“Many (cross-country riders) stay at hotels and motels, lodges. They’re not whizzing by you with a tankful of gas. They’re stopping and buying a few things here and there. They’re there to interact with a local community instead of driving by in a car and looking out the windows.”
— Steve Jahn, member of Skagit Bicycle Club, to reporter Mark Stayton at the Skagit Valley Herald
Young cyclist visits with a local at Methow ice cream shop
I couldn’t agree more with what Steve Jahn said to a newspaper reporter as US Bicycle Route 10 officially opened in Anacortes two weekends ago.
The 416-mile bicycle route crosses the state from Anacortes to Newport, ending at the Idaho border. One day it will connect to other USBR 10s in other states and stretch across the country to the Atlantic Ocean.
Already 6,790 miles of official US Bicycle Routes have been designated in 15 states, according to Adventure Cycling Association.
Those bicycle routes pass through numerous small towns where bicyclists stop to feed their engines and look for a place to stay.
Anacortes cyclist John Pope has been visiting many of those small towns in the past week or more on the inaugural bicycle ride on USBR 10 sponsored by Washington Bikes.
Pope coordinated efforts by Washington Bikes to secure approvals from communities along the way that helped win designation of the corridor as a US Bicycle Route this spring. He returned to ride his bike through that corridor that roughly follows Route 20 across the state.
USBR 10 pretty much follows the Northern Tier Bicycle Route created by Adventure Cycling to cross the US. It’s anticipated that more bike travelers will use it beginning next spring when the Cascade passes open up.
If you’re interested in making that trip, you can read posts about his cross-state travels at the Washington Bikes blog.
Blazing Saddles and Colville Ribbon Cutting
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