Crusty Cassette

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"I've got a ride to put on the calendar," Nicky exclaimed over the phone.

I should have known when I saw the Sunday Morning Tribune describing new wine cellars on the Palouse.

Sure enough, Nicky proposed a wine tour starting in Uniontown, riding to Pullman for lunch, a visit at a winery right in town and still another on the Moscow-Pullman highway.

But that was when the weather was cool. Coming off 100 degree days, a ride starting at 10 seemed kind of late when we really got down to it. Still I've been fighting a cold and wasn't sure I'd be able to do more than the 40 or 50 miles I expected the wine tour to become.

Okay, I'll do it. Linda and I arrived in Uniontown early but Nicky was already there. Doug Goodenough had started at the Rose Garden and sat happily on the park bench waiting for the rest of us to get it together. Tamra and Rory were ready to go when Sherrie Kole arrived. Debbie and Camile were going to ride out from Pullman to meet us. We were going to have quite a group and we didn't even know that Dean would show up, crutches and all, for lunch at Basilios.

And the temperature was fine. When we left Uniontown it was in the mid 70s and we had a light breeze out of the west to keep us cool.

We had lots of time. Nicky planned two hours for the ride to Pullman and so arriving early we stopped at B&L. I spent a bit longer there than everyone else as the mechanic identified the source of the creek in my Pilot. They had done the usual on Friday and I had just picked it up but I didn't like the tick and creak I still had.

I caught up with the group at Basilios in time to order. And that's when things began to go bad. Nicky's insulin pump was giving her cryptic messages and was wanting to phone home. Her blood sugar was high. Nicky lost interest in lunch and wine.

Actually Camille had started her first club ride of the year with a flat tire which Debbie helped her fix. We pumped up a bit more at B&L but when we headed for the first winery in the Old Post Office,

Debbie, Camille, and Sherry were no where around. That front tire was flat again--pinched, I guess. By the time we got there the ladies had the tire all changed.

But Dean had taken Nicky back to her car in Uniontown. We were leaderless. We didn't know how to get to the second planned winery. I thought we could ask at the first, but that didn't turn out so well either. Someone was getting married in our Winery!

So, no, we didn't get a taste of wine. Rory did have a beer at lunch. It didn't seem to hold him up as he and Tamra just kept pulling away. We thought we had lost Sherry which stopped us for few minutes.

The weather was comfortable all the way back to Uniontown. I was feeling good and decided to ride on back with Doug. We felt the heat just as we merged back on to 95. The west wind tried to pull us off our bikes descending the grade.

With names like Mt. Challenger and Mt. Triumph the peaks of the North Cascades conjure up a formidable sense of respect, especially if you're planning to approach them without the aid of fossil fuel...

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We had had a head wind riding out in the morning. Fortunately that wind held all day pushing us back toward Winthrop up those long climbs, but near Mazama 15 miles short of Winthrop, the winds switched. "Just when we finally get some flat, we get a head-wind," I griped. Jim and I took turns pulling into Winthrop. He complained a little about the pace, but I'd had enough saddle time and I urged him on. "Your pull," I said backing off. "Unless you don't want to."

"I do," he said leaning into the wind. We were at 125 miles and Jim was hammering.

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Linda's Wearing Nicki's red hat

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"I'm going with you, you know," Linda told me Thursday.

She had wanted to do a century last Saturday but I talked her out of Kamiah to Whitebird and when it had turned off hot, she'd been plenty thankful.

In fact, I wasn't certain I'd feel good riding Winchester myself this week. The cold that hit me hard had kept be off the bike all week but fatigued nevertheless. Neither Jim nor I wanted anything more to do with WhiteBird this weekend(Though Dean says he took 5th and Ben Jain took second).

Jim would've taken be off into the wilds of central Idaho to ride the Greer Grade or some other grueling effort if I'd been willing. No, something easy like the Winchester Century was more like it.

Jim settled for the Winchester century today.

Yes, it is easy if you don't try to hammer. I love the roller on Reuben-Gifford and I figured the spoke cement on my rear wheel would last for one century. I was set.

So, it was going to be Linda, Corrie and Jim. Then Dave showed up--sore throat an all. I hope he doesn't have the virus I had. But the surprise of surprises was Warnock on Wheels. Two weeks in a row for a long ride. Mike's always hammered along for about 40 miles and then turned home. He got 80 miles last week and went the entire distance today. Claimed it was his first century in 3 to 4 years. He did take it easy on the rollers. He kept mumbling about how hard they were but I think he must have tried to ride them with someone like Chris. We didn't push him today.

The forecase had called for SSW winds on the prairie. Turning on Reuben/Gifford road, I felt a distinct head wind our of the north. Not good. I ignored the dark clouds above us. The forecast called for rain on the Prairie late in the afternoon. But the storm got here early. We stayed dry until we left Arrow Bridge. For a spell, I was feeling moisture in my shoes. Then it passed. But it came back as a light drizzle. After finishing at Kamiah in the high 90s last week, that little shower felt pretty good.

I've felt stronger finishing a century but the cold seems to have turned a corner. I might even ride this afternoon if the weather stays dry.

The Winchester century in the spring is my favorite local ride. It isn't fast. That grade, however, provides ever changing views and the rollers are a delight. Riding Winchester was as good a way to celebrate my retirement and Linda's birthday as any I can think of and far better than most.

For the ride of it.

The days of big turn outs for centuries seemed to end back when the average American weight was much less, so it was good news to me that the turn out for this Boise area century is growing steadily with nearly 1,000 participants in 2007, growing steadily from 2002, its first year when a couple hundred participated. The bad news is only about 30 rode the century. (That’s my guess and excludes late and early departures- there were some of both). The rest were on a metric or, I believe, a 30 mile route, but still people were willing to pay $35 for 6 rest stops, one sag wagon, a 100% polyester T shirt (I’m a natural fiber guy firmly held there my memory of the '70's clothing!), and a light lunch for the first 2/3's of the finishers.

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