Crusty Cassette

Seven Crazy Ladies met at the Southway Boat Launch at 7:50 for an 8:00 am ride in an attempt to beat the heat! After looking and laughing at some kayak pictures and a nice photo collage (with captions) that Sandie put together from the trip, Jennifer, Joel, Sheila, Julie, Leane, Helen and our newest lady Camille Seubert headed for the blue bridge. Although we would have rather gone over the other bridge, there was so much glass on it that we feared we would all flat out. Julie intends to go fix that with a broom, although, I am not sure if she was going to use the broom on the bridge or on the bridge maintenance crew.

Hearing helicopter sounds we decided to investigate the doings along Hwy 129. The bike path was closed several places and all that was confusing, but taking Clemens road offered us a great view of the activity along the rock cliffs. Finally heading up for the peace and quiet of Asotin Creek, Jennifer (Starbucks Power!) was always in the lead…with the rest of the ladies pedaling and talking trying to keep up with Jennifer! Asotin Creek was really nice with the shade and the sound of the creek.

Returning back to the parking lot nearly three hours and 26 miles later, the ladies decided that since Leane and Ellen (the two sleepy headed ladies) were not riding on Wednesday, August 6 they would start even earlier. They will meet at (gasp!) 6:50 am and leave promptly at 7:00 am. For all those early birdies who want to ride next Wednesday, join up with the Crazy Ladies for a ride…and be sure to wish Pat a speedy recovery from a broken wrist.

Note: in an attempt to make up my ignoring Maria's very presence (I must be getting old), I post here as a main thread, Maria's reply to my White Pine Post. Sorry, Maria.

Just read the blog, I admit that I am a tad hurt that Corrie forgot I was there, never been accused of being hard to miss.... Anyway, I started late (Apparently double checking the start time would have been the smart thing to do on Saturday morning, I was up plenty early!) By hammering the first 20 or so miles (oh yeah, she's a bright one!) I caught up with Debbie, Naked Man, Corrie, Linda etc. at Harvard, skipped the rest stop and rode up the White Pine grade with them. The hip problems reminiscent of I.M.T.G. were bugging me on the way up, but Linda saved me with a couple of ibuprofen at the top! Lunch was uneventful but I think I learned a very valuable lesson about 20 minutes after getting back on my bike, bagels and peanut butter do not work for me! Boy did I hit a wall! Once I figured out what the problem was, and after I told Debbie to go on without me, I had a sugar fix and felt great (OK, well better, great would be something of an exaggeration!). Note to self, this body prefers sugar in its most trashy and candy-like form! I met up with a fellow late starter, David, about half way to Bovill and chatted with him for the rest of the ride. It was his first ever century, and I think, a potential new bike club member.

Anyway, it was a fun day, I won a Les Schwab gift certificate with an apparently fantastic poker flush! Had to run in to work, rescue a friends cat and drive to Spokane:) Spent Sunday watching the NORBA championships on Schweitzer with Aaron, I think I have found a new stupid thing to try.... downhill on a bike here I come (Aarons already pricing up the cost of a full body cast!).

At the finish line with new David!

Steve, insists on posting to the old blogger site but he usually sends me a copy giving me a headsup that he has posted. I missed seeing this post from last Friday so I have added it today. You may read it by clicking here Idaho and Washington or by following the Steve's Tour link on the navigation bar.

White Pine Gallery

All the best stuff happens to Scott. Yes, that’s Scott, naked man, Whitely fresh off Graveyard and riding his first century of the year.

I do own a shirt!

He picked a good one. 118-9 miles through the mountains is not an easy century by anyone’s standards and we appreciated Scott’s joining us. He misses so many of the club rides for trivial things like sleep. What could he be thinking of?

Just out of Deary Scott was offered a beer by someone encouraging him on shouting "Go Lance!" from a wagon drawn by a team of Cydesdales. All the good stuff happens to Scott. Just out of Moscow a truck load of cardboard caught in the wind lost part of its load scattering cardboard across the road and bloodying Scotts arm. Well, maybe that's not good stuff, but he did end up with a flush in the poker run.

Debbie seems to attract all sorts of creatures from Dogs to bears. Yes, Bears. Linda saw a bear cross the road just after Debbie had passed. Check that deodorant, Debbie.

But the real story of White Pine this year for me is Linda did her first century ever.

How far is this?
Now you might say, sure, she is in marathon condition, she just came off a week of daily long rides. Sure she could do a century. For those who might denigrate the accomplishment, I refer you to my legs who staged a quiet lactic acid revolt at each rest stop.

The good news? We thought we’d face temperatures at least in the high 90’s. Instead the sky hazed over, never mind the small threat of a thunderhead, and kept direct sun from raising blisters on the pavement and or any exposed flesh.

The wind is another story. Not quite a good news story. We seemed to have a mild headwind from Moscow all the way to Bovil, Wasn’t bad but it did lend false hope to our club visionary, One Day Dave. He kept claiming we were going to get the elusive tailwind from Troy to Moscow. Turns out he was almost right. When we finally came tired and over a hundred miles into the ride to the hill down into Troy, we expected at least to be allowed a coast. Instead we were greeted by severe side winds and a swirling cloud of dust.

Linda and I had talked about her accepting a SAG from Troy to Moscow before the ride. It seemed reasonable on her first century. After all, using a supported ride for your first makes good sense. The goal is to make the century not necessarily the century plus. At Bovill Linda arrived saying “I’m so toast.” But a Pepsi seemed to revive her and she felt better at the Deary stop. She needed only five more miles for her century and I knew she’d make that but I wasn’t sure the SAG driver shouldn’t keep an eye on Linda and I asked her to do as much.

Still there was Linda at the Troy stop right at the base of that nasty little insult for riders. With the gusting winds and this hill before them Debbie and Linda began talking of sagging on in. They were persuaded finishing would take forever. Dave and I set out grinding up that last climb without finding out the decision. So I was surprised and pleased to see Linda come casually walking into the tent at Tidyman’s, a smile on her face.

Other club notes: Matt Wyan was there. I know because I saw him briefly before the ride. Never saw him again. Bruce Carroll arrived about 6:50 with stories of Ireland on his lips. He also disappeared within a few moments. Pam made it just at the buzzer with her tunes and her 20 inch wheels. Pam had trouble today. Hope you’re fine now, Pam.

Chris had a shoot so planned only to do the 100k ride but start with us. He hung around until the foot of Steak House where he and Scott took off racing for the top. Steak House is far too early in a century for hammering hills and so I was caught between keeping up and riding my own pace. I saw Scott go over the crown of the hill, but he and Chris go down faster than I and I never saw either again until Harvard. I found myself alone for a time but finally caught up with Dave Tibbals on one of the climbs. We stayed together the rest of the ride. Approaching Harvard Chris came out to greet Dave Tibbals and myself briefly before heading for Deary. He complained he’d waited around as long as he could.

Yep, I went to Spokane Friday night got the last room in the motel at 9:30pm and slept really badly! I had been humming and hawing about this event for a couple of weeks. I wanted to try but what with the back problems and late start on the bike this year I really was not feeling as prepared as I would have liked to have been. Chris had implied that it would be a stretch (never suggest to me that I cannot do something, it is a sure fire way of assurring that I will @#** well try) and Dave Henry had told me that I was "nuts" in his supportive spousal way. Given those two pieces of advise there I was at 4:15am in the Mall parking lot wondering where all the riders were hiding. I checked the restrooms and failed to find more than one woman. Oh boy, this is looking REALLY scary, one big assed 40 year old woman and a small number of very lean folks in Badlands jerseys. Not even Bruce's friendly face, I thought for sure he would not miss the chance for a short ride around Northern Spokane! I signed up, yep, I wasn't even signed up; I could have sloped off and gone shopping for the day. I was number 29!!!! The volunteers were very nice but still I was intimidated, BIG TIME!

Steve, the organizer, gave us a little pep talk: drink, eat, drink, eat and if you try to ride with folks faster than you it is a sure way of ensuring you don't finish, guess I'll shelve the plans to hang onto the Badland's rear wheels! Off we went into the sunrise, following the route that the Autumn century uses on the way home (for those of you that have done that tour). Bye bye Badlands! Heading up the first hill I catch up with a guy, Richard. Richard was to become my friend and saviour, we rode the whole thing together and without him I would have either been alone most of the very long day or with the group behind us who were not expected to finish until way after dark. I really wanted to be in before dark as I had no plans for carrying lights. Having said that the second thing Richard tells me is that he has a thing with dogs, not quite Debbie's magical attraction for large, aggressive black mutts. More of a fatal attraction kind of a deal, he ran into and killed a poodle last week right on the spot of road we were currently riding. Is this a good omen? R was hoping that "Sparky's" angel would be looking after him on his first double century though I was worried that if Sparky has an angel it might not be smiling so favorably upon Richard the canine killer. Reminds me of Maria's Dad's joke "What is the difference between a poodle peeing on your leg and a rottweiler peeing on your leg? You let the rottwelier finish! Fortunately Sparky had inflicted no damage on Richard but can you imagine if it had been a larger dog running into the road?

Foodstop #1 came and went uneventfully, it was still reasonably cool though showing signs of being a scorching day. Interesting to read Corrie's blog and note that you had clouds for the White Pine, we saw two fluffy clouds all day. Good food and great volunteers at the stops, also a couple of roaming support trucks. I had expected support to be sketchy (kinda like Ukiah, support? What support?) with such a small number of riders. Richard flatted just before "lunch" in Colville, he had just about inflated his tire when the support van came past with a floor pump, we had not been off the road for more than 5 minutes. Note to self, stay with this guy if you can, he fixes flats almost as fast as Chris. Second note : does this mean he flats as often as Chris???

Colville, great food stop with classic car show in the background. Gosh Chris, you really were on this ride in spirit if not in the flesh. Drink, eat, drink, Bruce would not approve of all this solid food. In truth did not eat much because after Colville was the climb up Tiger Pass. Did I say it was beginning to roast? Up, slowly up, puff, pant, hot, hot. Sally, Steve the organizer's partner, blew by us then stopped at the sag wagon for more water only so she could blow by us a second time. Very demoralizing! We found her at Beaver Creek Lodge at the top enjoying a cool coke. We stopped for a brief look at Scenic Falls on the way up, very pretty and the couple of minutes off the bikes helped our feet which were going numb/hurting. There are a number of small lakes at the top of the pass, all very pretty and with good fishing according to Richard who is a regular visitor to the area. Weeeeeee! Downhill at last, but what is this? Oh my gosh, once we drop down into the valley the temperature skyrockets, it is baking along the Pend Orielle River.

Stp # 3, we are now at mile 125. Remember Steve's words: drink, eat, drink. We had been nagging each other "have you been drinking?" and we continued to do so for the rest of the day. More friendly volunteers and still regular sightings of our three roving trucks, yes three! There were probably only 8 riders within an hour of us but we kept seeing these three trucks, talk about taking care of us. It made me feel very secure to know that if I crashed and burned, either lierally or figuratively, then someone would be along in a very short time.

South along the East side of the Pend Oreille, a head wind greeted us. I think this was the low point of the ride, the wind was gusty at times but we did get shelter from the trees. There was fresh chip seal and aside from occasional filtered views of the lake it was not very scenic. Also assorted body parts were sending memos, mostly my feet which were getting very painful. Richard was suffering similarly, we tried to draft but soon ended up back riding side by side: the distraction of chit chat was better than the benefit of a draft. I had instituted a no whinning before 150 miles policy. I think my odometer conspired against me, I had just convinced Richard that we would hang on to Usk and then get a cold drink and take a "foot break". I looked down and saw that I was reading 0.25 and all my ride data was wiped! Did Sean sell me a computer that only goes up to 150 thinking that I'm too wimpy to ever ride further????? Or was it some scheme to prevent me from ever reaching my whine threshold??? I whinned regardless!

It was hard to leave the porch of the gas station in Usk but we had only 10 miles to our next and final stop. We saw the two riders ahead of us at this stop, a couple of flats had slowed them down. This was at 165 miles and provided an "interesting" bathroom experience. There was a sign in the outhouse requesting that you do not put burning material down the potty, well under the circumstances (hot day, 12 hours in the saddle etc) I experienced an intense burning sensation upon using the potty which had me hooting with laughter at the sign while tears of agony rolled down my face!!!! The next two miles were "uncomfortable" but fortunately everything settled down again to "mild" discomfort. Richard is a physician but we never did have to do the "on a scale of 1 - 10 how would you rate your pain". I reckon I was 9/10 coming from the loo!

We finally hit highway 2 which had its plusses (wide shoulder, fast pavement and downhill trend) and minuses (too much traffic in the left ear). This last section was quite fast, the few hills had us moving slowly but it seemed that we were often at 16-18 mph chasing the rapidly setting sun. The memos were coming more often from my feet, my left knee was getting in on the act too and the butt region was up to sending hate mail!

The Mall, we made it! Just about at dark, the crew was waiting for us and we learned that the riders behind us were finishing by themselves and would be atleast another hour or more.

Lessons learned from this experience: Spokane bike club people are great! Running 19 miles two days before a double century is not really bright! Drink, eat, drink! My bike seat is not "anatomically correct" or maybe I am not anatomically correct?! Riding 200 miles with a man who kills small animals is not necessarily a bad thing!

Thanks Spokane Bike Club and Richard (you are a star!). Hopefully a few more of you into this kind of S & M stuff will join the ride next year!

With the the hot weather we've had lately, Carol and I decided to get up early this morning to go for a ride. We headed up on the Webb Ridge Road and parked part way up. This is just off the Webb cut off that we take on the Lapwai loop. It's a pretty good climb for 8-9 miles. We gained elevation very fast. Though we were out early and it was only in the low to mid seventies, Carol and I were both dripping sweat. We finally reached an area where though it was somewhat steep and constant climb, we were in the trees and cooled a bit.

We had some beautiful views of the canyon towards McCormack Ridge. We were looking for a road that cut back to Flat Iron Road but missed it and came out on the Soldiers Meadow Road just west of the reservoir. The last miles through the meadows was just incredible and the weather was great. There were lots of wildflowers and butterflies and not a single car! (We had one pick up pass us right at the very end of our ride.)

We turned back instead of contining on Soldiers Meadow Road and tried every turn off to our left looking for the road we missed. We went up lots of "roads" that went by streams and through woods and either disappeared or ran into a fence or a gate. Some of the gates were not posted "no trespassing" but we decided to leave them for another day after checking maps again. We will also look for our road from the other end near Waha.

We were running out of fluids as our 2 1/2 hour ride had turned into 4 1/2 hours but we had a great time and the climb at the beginning was a great reward at the end of our ride.

Anybody who can tolerate gravel road rides, you've gotta try this area. We always see wildlife. Today it was two deer just at the beginning of our ride. They were running up a hill and hid in some brush then came out again with their tails wagging like flags. They made a nice silouette at the summit before disappearing on the other side. We've also seen elk on one occassion.

We passed Corrie, Chris, Scott, and Debbie on Tammany Creek Road on the way home in the blistering heat back here in the valley. We thought they were totally freaking nuts to be out riding that time of day!

We congratulated ourselves for having avoided the heat on our ride, ate lunch and helped the movie economy by taking in a matinee.