What a day! No one would believe this experience.  We climbed to Paradise lodge at a little over 5400 feet.  It was "only" a 2500 foot change in elevation but the road was rough in patches, gravel in others and it took us about three hours to cover the 10 miles.  After lunch, I got on my bike, took one pedal and my front fender broke off and jammed the spokes.  Naturally, I fell over and the crowd all wanted to know if I was all right.  Other than my embarrassment and a few scratches, all was fine.  Then Howard and I had a fast downhill ride followed by an exasperating four mile climb.  As we reached  the Eastern entrance to the park, we realized that we would never make it to our chosen campsite.  We rode on and then Howard flagged down a couple in a pick up truck.  They were backpackers from Oregon.  Lloyd and Andrea gave us about an eighteen mile ride to Chinook Pass.  After another fast 7 mile downhill, we arrived at Lodgepole campground.  There were no spots available but the campground hosts, Marge and Vernon let us set up our tents behind their RV for free and even let us use their comfortable chairs.  So now we're back on track. 

It just keeps gettin better.  Vernon and his wife made us rum and cokes and then came over and gave us two Mountain House freeze dried dinners, sweet and sour pork and chicken teriyaki.

RAW day 3

 Began our day at the Rusty Tractor for a great breakfast.  Little did we know how much we needed it.  We rode 52 miles with about 35 into a strong headwind.  At a full stop, I tried to turn the bike 180 degrees and did a "Charlie Chaplin" (a slow fall over knocking Howard down too.  The only damage was a broken watch band.  (WalMart to the rescue). Along the way we ran into a fellow with so much junk you wouldn't believe it.  He said "that's not junk, that's my 40 year collection.  You meet all kinds while touring.  Now we're in Yelm in an air conditioned room with a six pack of Blue Moon.  Life's good!

Day 2 of the RAW

Our ride around Washington was highlighted on day two with a 56.8 mile ride from Belfair to Alma.  It included some of the steepest hills I have ever climbed.  It was also very warm (mid 80's) but we met some of the friendliest people and some of the most rural roads.  We ended up in an RV park, which I was somewhat apprehensive about, but we had a shady spot on soft grass with showers, a laundromat, wifi and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies at our arrival.  A big plus was that we didn't have to get back on our bikes because there was excellent pizza delivered to our campsite.  All in all, a great day of cycling.  Howard proved to be an excellent partner and a strong rider.  One more day of fairly flat riding before ascending Mt. Rainier.

Ride around Washington

Short day only rode 38 miles.  Found a state park (Belfair) on Hood Canal.  Got to our campsite and a fairly deranged woman would not leave us alone even after Howard explained that we had ridden here on bicycles and wanted to be left alone.  She started with "hey, what are you doing here?  You aren't a couple of dummies are you?  She ranted for the next five minutes and we went to the office and got a new site.  Traffic has been pretty intense but we are used to it.  After a big beer, some chips and dip and the always consistent Dinty Moore beef stew, we are ready for some rest.   

Well, it's summer and time for another bicycle trip.  This time I will not be traveling alone.  My good friend, Howard aka Big H will be riding with me.  We'll start at our house and travel about 650 miles around Washington, including several big climbs over the Cascades.

There is something about getting older. I can still ride well but I'm not willing to suffer too much. Today, Saturday, I rode 71 miles and crossed a pass but the last 40 miles were ridden directly into a 15-25 mph headwind. I was peddling as hard as I could and only going about 7'mph. Plus, it was in the 90's. As soon as I got to Omak, I found a roadway inn with air conditioning and a washer and dryer so I could clean my stinky riding togs. Now I'm relaxing and planning tomorrows ride. It's all good I have covered over 400 beautiful miles and am still on schedule. Looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Still Friday July 20, the skies cleared and I decided to ride anyway to Republic. I climbed Sherman Pass, the highest in washington. The climb took three hours to cover 22 miles. On my descent, I was topping 40 mph and the wind Picked up, buffeting me all over the road. Then I spotted a huge storm coming so I decided tO try to outrun it. Trees were falling left and right and I barely beat it to the bottom. The entire town of Republic and most of the county is still without power. This was the scariest ride of my life.