4 Down, 1 To Go

The crawling mountain pace is just about over. Wauconda, and its 4310 foot pass, came and went today. It had a gentle pace to it, steep for while, then flat for a while, repeat. The last 5km, as we are learning, are always murder.

We were fortunate enough to get off to a great start on the day. Yesterday, while approaching Tonasket, a guy pulled off the highway about 1km ahead of me. As I neared, he waved and called over, "Hey are you biking across the country?"

We chatted a minute, and before long he had offered a place to spend the night. Tonasket was our goal for the day, so it worked out perfectly. Within twenty minutes we were riding into the driveway of Mike and his mother Ivetta. Mike is a huge fan of touring, and unfortunately had his last tour of Latin America cut short by the horrible news that Ivetta's husband had passed prompting him to return to Tonasket. Since, they have been hosting touring cyclists along the Northern Tier route. They were two of the absolute most generous people we have ever met. Another steak dinner (!) along with great story telling, and a side trip over to feed the neighbours' horses made for an amazing day. I got to chip in and make some omelettes for breakfast after dusting off the rust that had developed from not setting foot near a kitchen for a bit.

We rode off shortly after to conquer pass number 4: Wauconda. The best part was the awesome cafe/store 5km from the top. The store is basically the town of Wauconda, containing a post office, a restaurant and a general store. We also met up with Dorothy and Karl along the climb, a father-daughter team on their way to Albany. We chatted over lunch before heading back on the road to conquer the last stretch of ascent before the ever popular downhill coast that always makes these climbs worthwhile in the end. After watching a fox scurry across the highway 50 feet in front of me, and a deer duck for cover off to the side, we strolled into the town of Republic, our destination for the day. We had arranged to stay with Dianne and Boyd, who have a house atop a hill with the most incredible view over the town and beyond. Yet another amazing home cooked meal had us feeling quite spoiled.

Tomorrow we will set out to conquer the big one: Sherman Pass. The highest pass in Washington, at 5575 feet. If all goes well we think we can make it all the way to Colville, which is home to a cyclist only campsite. It lies over 90km away.

But for now, sleep!

Fast Food and Wal Mart

Our first hotel night! We are at the Royal Motel in lovely (?) Omak, Washington. Our maps took us through the less than savoury back roads where we had our first "chased by a barking dog" moment, and finally saw a side of the state that was not entirely mountain passes, quaint country roads and rivers.

Today we traversed our third pass, Loup Loup, at a modest 4020 feet. The beginning was instant; suddenly we were in the desert of eastern Washington, complete with tumbleweeds, and climbing a horribly steep grade. It didn't relent much but was at least shorter than the previous two major climbs. Just as we approached the end of the climb, we saw "I LOVE YOU JEREMY" written on the shoulder, surely the handywork of Jamie and Jeremy, a couple we met two nights previous in Newhalem who are on their way to Maine.

The descent was amazing, as the lack of trees that prevented shade on the way up offered the benefit of incredible views on the way down. As I was toying with the idea of going to the plus side of 70km/h, this horrible joke in the form of a steep incline came out of nowhere grinding the operation to a halt. I have never laughed so hard while being so pissed off before!

The interruption passed, and within an hour we rolled through Okanogan and then it was on to Omak. In Omak, a quick stop at the tourist info office pointed us towards the motels, the several fast food outlets, and the Wal Mart SuperMegaCenter. Cheap groceries, fresh supplies, three burgers, onion rings, and a blizzard later we were feeling mighty excited to relax in that air conditioned room, knowing that an actual bed awaits.

Refreshment

Short on clean clothing, power supplies to our chargeables, and skin free of the veritable terrine that has become of our layering of tiger balm, bug spray, sunscreen, sweat, and camp soap residue, we opted to camp last the luxurious KOA Winthrop. The sign boasted its virtues; showers, WiFi, laundry, pool, and a general store. Sold.

Our immediate second guessing of our decision (triple the price of any of the other campsites we have stayed at so far) was squashed as the folks across from us came over to chat. Todd, Mary, Adriana, and Blake were quick to invite us over for dinner. After taking advantage of the various luxury amenities that drew us in the first place, we joined them for an incredible steak dinner. Meaning we are averaging no fewer than two steak dinners per week so far. If we keep this pace up, it will be a miracle.

Washington: My eyes love you but my legs hate you.

We are now a few days deep into Washington state; the Okanogan valley to be specific. The first couple of days out of Lynden were rather nice. Wide shoulders, lovely views, and a random farm serving ice cream.

We camped at Rasar State Park, then it was over to Newhalem the next day. Newhalem is the last chance to get provisions for about 100km, so we left with a good bit of weight aboard.

Emi's knee was causing her a little discomfort so we decided to simply bike to the next campground, just 15km away. A de facto rest day. We encountered a beautiful and free primitive campsite at Diablo Dam, which sat on Gorge Lake. We had met up with Wayne, a New Zealander who was going from Vancouver to Florida, earlier in the day and shared a site with him.

The next morning was bright and early. Hell Day, as we coined it upon first glancing the elevation profile. Two mountain passes... 4855 feet and then 5477 feet. It took us all day, but we got there. We hit mach 3 on the descent, making 30km in what felt like a minute and a half.

The next town, Mazama, came at just the right time. We found an outdoor restaurant/bar serving local beer and sausages... of which we devoured. They also let us pitch our tents on the grassy parking area adjacent to the restaurant. All in all, a difficult but immensely rewarding day.

Currently we are sitting at a cafe in Winthrop, enjoying free WiFi, good sandwiches, and a bike tune-up! I was unable to get one prior to leaving. A couple random squeaks and worn brake pads have been taken care of.

Tomorrow is the next pass... "Loup Loop" which sits at a relatively tame 4020 feet. A cakewalk compared to yesterday. We will see.

100km!

So we did it. A few bad decisions turned our 80km day into a fraction short of 100.

There is a road know as 0 Avenue that parallels the US-Canada border. Looked charming based on our Google street view glances. Reality of it? Up and down. Over and over. Then as we neared the crossing, we read a sign telling us that no border access was available via that street, thus we had found out it was time to erase our climbing and reroute ourselves by an extra 7km.

It all wound up being worth it! We met our host, Sara, and she rode the final 10km with us to her house. She will be riding with us for as few days as we head into the Cascades.

The first night at her place was great! Her family took us in, had a steak dinner ready, and gave us a warm shower and a bed. Much more than we could have ever hoped for.

Lightest day in bike touring history

We got the formalities out of the way today. We learned a few things:

1) It can be difficult to pack up your apartment and prepare for a cross country cycling trip in the same day. Little sleep was had by both of us.

2) Packing is of utmost importance. Attention to detail is key. When you need to unstrap 2 bags and take off half your gear to get to your wallet, not only are you doing a bad job, but you are actually an idiot.

3) Carrying a bike through sand is not an easy task. Especially the way Sunset Beach slopes down so steeply. After more than one attempt at finding a competent photographer (You'd be surprised at how hard this can actually be), we got our cliche opening day photo!

Today was a short warm up; we got going around 8pm and just ventured 8.5km across town to meet up with Miyo and Tommy, who were kind enough to make us an incredible dinner of yakiniku and share some beers. And offer up a place to stay so that we can avoid dealing with packing up our last minute apartment items the morning before leaving.

And I was also blessed with magic beans:

As legend has it, these will make me invincible upon ingestion. 

Time for bed, tomorrow we begin in earnest; just under 100km to Lynden. Hopefully I can hold of on the beans.

Today's the day. Sort of.

All coast to coast bike tours must begin at the ocean, with the rear tire being ceremoniously dipped into the water. Logically, the ending involves the front end going for a dip in the other ocean.

We live 2 blocks from the ocean, but since we've packed up our place and subletted, we're spending the night at hotel Tommy and Miyo, which is a few km away from the ocean. So we've made today day one; a "mini-day" involving just the ocean business and a brief ride to their place this afternoon. 

So. Packing has been in full effect. We are ready to go.