Day Two Report

Today was more like what riding should be. Well, except some of the terrain felt like Mars.

Did about 65 miles. Elevation gain? Should be a minus since it was mostly downhill from Winthrop to Chelan. I say mostly. There was a tough last 5 mile grade into Chelan. Today was about 5 hours riding. Compare that to yesterday... where it was a 12 hour grind, and today was a walk in the park. Rolled into Chelan, got my room and took a long nice nap with the a/c blowing. Ahhhh, nice. Tomorrow is a nice 38 miles to Wenatchee.

Here are today' pics:

Circular flag formation. Not sure what for.

Mall?

Nice chain grease!

Yep. The central WA terrain can be barren.

The last hill into Chelan.

Day One Reprise

Yesterday I was way too tired to post some good pics. So here you go!

Breakfast appetizer.

72 miles to go!

Stayed calm. Yea!

On ride report.

My serendipitous riding buddy Nick from Bellingham

The Sassaman's, Nick and I picked up on the upper reaches of the last 15 miles.

So close! I was dead at this point.

My next door neighbor in Winthrop wants to know what I am doing unloading the Burro!

New suspension bridge in Winthrop. Nice design!

Day One in The Bag - Tough Day

First the stats:

72 miles.

6500 feet of climbing.

Oh! The brutality!

The skies- beautiful. The mind, grey and cloudy with pain.

Today was a tough day if you did not gather that.

I wanted to quite many times. But where would I go? Off the road to hug and weep with that lodge pole pine!? If it wasnt for a young college student and a father, son doing the same wonked, sadistic thing I was doing... I am not sure I would have made it. We commiserated and punched the pedals in solidarity! Mile after, bloody mile, in the worst of it, we did it. Nick was from Bellingham. A college student, who when he said he was having cramps and I asked him if he had any electrolytes and her answered, I have banana chips! The Sassaman's, a father, son team were from Bellevue, WA and had started their tour BY LEAVING FROM THEIR FRONT DOOR! Both Nick and Eric and David his son are heading to New Hampshire and Michigan respectively. I'll say! Respective no doubt. It can be miserable out there. Yet, they slog along, day after day... for months! Me... I am out 'on tour' for four measly days! As I mentioned earlier... If I had not come across these guys and we rode together, today would have been, well... A freakin nightmare on par with the heinous of all heinous hell storms of shit storms of abject misery known to man! Hope tomorrow is better!

Yes, the awkward position my body is in, is because I am toast and the Burro is holding me up.

Trip Mojo

Gettin' things ready. Mounted horns on the burro today. The trip needs some mojo. Horns do the trick.

Panic! The Burro Needs a New Derailleur

Took the burro in for its 200 mile tune and it needs a new front derailleur. The local bike shop did not tell me this right away, only after a couple days when I called and said- hey, where's my bike homies? They said with not a lot of sureness the part would probably be in tomorrow and maybe the bike would be ready Monday. THE FREAKIN' DAY BEFORE MY RIDE! Ack! I was in a panic! I started to pitch into a pissed off funk and was quite worried the bike may not be good to go. I started to brain storm if they did not get the derailleur, I could just use the back gears and not shift the front. But, what a pain. I also thought, I could use the Seven if I could get a rack to go on her pretty little frame. My confidence in a successful trip was quickly eroding. Later that day, I called the LBS back and asked for a better picture of what will be done to ensure I have the bike, no later than Monday. They seemed a bit more confident that either Saturday or no later than Monday would be doable - depending on what time UPS delivers the part today.. So today, after a tough day yesterday and some encouraging words form my S.O. last night - I think things will be OK.

Ok, time to get sappy. There are a lot of hurdles and roadblocks and pitfalls in a training program and lead up to a BIG EVENT. Sometimes failure just seems a pedal stroke away. You can get sick, your mind plays defeatist head games on you, life get's in the way, you loose motivation etc. There will be set backs I have learned and you have to get right back on the saddle and keep moving. I'm keeping my fingers crossed today!

Weather Report for Tour

Holy hot basin, cracklin' pavement, not fit fer man nor beast weather forcast Batman!

The extended forecast looks hot for the trip. I know its a week or more away and forecast models get progressively less reliable the further out one goes - but this does look a bit on the warm side for a ride. Of course, I'll do most of the riding in the a.m., to beat the heat as they say - but heat may be a factor in this tour. Normal temps for this time of year, in the area I will be riding with the most threat of heat is about 80 degrees. Its looking 5-10 degrees warmer than usual. Ok... the plan is ride early, get off the road early!

Winthrop on Wed - 86 degrees

Chelan on Thurs - 88 degrees

Wenatchee on Friday - 89 degrees

Cle Elum on Saturday - 84 degrees

My Support Crew

These two are pretty crafty. I would not trust them with a tall glass of thick stout or a bowl of kibbles. But, boy, have they provided uber support of me in this goal of mine. I just wanted to give a shout out to them (I'm sure Luna really cares)! Training takes a lot of time and commitment for both the trainee and those S.O.s behind the scenes who sometimes get none of the glory. Jen is like my rock and its no coincedence that she is in the standing with a brick wall - symbolic for sure! (I know she will roll her eyes when she reads my corny-ness). Luna, on the other hand, she really steps up and helps with such things as when I am loading my bike on the car at home for an early morning ride, she runs around out front sniffing the grass making sure no critters jump in the Jeep and bite me on the neck as I drive down the road. She also lets me know how good I smell when I come home from a long ride stinking like a sweaty, overheated, wild pig, whose been rolling around in a pig wallow. She likes the stink and gives me a good sniff. Jen on the other hand - stink don't fly! Even if I say - hey that stink is pheromones - you should love them!

Anyway - thanks hon! Love you. And you too Lunaticky!

BTW - others in my family and world have been super supportive as well. You guys know who you are. Thanks for supporting me, sending me good vibes and asking about how things are going during my training.