Crusty Cassette

17 July 2003 41.3 miles 4:10 riding time Kamiah, ID to Winchester, ID

When Chris first saw 7 Mile he described it as “no bigger than an Indiana Spur”. He soon regretted those words! The grade pretty well wore him down. We had PB&J sandwiches in Greencreek & water compliments of the Roman Catholic Church. He was ready for bite-sized steaks in Ferdinand. We’d planned to stay at the lake in Winchester, and Chris had no interest in cycling on down when we got to Winchester, but neither did he want to stop by the new library. We met some people with CEDA who invited us to a pic-nic with them later which was excellent food. First time I’ve camped at the lake since early adolescence. Amazing how little care the park has given the brush which needs removed, and no trees have been thinned since they took over. Oh well, it’s still a beautiful area. I did see Uncle Mike & Cousin Ken that evening but missed friends John & Sandy Young who came by to see us.

18 July 2003 43.1 miles 3:10 riding time Winchester, ID to Lewiston, ID

Riding down the Old Winchester Grade is always fun, and of course Chris enjoyed that. We took a long break at the top of Webb Ridge. That put is in Lewiston early, so I took my bike back to B&L to have the bottom bracket worked on; the creaking which seemed to appear in the hot weather continues.

19 July 2003 no miles. Layover day in Lewiston

Lazy day today for Chris, and one of paying bills and reading mail for me. The Riddles had a great party for us at their home which was a highlight.

20 July 2003 73.7 miles 7:43 riding time Lewiston, ID to Waitsburg, WA

Sheila, Dave, & Carol joined us for the ride to Chief Timothy, and Carol decided to make it her first climb up the Alpowa Grade giving us some fun and interesting company. I think Carol skipped church to do this though! Mark was supposed to meet us on the grade by 10:00 a.m., but we were in Pomeroy talking to another tourist when he rode up. It’s over 100 degrees today. Chris ran out of water outside of Dayton where we stopped at a farm house. I dumped my hot water for the ice water given us. We rode to Waitsburg instead of Dayton so we could stay with cousin Pat Largent. Had a good time with her and her granddaughter; Julianna.

21 July 2003 80.6 miles 6:59 riding time Waitsburg, WA to Umatila, OR

Pat fixed us a big breakfast, and we were soon peddling up the hill outside of Waitsburg (no AC doesn’t route us down Hwy 12). The route was hillier than I expected to Walla Walla but very low traffic volume. Chris wanted to find a bike shop (ever seeking the perfect adjust to his derailers which he’s not found). With the road closures downtown, we never found either shop though. After College Place we rejoined Hwy 12. We met Travis, a L-C tourist going east today. He’d run out of water between Biggs Jct and Umatila, so he warned us to watch that. He’s from Olympia, started there, rode to Portland, and caught the L-C route there. He’s eager to be done with WA and into ID. He extending the ride to North Carolina from A/C’s end near St. Louis. We had lots to discuss. He’s using only A/C book on Lewis Clark without the maps which leave him missing much info. We were disappointed to get to Touchet and find the listed restaurant is closed! We settle for snacks instead of lunch! My old bagels were thrown out in Lewiston, and neither of us had new breads, so it was mostly junk food. Chris says he likes to swim, but he was able to keep me out of the water twice today, another day over 100. He won’t do this again though! I now know he likes swimming about as much as David likes camping!

22 July 2003 80.6 miles 6:59 riding time from Umatila, OR to Biggs Jct, OR

The truck stop at Umatila proved to be low priced with good food, a pleasant surprise. I’d fallen behind on my journal since Winchester, and stayed up late catching up. In North Roosevelt we made sure our water bottles were full, remembering Travis’ warning. Frank, a local cyclist joined us for about 5 miles but the headwinds and heat made him turn around. Those things had caused my water to disappear before the 500 ft climb east Biggs (on the WA side). Chris had fallen behind and found a rancher’s house to get more ice water! As I was dry and waiting for him at the top, he rides up in a pickup! With all the water he could want, he still chickened out of that hill. His host gave me 20 oz of water which was appreciated, but by the time we were in Biggs, I was really dehydrated. 3 pitches of water at dinner (a bit drunk by Chris) and I was back to myself! Good friend, John Young, had offered to come get me in Astoria, and this day has me thinking about it!

23 July 2003 57.4 miles 6:38 riding time Biggs Jct, OR to Hood River, OR

Into the headwinds again today! A frontage road runs about half way to The Dalles & then onto the freeway. Headwinds held our average down to 8.7 MPH today. We enjoyed the scenic Hwy 30, the twin tunnels (opened only to cyclists & pedestrians) and getting into the timber. At a scenic overlook we me Lauri, a local cyclist, who invited us to set up our camp at her place. Chris decided to seek out a hotel, but I enjoyed spending the night with Lauri & Doug.

24 July 2003 71.9 miles riding time 7:12 Hood River, OR to Portland, OR

What a great day of cycling! Parts of the Historic Columbia River Highway, bike routes through the forests, and occasional bits of freeway shoulder provided today’s route. Headwinds were horrible again holding avg speed down to 9.9 MPH including the downhill from Corbett. The old abandoned sections of road turned into bike paths were my favorite, but I enjoyed the overlook and some of the people we met there too. I’m reminded that Doug, the host in Hood River enjoyed July, which is the primo time for the wind-surfers. Apparently July offers the strongest winds! Chris suffered his 3rd flat of the trip today.

25 July 2003 in process

Today started out poorly- at least as poorly as a 70 some degree with blue skies can be on tour! At departure time Chris decided to patch all his accumulated tubes! It was 9:00 before we were out of there! Then we rode the route through Portland, but our bridge was closed for the summer of ’03! Another hour a half later after riding through downtown Portland on Broadway Bridge, we were across the Willamette. Just south of Scappoose Chris’s bike started making a noise. I suggested something was in his tires. As he started to stop, I saw a “historic sign” and suggested we stop there. He didn’t want to. Then, I noticed the sign was removed! It was only 1 mile into town, so I thought we’d remeet there. I waited 30 minutes and he didn’t show up. I then went into ShopKo leaving my bike out by the road where no one could miss seeing it. As I got back to it, there was Chris. He was still headed toward me, on the other side of the road, eyes fixed forward in a very upright position. I jumped and cried out, but he never look my way, and apparently he couldn’t hear me. By the time I got the bike unlocked and waited for the green left turn light, he was gone! We’re both headed for Westport, OR, so we should find each other tonight!

Happy Cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!

Steve

Seven Crazy Ladies stepped down from their pedals to grab some paddles to do battle with the Snake River this Wednesday. Leane, Sandie (T.M.O.A.C.L.), Helen, Sheila, Julie, Marcia and Debbie hired a really cute captain (Paul, Leane’s husband) from Beamer’s Hells Canyon Tours and seven kayaks to be transported by jet boat 9 miles upriver to Bear Bar for a float and paddle back to the lodge at Heller Bar.

With the high temps of the day, this was definitely the way to spend time. Leaving from Bear Bar around 10 am and bucking a headwind most of the way, leisurely was the key word here. Stopping for lunch at Ann Duckworth’s beautiful cabin and sand bar, Leane decided to have a bud light while the sane ladies ate their sensible lunches. Soon that bud light would be paying Leane back, by causing her to capsize in the “Wild Goose” rapids. How embarrassing for the “alleged river guide” to have Julie and Debbie rescue her kayak, while she braved the Wild Goose with only her paddle…sort of like being up a creek with just a paddle!

A couple more swimming stops, a hike up to some petroglyphs (luckily no snakes!), a stop at Lime Point to watch a deer and a barn owl, some quail and chuckers coming down to get a drink from the river, all the ladies returned safe, sunburned and smiling to the lodge at about 2:30.

The Crazy Ladies decided that this was really fun and plan to make it an annual outing. Girls just want to have fun!

Linda and I survived Bicycle Idaho nicely arriving home about 1 pm Sunday afternoon. Sorry we missed seeing Steve and the pot-luck on Saturday. I'm glad the club came through for Steve.

We had a delightful time. I found the course to be less challenging than I had expected. I also found the first couple of days far dryer than I'd have liked. But the climb into Stanley made it all worth while. Feast your eyes on this sunset and then follow the links below to read a day by day account or visit the BikeIdaho gallery to see more pictures and find links back to the blog for each day.

1. Saturday
2. Sunday
3. Monday
4. Tuesday
5. Wednesday
6. Thursday
7. Friday
8. Last Saturday