Catching Up

May 26 – Off to see the Wizard: At the end of the work day our friend Gary Edington arrived from Jackson Wyoming to pick us up and start our journey. We loaded up the RV, said our good-byes and were on our way. After ten months of planning, fund raising and training the day had finally arrived when we would leave for the Tour de Mission. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I was worried about my ability to complete the ride. Particularly the mountain passes in the Washington state.

To date we have raised just under $20,000.00 for the Mission Scholarship Foundation. While this is far short of what we had hoped when we started, it is a good start for what we are certain will be a strong and vibrant charitable organization. At this point each mile we ride represents $5.70 of donations and pledges.

After an uneventful drive we spent the night in a way-side just west of Spokane.

May 27 – Getting Started: Picking up big brother Tom at SeaTac at 2:00 PM went smoothly as we were off to Bay View, Washington and Bay View State Park. Bay View State Park is just east of Anacortes on Peugeot Sound. We arrived there around 4:00 PM. It was overcast but not raining so we dipped our back tires into the Pacific Ocean and took our maiden ride going about 25 miles, or just about 7 miles past Sedro-Woolley. Gary and Tom picked us up and brought us back to the campsite. Mackey did some punting and we all turned in early. The rain started at about 9;30 PM.

May 28 – Rain, Rain, Go Away…: The rain that started last night at around 9:30 continued unabated through the morning hours. At 9:00 AM we went to the store to buy groceries, drove up to where we had stopped riding last night, donned our best rain gear and took off. We rode through, appropriately enough, temperate rain forest the entire day. The beauty of the forest is spectacular. It seems as if every shade of green is visible all at once. The most stunning to me is the almost neon green from so of the hard wood trees. We were lucky enough to first hear, then see, several elk as they made their way through the forest. The rain was on again-off again all day. The temperatures were in the mid 50’s so we did not tarry very long in any one spot. After getting to New Halem we decided to press on another 10 miles up to the Colonial Campground. All in all it was a great first day of riding. We worked on being visible and safe as well as sticking together along what was a very busy Washington State Highway 20 on the Friday of Memorial Day.

May 29 – Stairway to Heaven: This was the day/climb that had been on our minds for months. None of us had ever done a 4,500 foot climb and subsequent decent. I was not sure any of us were in good enough shape to do it. We got an early start. The steepest part of the climb took place right after leaving our campground at Diablo Lake. My thought was that if the entire 30 miles to the top was going to be like this we were never going to make it. Thankfully we had a tail wind all day and the difficulty of the climb moderated. Almost today’s ride was in the North Cascades National Park. What a wonder of God’s creation!!! The only rain we encountered was, right on cue, as we passed over Rainy Pass (4,855 ft.). Throughout the ride we could always see and hear rushing mountain streams and cascades. Along with the constant song of birds it was truly a symphony of creation. We all experienced a significant feeling of relief and accomplishment after getting to the top of both Rainy and Washington (5,477 ft) passes. The descent (initially 7 miles of 7 percent grade) was exciting, dicey and scary. None of us had done anything quite like that before. Thank goodness the roads were dry and the breaks were well tuned. Anyway, despite some white knuckles we all made it down safe and sound. Mackey tends to be the downhill speed daemon with Katie and I being a bit more conservative.

The day’s ride ended pleasantly in Winthrop, Washington. Winthrop is quite a happening place with everything from a concert, to glass blowing to spectacular ice cream. The ice cream was the only gig we took advantage of. All in all a great day with some accomplishments and “first’s” for everyone. All of this was accomplished in one of America’s premier National Parks and a region of stunning beauty. We are so lucky.

May 30 – The Goodness of the Human Spirit: This was one of those days/experiences

Helmet: As I occasionally do on I misplaced my helmet the night before. After we had our ice cream and were heading to the campground I left my vest, helmet and gloves in the parking lot of the “Red Barn” in Winthrop. When we arrived at the Red Barn this morning, the night after they hosted a concert, all of my gear was still there. What a country !!!

Sunshine: For the first time on the trip we had some sunshine today. What a natural stimulant sunshine is for the soul.

A Maple Bar: In the morning we had an easy, sunny downhill stretch to Twisp, Washington. For the first time in years I had a maple bar with no guilt. I really enjoy maple bars (maple frosted long John’s) and will have as many on this trip as I fell like having.

Glen and Ann: A couple of the really nice people we met in Twisp were Glen and Ann. Among other entrepreneurial pursuits they run the local laundry and shower facility which they keep in immaculate condition. Glen has done four cross continent rides in his young life. He was very encouraging and had some great advice for us as we moved on.

Favorable Winds: We have been very thankful for predominantly westerly winds for the first few days of the trip. When we issued out of the mountains after crossing Loup Loup pass we took a hard left (heading north) out of Okanogan, Washington and were happily greeted with a south wind to push us north to Tonasket. Hopefully this type of good fortune will continue.

May 31 – Get it While the Gettin’s Good:

Wacunda – Up for sale: After leaving Tonasket early in the morning our first rendezvous point was Wacunda, Washington. I was secretly hoping for another maple bar after climbing up to within a mile or two of Wacunda Pass (4,310 ft.). The town of Wacunda (store, restaurant and post office) had recently been sold on e-bay but was closed today. What a bummer.

Slippery downhill: After the rainy climb up the pass Katie and chose to use the mountain bikes for the decent. The sign at the top read something like “motorcycle travelers use extreme caution – roadwork ahead.” Well we thought that would apply to us as well and thankfully we had the mountain bikes as backups to go down a very wet, very rough decent.

Naps: After a relatively short day we pulled into Republic, Washington very early in the afternoon. After days of riding and climbing, much of it in the rain, it felt so good to get a two hour nap. I felt totally rejuvenated after that. Naps are one of the simple pleasures that we should probably all take advantage of more often.

June 1 - The last big climb (for a while):

Cindy’s Morning Fudge – Kettle River Candy Company: As we were unloading the bikes and getting ready for the days ride Cindy, owner of the Kettle River Candy Company, came by and chatted with us for a while. Before we left, Cindy sold us three varieties of her hand made fudge. I have a weakness and fondness for fudge, especially this fudge. It was tops.

The Climbs: We did the last two climbs in the state of Washington today (Sherman Pass, 5,575 ft. and the highland plateau just to the east of Colville).

A Great Descent: It has taken us several descents to get comfortable with rifling down the mountain at high speed. We now enjoy the ride rather than dread it.

Kettle Falls: The town of Kettle Falls, Washington was moved in 39 days when the construction of the Grand Coulee dam created Lake Roosevelt.

The Grouch: A Kettle Falls tradition is to elect one person in town the “town grouch.” They have t-shirts that say “Kettle Falls – 1,600 nice people and one grouch.” Anyone can vote by donating 25 cents per vote. Just like Chicago if you have the money you can vote early and often.

First to Beaver Lodge on Lake Gillette – According to Kim, the owner, we are the first set of bikers through this year. Because the Beaver Lodge is on the Northern Tier route quite a number of cross country bikers who start on either coast stay at the Beaver Lodge which is located about 25 miles west of Colville. We had a great meal there and would highly recommend it to anyone.

June 2 – Rain Man: If you’re community is experiencing a drought just give us a call and we can solve that for you. It has rained every day on the trip and the prospects for improvement seem a ways off. Today it rained virtually all day on our ride to Priest River, Idaho. The word that best describes the ride is “miserable.” Not only did it rain all day, it was also windy and cold, in the 50’s. This was definitely a put your head down, shut up, and ride. We did that for about 75 miles.