Pictures from the first week.

Sea-to-Sea Day 6 It is another rainy day in the dessert. This is not the way it is supposed to be according to the locals. The camp is full of activity when I stick my head out shortly after 6 AM. The cloud overhead is dark and threatening. A few drops develop during breakfast but we figure it will clear up and warm up so we dress accordingly. Last night ended rather late with the July 4th fireworks and the walk back from where they were. By the time the bikes were all stored inside and evening preparations done it was after 11PM. A lunch and a little gator aid were in order to get us through the 82km ride for the day. Our speed was good for the day at 30kph thanks to a little assistance from a light tail wind for most of the way. The irrigation canals criss-cross the roads as we go. Hops and grapes seem to be the main crop along with more orchards, particularly for cherries. Our second stop was unplanned but prompted with a sudden urge for a good coffee on the part of the two ladies. We tied to order a New Zealand style flat white and ended up with a beautiful latte in a large French size coffee bowl. It had a nice layer of foam on top and went down real well. As a side dish we had a bag of cherries. Those we hadn’t eaten when it came time to get back on the bikes we put in our jersey pockets to consume on the last leg of the trip. We are camped along the Columbia River for the weekend. The good folks from the Kennewith CRC were here to greet us, billet some and generally help shuttle people around the town. The river is several hundred yards wide at this point and still very refreshing. There has been a problem with our Internet connection again so I could not post last night and I don’t know if I’ll manage it tonight. I will not write tomorrow night.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 5 For a second night in a row there was a thunderstorm but very little rain accompanied it. The rain came later in the night, starting late and continuing till about 9 AM. Of course this is precisely the time that we get up, eat, pack-up and start riding. Now we have cover to eat under and a wet tent will dry out when the rain stops, but starting a ride in the rain is about the worst thing for riders. Rain during a ride is sometimes welcome, like a couple of days ago, because of the cooling effect, but starting in the rain when you have not warmed up yet is cold. If you put on rain gear you will only get soaked from the inside once you start to ride. If you put on more clothing it will only get soaked and you will be hot after a while. For me regular dress works the best. Ride a little harder to more generate heat early in the ride. And so it was today. There was not much of a rush to get out of camp today since it was cooler, raining and the church in Zillah was not expecting us till after 9. The 40km would take about 1 ¼ hour. The route was along the river from time to time and through irrigated farm country for the rest. Hops are a big crop here. Grapes, pears, cherries and asparagus are also grown in the area. The 38mm tires on the Rumba throw up a lot of water. With the water comes a lot of grit, which gets all over the bikes and all over the person behind you, including their face. So when we stopped at the Zillah church Anne M was covered in road grit. My legs were filthy as well. After a several hands full of cherries and a coffee we set off again on the last part of this short ride, motoring along at around 40kph for most of the way. When we arrived at the Sunnyside Christian High School none was there not the equipment trailers or any cyclists. We were met by some local folks and soon after more riders came in. Tonight, supper was prepared and severed by the local CRC church. Being July 4th there will be extra treats for us, root beer floats and fireworks, as is the habit of this Church on July 4th.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 4 A few surprises for the night and day. I was not expecting rain for the next few weeks as we were now in the interior dessert but during the night the wind picked up things started clattering around outside. When I pitched the tent close in (over compensating for the 10yds we had to walk the night before) we ended up near the communications trailer so there was lots of activity to the wee hours. There was also a bright yard light nearly above the tent. All this doesn’t bother me and Rita put in her earplugs and soon fell asleep. What had worried me a little was that there were no eve troughs on the sloped roof above; which meant if it rained we would be under a waterfall. I was up keeping my eye on things, helping picking things before they blew away. It rained lightly and I guess the roof shingles held a certain amount of rain since the water falls never developed but acted more like a tree dripping for quite a while after the rain had stopped. I was ready awaken Rita if it became necessary, but as it was she never even woke up. The route today was a beautiful ride down a river canyon; which got quite deep at times. (I will post pictures on my flickr.com sight but haven’t figured out how to tag it to this blog site. My New Zealand sight comes up, nice pictures but highly applicable now. Maybe my son will come to my rescue, or I’ll get someone here to show me). The second surprise was that it was a short ride with only a few climbs up part of the canyon wall and then right back down again. The temperature was about the same as the day before; bearable in the morning before 8 and increasing steadily to 100F at noon. We arrived at camp just as the support crew was arriving well before noon averaging well over 25kph going mostly down along the river and with a tail wind from time to time. All in all it was a ride to live for. You see we don’t notice the heat until we stop. When you are going along at 35kph the wind keeps you cool. I invited Anne M. to ride with us today insuring her she would be OK on the small hills and we would wait at the bottom if she lagged behind on the down hill. George VK passed us once with a group of 3 other young riders. We passed them again after they dropped a water bottle on a downhill. When they finally caught us some time later he decided to ride with us until we stopped at a crest overlooking the river. The nicest bathroom view Rita had experienced in quite a while. Actually I needed more air in my rear tire, having released some the night before and not blown it up again. Once we came to camp Anne asked the locals where the nearest swimming hole was. We were soon on our way after setting up. Some of the younger riders had already found it by the time we arrived. This was a small river fed lake. Diving into ice-cold water, straight off of the snowmelt, is rather embracing. Thank goodness there were a few areas where the water had a chance to warm up more where we could tread water while it absorbed the heat from our bodies. Even Rita jumped in from the overhand about 5 ft above the water - another first for her. We joined many other riders at the local Wal-Mart; which was close by to adjust our gear requirements; lawn-chairs, cups, towels, sunscreen, cooler clothing etc as we needed. The local store manager was interested in our ride and I told him what it was all about. The business cards we have explain a lot and have web site info on them. Again I don’t know what tomorrow holds but there will likely be a few more surprises.

Sea-to-Sea NA day 3 I think early starts will be the routine for the next 3 weeks. By then we will be in the habit of getting up early and it will probably stick for the rest of the tour. Heat is the challenge. Today by mid afternoon the temperature is close to 100F again. The humidity is low since we are in the interior dessert now. At 7:50 when we left camp the temperature was nice, we started to climb 20 minutes later and much of the early part was in the shadow of the mountain. The climb was longer than yesterday, about 33 km, but the grade not as steep and so for much of the lower climb we were holding 15-20kph. The upper half was in the sun, with very little wind only that of the large trucks blowing past us. We knew from the contour map that the climb would be steeper for the last few km and it was. We ended the hill in our lowest gear, out of gator aid and nearly out of water. Elevation change of about 3000ft After lunch, water and a short rest we were off again down the other side. Knowing that the grade was not as steep as yesterday, I let the bike run without a big push on the pedals. We reached 73kph for a while and as the grade flattened we kept it at 60kph for quite a while. The Rumba has quite a high gear so pedaling at 60 is not that difficult. In the valley we stayed between 30 and 40kph. After one more long climb and short rest at the top, we were in the final stretch home to Ellensberg. We needed some bike and other supplies and since we were in camp just after 12 we had time in the afternoon to get them. While we were gone, the automatic sprinklers came on in the area of our tent but thanks to the fast action of those in camp most of our stuff stayed dry. I have no idea at this time of what the route is like tomorrow but I know it will be hot and dry, so another early start will be in order unless it is a short day.

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.

Sea-to-Sea Day 1 An early start to a very warm day, at 6 AM to be exact. The first day brings many new issues to deal with; loading the trailer, sorting out the storage baskets and the wrinkles in the equipment. When I blew up the new tires in the morning to the required pressure (first time for these tires) I found that the front tire was too big in diameter. Long story, but by lowering the wheel as far as possible in the fork it rubbed only enough to make a nice whine. Remember the bike didn’t come in till 6 PM yesterday so with all the other activities it didn’t get tested till this morning. The internet satellite connection is not working, neither at the beach or here at camp, so I don’t know when this will get posted. At 7:30 we rode 12km to the official starting point, Golden Garden Park, on the ocean with a beach, see photo posted on ‘flicker’. The route was along a cycle path mostly in the shade and the temperature still cool (see photo). After a prayer and dipping the tires we were off back along the same path past the University of Washington and along the lakeshore, past a lot of very nice homes. We were riding in our safety training groups to put into practice the lessons we had the day before. Steel poles in the middle of the bike path at intersection spell danger if you don’t keep your eyes on the path. A busy highway on the last stretch called for riding on the dirty paved shoulder and lots of traffic noise. Tonight we stay at the high school in Sultan, Washington. Showers were hot and the dinner is ready so bye-bye.