Sea to Sea Day 2 Last night the talk in camp was about the climb today, from 150 to over 4000 ft, the first mountain pass called Steven’s Pass. The advice, eat lots drink lots and ride a steady pace. Most people were up at 6 and by 8 the camp was nearly empty. The sign at the edge of town said 59F, cool enough for Rita to put on her fleece. Over cast sky made it a good day for riding. At 50km in 2 hours with some undulations but steadily increasing elevation this was not bad. We took a break, bulking up on food and gator aid in preparation for the big climb. The sun broke through and the clouds disappeared, just what we didn’t need as the body would generate more than enough heat on it’s own. At first the grade varied quite a bit, even going down again. The climb had better start soon because the longer we rode on this the steeper the final climb would be. My homemade wrist sweatband was working fine, the sunglasses were off sweat was running down my head. Finally the Climb started in earnest, a steady grade of 4-lane road and a nice paved shoulder. We are in the second lowest gear at about 9km/hr. Every once in a while a stream, ice- cold snowmelt came down the side of the hill. Many riders couldn’t resist the temptation to stop and refresh themselves in one or two of these (see photos). Rita kept encouraging me to stop too but I’m always afraid I won’t get going again. When the road follows the curves of the mountain you can’t see the top, only the next corner, and the next and the next. Once you can see the tops of the mountain you know it can’t be much more than a few kilometres. We are now in the lowest gear, about 7km/hr, gator aid is all gone, water down to a few swallows remaining, and the sweat band is soaked, still no top. Rita is still pedaling but the complaints are becoming more frequent. A few riders have leapfrogged us, some drift by and keep going, up, up around the next bend and out of sight. Finally we can see a ski Chalet and the sky is ever wider so we expect the top is within grasp. We pull into the parking lot covering the last 20 km in 1 and ¾ hour with the final 10 being much slower at a reported 6% grade. Getting off the tandem my calf cramps up while reaching for the ground Och! Lunch and more water was very welcome, we took a rather long break before setting off down the not-as-steep back side of the mountain. Not so steep still has the capacity to propel the Rumba (my tandem) at hair-raising speeds (even when under the helmet). I resolved to hold the speed to 60km/hr so my stoker wouldn’t complain. I put the drag brake on, 3 or 4 notches as required to hold the speed. Not wanting to overheat the brake I told Rita to sit up straight and I did the same. Still the speed increased as I got more comfortable, last I looked we were approaching 70kph. Comare this to other riders who did everything to gain speed but could not get over 80kph. As the slope decreased I had the bike in the highest gear keeping it at 60 for a while. As the road flattened more the bike slowed and slowed down to the 20s while we were still going down hill or at least we all thought, check the brakes but nothing, just us still waiting for the lunch kicking in. One more stop 30 km after the lunch break, to let the seat have another rest. After that the lunch kicked in and we were back to 35-40kph, following a raging glacier river as it cascades down the gorge only a few feet below us. The air temperature varies from cool with the air off of the river to very hot and dry when the wind blows the surrounding air in our faces. At one stop the thermometer registered over 100F. We pull into the Bavarian theme village of Levenworth. It looks far more Bavarian then Germany does! After an ice cream cone and a drink we head for camp, 127km for the day and a total of 5000ft of climbing. Thundershowers threaten but don’t develop. Tomorrow we have a repeat of today, more or less. The serious climbing starts almost immediately but is not quite as high or steep. The air will be very dry since we are mow past the coastal range and the temperature about the same. Stay tuned.