Fantasic tour under blue skies, under falling leaves, and quiet roads among farmland. I started the ride from BI on the normal loop to Port Gamble with a small detour for a road closure.

Once across the Hood Canal Bridge, one of my least favorite stretches of road to ride, the quiet roads begin with an immediate right hand turn onto Paradise Bay Road. The next eight miles are easy punchy miles as you make your way to one of the true gems of the ride, Larson Lake Road.

Turn off Beaver Valley Road (one of the three valleys, along with West and Big) at the funky little gas station / convenient mart, dutifully decked out in Halloween decorations. The road is a gentle five mile climb with little to no car traffic.

Larson Lake Road dead ends into Center Road, a more populated road but with a very large shoulder. On this day a pretty steady wind blew from the north and from the right hand turn onto Center Road until I arrived at Chimacum Farm Stand it was head down and straight into the wind.

In planning the route the primary objective was to ride to the Chimacum Farm Stand as it would put the ride in the 85-100 mile distance I had in mind. The stop at the farm stand was much needed both to get out of the wind and to fuel up. It has a great selection of food produced from local farms, bakeries, and others; the carrot cake being one of my favorites.

My original route had me riding Anderson Lake Road west then south to Eaglemount Road but given the wind, and being a bit cold, I decided to shorten the route a bit take one of my favorite roads, West Valley Road, south to start completing the loop.

Farm and horses on West Valley Road shortly before turning onto Egg & I Road

West Valley Road is such a great five mile stretch. It has the distinct feel of a forest service road but rather than gravel and trees it’s great pavement and farm views.

Locally famous, Egg & I Road, is another treat of a road. Wonderfully rolling with great views, I was so happy to finally ride it. I noticed on the ground and on the map there’s a short dead end stretch which appears to have a nice little climb – next time.

From Egg & I Road it’s back to Beaver Valley Road for a short stretch, again on Paradise Bay Road before turning onto Teal Lake Road and a nice little climb up to the lake which is just a few hundred feet off the road and worth the short visit.

Shine Road heading towards the Hood Canal Bridge

From the lake it’s an easy descent to 104, crossing to Shine Road, a mostly flat road along the water. There’s a sign once you cross 104 which says no bridge access, ignore it. Also, I say mostly flat because there’s a 17% kicker just a short bit before the bridge which looks much steeper.

Once back across the bridge and into Kitsap there’s a few options to BI. I had been out in the wind and cold for several hours at this point so chose the slightly more direct route home along Big Valley Road, through downtown Poulsbo, along Lemolo Shore and back home.

Great ride. I saw several trail heads into the woods and the map suggest roads of some sort exist. Looking forward to a return trip.