Patterns

Detecting a pattern here? Well, think "Tuesday." I've had so much fun writing about riding that I guess I'll just keep on going. But, only once a week. There has been some progress on the Spare no Expense front. I did get that new computer that records climb data. Now I'll know how tall the rides are, not just how long.

There are new pedals and cleats in a box, waiting for the new shoes to arrive. Yep. Now I have everything I'll ever need. But there is that new... I think I'm detecting another pattern.

As for some of the comments on recent posts. Yes, I'm crazy, that's been established. But I'm still thinking about riding around and through Glacier National Park. Sort of re-certifying my craziness, something to do every year. It was mostly guys at the presentation, although Helen, Paul's wife, came to watch. I wore the shoes, my Georgia Tech jersey. And the shorts.

Oh, riding the bike. I've put in 224.1 miles since last Tuesday and am now at 3337.3 miles for the year. Only 1667.2 miles to go for 5,000. And according to the new computer, I've climbed 9,764 feet. Another statistic to chart. Do have all of the data in an Excel worksheet? Yes I do.

If This Is Tuesday, It Must Be...

Ithaca, New York. I'm here on a business trip. I'm not in Sparta, but that's where the Coast to Coast tour is tonight. Plans were to ride over and visit, but it is not to be. I called Carol (tour leader) and she informed me that "we've had some adventures since you and Bill left us in Missoula." So, adventures missed. And the tour too*. But Ithaca is a pleasant college town (Cornell University) with nasty hills all over. I found myself assessing the landscape as if I was going to jump on a bike and ride.

Not riding. But... a new computer, road shoes and pedals are on order. Actually, according to my emails, most are on the way. No riding since Sunday due to the trip to NY, but I'm up to 3,113.2 miles for the year after riding 135.6 miles last weekend.

* missed

Nine For, Fifteen Against

Nine for, 15 against (or don't care or didn't pay attention to the question). That's the result of the poll for my presentation today, a brown-bag session at work where I'll show some pictures and talk about the trip. The question, "should I wear the tights and jersey for the presentation or not?" What will I do? You’ll have to wait to find out.

In addition to a little (very little) preparation for today’s "big event," I have ridden about 275 miles since returning from the tour. This brings my total riding for 2007 to 2,950 miles.

I've decided to set some goals for the rest of the year, the pull of getting ready for the tour having passed. First, go at least 5,000 miles. Twenty-one centuries between now and December 31 and I'm there! Also, I want to find a ride for next year. Right now I'm thinking about Cycle America’s Glacier National Park ride, but I'll study the options and see what happens. Bill? Well, he's off to Switzerland in mid-August. A practically perfect opportunity as he and a few others will scout out routes for a ride around Switzerland tour next year. Awesome.

Oh, about the "spare no expense" facet of riding. Larry, one of the riders on the tour, had this really great computer. It not only tracked the standard speed, distance and ride time metrics but logged details of the climbing. He had a profile of our ride across Thompson Pass and the computer stored total climbing and the average and maximum grades. I saw something like this in one of the many catalogs I get now. You can even download the data to your laptop. How cool is that. AND, I'm looking for a good pair of road shoes and pedals. After that, I'll have everything I need. And if you believe that…

Home Again

Sunday, June 24
Missoula to La Crosse
Getaway day starts with a fine breakfast at the McDonalds near the hotel. It is a laid back morning, nothing at all like the previous seven days where we were up early, packing up tents and setting out on the bikes. One trick is for me to stop eating as if I were going to be burning mega calories. This is not easy. Quesadillas and steak last night, biscuits this morning and now, at the airport, hamburger and fries for lunch.

As badly as the trip started (see the June 14 Cancelled posting) it promises to end on a better note. The flight from Missoula to Minneapolis is on time. That in itself is unusual these days, but what happens next is even more so. Our checked bags are out on the carousel within minutes of our arrival. We no sooner collect them than the door to the Oversized Bags collection area opens and our bikes are wheeled out. We were on our way in less than 10 minutes. It was a bit of an adventure getting bags and bikes to the hotel shuttle pickup site. We had to negotiate two elevators, each of which were only slightly larger than us and our collected load. But, we made it, only once dropping the clumsy bike cases off of the cart.

Another McDonalds meal as we start the drive home, which doesn't take long at all. The speed limit is ?? somewhere. I think. Well, maybe not.

Home. Shirley comes out of through the garage. It is good to see her. Bags are unloaded and unceremoniously deposited on the floor in the garage. Later, I read my journal to Shirley. She's heard much of this as I had called her several times a day during the tour. I discover she has kept a not-on-a-bike-ride journal which she shares with me. I miss being on the road, but it is good to be home.

What next? I've discovered that I've enjoyed writing the blog about the preparation and ride. Not as much as I've enjoyed actually doing the things I've written about, but it has been a lot of fun doing this. I have a plan for another couple of posts, then have to decide how to end it. Any suggestions?

Transition

Saturday, June 23
Missoula
I got off of my bike, leaned it against the Penske truck and helped Dan unload the bike boxes. In just a few short minutes, I'd gone from a rider to a civilian. It took some negotiations to arrange for transportation to the hotel where we would stay tonight - Dan needed to get it all straight with Carol, who was riding one of the sag wagons still out on the highway. Everything gets sorted out and Dan even gets DC (Cycle America staff) to ride along, enticing him with the promise of a stop at the Missoula REI. Bikes are disassembled and boxed and we are ready to leave. Not a lot of goodbyes, as only a few of the riders are in yet. We leave the tour, riding in one of the two vans.

How do you mitigate the effects of pasta withdrawal? Beef! The desk clerk at the hotel tells us that The Depot has the best steaks in town. This recommendation is seconded by the cab driver who picks us up a few minutes later. When we arrive, we find that they do not open for about an hour, but the staff suggests that we might like to wait at The Iron Horse, located about three blocks away. This sounds like an excellent idea. We go and decide maybe we should ease into the steak with some quesadillas. Sort of like stretching before the ride. We apply ourselves diligently to this task and leave ready to tackle the heavy lifting of real meat.

The Depot is one of those dark wood, low light establishments. There is a really interesting painting used over and over in the restaurant; I see it on the walls, the menus. A cowboy painting with bold colors. I like the effect, very much*.

We finish out this last day of the tour with good beef and good conversation. Getting back into the multi-tasking mode, I decide this dinner should also be a celebration of Bill's birthday, which was one week earlier, the day we flew into Seattle to start the tour. A fitting end to a day of transition.

* I find out later the painting is one of a collection gathered by the owner of The Depot, all of which have been done by artist Larry Pirnie. See some of the collection by clicking here.

Paradise

Saturday, June 23
Thompson Falls to Missoula
I rode through Paradise today. And the other place. Sort of like every day of the ride (except for the Spokane to Kellogg leg), where there were relatively easy stretches and then some hard parts. Today had one of the easier easy parts. And one of the harder hard ones.

Here it is, the last day...

After six days of riding, 515 miles on the road, we come to the longest ride of the Northwest Sampler tour. An entire week without ever seeing the sun set. Every day with nothing to do but get ready to ride, ride and recover from the ride. Do it one more time and the tour is over. As “momentous” as this day is, I do not recall thinking anything different on this morning as I rolled up the tent for the last time, hauled the bags up into the back of the Penske truck and rode off to the Elks club for breakfast. It is a another day to ride.

And what a ride it was. Once again we are treated to spectacular scenery as we ride along Montana 200. About 10 miles out of Thompson Falls, rocky hills come down and hug the road. The sign up ahead says “Watch for bighorn sheep. Next 12 miles.” And I did. But there were none to be seen on this morning. Still, a nice ride and I notice that the pace is pretty fast. The road is flat to gently rolling and there is a nice tailwind. The miles roll by as I ride on, looking up and to my left from time to time in hopes of spotting one of the aforementioned bighorns.

Along the way, we ride through Eddy and Wild Horse. The valley widens and the hills are now a mile or two away, ranches taking up residence in the grassy plains. At the 31 mile mark, we come to the water stop. It is Paradise. Paradise, Montana. So, this is what it is like. Not bad.

The wind continues to push and we arrive at the picnic stop in Dixon. My computer tells me I have averaged 19.2 mph over this first 57.5 miles of the ride. We are at a small park and it does not take long for one of the locals to come up and check things out - a slow moving black lab who, before this day is over, will be in his own handout paradise. The Dixon Senior Center is behind the park. It is a social club and there is a rummage sale going on. Apparently this is Sale Day in Montana as there have been signs everywhere. I go in and ask about using the facilities. The ladies watching the wares say that they do not think the Dixon seniors will mind; in fact, they tell me I can let Michelle know that she can direct the riders in as they arrive. A welcome invitation it is.


We have 7 miles of riding to get to the next turn on the route sheet where highway 200 comes together with highway 93, the route between Missoula and Glacier National Park. We are not in Paradise anymore, Toto. This is without doubt the most bicycle hostile route of the trip. It is a very busy two-lane highway, with heavy, fast moving traffic, much of it motor homes or trucks pulling trailers. The shoulder is wide, but there is a nearly continuous rumble strip just outside the white line. This means you have to ride the line and expose yourself to the traffic or ride in the debris field that is on the other side of the strip. We are on this road only briefly when Bill gets a flat. It promises to be a long stretch.

It is getting warmer, there is not so much a push from the wind anymore and the scenery is a bit less interesting. Cars whizzing by and the continuous grind trying to negotiate the rumble strip add to the grief. Then it gets hard. The road begins to rise. It isn’t much, but I really start to drag. There is a “good downhill” listed on the route sheet, but it is still 8 miles away. One of the least pleasant hours of the whole tour was spent on this section of Highways 200 and 93.

The highway eventually flattens out a bit. Then, it expands to four lanes and I can see the transition to a downhill grade up ahead. We met a self-supporting biker when Bill was fixing his flat. He told us that the descent into Missoula was a 40 mph downhill. I start down and the riding is easier. But it is hardly 40 mph. About half that actually. Still, it is a big improvement.

Then I see it. The road ahead just disappears over the edge at the start of the real descent. As I go over, I’m looking down a steep drop with the road sweeping around to the right. I do not think that this descent was all that much steeper than others on the trip, but it looked really nasty. Maybe it was the accumulated difficulty of the last few hours, the thought of dealing with traffic, not knowing what the hill looked like around that curve. But, it was there, between me and Missoula, so over I went. How was it? Nerve wracking. Not Paradise, to be sure. More like, … well, you know. Rolling around the first big curve, the descent continues unabated towards another big bend, this to the left. After that, I’m looking down a long stretch with the road continuing to cascade down the hill. I am still dropping at over 40 mph, but at least I could see the bottom and feel a little better. When I reach the flatter section, I realized that I was able to make the entire descent without having a single car or truck come up behind me. A little bit of Paradise, maybe.

There were a couple of navigational incidents in the last 12 miles, but eventually I was following the yellow arrows on a grand tour of the University of Montana campus. Pulling up into the parking lot at the dorm, I think, “I did it!” As I’ve said, you are allowed these moments on rides so I allowed myself to celebrate. Quietly.

“I did it!” *

Today’s ride ~ 104.5 miles
Trip total ~ 619.2 miles
Ride time ~ 5 hours 55 minutes

* Lest you get too impressed, there were 33 other riders who made it to Missoula. Thirty one of them kept going and 26 of them plan to ride until they dip their front wheels in the harbor at Boston. Now THAT's impressive.

Wordless Wednesday

So if I have to explain the posting today, it really isn't wordless. We'll call it Not so Many Words This Time, then. The slide show has pictures from our overnight, picnic and water stops. Except for the moose. He's there because it was cool to see a moose. Check in tommorrow (July 5) for the account of the last day of the ride.

Riding High

Friday, June 22
Kellogg, Idaho to Thompson Falls, Montana
Kellogg, Idaho is home to the world’s longest gondola, if you believe the sign at the boarding station. You can ride up to the top of one of the mountains that surround the town and come back again. You end up having gone nowhere, but with, I am sure, a lot of oohs and aahs along the way. And maybe a few shivers, depending on your attitude about altitude. It isn’t the destination, it’s the journey. It makes me think of the training I did. Two thousand miles and on the day before leaving for this trip I was still in La Crosse. But it was quite a journey in those two months that I rode. Two bikes, all the hills and rides along the river. Now, on this journey, one with a destination - Missoula, Montana - I am having the time of my life. Every mile something new. Well, there were those few endless stretches in the high plains, but even they have their place in the patchwork of experiences that make up the journey. This was a journey I had sought, worked for. Wanting the experience of long rides, big climbs, new landscapes. It has not disappointed.

After taking four and one half days to ride across Washington and get into Idaho, we will cross the Montana state line at about the two-thirds point in today’s short ride. When I wrote this in my paper journal, it struck me that in a matter of just a few days, 69 miles had become a short ride.

In spite of the pace of yesterday’s ride, I feel very good upon arising early on this Friday morning. We backtrack on the bike trail for about 7 miles then head off to the northeast on River Road. This is another of the several nice rides on winding roads and rivers. We are making our way towards Thompson Pass. On the route sheet, I read, at the 42.6 mile mark, "Long Climb 1 1/2 miles 9%." I'm not up on grades. We apparently did some 6%'s earlier, but I can't really picture 9%. Well, actually I can and it is not too pretty. We stop briefly at a Husky service station and get chilled Starbucks Frappuccinos. The guy holding down the fort tells us about the fishing in the nearby river - cutthroat trout. I can see it now: fishermen pull up in a rugged four wheel drive, saunter into the store and come out loaded with six packs of caramel latte coolers. A day in the wilderness.

Off we go, soon to turn off onto Thompson Pass Road. Just another spectacluar ride in the Idaho panhandle. It is 14 miles to the 9% climb, but the climbing starts much sooner. First 2% then 4%, up to 6% (yes, I'm guessing). Finally the road takes a sharp turn to the right and THE climb begins. I pedal along in low gear. It is not easy, but not, on the other hand, nearly as hard as I had expected either. Near the top of the pass, I am riding from one marker to the next (reflectors at 0.05 mile intervals), but it is clear now that I will make it to the pass, this one topping out at about 5,000 feet. And so I do. The picnic stop is set up in the parking lot of the overlook. Michelle is cooking sausages to go along with the rest of the generous lunch goodies.

You can look down on the road that you have just ridden up. It looks far away. It is far away. This is where you are allowed to pause and reflect, "I just rode up that road on a bike!" It feels good to sit on the rock in the warm sun and enjoy the achievement.


Soon it is time to go. Another long, tense downhill. Not terribly steep - about 35 mph for the most part, but it goes on and on. Once down to the lower levels, I ride through a few "towns," but it is mostly forested hills. Turning onto highway 200, I am greeted by a sign that says Thompson Falls. Montana. I never saw a Welcome to Montana sign and wonder when the border crossing actually happened. Several other riders commented later that they did not notice any acknowledgement of the Idaho-Montana border either.

After setting up our tents, we decide to walk back into town for the afternoon refreshment. We meet one of the local residents on the sidewalk and, being the observant sort, he notices that we are "not from around here," as he puts it. Wonder how he could tell? I say we are biking through and he says, "I ride a Harley myself. But, there's nothing wrong with a good Honda or Yamaha." "Bicycles," I tell him. "Oh. I'm not much for riding them." I never would have guessed. Later he tells us that he owns a town on the road back towards Thompson Pass. "It's just something I do," he says, as if this explains everything.

We have some transportation issues to deal with which end up in us having to walk back to the school to get a ride to dinner at the local Elks club, about two miles on the other side of town.

Today's ride ~ 69.6 miles
Trip total ~ 514.7 miles
Ride time ~ 4 hours 41 minutes

Missing the Mark; and Hitting It

Thursday, June 21
Spokane to Kellogg, Idaho
One of the things I learned about this bicycle touring thing is that you need to be able to follow the marks, the yellow arrows painted on the road by the routers. Sure, there was the Route Sheet, but it had 20 or 30 separate instructions and I do not have a photographic memory. I’d look at it, try to anticipate the route, but it was finding those arrows that was the real key to success. Missing one was a recipe for, well, an unexpected adventure. Just ask Roy. He missed a turn at Coeur D’Alene Lake and ended up in Plummer, Idaho. The picnic stop was in Harrison. Harrison is not too near Plummer. But, all’s well that ends well. Roy actually became a celebrity in Plummer. The tribal police force took him in, arranged for a lunch, took pictures with him and gave him a departmental shoulder patch. And, Carol went and got him back on track for the remainder of the ride.

Today we cross the state line and work our way to Kellogg, Idaho. And we had a decision to make right away. The food services at Gonzaga were prepared to have our breakfast ready at 7:30 a.m. This was halfway through the morning! Bill suggests and I agree that we will leave early and get our own breakfast. We stick to this plan even after an agreement is negotiated to have the breakfast ready at 6:30. So, around 6, we take off. Somewhere in southeastern Spokane, we pull into a bakery and have breakfast with good, strong coffee, fruit and pastry. Bill had quiche. Isn’t there something about “REAL men…?”

Then, we head out on our third straight long ride. It isn’t long before we get out of town and into a valley where we meet, head on, a stiff wind. This is not looking good at all. We struggle on and, to my relief, the wind dies down a bit. Out in open country, we ride along again on rolling hills under a generally clear sky. Once, out of nowhere, I feel rain drops. There are no clouds nearby, so I surmise that this is rain that has blown in from Seattle. It does not last long and we ride on. After the first water stop, we come to a collection of signs on the side of the road…”Idaho State Line” and “Entering Coeur D’Alene Indian Reservation.” Yet another milestone.

We push on, past the Casino and along a fairly busy highway. I’m still feeling pretty good, pedaling along, watching the tenths click off on my computer. In the groove, I guess. Then I hear something behind me. I look in my mirror and see Bill pumping furiously, calling to me, “Jack, you missed the mark!” I’d been ahead of him for a while and when I went past the turn, he had to find the extra gear to get close enough to hail me down. He said later that he had called several times and if I hadn’t noticed him this time, he’d have let me go. Wonder where I would have ended up?

Back on track, we negotiate about six miles of rollers that seem to get progressively higher as we go. Then, we turn and start a descent, now in a thick forest. We bump over the first of two cattle guards marked on the route sheet. This one surprises us and our passing is at high speed. Thankfully, it is a smooth “crossing.” A few more turns and suddenly we are treated to a magnificent view of Coeur D’Alene Lake below us. It is an absolutely breathtaking sight.

We wind our way down the road and at lake level, get on the wide paved bike path that will take us the remaining 48 miles to Kellogg. This is a “Rails to Trails” project and soon after we get onto the path, we cross a picturesque railroad bridge. The path is very cleverly stepped on the climb to the high point and again on the other side, the descent for us.

The path winds around the lake and we slow down, take in the wildflowers, trees, and panoramic views across the water. It is a great ride. We are soon in Harrison, having lunch at a small city park looking out over the lake. There is an espresso bar across the street, and I look forward to a midday coffee after lunch. It was, alas, not to be. When I went over, I found the shop to be closed. Oh, well. And, it was off again to finish the ride to Kellogg.

The general idea was to ride an easy pace through this beautiful countryside. I went out at a comfortable pace and soon found myself far ahead of Bill and Craig. Looking at the computer, I see I’m going along at a 22 mph clip. We stop at one point to photograph a young moose just off the side of the trail. Bill says, “This isn’t a time trial.” I reply, “I know. But, I have never, ever felt this good on a bike.” I just have to go. And go. I’m enjoying the view; I don’t feel like I’m working hard; I’m just going. It was an amazing, and heretofore never experienced sensation.

I go on, clicking off the miles. At about ten miles from Kellogg, I began to realize that Neil and Kimmarie, who were at the lunch stop when we left, had not passed me yet. I was on track to be first to arrive at the school in Kellogg. I tell myself that this is not important. Just enjoy the ride. But at five miles out, I finally decided I want to be the first in. If I am, I know, it is only because Neil and Kimmarie took a really long lunch. Still, I was now set on getting in ahead of the rest of the tour. I had slowed down a bit, settling into what seemed to be a very easy pace, but still making good time. Then, a surprise.

As I entered Kellogg I looked in my mirror and saw Bill and Craig, very close and closing. As I said earlier, this ride was in general not a competition for me. But at this particular point, it was. For the next mile, anyway. So, I stood up and picked up my speed. I heard Bill holler, “Jack…” but on the now fairly narrow and winding bike path, he had to fall back. He said later that he was going to say as he went past, “Don’t mess with the peloton.” But, surprisingly, I still had some legs left and sprinted to the end of the bike path. Just a few blocks from the school now, we rode in together.

There’s no explaining why I felt so good, all the way to the end of today’s 96.4 mile leg. Nor can I explain how it felt. It was just a really good feeling.

As I’ve said, there was much to learn about riding. Bill tells me as we are setting up our tents that the first in buys. I’m sure he isn’t just making up the rules as we go…

Today’s ride ~ 96.4 miles
Trip total ~ 445.1 miles
Ride time today ~ 5 hours 51 minutes

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Wednesday, June 20
Electric City to Spokane
I would call Shirley from the road, several times a day; this to share my excitement, let her know how things were going. During one conversation she asked me what time it got dark out here in the Pacific Northwest. I replied, “I don’t have a clue.” It’s true. I was asleep before nautical twilight. Well, before civil twilight. Actually, it was before sunset. Even at the end of the longest day, I felt pretty good after a shower and our mid afternoon refreshment, but once dinner and the evening meeting were over, it was time to go to bed. And sleep. Very well.

It was the second long ride of the tour, 94.4 miles it turned out. It started with, you guessed it, a 3 mile climb. Just out of the town of Grand Coulee where we had breakfast at the same restaurant that served us the latest of our string of lasagna dinners the night before, we found ourselves above the backside of Grand Coulee dam. Even from this vantage point, where you could not see its height or expanse, it is an impressive structure.

Shortly after this we start the climb. When I reached the top, I realized that this was the best climb I’d ever done. How do I measure this? Bill did not go by me on the way up. He is a very good rider and a really, really good climber. I gauge my climbs by how long he has to wait at the top for me to arrive. This has never happened before, didn’t happen again on the tour and might well never happen again. So, it was a good climb to be sure.

It wasn’t long after we gained the top that Bill broke the cable for the rear-wheel gears. Stuck with only the three chain ring options, he rode for nearly thirty miles, luckily a section of rolling hills with no long, steep climbs. At the picnic stop Niall, the tour mechanic, had a new cable installed before Bill was through with his sandwich. Knowing that the “sag wagons” were cruising the course and that we had a fully equipped mechanic made for some peace of mind as we rode the open road.

One good climb does not a good ride make. As we turned to a more easterly direction, we met a headwind. This and the long stretch of rolling hills slowed me down and I was glad for the lunch break. Still, it was a pretty stretch of road. At one point there was this amazing expanse of green near the road with another field of dazzling yellow farther back.

It went better after eating and resting a bit and I was off for Spokane. Along the way Neil, the Irish riding machine, went by me. He goes by everyone. An amazing rider. Shortly thereafter I look up just in time to see him take a tumble off to the right of the shoulder. When I get to the scene of the accident, he is up, looking at his bike. He says he’s OK, that he had a momentary lapse in attention and got into the sand off of the shoulder. “Happens all the time,” he says. I know why, too. When this happens to me -- when I start drifting to the edge of the shoulder -- I have time to assess the situation, ponder a few alternative courses of action, choose one and execute it. Neil, on the other hand, at the speed he rides, has very little time to react.

Getting into Spokane means riding on a very nice bike trail for a while. Then, it is a tour of the western end of the city before finally rolling in to the Gonzaga University campus where we have dorm rooms for the night. Rooms! With beds! And “bed-wetter” mattresses as Carol would note later. They were covered in a plastic material that, in addition to Carol’s view of their primary function, served to make them very warm to sleep on in the non air-conditioned rooms.

We have plans to go out with Bill’s friends Rex and Susan. Rex picks us up at the dorm and on the way to his home we discuss dinner options. “Anything except pasta or potatoes,” Bill suggests. I discover that these are real friends when later, Susan suggests that we dine on spaghetti. Bill tells her we have opted for pasta-free dining tonight. She laughs and suggest that we’d best be on our way to the brew pub for hamburgers, then. We didn’t do so well on the potato thing, however. French fries, a necessary accompaniment to the hamburgers, you know.

Back to the plastic beds which provided, in spite of the above mentioned issues, a good night’s sleep.

Today’s ride ~ 94.4 miles
Trip total ~ 348.7 miles
Ride time today ~ 6 hours 49 minutes

Saturday Songfest

There are some constants in a long ride, I discovered. One is the white line along the side of the road. The following can be sung, I think, to the tune of I Walk the Line, which you can hear here

I keep a close watch on this pace of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I watch the road that glides beneath my wheels
I ride the line, the long white line

From Seattle to Skykomish in the rain
Stevens Pass, three thousand feet to gain
Wenatchee to the great Grand Coulee dam
I ride the line, the long white line

To Spokane and Kellogg, Idaho
Up Thompson Pass to Montana we do go
Thompson Falls and to Missoula town
I ride the line, the long white line

Many wonders on this ride I see
Western Highways 2 to 93
One more mile in a new place I will be
I ride the line, the long white line

I kept a close watch on that pace of mine
I kept my eyes wide open all the time
I watched the road that slid beneath my wheels
I rode the line, the long white line

Stories from the ride continue tomorrow...

See Johnny Cash sing I Walk the Line by clicking here

A Long One (Ride and Posting!)

Tuesday, June 19
Wenatchee to Electric City
What is the most common form of road kill out here? By my count, it is the bungee snake. Usually found hanging on to tarpaulins covering cargo on car tops, truck beds or trailers, you see them all over the shoulders. I guess they can only hang on for just so long and then have to give it up. You do see a lot more of the thin, multi-colored ones than the more sturdy black genus of this family of fauna. Natural selection at work.

Today was to be the first long ride on the Washington plains. Which it was. After the 7 mile, 6% climb 24 miles out of Wenatchee. It is a ride on the HIGH plains. A detail not explained until last night’s route briefing. But again, the climb is not so terribly difficult and is much different from yesterdays. Now we are pedaling up a dry valley. Lots of rocks, not too much vegetation. It is warm, but early enough to not be really hot. The road winds around the valley walls with great views down and then up on the other side. I catch up to Carol (Cycle America tour leader) part way up. She has a skull hanging from her handlebars. Not one of our riders, but what we decide later is probably a pronghorn.

After the climb the road drops back down into Waterville, the first quarter-point water station. I Gatorade up as the next 18 miles is described on the route sheet as “Rolling hills. Scarce shade. No Services." And that is a pretty good description. It was interesting and again much different from the last two days where we had tall forests, mountains and roiling rivers. Along one stretch I saw a number of dust devils. Most were small whirlwinds, but one larger one seemed to have aspirations of becoming a tornado. A mini-van had stopped on the side of the road and a young boy was videotaping this dance of dust in the empty field.

My chain came off as I downshifted to go up on the one of the many rollers. It went back on easily, but a few minutes later I picked up a piece of wire which became stuck in my rear derailleur. It was a pretty hefty wire and I was beginning to wonder if I could get it out. As I was fooling around with this, I could see our Penske luggage truck approaching. I decided to flag it down (you raise your hand in the air and make a fist to ask for assistance) to see if they had some wire cutters. But I was too late and they did not see the signal. However, it only took a few more seconds of maneuvering the wire before it dropped out. These two events were to be the only mechanical issues I had on the entire 620 mile ride. Not a single flat, broken cable. Nothing. I never, ever expected that.

After lunch we come quickly to a four mile descent. A Grand Canyonesque hole in the high plains. A spectacular ride down into a valley that looked to have been carved by eons of rushing water, but which was now bone dry.

Being a hole such as it was, you can probably guess what comes next. A four mile climb. That’s what the route sheet said. However, after climbing out of the canyon, the road rolled along, with each "up" being higher than the preceding "down," so it was net climbing for many miles. The road finally levels off and I am riding again in the high plains. These long, relatively flat sections were some of the harder parts of the ride. A big part of that was mental, as you ride for an hour, look around and nothing has changed. The only real sign of progress is the mileage reading on your computer.

About 15 miles of this and I come up on another descent, this time into Coulee City, the second water stop. There is a lake up ahead, trapped behind Chief Joseph dam. Dropping down to lake level, the road goes across a low earthen embankment called Dry Falls dam. I think, “So this is where all of the dry that fills the canyons comes from.” The route sheet had BEACH! Noted at the water stop which was in a community park. The geese in the area apparently knew about the beach too. It was best to not walk too close to the water. I do not think anyone took a dip before heading out for the last 26 miles of the ride.

Leaving Coulee City, the route turns off onto Washington Highway 155, the road to Grand Coulee dam. Soon, I am riding along Banks Lake, the water to my left and towering rock cliffs on the right. The road is flat, the wind is pushing and I had recovered a bit at the water stop. This was good riding. Even the 2 mile climb that came out of nowhere wasn’t a problem. And it was followed by a two mile descent on the other side.

At 2:30 p.m., after 99.4 miles, I pull into Sunbanks Resort and Campground, just outside of Electric City, having ridden just over 7 hours, the longest day of riding for the entire week. Bill has already found a good campsite up against the trees. He procures refreshment while I shower. A long, interesting ride.

Today’s ride ~ 99.4 miles
Trip total ~ 254.3 miles
Ride time today ~ 7 hours 9 minutes

Updates

I've added some pictures to the posts from the last three days...check them out!

Firsts

Monday, June 18
Skykomish to Wenatchee
You only get to do something for the first time once. This trip provided an above average number of chances for firsts for me. First organized tour, first seven-days-in-a-row-of-riding in a week, first Cascade Mountains espresso stand, and so on. Today, my very first mountain pass. We are to leave Skykomish and climb up over the 4,061 foot Stevens Pass. Not a giant pass, as mountain passes go. But my first. We had about 3,100 feet of climbing from Skykomish - a surprise as I had thought the town was farther up than it was. While we had done 2,000 feet of climbing yesterday (according to the info on the queue sheet) our net altitude gain was only 940 feet.

Skykomish has apparently moved 600 feet up the hill. Yesterday's queue sheet said we would end our ride in the town at an altitude of 940 feet. Today's sheet says we start our ride in Skykomish at an altitude of 1,000 feet. I must have slept well last night - I did not notice the jump.

We set out on a misty, but not rainy, morning, still cool enough for tights and a jacket. After a short ride on Highway 2, a road we would get to know well, we turned off onto Iron Goat Trail. This was a great loop through the rain forest. About a mile in we go over a bridge spanning a swift running stream just below a waterfall. Wow.

We leave Iron Goat a bit farther up the mountain and begin the 7 mile climb to the top on Highway 2. The climb is not as hard as some around La Crosse; while longer, it is not so steep. To my left, the land falls away while to my right it rises with a rocky face. About 3/4's of the way up, the road bends to the right. Looking up ahead, I see a very dark cloud in the mist and wonder if I am about to get dumped on. Soon I can see that this dark spot is not a cloud, rather a large mountain on the other side of the cut to my left. The mist clears some more and I see a stream literally falling down the steep face. I stop, extract my camera from the little bag on the bar in front of me. I'm just in time to snap a picture of the mist as it closes in and obscures my view. This happens one more time, but the third time that the low clouds moved away I had a spectacular view of the mountain and got several good pictures, like the one below.

I continued the climb and soon a building came into view up ahead. While I thought it might be the top of the pass, the climb had not seemed as hard as I expected and was ready for for more uphill. But, it was in fact the top and I was soon standing under the Stevens Pass sign with Philip taking my picture. First mountain pass.

The result of climbing is the need to descend. It was cool and damp as I started down the eastern slope. And it started to sleet. This was not looking good. But it stopped as quickly as it started. I like descents - the ones around La Crosse anyway as that had been, until now, the sum total of my experience. But this was different. Not as steep, but long. Down, down down. It was harder than I thought it would be and on this descent, cold. So cold, the muscles in my abdomen started to cramp up. I tried to relax and just go with the flow. Once down, it was a nice ride to the picnic stop. And the picnic stop was in a great location, a roadside rest stop right on a swift moving river. Across the water we spot an osprey nested on the top of a dead tree.

The ride carries us through Leavenworth (no, not THAT Leavenworth), a town built to look like a Bavarian village then to Cashmere. After Cashmere, we get a little lost and backtrack about a mile. We are looking for Pioneer Road which changes to Easy Street when it crosses the highway. A pickup truck comes up to the stop sign where we are parked and we ask the driver if he knows where Easy Street is. He says, "If I knew where it was, I'd be on it right now." We meet Philip and the other Jack and talk things over, deciding finally that we were on the right track after all. We go back and eventually find the turn and continue on.

We finally make Wenatchee and choose a campsite near the school building to get some afternoon shade. Then, we get on the bikes and head into town, in search of new tire pumps and refreshment. We find both.

Dinner and a meeting in the school cafeteria then I go out and watch a baseball game at the diamond adjacent to where we are camping. After a couple of innings, I go up to the tent and watch the game from there. I close my eyes once and when I open them, the field is empty, players and spectators nowhere to be seen. I figure it is time to zip up the flaps, get in my sleeping bag and call it a day.

Today’s ride ~ 78.2 miles
Trip total ~ 149.3 miles
Ride time today ~ 5 hours 17 minutes

We added 5.6 miles and 33 minutes of riding as we tooled around Wenatchee. I did not ride an inch that I didn't count in the mileage, so it is now 154.9 miles on the trip.

Bigfoot Country

Sunday, June 17
Marysville to Skykomish
Part way through today's ride, I come to a walk-up/drive-through (and now bike-up) espresso stand on the highway up into the Cascades. This place is all right. There is a large wooden carving of Bigfoot there - the Harry and the Hendersons version, anyway. Part of the movie was filmed here. There is a sign in the picnic park adjacent to the coffee stand: Pet Area. I think Bigfoot put it there.

It had rained off and on, mostly on, all night and it was cool and damp when we got up about 5 a.m. Tights and jackets were in order. The ride started with a short jaunt to the restaurant for breakfast followed by a 10 mile ride south and west to Everett where we dipped our rear tires in Tulalip Bay before we headed east. (Read about the Tulalip Indian tribes by clicking here). The rain came and went as we rode out of town. We ride through Everett, Snohomish, Monroe and Sultan before lunch, getting farther and farther from the cityscapes. Lunch was just past Sultan and there was quite the spread. It was 36 miles into the ride and it felt good to get to get off the bike and eat. However, it did not take long to start feeling really chilly, so it was back on the road. One of the hardest parts of any ride are the first 2 miles after a 20 minute stop on a cool day. It is tough to get limbered up again.

Shortly after leaving the picnic stop (PS on the queue sheets) we go through Startup, Washington and, not too surprisingly, start the trip up into the Cascades. After Startup, we pass through Gold Bar then Baring. Baring is the second H2O stop, where we find water coolers and two canisters of powdered Gatorade. We are now climbing gradually and there are lush forests and rushing rivers. It is raining and I'm wet, but I could not be enjoying the experience any more than I am. It is just great.

It was in this stretch that I had gotten ahead of Bill, something that doesn't happen too often. So far ahead, in fact, that I could not see him on the few longer, straight stretches of road here in the foothills of the Cascades. I kept going, climbing more now until I reached the aforementioned espresso stand. Here, I clean off some of the muck from the bike, use the facilities (Port-a-potties we saw all during the trip were called Honey Pots. Cute.) and get a cup of espresso, all the while sneaking peeks down the hill for any sign of Bill. A mini-van pulls up and the driver says that if I'm looking for a rider in a yellow jacket then he was working on his bike, but would probably be along soon. I was relieved, figuring it wasn't any worse than a flat. Soon I see a yellow-jacketed rider coming up the hill; it is Philip, not Bill. We chat for a bit and he continues on. Finally, Bill pulls into the parking lot. A flat (which isn't too big a deal) stopped him. But then the problems started. First, he had only one tube and the repair failed soon after it was installed. I don't have a clear memory of the sequence of events, but it involved one of the other riders, a second tube, a failure of Bill's pump to inflate the tire prompting said other rider to offer use of his CO2 inflator and a realization that the rear tire was not in good shape, a worn through spot probably pinching the tube and causing the flats. Everything seemed in order and we rode on together. A short while later Bill’s tire softened. I used my pump to reinflate it and we rode on. Just a couple of miles from Skykomish, the tire was pretty flat again and I attached my pump, but to no avail. I could not get any air in and succeeded only in releasing much of the little pressure left. After a brief discussion, we decide I'll take off for Skykomish and Bill will walk. I expect to get a pump and come back. It is a short ride to the school which will serve as our overnight home. I cannot find a frame pump to carry back so I mount up to ride back and walk with Bill. Just then, Kathleen and Larry roll in and tell me Bill has gotten a ride; he pulls in just a few minutes later. A lady out walking her dogs near where we parted saw the situation and offered to carry Bill and his bike the remaining 2 miles into town.

Skykomish is a very small town just west of an 8 mile rail tunnel built in the 1920's. The railroad was the town's economy, but in recent years it has moved its operations farther west. It left a lot of the town saturated in fuel oil and the cleanup has only just begun. It was "indoor camping" tonight where we had the gym to roll out our sleeping bags. Some of us pitched tents in the hallways to allow them to dry. Having done that, it seemed logical to sleep in them. So, when the time came, some of us did. Dinner was served in the school cafeteria by the local Lions Club and we got a lesson on town history after the meal. That was very interesting, but the only time during the trip where this was offered. A folk-rock band entertained us after our meeting and we learned that the multi-talented Victoria (Cycle America staff) could also play the bass guitar. To bed early, to reflect on a truly amazing day for me.

Today’s ride ~ 71.1 miles
Trip total ~ 71.1 miles
Ride time today ~ 4 hours 40 minutes

What Am I Doing Here?

Saturday, June 16
Minneapolis to Marysville, Washington
Have you ever washed your hands in a lavatory in England? My experience has been that there are sinks there with dual water controls and a single spout where, when you place your hands under it, you feel not a flow of warm water but two distinctly different streams, one quite cold and the other hot. No mixing out to an average at all. That’s kind of how I felt about the ride. On one hand, I was confident. A lot of miles and a lot of hills around La Crosse should have me ready. On the other hand, there were so many things I had not done…over 600 miles in one week, 7 straight days of riding, multiple near 100 mile days including 3 in a row. And mountains. Not bluffs. Mountains. Hot and cold. Equal measures of confidence and apprehension.

As we descend into Seattle the pilot reports broken clouds. I didn’t know they were that fragile. He manages to manuever through them with no damage to the plane, however. We get our bags and bikes and wait for the Cycle America transportation. It shows up at more or less the appointed time although we do have a bit of a wait for others arriving on different flights. Here I am, sitting in the second row of the van, surrounded by people (who I would later learn were “tour junkies”) on their third or seventh or whatever cycling tour. Three ladies are sharing experiences. One cannot remember how many marathons she has run; another has done several triathlons, including the Ironman in Hawaii. The third is apparently just warming up by riding from Seattle to Boston. In January she plans a big ride: Cairo to Johannesburg. Africa. The thought runs through my mind, “What am I doing here?” Well, I think, I’m here to have fun, to see a good part of the Pacific Northwest and to find out what I can do on a big ride.

We reassemble our bikes and set up the tents at Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington, about 45 miles north of the Seattle airport. After signing in, we take the vans into town for dinner at a local restaurant. Our first lasagna meal. It will not be our last. It is Strawberry Festival time in Marysville and there is a big parade. We thought everyone had come out to welcome us and see us off on our big adventure. Oh well. Later, an organizational meeting in the gym where we meet each other and the staff. The routers describe tomorrow's ride and hand out the first of our 7 queue sheets, detailing the route. Something else to learn. Then, to the tents. I wake up during the night to the sound of rain tip-tapping on my tent. It doesn’t matter. I’m ready to ride.

Ending the Suspense

Fearing that the suspense may be too much for some readers, I'll reveal that yes, I did make it through the seven days of the Northwest Sampler tour. Six hundred twenty miles in 7 days; 41 hours on the seat. From Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington to the University of Montana campus in Missoula. The one word summary: Awesome! Details to come. I'm still working on how to describe each day, share the experiences, explain the feelings.

What do you do after you return from 7 days on a bicycle? Laundry. I have the second load of clothes in the wash now. I pity the TSA checked luggage inspector who opened up the bag where I had my cycling clothes stashed. He earned his pay yesterday. The bike is next. Clean it. Reassemble it. Get it ready to ride again. Yes, I'll ride again soon. And I am already looking at a tour for next year. Awesome.

Did I Make It?

Were the climbs and descents of the mountain passes and the long rides in the high plains too much? Or did the 2,050 miles of training pay off? The answers will be revealed in the next week (or so). Stay tuned for the rest of the story...

Going, going, ....

Almost gone. This is the last posting before the ride, From now on, I'll be writing in my journal. That's it to the right. I do not plan to add to the blog during the ride, but will add one posting for each day of the trip in the week or so after I return.

There is a new link in the "Some Links..." section on the sidebar. It is a live (updated once each 5 minutes) view of Stevens Pass, where we will go "over the top" of the Cascades sometime on Monday.

Thanks for working through the training with me. I hope you enjoy the ride too. Me, I'm looking forward to it with much anticipation and more than a little apprehension.

Tracking Tools

Here are maps of our ride. I'm not sure of the exact highways we will use -- we get briefed every evening about the next day's ride but have no information of the specifics now.

Cancelled

I was talking to Pavak about screw compressors. Engineer stuff. When the phone rang -- actually, when it made one of those unnatural sounds that passes for a ring these days -- I turned around and looked at the info screen. An 800 number. A nuisance call. We kept talking. Then an email notice popped up on my computer. Something caught my eye: the words "Flight Cancellation Notice." Our flight would not leave for 36 hours; what could this be about? I looked at the message. Well, well. It was our flight. Later I would discover that phone call was from Northwest with a computer generated voice breaking the news in that special way only a computer generated voice can. Saturday morning's La Crosse to Minneapolis leg was cancelled. Thirty-six hours, a day and a half, before scheduled departure. You must be kidding. We were rebooked already, though. On the 6:37 PM flight. The Seattle leg scheduled to arrive there at 11:40 p.m. That would work; arrive at the airport, collect the bags, including the bikes, make arrangements for transportation to the school in Marysville, Washington, get to the school, set up tents in the dark. Then get up at 5:30 a.m. to start a day-long ride with something like 5,000 feet of climbing. Yep, that works.

I called Northwest right away. The agent I spoke with was very helpful and the situation was not her fault. Still... sheesh! Looking at options (there were few) we decided to drive to Minneapolis. I worked this out with the agent, getting back our seats on the morning flight to Seattle. After a bit we finalized the plan. Drive to Minneapolis on Friday night stay in a hotel near the airport then fly out to Seattle at 8:00 a.m. We drive back to La Crosse after returning from Missoula. This is a good start, and we haven't even started yet.

Later, I took the bike up to Bill's and we started the packing process. First, we remove the pedals. No sweat, since they are not put on tightly. Except for one, the right pedal on my Trek. I thought we would never get it off; we even talked about getting the bike to the shop tomorrow. But finally, I got the pedal to break loose by tapping on the wrench with a hammer. In the process, I managed to whack my thumb and now have a wonderful bruise to show for it. We get the bikes packed, I go home, finish the other packing. What a day.

It's Hard to Stop A Train(ing Program)

I've borrowed from my company's slogan for this post, to announce that, hard though it is, it is possible to stop training. Today proves it. My last ride that isn't part of THE RIDE. I've stopped training. Another ride up Bliss Road with several side trips gave me 22 miles for the day. This evening I started the process of packing up the bike for the trip west. A good cleaning, remove the aero bars. Tomorrow night, up to Bill's for a little more disassembly and loading into the case.

How to sum up the training program? As noted earlier, for all of the riding I've done I'm still in La Crosse. Here are some measures of just much riding I've done to end up here in my kitchen, writing this post:

Days ridden: 50 (49 since April 2)
Distance ridden: 2054.9 miles
Days riding 100 miles or more: 3
Days riding 50 miles or more: 14
Time on the seat: 135.8 hours
Training on the Trek: 34 days, 1286.1 miles
Training on the Bianchi: 16 days, 768.8 miles

Time and mileage work out to 15.3 miles per hour. The 136 hours is 17 eight hour days. I've ridden 3.4 times the tour distance of 605 miles and averaged 41.1 miles per day ridden, only 1/2 of the average of the tour's 86 miles per day. I've consumed an unknown, but considerable, quantity of Gatorade, quite a few bottles of orange juice at local Kwik Trips, and a nearly equal number of the Glazer doughnuts. I had not a single flat tire, unlike last year when there was an epidemic. The good thing about that, though, is that I can change out a tube on a rear wheel in about 5 minutes. That news being all the better in that I did not have to prove it this year.

And I've spent... well, I'm not sure how much. It's the one statistic I haven't added up. I probably just don't want to know. But it will be worth it.

Total ~ 2054.9 miles

Tuneup

No tuneup ride, but there was some tuning up of the machinery. I took my bike in to have the shifting looked at. Since all the cables were replaced during the overhaul a few weeks ago, it seemed a good idea to have them checked before the ride. However, I was having an issue or two with the running gear and wanted the mechanic to look at the shifting from front to back. When I went in to retrieve the bike this afternoon, it had a new chain and rear cassette. One of the gears on the cassette had worn quite a bit and the others were on there way to a need-to-be-replaced state. Ditto for the chain. And now they are new. Just in time. But that's not all. One of my water bottles failed. I guess I've been riding too hard. And what does the failed water bottle say about my drinking while riding?

Bill had made a comment about "sparing no expense" in preparing for the ride. I thought it was a suggestion. Turns out, it was a prediction.

Total ~ 2032.9 miles

Winding

Winding down for sure. So I can wind it up starting this Sunday. Today, a quick 17.6 mile ride up Bliss Road, out to the highway and back. I plan only one more ride before the trip, probably Wednesday at noon. Another 17 mile warm up.

Today I attended my first writing class at WTC. I know, you are wondering why I’ve waited until now, 56 posts into the Blog, to learn to write. Just because the class started tonight. There are 18 students. Two guys. Sixteen of the other kind. Add Sue, our teacher, and we are outnumbered 17 to 2. I will miss next week’s class, but I will be writing in my journal each day so I suppose that counts. The assignment for next week is to write about a time we got into trouble as very young children. So, having no material, I guess it is just as well that this be the class I miss.

It remains to be seen how the riding I’ve done will get me through the tour. And how the class will get me through the telling of the experience. The tour and the story. How will they wind up?

Total ~ 2032.9 miles

One Ton

Two thousand pounds. One ton. A lot of whatever it is in the pile. Today, my ride total for the year rolled on past 2,000 miles. A ton of riding. According to Google maps, my 2015.3 miles would have gotten me from La Crosse to Leucadia, California had I set out and kept going. Yet here I am, still in the 54601 zip code.

What do I have to show for all of this riding? Improved riding skills, to be tested in less than 7 days. I've lost 10 pounds and rearranged some of the remaining weight. I have really weird tan lines, especially on my head, which shows the pattern of my helmet ventilation openings. And in spite of having not gotten anywhere, I've seen some beautiful countryside. Up close. A ton of riding. A ton of experiences. A ton of fun. And a little suffering (special recognition in this category to the top of County FO), the investment required to gain that ton of great riding.

Today I finally did the O-K ride. OK, it was actually OK**2. If you know the FORTRAN computer programming language, you'll recognize K**2 as "K-squared" or KK. Heading out of Stoddard, I went up County O past the deer farm. Today, I just kept going, by County K and on to Enterprise Road. Along this stretch of rolling hills, I encountered more of the Amish one-horse shays (7) than cars (3). Then it was down Enterprise to County KK and back towards Chaseburg. A really nice ride with a fun descent; a hill with long, steep, fairly straight runs. There was, however, the one sharp curve with a thin covering of gravel. I had to brake. Brake! On a descent. Bummer. After the descent, the road wound through a scenic valley. A foliage-covered hill on my left and low fields to the right. KK eventually ends at Highway 162, which I took through Chaseburg. From there, I went out County K to Hohlfield Road, climbed the bluff along Wrobel Road and traversed the ridge back to County K on Brinkman Ridge Road. A local history lesson, written in road names. At home, the computer showed I had racked up 43.1 and gotten 15.3 miles into my second ton of riding.

Total ~ 2015.3 miles

Smart Choices

I purchased my Trek from Dr. Julio Bird just about one year ago. He had ridden about 250 miles on it according to the computer that was (and still is) on the bike when I bought it. I think he didn't care for all of the hills around here, so he decided to sell the bike and look for another, less taxing pursuit. Climbing Mt. Everest. He did that in May, 2002. But he took the easy, south face. I guess his buddies kidded him about that so this year he led a team attacking the more difficult north face. He did not make the summit, basically because he didn't have enough oxygen to reach the peak AND return. That return part is pretty important*, I think, although I am not a mountain climber myself so I can't really say for sure. In an interview after returning to La Crosse he said about the decision to turn back without reaching the top, "Half of me wanted to go for it..." Which half was that, I wonder? He is safely home and not planning to sell his used climbing equipment as he did with the Trek -- achieving the peak from the north face is still on his list of things to do.

In contrast to Julio, Bill and I chose to do something REALLY challenging: ride our bikes out County K and continue on to Avalanche before returning home via Coon Valley, Bohemian Valley and Barre Mills. On the ride, we attacked both of the more challenging west faces of County K, acheiving the summit each time. Then it was through the rolling hills of the Amish farmland, up the seemingly downhill section on Y, one of Wisconsin's now famous Mystery Spots (see the May 31 post for a brief review of Mystery Spot lore) and a stop at the Coon Valley base camp (aka Kwik Trip) for lunch. My choice? A hot dog and orange juice.

Bill and I parted company in Barre Mills; he headed for home and I made my way to the Bliss Road descent. On the way down, I looked at my mileage for the day - almost 90. I decided then to push the ride to 100 miles. First, a stop at the local Kwik Trip to refuel and then south, retracing the route of about 6 hours earlier. I rode down the river to Goose Island, a point about 5 miles from home. My ride distance was right at 95 miles so I turned around at the bottom of County K and finished with 100.3 miles.

A training note: Bill is ready. He has the ride-ahead-then-wait-for- Jack-to-catch-up thing down pat. In fact, he may have overtrained. But he'll be on his game in Washington, Idaho and Montana, I'm sure. He IS a good rider.

* Just in case you are wondering, I am impressed with Julio's accomplishments and was very glad to read that he had made the right choice, getting himself and his team safely home. Returning is, of course, the important thing.

Total ~ 1972.2 miles

The Final Push

The last week of training started today. With a day off. I've ridden 198 miles in the last 7 days; that's counting the 0 miles today, too! Tomorrow, Bill and I will take off for a long ride, pushing if not hitting 100 miles. This is as suggested in the Preparation Schedule on page 8 of the General Information booklet. After this, it's 3 two hour rides over the next six days and we are off.

It would have been a nice day to ride today. Of course it was a pretty nice day to not-ride too.

Total ~ 1871.9 miles

Girls' Night Out

I can control the weather, I have discovered. Plan a ride and a storm front will start to move through the area about 15 minutes beforehand. Happened yesterday. Happened today. This time, rain AND hail. As it started to hail, the engineers at work wandered into the passageway under the building-long skylight to look up and watch the fairly large hailstones bounce off of the glass. With stunts like that, you'd think the gene pool would be pretty much depleted, wouldn't you? But we are a hearty bunch and will be around for a long time!

After all of the weather excitement, it turned into another beautiful evening. There was a plan afoot so I hustled to squeeze in a 22.7 mile ride, down the river to Mohawk Valley Road, up to the ridge top, over to and down County K and home.

The plan? I had suggested that the girls go out. Shirley and our daughters. I would stay with the three grandsons. They would be bathed and in bed before the ladies left, of course. And so it was. I sat in the kitchen, writing on my laptop and following the Braves' game on ESPN Gamecast. Surrounded by electronics. Monitors all around - my computer and two video and one audio "e-sitters," watching and/or listening to three grandsons in three separate rooms on two different floors. If you can do this, thank an engineer.

Total ~ 1871.9 miles

Preparation per Instruction

"Remember, it's not a race; make it fun, not a chore." So it says in the official General Information brochure. Tonight I did some not-race training. After the long day at work yesterday, I'd thought about taking off in the early afternoon for a longer ride. But right at noon a line of weather began moving through the area and I stayed put. A 4:30 appointment out past Coon Valley meant no late afternoon start either. So, at 6:15 p.m. I was finally on the road. I decided to go through Stoddard and up County O again. Due to the lateness of the hour, I went out about 15 miles and turned around and came back. A reward for this decision was a spectacular light display as the sun, setting over the bluffs on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi, laid a shimmering, nearly white gold reflection on the river's surface.

Total ~ 1849.1

All Work and No Play

What a day for a ride! Wish I could have taken one. It was a day of meetings at work. On the phone all morning, final preparation over the lunch hour for a 1:00 p.m. meeting. A meeting that finally started at 3:30. And ended at almost 8:00 p.m. No ride. Man, what a bummer. I suppose I'll get over it. When that happens, I'll let you know. Maybe. Well, the bright side is that there is not much chance of over-training now.

Total ~ 1818.1 miles

Do As You Are Told

I always do as I am told. Well, for the purposes of this post, just suspend disbelief and accept it. There is a suggested Preparation Schedule in the General Information brochure that I received from Cycle America a couple of weeks ago. It showed a six-week period prior to the tour and suggested, among other things, that training be 4 days of riding per week with a day off every other day. Today is one of those days. Off days, that is. Sitting on the deck on an absolutely glorious afternoon. With Shirley. Not riding. This is a training plan I can live with!

Total ~ 1818.1 miles

Not OK, But an ok Ride Nonetheless

It was going to be an OK ride today. Go to Stoddard then a mile up 162 to County O. After the climb on O, ride on across the ridge to the top of County K. Down K into Chaseburg then up K to Hamburg and the church at the high point. Descend and head home. An OK ride.

Before taking off, I looked at Weather.com. Radar showed rain encircling the city. Storms to the east were moving north, then circulating back around to the south. The nearest threat seemed to be a cell north of Winona. It looked as if I could get the ride in, so I headed down the river. The sky was mostly full of clouds, but patches of blue were peeking through here and there. Puffy white clouds, lit up by the sun at their lofty peaks. There were also sheets of blue-gray clouds to the south and west, some of these extending right to the ground, revealing heavy rain. But nothing, I thought, to interfere with the ride.

It is a nice ride up County O, the most uniform of the climbs around here, I think. Long, but without a lot of changing from steep-to-gradual and back as is the case on many of the hills. There is an elk (red deer, I've been told) ranch right at the top. A number of the large, majestic bulls were near the fence, watching with an alert curiosity as I rode by. It was at this point that I could look north, back towards La Crosse. Uh-oh. Really ugly storm clouds were rolling across the next ridge, right where I was heading. I rode on a bit, trying to gauge the situation. It did not take long to decide that I wasn't going to keep going and risk getting into the storm with the possibility of two descents on wet roads. Turning around, I headed down O and back into Stoddard where it was raining lightly. The ride up the river was dry, though, until the point where County K comes down to the highway. Light rain was falling here, but as I looked over my shoulder, up towards the bluffs, I could see the storm with sheets of rain sweeping out of the clouds. It was farther east than I had thought when looking at it from the top of County O, but I know I would have had to ride through it had I continued.

It wasn't the OK ride I had planned, but it was an ok ride of 29.6 miles.

Total ~ 1818.1 miles

Ups and Downs

Up and down go the roads on today’s 91.1 mile ride through Cashton and Coon Valley. I know I ended up at the same altitude I started at, but I’m sure the ride was more up than down. As the day progressed, the difference between gently rolling hills and climbs blurred. Going up the Bliss Road and County II hills was no problem. But it was all downhill, in an uphill sort of way, after that. I ended up covering the route in an average of 15.1 mph – not really so bad for me, but it was a struggle from about the 25 mile point on. Bill cruised ahead on every leg and had ample rest time as I caught up.

Last week, I was feeling good about the 7 day, 86 mile per day ride across the Pacific Northwest. This week, not as good. Ups and downs. Like the roads from La Crosse to Cashton to Coon Valley and back.

Total ~ 1788.5 miles

Wildlife

There was the promise of rain today, so I took off for a noon ride. The now-standard Bliss Road-to-Highway 33 and back trek. With a reprise of the run up Bliss Road before returning home. A 23.4 mile mini-tour with two climbs. Out on County F, I saw two really large turkeys strutting along in a field on my right. A bit later, a single deer bounded across the road in front of me. There is a lot of wildlife around here.

The promise of rain was fulfilled this afternoon, spoiling my plan to ride up the hill again, this time to drop in at the Alpine Inn where we were welcoming some new engineers to our department at work. So I drove up, depriving the group of a promised show of colorful jersey, tight biking shorts and gaudy socks. Oh, the disappointment!

A covey of engineers, welcoming additions to the ranks, celebrating -- now that's wildlife!

Total ~ 1697.4 miles

Mystery

When I was young, my family visited a Mystery Spot in St. Augustine, Florida. Does this ring a bell with any of you? Anyway, the Mystery Spot is a “gravitational anomaly,” a place where water runs uphill and you can sit on the wall; cool stuff like that. I was impressed with the visit to the Florida site and wondered, “How is all this possible?” A little research showed that there are some very logical explanations. Consider this, taken from the web site of the Santa Cruz, California Mystery Spot:

“Some speculate that cones of metal were secretly brought by aliens and buried here to serve as guidance systems for their spacecraft. Some think that it is, in fact, the spacecraft itself buried deep within the ground.”

That was pretty much what I’d been thinking myself. Further exploration into the phenomena revealed that there are a whopping 31 Mystery Spots in the United States. California and Texas are tied for the most “spots” at 3 each. Texas because it is so large, although there are none reported yet in Alaska, and California because, well, it’s California. There is one cited in Wisconsin – called the Wonder Spot in Lake Delton – but it reportedly closed in 2006. I guess the aliens came and took their stuff.

I’m sure by now you are wondering what all of this has to do with biking, right? Well I am here to tell you that I think Wisconsin can rightly claim at least a tie with California and Texas for the most mystery spots, because I personally have discovered three during rides right here in the Coulee Region. Gliding down a nice descent on County Y, near the earthen dam mentioned in the May 28 post, the steep down-grade looked to ease up just a bit. As I coasted along, I noticed I was slowing down at a rapid rate, so I began to pedal. And I really had to push to keep the bike going, pedaling and going slower. But I looked at the road and it was still going downhill. I’m sure of it. A mystery. There are spots like this in the lower part of the descent down County K going towards the Mississippi and just before beginning the climb on County M. Downhill grades according to the eyes, but requiring some vigorous pedaling to keep from actually going backwards. Real mystery spots. Keep a weather eye out; I think the aliens will be coming in force any day now.

Needing to devote considerable time and mental energy to this research, I did not ride today.

Total ~ 1674.0 miles

Ditto

Did you see yesterday's post? Well, ditto. The ride part, anyway. As for the other part, forget the ditto -- today was a better day. Much better. Among other things, the credit card issue is already sorted out as UPS delivered new cards early in the afternoon. I shouldn't have really needed new cards, but I guess I'll have to say I was impressed with the service that had them here less than 24 hours after I spoke to a representative at Citi.

Being only slightly redundant: I took the same ride as yesterday, with the same observations. After a brief threat of rain, it turned out once again to be a beautiful evening. My schedule won't allow me to ride tomorrow so I've started a load of biking clothes in the wash. They'll be ready to go on Friday and I'm OK with a day of rest.

Total ~ 1674.0 miles

One of Those Days

It was "one of those days." Just sort of dragging along. A feeling like something missing*, an out-of-sorts sort of day. Maybe it was a three day weekend with two good rides then being back in the office on a nice day. But to top it off, there was a snafu with a credit card that I had to sort out late in the day. It's a long story and I won't go into it here. But what will happen is a week or two of inconvenience. Oh well.

* if you find it, let me know!

So, back to riding. When I got home I was debating with myself about going out. I won and got on the bike and headed south. The plan was a short, easy ride. I think it is what you would call a recovery ride. A thunderstorm had moved through town earlier, but is was a wonderful afternoon. About 6 miles from home, I turned on Mohawk Valley Road and headed up the hill. Trees are fully leafed-out and the winding road is shaded and cool. A little way from the highway, the road starts up, clinging to one side of the hill. Trees rise up and hang over the road on my left. To my right, the hill falls away into a valley with a small stream. I sit up straight, hold the top of the handlebars and enjoy the ride. Thinking about, well nothing except that it is good to be riding. At the top, the road winds around numerous farms perched on the high ridge. I roll along for a few miles then come up on the church mentioned in yesterday's post. A long descent down County K, a short run back up the river, a side trip to Subway and home, another 23.6 miles. Not so much training today as therapy. I feel better. It was one of those days.

Total ~ 1650.7 miles

Memorial Day

Bang! Bang! We were right out in the open and taking fire! The area at the top of County K is rural, but the road is busy and not a place for shooting. The situation was quickly revealed, however, when we crested the ridge at the church. There we saw a color guard in the cemetary, standing down after having fired a salute in honor of fallen comrades. A touching moment. "Thank you," to the families of those who gave so much for all of us.

Bill and I headed down the hill and rode east through Chaseburg and out the rolling County Roads O and Y. It was a gray morning, but not really threatening rain. Comfortably cool. The countryside provides us a fascinating ride. Farms, horse-drawn buggies and plows here and there. Wildflowers in evidence all around. Rounding a curve, a small lake nestled against a hill rolls into view. The road goes over the earthen dam that creates the lake which is occupied today by numerous fishermen taking advantage of the holiday.

Somehwere around one-third of the way through the 90.1 mile ride, we sweep through Avalanche. A don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it (even on a bike) settlement at the intersection of County Roads Y and S. We followed the valley around past rocky outcroppings on one side and a winding stream on the other. The road ended at County P where we headed back to the west, arriving at Coon Valley just in time to see that the parade was over, people moving on to the day's other activities. Included in this exodus was a lady in a cart drawn by a minature horse. Is this a great place or what!?

The last 34 miles were a bit more of a struggle through more beautiful, but also more familiar, country. Up to Antony Road, down II, up FO, down Bliss Road and home. And that was it. The Memorial Day, 2007 ride.

Total ~ 1627.1 miles

On Riding

Seek only roads without hard climbs
And miss the view from the high ridgelines

Avoid pushing your bike up the long, steep hills
But don’t expect a descent with all of its thrills

Look for byways with no wind in your face
And you’ll not get a push when your path you retrace

Instead set out with the one thought in mind
That wonder and beauty on this ride you will find

The aches and pains will soon fade away
But not the memories of a challenge filled day

They were investments made to get to that place
That now recalled, leaves a smile on your face

----------------------------------------------------------
No riding today, just rest and reflection on the
state of my achy legs. And anticipation of the
long ride on Monday.

Total ~ 1537.0 Miles