Back in my first entry I said that I thought my brother Tom would be riding way ahead while Sam, Steve and l would be riding along together. Well it didn't quite work out that way. Nobody rode with me. I was actually astonished how quickly the two other riders would vanish out of sight as soon as we left the vehicle. They would essentially divide the miles we intended to travel into thirds and then drive the car ahead to that spot and change to the next driver. At the change spots they would wait up for me, which was nice for me because I could fill up with water and get a little food. But five minutes after I got there they were ready to take off again. Tough to keep up with Tom saying things like " I want to see how fast I can go up that hill."
Anyway, I took off out of Newhalem (800 ft elevation) at about 7:30 and headed for Washington pass. I was ready to go at about 5:30, but the big dogs like to sleep in late. The pack took off a little after 8 and caught me around 8:30, waving as they rode by. The weather was perfect, cloudy and mid 70's. Washington Pass was 42 miles away at just under 5500 feet. Five miles before it is Rainny Pass at 4850. After about 10 miles of up and down we started the real assent. The picture below is Ross dam on that section of the way up. Once the climb started it was essentially a steady rise of 4 to 6 percent for 30 miles. You could easily see the climb ahead for 3/4 of a mile before it vanished around a turn. For a while you would wish for a flat spot or even a decline around the bend. And there were a few of those. But later, knowing how far It was to the top and what that elevation was, you began to realize that any break in the hill just meant a steeper climb later. Which is exactly what happened as the grade went to 8+ percent in some places.
I thought my bike was really sluggish right from the git go, but I thought it was the bike and not the idiot on it. About thirty miles into the climb I realized that my rear brakes were engaged. After backing off the break pads things got much easier and I picked up 2 or 3 miles an hour. Of course I didn't have any rear breaks after that but good riders don't need breaks anyway.
When I got to the top at around 2, Tom, Sam and Steve were asleep in the car. I guess the last of them got there around 90 minutes before me. In my own defense I have to say that they are a lot faster than me but I eventually ketchup. True to form, after about 10 minutes they're off like a shot down the back side of the mountain with me trailing behind. The decent was as steep as the climb for about 10 miles. Steve was doing just under 50 in some spots while the rest of us were in the mid 30's. Forty miles later we were in Twisp where we camped out in my cousins front yard. All in all a good day's ride at 85 miles.
Day 2 miles: 85.
Total miles: 182
Over and out,
Joe
P.S. Tell Natalie I'm doing fine.
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
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