All Is Well -- But You Know We Haven't Had Rain Here in Three Months

Yesterday's accommodations were rustic.  For those of you who know about Pahaska Tepee in East Yellowstone, think even less.  So, internet was sketchy, but this place had an really interesting spin.  There were rabbits everywhere.  It appeared to be domesticated breeds running free.  I'm not sure what the story was and I didn't investigate, but I cannot even begin to describe how many rabbits there were.

So we'll start with yesterday.  First day to run SAG support. If you don't know, it stands for Support and Gear.  This company generally has the SAG vehicle and driver responsible for the riders from the time they leave the starting hotel until all riders arrive at the end hotel.  In the information that is provided, it explains that the Honda CRV is named "Little Bo Peep."  Pretty appropriate.  That means meeting riders every 15 to 20 miles with snacks, water, Gatorade, etc.; checking to make sure everyone is moving along (meaning you have to be able to FIND everyone); helping with any mechanical issues on the road; and communicating any problems to staff (like yesterday).

This is what a typical SAG stop set up looks like.  In this case, complete with fresh picked flowers.  You know presentation is everything.

So, 1 mile into the route we had riders lost and 3 miles into the route -- "Houston, we have a problem."

At 1.1 the cue sheet called for a left turn at the light onto Hwy 9 then cross the railroad tracks.  Unfortunately, the cue sheet didn't mention there are actually two stop lights there. One goes back into town,the second onto Hwy 9.  So I happened to stop at that first light and a guy on a motorcycle yells at me -- "Hey, are you looking for a bunch of bikers."  "Yes, I am."  He points the other way, "They went that way." (i.e. the wrong way)  Fairly quickly here the flock comes from the wrong direction and I helped them get back on route.  

In the mean time, the lead rider had called that at mile 3 the signs say the road is closed, "But, I'm sure we can get through."  Anyone who bikes, typically doesn't know a closed road that they can't get through.  Such was the case for the bikers yesterday, but not for "Little Bo Peep," the van and the trailer.

I helped the riders get through, but now I have to figure out how to meet them 15 miles down route without being able to follow the cue sheet myself.  I texted the van, and we agreed I would plug in a down route intersection into my "Smart" phone and let it give me the directions and work my way back to the riders.  In the meantime, I'm waiting for the last two riders to appear at the closed road -- 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes (keep in mind it's 3 miles!).  They never show up, I have already managed to lose over half the flock!

The van and I agree, I'm going to move forward.  The last two are pretty strong, so probably not too much to worry about yet.  I follow the "Smart" phone directions and go back to the last corner, go the opposite direction I came from (makes sense so far); turn, turn, turn -- I'm headed right back to the closed road!  This "Smart" phone is not so "Smart" today!  Now what?  I have no idea where I am, of course.  When you're on the bike, you rely on the cue sheet.  So, I decide to try the marked detour and see what happens.  Low and behold, brings me right back on route only behind the riders.  Whew!

After the first sag stop, I worked my way backwards to try to find the two lost sheep and found them within two miles.  They too had taken the wrong turn in town and didn't realize until quite some time later.  They had a message from the ride leader about the road closed, so they were able to maneuver their way through that without a problem.

There was another missing rider later in the day that I waited on for an hour and I finally started working my way backwards again.  When I finally got close to a town and cell service, she had left a message on the SAG phone apologizing that she had missed a turn and was already at the cabins!  No worries, everyone is now "found."

The last riders didn't make it in without some rain yesterday. Nothing hard nor dangerous.  Just a nice little shower, but that was a glimpse of things to come.

So, all in all it was a different perspective of the ride.  I SAG again on Thursday.

Scenery at one of the sags on Sunday.  Snow in the higher elevations.

Today's route was Marblemount to Winthrop (still in Washington), through the North Cascades National Park.  WOW!  91 miles of spectacular scenery.  Climbing was incredible.  And descents....16 miles downhill, some switchbacks and a lot of grade.  It was deserved.

The total climb today was 6,955 feet.  The summit was Washington Pass.  

Today's climbing took us over to the high desert of Washington and provides a different look than what we've had since the trip started.

We woke up to steady rain this morning, though.  No thunder or lightening, so everything important gets put into plastic bags and we ride.  Tomorrow is an off day.  The laundromat will be busy.  Everything is a wet, gritty, dirty mess.  Fortunately the temperatures remain warm, so even though it was raining, it wasn't cold.  It was 90 when we arrived in Winthrop this afternoon, and the forecast calls for 100 later this week.  

We had a picnic lunch on route today, since services were not available to sustain ourselves.  The sun was shining by the time we arrived there, 30 miles into the route and 4 hours after we started.  Yes it was a long day.  Once the sun was out, it was pretty warm climbing.

There are waterfalls everywhere, even along the road.  It was pretty tempting to stop pedaling and just stand under one of those falls.  Hey, part of the laundry would have been done then too.

We were treated tonight to flank steak, broccoli, corn and Cesar salad prepared by the ride chef.  It, as all the meals have been, delicious.  Last night she prepared fresh sockeye salmon with pasta and pesto.  This is much better than over-running one of the local restaurants.

This group of riders has a variety of abilities.  The majority have toured before.  And, they have really come together as a group, helping and supporting each other on the route each day.  There are a couple of non-US riders (Canada and Ireland).  The rider from Ireland was my roommate the first night and was very enjoyable -- "That's brilliant!"  There are several riders that are "retired," including my roommate for the next two days -- retired as an Army medical physician.  It's an interesting group, and it has been a good trip so far.

First orders of business tomorrow will be laundry and clean bikes.  Hopefully, we'll be able to get back into town to see the sites.  Winthrop was described to us as a "faux-"Western town.  I would concur with that analogy based on passing through this afternoon.  It looks to have many local shopkeepers and a very vibrant downtown, so it will be interesting.

I'm hoping first, though, to finally be able to get on track with the western time zone.  I usually struggle when coming west, and this trip is no exception.  I have no trouble going to sleep but have been waking up 4:00 local time, which of course is 6:00 central time.

Hope all is well wherever you are.  

Here's today's joke from the Miner family (who is also vacationing at this time but keeping me updated with their activities) --
Q.  What do you call a cow with no legs?
A.  Ground beef

Also, special shout out to Sophia who created a really special picture for me, for this day of the ride.  It was waiting when we arrived in Winthrop and will have a special place for viewing when I get back to Bettendorf.  Thanks, Sophie!!

Sedro Woolley --36.9 Miles According to the Route Sheet

Ok, on paper it was supposed to be an easy day, right? Well, that isn't always how things work out. Reality is sometimes a little different when the route sheet gets misread. Bonus miles on this day is much better than any bonus miles on Monday's route.  So is life on the road.

I have to say I was a little pessimistic about this "heat wave" thing, but we got in around noon today with a temperature of 75. I have to say it was getting a little toasty on the bike! How can that be?  At home 75 is a perfect riding temp.  We must be closer to the sun in the northwest :-)  The staff at the National Park Visitor Center weren't especially encouraging either.  They asked where we were headed. When I told them, there was a little hesitation and then..."It's going to be hot."  Thanks!  It is what it is.

Today's route was nice.  Roads were pretty good, although mostly chip seal. There were some sections of bike path.

We road to Washington Park this morning for photos then headed out of Anacortes around 9.  Mostly rural riding once we were away from Anacortes.  That gave us the opportunity to see farmland, as the route was pretty flat with some rolling hills.  We saw lots of potatoes today and a processing plant where the potatoes are taken at harvest.  Also some sort of grain that could have been wheat, but was still green with very little head.  And the obligatory corn fields, that will have to grow fast to be "knee high by the 4th of July."

No other scheduled towns on the route today, but some of us saw Burlington, Washington during our little excursion off route.

Because of our early arrival in Sedro Woolley, we had plenty of time to visit Dairy Queen then ride into the downtown area.  

Downtown seems to be very active.  Most store fronts were occupied with a variety of shops, restaurants and local establishments.  And, even though we rode through farmland, it's obvious timber is the primary industry in this area.  You can look to the hills around town and see where timber has been cut.  Then there were the banners on the downtown light posts, "Logger Rodeo."   

We made our way to a local coffee shop and enjoyed the local fare there.

Wherever we have been so far, the flowers have been absolutely spectacular.  You can see the hanging baskets downtown were full of petunias, and the blooms were as big as your hand.  I don't remember this from previous rides in the northwest.

Tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast will be  prepared by the ride's chef.  Sue owns a catering business when she's not working on a tour, so I'm expecting some interesting meals.

Tomorrow is my first day for SAG support.  It will be 52 miles to Marblemount.  This is going to be a new experience.  I'm hoping for an easy route, and to not lose any riders!

Downtown Sedro-Woolley, Washington

Anacortes, Washington -- Day -1 and 0

Arrived in Anacortes, Washington yesterday for the start of the tour.  Travel was incredibly smooth.  I was really grumbling yesterday morning at 3:30 about the choice to fly from Minneapolis.  But, it was so easy, it was almost worth it (I'm not sure if Dale agrees).  No one else in line when I checked my luggage at 4:30 (that was a new experience).  Security took only 40 minutes or so, and was much worse by the time I got through.  On time into Seattle, then onto the shuttle to Anacortes.  And, thankfully the shuttle driver agreed to drop us at the hotel instead of the normal stop which was a mile away.  My theory is they try to drop you off a mile away to see if you can haul your luggage to the hotel.  If you can’t, you either –

a.Don’t belong on this trip, or (more likely)

b.You packed WAY TOO MUCH STUFF!

I ran into another rider at the Seattle airport so we made the remainder of the journey together, went to lunch in Anacortes and picked up bikes at the bike shop down the street.

Since our arrival, there have been others coming in.  It seems many have ridden together with this tour company before.  My experience with this company has been limited to the Texas Hill Country ride two years ago.  It was a different, but good experience.  The route sheets and SAGs are set up differently, but they prepare most of their own dinners using the kitchen in the back of the trailer.

It’s a bit ironic that at the time of the Hill Country tour that area of Texas was in a severe state of drought and has now been inundated with rain this spring.  Now we're in the northwest and the local folks are all talking about how dry it is here.  The only obvious evidence to me were the medians of the highway as we drove yesterday were all brown and dead.  The trees are not showing any stress, but if this "heat wave" continues that will probably change too.

80 degrees with no humidity to someone from the Midwest isn't exactly a "heat wave," but Seattle and Portland are both forecast to be close to 100 tomorrow.  We'll hope we will be on tree-lined roads by then. One thing for sure, all that cold weather gear (and weight) right now seems like overkill.  On the third day we climb Rainey Pass on a 90+ mile day.  Any heat is intimidating then.

We've completed ride orientation and SAG orientation.  It looks like a good group.  (Everyone is looking at day 3).  I'll be SAG on day 2, so day 3 will be a ride day for me.

Tomorrow is 37 miles to Sedro Woolley.

Another rider and I rode out to Washington Park this morning and a bit around Anacortes.  This is a great starting point.  Drivers are incredibly courteous.  The Park was beautiful with many views of the San Juan Islands.  Which you'll see in the photos.  There's a heavy population of deer in the area.  We had a doe and fawn in front of us, and all the traffic even stopped for them to cross!

I'm posting one photo today especially for biking friend Taffney.  Looks like you can have your pick of sail boats, yachts and catamarans here.

Here's the first joke of the trip, thanks to Natalie -
Q.  Why wouldn't the seed watch TV?
A.  Because there was no "seed" nal!

Awesome!

San Juan Islands and Puget Sound from Washington Park.

Riding in Washington Park

Cut outs like this all over the buildings in Antacortes.  This one, on an old depot building, made me think of the campers at Camp Wilson this week.

Preparing for the Mountains

New year, new ride.  Many challenges with this ride.  For 16 days we'll ride the mountains and high desert of the northwest; battle the weather, traffic, road conditions and perhaps a little wild life; and then there's "Going to the Sun Road," for me the climax of the ride, when we get to Glacier National Park.  For those that know about these things, Going to the Sun often doesn't open until approximately July 4 depending on the winter's snow fall and plowing activities.  The road officially opened on Friday (6/19) this year.  This one has been on my list of rides to do.  I can't wait.

I'm helping with sag support for the ride this time, which means I'll be in the support vehicle every third day supporting riders on the route that day with food, water, flats and encouragement.

I started riding at the end of February this year. Of course, it was below zero that day and fresh snow on the ground, so there was some quality time on the trainer when needed.  I expect the terrain to be similar to the west coast portion of the cross country ride until we get toward Glacier; which means long, slow climbs and crazy, amazing descents.

My bike left last Thursday.  It's scheduled to arrive at the bike shop in Anacortes, Washington tomorrow.

So, at this point, it's finalizing travel, stacking and piling gear, and getting the blog started.

Hope you enjoy it.  The first post will probably be at the end of the week.

I'll miss the support of a couple of dedicated followers this year, but I think at least that many more have asked whether there'll be a blog.  Feel free to comment, which means you'll need to register for the blogger.com (no cost) if you're not already registered, or send email to my personal account.

Thanks to everyone that's provided support and rides this year!

We'll talk to you from the road!

Cascades to Glacier Epic Tour

Day	Location	Miles
June 26	Anacortes, WA	0
June 27	Sedro-Woolley, WA	37
June 28	Marblemount, WA	52
June 29	Winthrop, WA	91
June 30	Winthrop, WA	0
July 1	Omak, WA	48
July 2	Republic, WA	69
July 3	Colville, WA	56
July 4	Priest River, ID	101
July 5	Priest River, ID	0
July 6	Sandpoint, ID	28
July 7	Libby, MT	95
July 8	Eureka, MT	68
July 9	Whitefish, MT	59
July 10	Lake McDonald, MT	40
July 11	St. Mary, MT	40
July 12	East Glacier, MT	31
July 13	Shuttle to Airport	0