June 4, 2021
Omg that was difficult - w/ pictures
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2 years ago
Today we crossed 2 mountain passes. We started riding at 8 am and conquered Washington pass 8.5 hours later at 4:30 pm after climbing for 30 miles. We made it to Winthrop at 8pm for 12 hours of riding. Most of the climbing was at 6% gradient, with several spots at 9% and 8%. One small spot on the road was at 10.6% gradient. A tough day of riding. Very proud that we made it up and over, especially proud of Janet.
Last night Ross’s friend from Seattle, Brendan, stayed near us in the Colonial Creek campground. Brendan is Ross’s skiing buddy and went to high school with Ross. The plan was for Brendan to ride up to the pass and then turn around and ride back to his truck and return home. Unfortunately, due to the slow riding of us senior touring members, Brendan had to turn back just prior to Rainy pass. It was a real treat to have Brendan come visit us and ride with us for a few hours. One of the really cool things about having Brendan and Ross on the ride is that they are both back country skiers. On weekends they drive up to these passes and climb up into the peaks of the mountains and then ski down. We will be sitting at a rest and they will point up to a given mountain top and say “See that coulee to the right, last week we skied that coulee”. Janet and I look at each other and say to Ross “I wish you did not tell me that”. Sometimes it is better if parents don’t know what their kids do.
On the way up the pass we met two girls who are also riding to Maine. We leap frogged them as we went up the pass and we were resting at the top of the passes with them. We expect that we will run into them multiple times over the next couple of months.
After the pass we had a 20 mile downhill to the small town of Mazama where we stopped and had chocolate milk ( our go to recovery drink) and fish tacos. Then it was a 15 mile slightly downhill ride to Winthrop. Luckily the wind was at our backs or that last ride would have been brutal.
The big money question is why would you willingly subject yourself to that suffering?
The scenery was OMG beautiful. Up among the peaks, working hard but being in the midst of the beautiful scenery is almost a spiritual event. When you do it in a car, you see the peaks for a minute or so. When you ride on a bike, you can look at a given peak for 15 minutes. It is truly amazing.
We are feeing pretty beat up, so tomorrow is going to be a day off, rest day. We have 4 more passes to climb in the next week and we will enjoy them much more if we rest.
Internet is spotty and slow in this area. I may miss some days of posting but will catch up when internet is better. I will also post pictures when it is better. Check back.
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2 years ago
Have you run into any fellow bike tourers? We met a guy going to Minnesota and two girls going to Maine.
We do not have shirts with behind bars. We all have a blue “pedal America “ jersey.
We are doing loup loup tomorrow and will end up in Omak. The following day we are doing a short ride to Tonasek. Perhaps we can meet up there?
Safe travels!! Hope the weather is better for you!
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Today's ride: 66 miles (106 km)
Total: 226 miles (364 km)
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I met you at pickleball your last day when you brought donuts. I am really enjoying your journal entries.
The photos are amazing. I just read Janet’s entry, wow she’s an amazing trooper. Y’all stay safe and enjoy. 🙏
2 years ago
You might run into RacPat (Rachel and Patrick Hugens) at some point.
2 years ago