Rest Day in Gonzaga

I had planned to write an entry for every day, but due to some sickness this morning I just made it to the computer hall which is closing in 15 minutes. So it is.

Day 2-Easton to Vantage 83miles.

There is a desert in Washington State. Go figure!! I had been warned that the other side of the Cascades was dry, but I was not prepared for the total scenery change. We started off around 7am from Easton with a marvelous tail wind. It was the most enjoyable riding day I have had yet, training included. We made it 45 miles in 3 and 1/2 hours even including several photo stops and a nice 30 minute break. The wind was on our side and I have never felt anything like it. Rachel Cate and I stopped at Starbucks for an hour because we didn’t feel any need to race to the campsite and then began a 15 mile climb. The number intimidated me, but it turns out that the Cascades are pretty gentle all around and the incline was not steep-plus we still had the wind at our backs for the majority of the time. For a good 10miles we had a side wind which combined with the trucks made for some difficult riding,but I suppose I’ll take some difficult miles here and there . The descent was the best one I’ve ever had. It was smooth, no pothills, wide turns and a perfect grade to keep us going fast but fool us into thinking we were still in pretty good control. As I mentioned, we were riding through desert for a while (the whole climb and descent) and as we were coming down the mountain I was thinking, “where the heck are we camping tonight”. However, the American Lung Association has not failed yet-and they had a beautiful private campground arranged for us. It was an oasis from the surrounding countryside and the owner of a small restaurant nearby took care of dinner and breakfast for us to boot. The wind was really strong that night and damaged a couple of tents, but my Roadrunner 22 held strong and I put some earplugs in after the noise woke me up,and slept like a baby.

It’s so much fun riding with this group. Everyone has the best attitudes and its so fun to greet each other at the pit stops, ride for a couple of miles together and share our day’s stories at the campsites at night. Catie, Rach and I were singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in a 3 part chorus for awhile while we headed out of Vantage the next morning, and one of the riders from Nebraska, Greg, rode up behind us and was kind enough to act like it was an everyday occurrence. I think we sounded marvelous. Yikes they just turned the lights out!!!

Day 1-Seattle to Easton 91miles

Wow what a way to start this thing! We woke up at University of Washington at 5:30 and had dropped off our gear and made it to the starting line by 6:30am. Several members of the American Lung Association as well as family, friends and Big Ride alumni had set up a nice breakfast for us and gave us a send off party. I had a minor panic attack when we were handed the cue sheets for the day and the mileage read 89.2 miles. I had checked the website earlier and it had said 77 miles so I had mentally prepped for that but it turned out that I had nothing to worry about with the extra miles. A bunch of the riders from last year accompanied us out of Seattle and some even went all the way to Easton. We made it over Snowqualmie Pass which was a long climb, but the grade was gentle and the scenery was absolutely amazing- so I throroughly enjoyed it. The western side of the Cascades are beautiful. I was distracted for miles just looking at the different trees. I also had my first experience with highway riding. We were on Route 90 which had a nice wide shoulder, but with the logging trucks zooming by I was pretty nervous at first. Not only are they incredibly loud, but they create quite a draft as they go by. I was later to discover that the draft on a big highway is a good thing, its when you’re on a quieter highway and the trucks are going by in the opposite direction that the problems arise. Rachel, Catie and I made sure to take plenty of pictures along with the other Big Riders who were going at our pace. The staff had pit stops set up every 20 miles or so with snacks, water and gatorade, which provided nice opportunities to rest and talk to other big riders. We made it to the top of the mountain by 3 and knew that we had 18 miles of downhill to look foward to, so we sat in a little cafe at the pass and I got an espresso for 65 cents)proof that someone should destroy the Starbucks empire and their $1.95 single shot espressos.)  The downhill following our stop was awesome. I’m pretty sure I hardly breathed and that my only conscious thought was “come Holy Spirit”. There is nothing to make you realize the fragility of a bike frame like going down a shoulder at 35 miles per hour (and no I wasn’t being reckless, I was still using my breaks but you can only squeeze so much) alongside trucks and cars. I don’t think I will ever go down a hill in a car the same way after the adreniline rush it provides on a bike. The reward is twice as good if you know that you’re not just doing a training ride and that you dont’ have to ride back up the incline. We had a bit of flat alongside the Columbia river which was one of my favorite parts of the day. I set the camara on Timer Mode and Catie, Rachel and I did a little photo shoot. I think somewhere in our heads at the time we had the impression that we were attractive-but when I reviewed the photos its pretyt obvious that helmets, glasses, spandex and windswept (and by that I mean wind-destroyed) hair aren’t the best combination. I will post pictures as soon as possible, but it turns out that the public computers we have had access to thus far won’t accept foreign media.

We made camp in Easton by 4:30pm and set up our tents for the first time. We  were given tokens for the shower with 3 minutes of hot water. So generous.  I could have made it( I think ) but one of the older ladies took pity on me and my lack of foresight and gave me an extra token for the shower that she had bought. Thank you Barbara. I managed to stay awake until 8:45 and then passed out immediately in my tent. Let me tell you, I don’t think that I have ever slept better Although it might sound crazy to everyone reading this from home, I would not have wanted to spend my day any other way. The scenery, company, and overall experience made what I’m sure will be an unforgettable day.

SEATTLE

I’m in the dorm at University of Washington all prepped for the Big Ride. We had an informative meeting earlier on, and the adreneline is pumping. Luckily I’ve been sleeping like a baby and eating like a professional football player so I think I will have no problem sleeping tonight. I’m on the sumo-wrestler diet. I eat as much as I can hold, and then fall asleep so that it sticks to me. It hasn’t been working as well as I hoped-probably because I’m riding a lot.

Rachel and I spent two really nice days with the Rome family on Fox Island outside of Seattle. We were able to spot Mt. Rainer (the VOLCANO) as well as see the Olympics (I think I got that right, its the mountain range around here thats not the Cascades. The vegetation in Seattle is amazing. I have never seen so much green in all my life. It was sunny 2 out of the 3 days I was here which is apparantly an incredible record. Not only are there tons of evergreens here, but there are also several varieties of ferns which grow everywhere, as well as Oak and Maple trees which are green as well. I wouldn’t want to live here because permanent clouds are not really appealing to me, but it has been a great visit.

Tomorrow, starting with a wake-up at 5:30 we will bike through the Snowqlamie (sp?) pass. While I am slightly nervous about starting this adventure with a MOUNTAIN (note to self, look at the geography of a region a little bit more before you go visit it) I’m ready. I”ve met a bunch of the other riders and I can tell that everyone is ready to stop the planning and fundraising and packing and talking and just start riding!!

I’ll write next time I have computer access…whenever that is!!

 

Training in California

I traveled to Los Angeles, California to meet Robert’s family and took a couple of days off of riding while I was there. One day however, we did do a nice route along the beach and I think I got one of the best views of the southern California coastline available. Thats the best thing about biking: I have really gotten to experience the countryside in a new way since I started this adventure, and I haven’t even officially began the bike ride yet. Los Angeles has an extensive biking community and some nice trails, so I didn’t feel completely out of place whipping out my biking gear and going for a long ride. That being said the “relax and take it easy” attitude of many of the southern Californians made me feel like a crazy, high-intensity east coast wack job. There is no casual way to explain this trip. I’ve tried. I was explaining the upcoming summer to several guys and realized again (after several “wow, dude, man thats intense” )how this type of trip just really doesn’t appeal to a large portion of the population. Every time I realize that though, it doesn’t bother me because bicycling is amazing! Also I’ll be riding towards safety in DC while they sit on ready-to-explode earthquakes, battle forest fires, try to avoid the sharks in the water….and enjoy the beautiful countryside It was an amazing trip and any extra pain I feel at the beginning of this ride will be totally worth it.

Robert and I drove up the coast to Napa so that I could meet up with Rachel Bailey in her home town. Napa is absolutely beautiful. Rach and I spent the whole day biking around the valley and were treated with wine tasting at the end by a friend of her family. I wish there were some way to swing it so that we could be treated that well every time we finish a long ride. Camping is going to be a severe reality check. We had a 7 mile climb, which was the longest I’ve done yet, and it felt great. It was totally worth it because the downhill was great. Going 28 mph on a bike while riding the breaks (and by that I mean squeezing really hard with my two front fingers) is fricken AMAZING!! Thanks to Napa Valley Wine Tours Bike Shop for the discount rental prices! Bike riding definitely enhanced my California experience

Please continue to pray for me if you think of me. I’m getting the jitters!!! God Bless, Letty

Last long ride in DC

Last week I did a nice 50 mile-r around rural Maryland. It was 93 by 9 in the morning so there was no real chance to beat the heat, but I decided to make it a scenic route to distract myself. I rode up to the Greenbelt metro station and then did a 25 mile loop from there. Everything was going great and I was really enjoying the ride until my directions called for a turn on to a little winding road. As I peddled along, I began seeing signs saying “Do Not Exit From Main Road”, “Government Property” “Stay on Main Road at all Times”. A little further on, buildings began to appear alongside the road, but they were not named-only numbered. Builing 452, Building 326 Building 192 etc. Most likely if I had passed these signs in a car, I probably wouldn’t have noticed or thought twice about it-but going a steady14 miles per hour doesn’t exactly blur the signs or allow me to concentrate on much else. As it was, I just figured they were probably top secret government buildings where extremely sketchy dealings went on. I won’t go into the details.

And then I saw “Dairy Animal Research Testing Facility”. With a picture of a cow. Now I don’t know for sure if the paint had dripped on the sign, or if they had engaged a contemporary artist to paint this sign-but this cow did not look normal and whether the heat had gotten to my brain or I simply have an overactive imagination I was convinced that a mutant cow was going to come charging at me out of the woods and attack me. Maybe 2. St. Jude (the patron saint of hopeless causes) got some heartfelt prayers right around then. Yes-I’m pretty convinced-I shoudn’t go riding by myself. Anyhoot, I finished up the rest of the loop and made it back to DC. I never did figure out what those buildings are for (google is not helpful…suspicious right?) but at times like these I’m glad I’m lactose intolerant because at least I know I’m not drinking mutant cow milk.

Training in Dc

Two weeks left until we start across America! Catie and I are now extremely familiar with the DC trails and they’re great.  I rode 70 miles on Friday-most of the way with Catie- and had a wonderful time. Saturday I rode up to Towson to visit Mary which was pretty tough following the  Friday workout. My legs were alternating between cramping and shaking for the first hour but it got better. I took a 5hr Energy and I owe an apology to all of Crosby~Volmer (the awesome job I’ve been at for the last 9 months, which has 5-Hr as a client) for my negativity about it-its GREAT! I took one sip every hour for…you guessed it, 5 hours. And it was perfect. I didn’t get the hyper,heartjumpingoutofmychest feeling that energy drinks normally give me.I guess the excessive amounts of vitamins in those things work.  After it had been sitting for 4 hours in my handlebar bag you can imagine how it tasted though. It was actually hot-not just warm-and the liquid had pretty much crystalized into a syrup. Mmmmmmm. Today (Monday) I rode 70 again in the DC/Virginia area. It was extremely hot, but I have some great biking gear that really helps keep me cool. I had seven 20ounce bottles of water along with a 40ounce smoothie  and  no Barbara and Maria, I didnt have to use the restroom. (Sorry for the overshare for everyone else)

I guess I am officially a hardcore biker now. I bought gloves. I was holding out on buying them because the bikers with gloves are the MOST intense, but my pinkie finger on my right hand has been going numb every day and it stays numb for hours afterwards. Here is a little known fact, you really don’t need your pinkie finger for anything! Mine hasn’t been working well for weeks and I’m totally fine. That being said, the numbness sometimes traveled to the rest of my hand so I bought gloves with gel in them to help absord the shock. It made a huge difference and also prevented the backs of my hands from getting completely sunburnt.  I bet whoever designed those made a fortune.

ANOTHER middle age lady yelled at me on the trail today. I don’t know what it is about middle age biker ladies but they are cranky. Not every one of them I’m sure, but the only times I’ve been yelled at on the trail have been from that age group. The guys are always waving and smiling or at least giving a friendly nod. A couple even yell “you’re beautiful” which is ridiculous because I’ve really perfected the beetle look-complete with reflective glasses and a shiny black helmet. I’m also generally sweating excessively and breathing like i’ve just completed a marathon. Biking involves long hours though, so I’m sure they need to distract themselves with something-even if its just hearing the sound of their own voice.

  This particular lady was offended by the fact that I was wearing my ipod and took the time to tell me. In a way I admire her for her dedication. While the rest of us were trying to avoid hyperventilating in the 99 degree humidity, she donated precious breath towards educating an errant youngster on the perils of having fun while you bike. If I had had the time to really talk to her, I would have explained that I had been biking by myself on an empty trail for so long that if I hadn’t put my Ipod on I would have started naming the chipmunks and rabbits who were the only living things that I saw for the most part. Oh well, maybe the endorphins kicked in and she ended up having a good ride after all.

 

More training tomorrow. I’m so excited for this ride across america. Thanks again to everyone who’s made this possible! God Bless. Letty