Day 6, Spokane to Sandpoint Idaho. Feckin Awesome 76 miles

Best: Pie at lunch (more below on this)

Worst:  Stopping at Albeni falls dam and finding the falls are no more.

Most Unexpected:  The oldest and youngest riders rode together for most of the ride. I was one of them.  Guess which one.

Waking up and putting on the lycra is the hardest part of this trip.  I did just that and headed to breakfast at the Gonzaga food cafeteria and then headed out of Spokane.  We actually rode as a group, all 12 of us, as we left the City.  It gave me chills to see us all together.  Eventually outside of the City we hit a hill that Terry wanted to ride up to get pie and see a view that he had done yesterday, and 6 riders left the group.  3 riders turned around once they realized they were going to add 7 miles to the ride.  Here is where my pie strategy came into play.

Last night we had pie from the place at the top of the hill.  I knew that all of it had not been consumed and therefore the remainder small piece would be put out for lunch.  I figured if I could get to the lunch spot early, the pie would be waiting for me instead of having to ride 3.5 miles up the hill and 3.5 miles back.  With the three fastest riders going up the hill, I figures I could get to lunch at the front of the pack and Becka and I rode together into lunch (one is the oldest and one is the youngest). Sure enough the pie was waiting for me.  

I rode with Cathy and Paul Rogers today as well, and here is a picture below of Cathy on her electric orange bike.  Electric in both the color as well as the motor.

I asked Cathy how she would change her tire if she got a flat, which immediately jinxed her.  Shortly thereafter she flatted with a nail requiring major surgery to take the rear wheel off and replacing the tube. 

Right after lunch we entered Idaho and stopped for our obligatory picture.

Two years ago at the lunch stop we saw a rodeo parade but this year it is next week due to the extra week in June before the 4th of July.  On the positive side it was not raining and it was beautiful weather for the entre ride.

We rode in a group of 5, Kevin, Jenn, Becka, Lisa, and me.  If you notice the big riders were not a part of the group because they were still cathing up from adding the 7 miles.  Kenny, Terry, and Charles went up the hill and in addition to the extra mileage, Kenny got a flat to slow them down.  We rode at a great pace for taking in the beauty, and my neck is really sore from swiveling back and forth gawking at the scenery. 

We got into Sandpoint and are staying at the Sandpoint west athletic club and all of the services are open to us.  I took my first ever hydromassage on a hydromassage bed (not sure where else you would do it). You definately would not want to do the hydromassage on your front. 

We all went in to Sandpoint downtown, some walking, some shuttling and some riding.  I rode in with two others and we went to dinner at Spuds.  If you can guess what they specialize in, you win nothing.  I had the potato stuffed with salsa verde, sour cream, and chicken. Yes chicken.  I went ahead and had a berry cobbler for dessert.  We rode out to the lake and found the Statue of Liberty still looking good.  I tried climbing up to her head, but it was too tight a fit for me.  I am back at the grass area outside the club waiting for the sun to set if it ever does.  We are at the summer solstice as north as we will be for the trip.  I am going back up for a final hydromassage before bed and I hope I wake up to go to my tent.  Enjoy the pictures, the first one is of bugs mating in the forest, just a little different than you would expect after reading that sentence

Day 5, rest day in Spokane, 0.012 miles

Best:  Marich Chocolates arrived today.

Worst: I ate too much (see above and below)

Most Unexpected:  Pie was brought in for an afternoon snack.  

Woke up at 6:00.  Great night sleep without any trains to wake us up.  A group of us went to breakfast at Chairs which is across the street from Wolfies. For future reference, Wolfies is better. (Don't worry spouse, the future reference is for future years riders and not for me). We did bike maintenance and then off to REi where several of us bought a lot of stuff.  We were planning on going out for lunch when a special delivery arrived from the post office consisting of two large boxes of chocolates from Marich chocolates.  Marich chocolates is sponsoring the Big Ride, and their chocolate is incredible.  I personally think more riders should use chocolate as their energy source.

Kenny and I took a bicycle trip downtown and saw the park on the island in the river and various other spots.  The pictures below prove that I actually did something other than sit on my rear and eat.  We did eat calzone for lunch, and after eating pie as a pick me up at 3:30 thanks to Terry's family, we walked to a local brewpub called No Li.  It used to be Northern Lights but they got sued by a brewer out east so they lost a few letters to make it legal.  There were 10 riders drinking beer and eating, with the exception of Terry who was with his family, and Anita who got locked in some bike shop getting repairs and we haven't seen all day.  We hope they let her out by tomorrow morning.

I am once again in my dorm room at my desk and just like in college, I have no thoughts.  I will sign out with the following pictures.

Day 4, Odessa to Spokane, 77 miles, Living in the Dorm

Best: Riding around with different groups all day, Nobody wanted me.

Worst: Third chicken dinner in a row tonight

Most Unexpected: Last night it was balmy, this morning it was downright chilly.

Last night in Odessa we had dinner in the school cafeteria sitting at tables for little people.  I felt very happy that my knees didn't quite hit my chin.  The dinner was pasta and parmesan chicken cooked by volunteers at the school.  Unfortunately the chicken was very very dry.  We slept outside on the school lawn on grass and it was a very nice night.  I pulled my fly off the back side of the tent, and then in the morning my tent was wet from the dew due to the cold temperature that somehow came over the night.  Notice the use of dew due in the previous sentence.  I woke up at 1:30 feeling like I had a great nights sleep and seeing the time realized I had to try to go back to sleep.  This did occur when at 2:30 the train came into town with a very irate train engineer who tried to play boogie woogie bugle boy on his horn.  

Breakfast was back in the cafeteria where once again I avoided cramping up on the little tables.  The eggs were cooked in some kind of souffle like thing. We left lovely Odessa and it was downright chilly.  Everyone was really feeling the last three days and the riding speeds were low.  Of course this did not last, but a tailwind quickly helped equalize our different riding speeds.  The temperature stayed low the entire ride, but not like last year's near freezing temperatures.  I left my vest on the entire ride.

Lunch was the left over souffle like thing, left over breakfast from two days ago, french fries and pasta from last night, and your typical peanut butter and jelly surprise.  Plus pickles.  Be still my stomach.

My mind kept having the following conversation all day;

Butt:  Hey fat boy, you need to get off me.

Triceps:  Yeah, and stop using me to keep yourself from falling forward.

Brain:  Okay legs, time for you to stand up and take the pressure off the butt and triceps.

Legs:  Hey fat boy, sit down.  

Repeat ad nauseum

Not a lot of climbing today, mostly some small hills and one long grade with not much of a slope.  There was a nasty climb before getting to the far outskirts of Spokane that was made famous by Liz of 2012 Big Ride fame for dropping me like a boulder on the climb.  One of the pictures shows this really crappy climb.  Then a lovely descent into Spokane and we found our way to the Gonzaga dorm where I took a shower, did laundry, and didn't get mixed up between the two tasks.  No spin dry for me.

We ate at a cafeteria for Gonzaga which was recently built near our dorm and I fully expected a similar dinner to two years ago where there was quite a bit of variety for dinner.  What a surprise when there was a single main course for dinner and of course it was CHICKEN.  Fortunately we had gone to Wolfies diner before dinner (after I had spun dry myself) and I had a chocolate malt.  

I am writing this from my dorm room which has a bunk bed and two desks.  I do not have to share my room, nobody does, and so I have a decision on which bunk I use.  Probably not to difficult seeing as the lower bunk has sheets and a blanket and the upper bunk is naked.  I feel like I am back at college with the exception that I never stayed in a dorm.

Day 3, Vantage to Odessa, 82.5 miles, Tailwind, what tailwind?

Best:  Once again, the Huckleberry milk shake in Odessa.  This time including onion rings.

Worst:  The advertised tailwind was actually a headwind.

Most Unexpected:  Rode most of the day with the strong riders.

Last night we ate at the restaurant at Vantage and had a chicken boob with a heart attack topping consisting of some kind of sauce (maybe in your dreams you could call it hollondaise), cheese, and bacon.  No Dessert so I had to buy a candy bar, a Twix.  Unfortunately it was peanut butter not the caramel flavor I wanted.  I suffered through it, and then had a perfectly cooked marshmallow at Terry's dad RV site.

Tremendous winds through the night kept the tent shaking and gave me a nice foot massage.  I actually slept really well.  We had breakfast at the same restaurant as last night and had the heart attack special which was scrambled eggs with cheese on top, potatoes, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, and green peppers.  We crossed the bridge across the Columbia river where the water level is down 39 feet due to the dam failure downstream.  The businesses are really suffering in Vantage and they were sure happy to serve us our cholesterol raising food.

Crossing the bridge in a tight group with a car in front and a van behind so we wouldn't become a truck ornament.  Unfortunately the lead vehicle was up to 18 mph which spread out the riders and made it possible for a car to get in the midst of the riders.  It didn't happen thankfully.  

The wind was supposed to be a tailwind, which I think means from behind you.  I guess my tail is in front because that is where the wind was for 40 miles, and then it became reasonable.  The landscape is fairly barren with occaisional bursts of beauty.  I rode in my first paceline for the first 40 miles with two other riders, then we became a group of 5.  Unfortunately my legs are the weakest of the group, so I had to bail out and slow down so I wouldn't miss the scenery (okay, I just wasn't fast enough)  Eventually a couple of the other riders slowed down and I caught and rode with them before getting dropped with a couple of miles to go.  They didn't fall for the old naked ladies in the forest that worked last time.

We went to the local diner and I had a huckleberry milk shake, onion rings, and a large pepsi and felt human again.  The shower definately helped as I sure didn't smell like a human.  Pictures below. Note the beauty of our rest stop showing three bikes on the ground.

Day 2, Easton to Vantage De Ja Vu all over again 73 miles

Best: Incredible tailwind leading up to a fantastic downhill to camp

Worst: Packing up the wet tent this morning, and getting to todays camp with a wet pillow as a result.  It looked like I had a massive drool problem.

Most Unexpected: Finding a meat market that sold beef jerky and something called a land jaeger not to be confused with jaegermeister.  The meat store was over a hundred years old even though the meat didn't look that bad

Below is the camping setup for last night between the rain showers.  Note how the green tent really liked my red tent.  Note also how the green tent seems to be set up in an unusual manner.

Today I got up at 5:00 after a cold nights sleep. Everything was pretty soaked that was out last night.  We left the campsite at 6:45 as if you care.  We rode on wet roads so all the chain cleaning we did last night was wasted.  We did not get rained on (yeah) and it did warm up.  We stopped in Cle Elum and we found a meat store, Owens, and the beef jerkey came highly recommended. In addition there was a cooked sausage called land jaeger that apparently does not need refrigeration.  The sausage wasn't quite ready and needed another two days to be ready.  However when the person working there heard we were going across the country and so unfortunately wouldn't be back, he sold me one and told me to air it out for another two days and it would be ready for eating.  If I die of salmonella, remember it was Owens who did it.  My tent smells like a giant sausage.

Onward we went with a great tailwind and not a lot of climbing, in fact it was mostly downhill slightly.  We climbed the last hill and then down a hill for 11 miles with speeds up to 44 mph.  I skipped the petrified forest (three trees) that I visited two years ago and consisted of rocks in underground cages.  The three guys I was riding with stopped resulting in my rolling into the campground first for the first time by default.  All three riders are faster than me which was why I told them the petrified forest was full of naked women and of course they stopped.  

Tonights dinner will be prix fixe at the local restaurant.  Enjoy the pictures below of todays ride.  Note the huge difference in landscape between the start of the ride, and the end.

Day 1, Redmond to Easton Washington Approximately 62.489 miles

Best: Shorter distance than 2 years ago.

Worst: My first flat already, in the rain, in the cold,on the freeway

Most Unexpected: Doing this ride again.

The day began as any other day, except waking up at 5:00 a.m.  We all assembled and listened to Charlton tell us where to go, but not in the way you think.  We haven't been around him enough to tell us what he really thinks. For some reason all of the riders are also wearing the same jersey.

We left en masse and rode out on wet and icky roads, icky being a technical term.  The group of 12 separated out and enjoyed the flat start until we were no longer flat.  There was a climb before Snoqualmie falls and that gave us the excuse we needed to stop and see them through the mistiness of the semi rain.  Of course there was also a bathroom there which meant I could multitask.

After the falls, we had a rest stop where we enjoyed some kind of energy bar that was made for kids, and I thought it appropriate that I partake of several.  Next stop was the I90 freeway which was just waiting to make a mockery of our inner tubes.  I don't think they have swept the highway this millenium and I could swear I saw a couple of used horseshoes when the road was a horse path.  The traffic was incredibly noisy, and the truckers wanted to help us by honking their horns.  The mist turned into a rain which meant that every truck that passed us gave us a bonus shower.  

Then the joy, I got a piece of wire stuck through my tire from somebodies cast off steel belted radial which meant tube change.  It was pretty cold at this point with a constant drizzle, and because the riders I was with wanted to get back on the road, there were at least four people all trying to shove in the tube at the same time.  Unfortunately the new tube was defective, so now we had 47 people trying to put in the new tube.  Finally back on the road, we travelled about 100 yards and hit another rider with a flat, stopped and with the assistance of a google of us, we fixed the flat.  By now we were absolutely freezing from not moving so on the bikes to try and warm up.  This was an epic fail because by the time we just started to thaw, we hit the lunch stop and refroze.  Back on the bikes after about 8.33 minutes, we traveled the prettiest section of the ride, got caravanned around construction on the freeway, and rode into the campground at Easton. 

Showered, charged all of my electronics, ate spaghetti dinner, and now blogging.  So far nobody hates me, but there are 47 days to go.  Pictures below;

Trusty steed

Here it is, the bike that I am putting my faith into that will transport me with ease across the great old USA.  The bike was actually built in the US (well the company is in the US, and if this was the custom model it would have been built in New England, but its not the custom frame so the frame was manufactured in China).  I built up the frame with parts so I can say it was built in California.

The bike is a Parlee Z5 SLI and is equipped with Dura Ace DI2.  I have been asked the weight and with pedals, water bottles, etc. it weighs 190 pounds.  The etc. includes me.

I have named the bike after the volleyball in the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away.  Surprisingly it also happens to be my last name

The handlebar tape is new and replaces the ho hum black that I first put on the bike. It is a leather wrap from the company Handlebra.  Bra being real close to BRAA which is the Big Ride Across America. I put cork tape below the leather for the extra cushion I will need for the ride.  The company calls this a stuffed bra.  I did not make this up.  

One other important note, the saddle is an ergon which I have been riding for the last 2500 miles, and I have high hopes that my voice will not be any higher when I get done with the ride.  I just spent this afternoon boxing this up for delivery to Seattle and hopefully it will not arrive in more pieces than when it left.  Only 11 more days until I become close friends again with my faithful steed.