Wahoo! Yeehaw! Etc! Please note the sincerity but complete lack of energy that went into that exclamation. I made Newhalem! I was afraid it was an unattainable goal, but I did it! It's really important because tomorrow is the pass. Rainy and Washington Passes in fact. I discovered 4 years ago, from people who knew, that as soon as the pass warms up, hellacious headwinds blow down. Leaving Newhalem by 6 or 7 will make it a hell of a lot easier.
But that's tomorrow. There's a lot to talk about today. Got up about 6:30, made some tea, took another bath and read more book. Raided the continental breakfast. Still haven't had to eat the freeze dried eggs! Since the traffic went right by the window, I knew there was no hurry - rush hour. I watched Andy and Opie go fishing until almost 9:00 (on TV and I think it was them in the lake across the street). Traffic was still bad, but enough is enough. The first 5 miles was on the highway with little shoulder, construction, commuters and log trucks. Even worse, it started with a steady climb. I was not happy.
Then the route took off on what must have once been the highway. There were all sorts of ancient industries that once took advantage of the railroad and Fidalgo and Padilla Bays. I'm not sure what the Drive Through Circus was about. (Mmmm, my Cajun Style Red Beans & Rice is ready. I won't say any more bad things about Lipton meals in an envelope.) The route rejoined the highway just in time to climb a miles-long bridge over Swinomish Channel. It was very cool and I really wanted to get a picture that would have shown the mountains past miles of flat farmland and my bike, but the traffic was too weird. This was also a stretch of road that Mom and I had just gone over when we toured the tulips, so I had some nice nostalgia.
While I stopped to get the picture I missed from the bridge, I met the first fellow tourist of the ride. She was riding from Vancouver to California, with very little gear. She must have thought I had enough stuff to ride to the moon. I may. The highway (SR20 since Port Townsend and for the duration of the Washington portion of the trip) is pretty straight. A flat line. The route, on the other hand, weaves along on either side with a new road to follow every few miles. It's kind of a sine wave around the base line of SR20. The purity of a sine wave. The musical, artistic purity of the curving road. Maybe it's more of a square wave, with all the harmonics of the water rushing by, the birds singing, the log trucks rumbling. At any rate, it's much more peaceful and interesting than the highway - the monotonous, dead flat line of the highway. Yeah, well I had a lot of time to think today.
Crossed I-5 a little north of Burlington. Resisted the urge to moon. For miles Lyle Lovett's song, "If I had a boat" had been going through my head. Crossing I-5 was leaving civilization behind and I just had one thing to say to civilization, "Kemosabe, kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I'm sailing off to sea." But most of the vehicles on I-5 are faster than me so I kept my pants on. The next few miles was like a trip back in time, I may have seen Andy and Opie. The road was concrete with the bump-bump every few feet (except with bob it was bump-bump-bump). Thanks to the front suspension, I enjoyed it. There was some old geez - older than me - meandering down the road on his old cruiser. "Idaho! You're going to Idaho? ..." He probably said something clever after that, but I was long gone.
I was hot today! I mean I was fast and I was feeling GOOD. I didn't screw up any turns and, even with bob, I was averaging 13mph. Course there were no hills. I think I was 30 miles into the day before I got over 100 feet and didn't have so much as a 50 foot hill until after 50 miles. I was feeling so good that when the route crossed the highway at Historic Sedro-Woolley, I just kept cruising. That was dumb. I needed food, but all I saw was a Burger King and it was too late for breakfast. A couple of miles later I caught up with Dave and Polly Henderson. They're from one of those little states on the East Coast, New Hampshire maybe? (They're all the same to me.) They started from Seatac, ferried to Bainbridge and were following the same route as me, except that they're going to Maine. They're also riding brand new Cannondales, except not Silk Tours. I admired their suspension seat posts though. They gave me a peach! Damn it was good. They peddled off while I stripped down. It was getting hot. I wolfed a sandwich and gatorade at the gas station and still passed them pretty quick. We met up again later. I took their picture and Polly gave me a Fig Newton. These people know how to travel.
We talked for awhile about what you think about when you're riding. I remembered that for the first two relatively hectic, hilly days I had a Cake song about punk rock promoters (You turn the screw. It's what you choose to do. You think that I must turn them too. Do do do do do do do.) Now that life was getting a little more bucolic, I spent today with Jesse Winchester (Me, I want to live with my feet in Dixie and my head in the cool blue north) and, of course, Lyle Lovett. Polly said she had Creedence Clearwater's Green River going through her head. Poor dear. I would have just pulled in front of one of the logging trucks. (CCR is not one of my favorite groups.) After I thought about it awhile I told them that for me a ride is a rolling prayer. When I'm not praying for strength and to keep that truck away from me, I'm thanking God for the incredible beauty all around and for allowing me to savor it. I've been saying a lot of prayers for Dave and Polly, too. They're moving pretty slow for a cross country trip, but I think they'll really enjoy it, if they make it.
The road continued to be peaceful and cool, interrupted occasionally by log trucks and a lack of shade. (Note the connection.) When they was no shade, it was hot. 84 was the hottest I saw on my thermometer, but that's hot enough when you're pumping up a hill with no shade or wind. I continued to amaze myself that Newhalem continued to be possible. Rockport (60 miles) or Marblemount (74) was all I really expected to do. But since there was still time and I still had steam, I just kept on pushing. I was stopping for breaks every few miles, sometimes every 2 or 3. I stopped in Marblemount to get as much food as I could carry. The "store" in Newhalem is rarely open and I don't think they have much. I got a bottle of water to refill my radiator (camelback), 2 bottles of gatorade to refill my water bottles and some fruit, cookies and cheese. (Oooh, cookies! I forgot about the cookies.) Then counted down the 14 miles to Newhalem.
This is the same route I've done 3 times before, once with the Lung Association on the Trek WA from Seattle to Spokane and twice on the Jan Selvig Century. The Jan Selvig goes from Marblemount 57 miles to Washington Pass and back down again. 114 miles and over 8000 feet of elevation gain - in one day. The first time Jake did it with me. We were the youngest and oldest on the ride. The headwinds were deadly all the way up and just as bad all the way down. Jake had learned to draft, so while I was peddling hard on the return just to fall downhill, Jake was having to brake to keep from running into me. I was trashed the last 20 miles. Jake kept wanting me to speed up, or he could lead and I could draft him. He was 14 at the time and hardly cast a shadow, much less provided a "wind shadow" for me to draft in. I was so proud of him for finishing. We ate a huge steak dinner in Marblemount. I think he fell asleep before we were done. The next, and last, year I was still the oldest and I was still the last to finish. It was raining, almost sleeting, at the pass and my pedals weren't adjusted right. I was freezing and my ankle hurt and I was beat, for 114 miles. That was not a fun ride.
So I had all these great memories to think about while I pedalled miles 74 through 89.1. I even saw the great waterfall I've enjoyed everytime. There were so many vehicles with boats and bikes going by, I started to worry about camping space. I didn't need to. Only 2 of the 4 campsite loops are open and there's only about 8 of the 40 sites occupied in mine.
Met another group of Adventure Cyclists when I checked in. Two teenage girls and two teenage boys. I'd guess the youngest boy was about 14 and the oldest girl maybe 18. They're riding home to New Jersey. They'd expected to find a real town in Newhalem and barely had enough food for the night. I hope they bummed some from a RV camper, because I was worried about having enough food and, shamefully, didn't give them any of mine.
I went to take a shower, but there wasn't one. I felt even dirtier than I smelled, so I washed in the sink, with cold water that only comes out when you hold the handle down, peppermint soap and my cool sham-chamois camp towel (thanks Peggye). I'm usually not too fond of cold water but it felt great! Then I pitched the tent and had a couple of cups of tea and beans and rice while I wrote. Now it's dark and I better crash. I've got to get up before the wind tomorrow. Maybe the beans will propel me up the hill?Stats: 89.1 total miles, avg. speed 12.26, bike time 7:03, altimeter read (since inception) 344.4 for 3100 feet today, max ? (my cycle computer freaked out before I read the max, good thing I had a spare battery),.