Cove, or hop on the paved lane that begins a mile or so South of the Libbey Road intersection. Biking maps of Island County are available, listing hill directions, rest areas, and difficulty.