I am pleased to say that the seemingly endless climbs are over for a few days. Climbed up-and-over Sherman Pass (5575') today ... only took about 4 hours of climbing at 3.5-to-4.0 mph. Endless. But as the adjacent picture illustrates, one does get the opportunity to view some spectacular scenery ... I just found myself desiring to pass this beautiful scenery a little bit quicker.
As seems to be a tradition in this area, I was once again provided with the joys of riding over the pass in a constant downpour. The rain started about 10 miles from the top of the pass, and continued for about 6 miles after the pass. This latter six miles was at a fairly consistent downhill of 6% ... makes for somewhat tense/exciting descending.
Near the end of today's ride, I passed over Roosevelt Lake (just west of Kettle Falls, WA). This lake is formed by damming the Columbia River ... the same Columbia River that I rode along last year riding east from Portland, OR. Once again my inattention during my school geography studies allows me to be surprised ... I did not realize the Columbia River ran south from this far north of the Oregon/Washington state line.
The possible highlight of today's 52 mile ride from Republic to Colville occurred on the climb up from Roosevelt Lake to Kettle Falls ... another 4 mph climb of a 2 to 3 mile stretch into Kettle Falls. What I perceived to be a light drizzle turned into a 20 minute drenching downpour. Unfortunately, I did not put on my rain gear ... one layer of jersey and shorts did not provide much protection from the wet/cold. Damn, not fun!
The previous day's ride, a 63 mile ride from Omak to Republic included (unsurprisingly) another Pass to ride over ... Wauconda Pass (4310'). This climb was easier as it was a gradual climb over a distance of approximately 24 miles. But what made the climb enjoyable was the re-connecting with the four friends I met back in Concrete, WA.
I was very happy to meet up with them late morning just south of Tonasket. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, they are traveling east with three of them riding, and the fourth driving the car. Sheryl and Phillip have a car with a very distinctive small trailer ... I was very pleased when Phillip pulled up next to me and said that Sheryl, John and Tom were about 2 miles behind me. We met-up in town and shared a very welcome lunch break at a pizza place. Food was delicious, the conversation enjoyable. We then headed out on the 24 mile climb. There is a great difference in climbing alone vs. sharing ongoing conversations ... much easier to complete the ride when thinking about things other than climbing.
John, Sheryl and Phillip will be heading back to Seattle after reaching Sandpoint, ID (a couple more days of riding). John will be flying back to LA; Sheryl and Phillip will be driving back to Mariposa, CA (actually, I think the name of the town is Mariposa-near-Yosemite ... kind of similar to Stratford-on-Avon). Tom is intending to ride the complete Northern Tier route, ending in Maine. Tom's ride can be followed at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/tomwild. I feel very lucky to have met these four. They are extremely nice people ... a joy to share time/riding with them.
No more extreme climbs for a while ... good.
Hi Randy! I just caught up on your blog. I think you should be getting paid for doing this ride! It would make the uphills, headwinds and rain less difficult don't you think? Nice writing, nice photos, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Randy...I think it's all downhill from here on out and tomorrow is the first day of summer, so no more rain! Great blog~ Ride safe.
ReplyDeleteRandy, your climbing muscles must be really getting in shape! But I'm guessing your descending muscles are getting the real workout. That would refer to your fingers crunching those wet brakes with a loaded Surly down 6% and 7% grades. Keep on truckin', man.
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