5-hr Energy has gotten me through 3 tough rides. It has just the right amount of caffeine to give me a boost to get through the last 20 miles. I usually share half the bottle with Rachel because we don’t want our hearts to explode, but its easy to carry and pretty effective. Thanks Crosby~Volmer, I miss you guys. Especially the spanish corridor of love. See you in DC!
Harlowton to Billings-90 miles
This ride completely made up for the day before. We had a strong tailwind, great weather and the promise of a rest day to motivate us and we made 90 miles in 6 hours including 4 stops. It was incredible. I think it did a lot to raise the spirts of the group because with the storm and the fireworks we hadn’t been able to sleep much and everyone was feeling pretty out of it. The day flew by though and we were in Billings before I knew it. All of the younger group rode together and had a great time. Riding together all day and camping together at night really speeds up the getting to know each other process and its been great to share this adventure with others who for some reason or another decided to pack up their life into two duffel bags and sit their bum on a bicyle seat for 7 weeks.
I feel way stronger than before. The first rest day I crashed and pretty much just laid around and slept all day The second rest day I felt better but still slept 12 hours and took a nap. This last rest day I felt great and pretty much back to normal. My legs and not nearly as sore as before and I feel energized to begin biking again. Montana has been an experience and a half. There is so much wildlife and so few people!! When we were in Harlowton the other morning for instance, the ride leader told us that he would get us breakfast at the cafe. We asked “which cafe?” The answer? THE cafe. In a town like Harlowton there is only one cafe, one general store etc. I love it. The people that we have run into for the most part have been very friendly and very interested in the trip. They drive like crazy on the roads, but talk like they have the rest of the day to finish the sentence. In the last 6 days of riding, I have seen fewer than 10 other cylists on the road except for the Big Riders. We make a mark on whatever town we’re in. When the little kids were helping me wash my hair the other day they said “are you one of those biking girls?” I told them “yes, I’m riding my bicyle” and they were like “oh, we heard you were comin through”. I’m pretty sure this is the closest I’ll ever come to being a celebrity-even if its the kind thats referred to as a “d— hippie”. Whenever we eat somewhere, they have to prepare enough food for about 80 people instead of the 40 that we are because everyone eats so much. I’ve seen riders take down three absolutely full plates, and then have room for dessert. Some of the riders have the luxury of stopping at cafes for lunch, but I’ve been sticking faithfully to my peanut butter and jelly. They threw in some honey the other day and I almost had a heart attack. Do you know how many more possibilities of a sandwich that creates? In case you’ve never had peanut butter and honey warmed up in the sun for 2 or 3 hours, I’d suggest you don’t try. The honey sort of sets into the peanut butter and gives it a soured taste. A honey sandwich by itself is good though and for extra energy I’ll do a honey and jelly sandwich. I’ve perfected my eating and riding technique and I can now reach behind me, open my back bag, get out my sandwich, unwrap it and eat it while still pedaling. Please send congratulation cards to Rapid City stop.
Well I have an easy 52 miles ahead of me to ride today so I guess I’ll stop writing for now. We found out that the library was open at 7:30am, so we decided not to start riding until later. We’re headed to Harding, MT and from what I’ve heard there we shouldn’t be in much of a hurry to get there. If I get the chance, I’ll write again on my next rest day. Until then, please keep me in your prayers and let me know if you have any prayer requests because I’ll be more than happy to offer up a couple of hills for you- heck maybe even a headwind 
Hasta pronto!
I am now a cyclist
I think that after the last 4 days, I can truly consider myself a cyclist. The first week I was figuring a lot of things out and I still have a lot to learn but I feel so much better over all and I have been able to relax a lot more and just enjoy the ride. Missoula to Avon MT was 102 miles and I had a wonderful day. I rode with one of the other riders Joe, who I hadn’t had a chance to talk to much, for about 60 miles. The road was really smooth and it was a wonderful 75 degrees outside. Avon,MT is one of the most isolated places I’ve ever seen. They have a cafe which is known for its pie-so I suppose that draws people in- but other than the pie place and a general store which sold “water, beer and pop” there wasn’t anything except the campground. Avon is pretty high up in the Rockies so the next morning we had an 11 mile climb and made it to the top of the Continental Divide. That was one of the most exciting moments of the trip so far for me. I have moments every day where I find myself smiling at the sheer craziness of this adventure, but this was more of a feeling of satisfaction. We were at about 6300 feet and the view was outstanding. Rachel and I climbed up a radio tower (Rachel higher than me) and we could see even more. That day was the shortest one on the ride so far, only 60 miles, so we took it easy and rested whenever we felt like it. We made it to Townsend, MT in the early afternoon and got ourselves a bottle of wine to continue the relaxation theme of the day. That night was crazy. Some locals were driving by harrassing us and one group of guys yelled “get a job you damn hippies”. I dont think they see bikers much. Some of the men on this trip wanted to fight them, but then a huge storm hit and we forgot about the locals. We were camped on a football field outside the highschool and the storm was directly over our heads with the thunder and lightening within a second of each other. Daniel, our ride leader, made everyone get out of their tents and go into the school to wait it out. Several of the tents ripped, blew over or flooded but I was lucky and my NorthFace held strong and I was able to fall asleep fairly quickly once we got back inside. It was a short night though because by time the storm cleared it was past 10:30 and the wakeup time was still set for 5am.
Townsend, MT to Harlowton-99.4 miles. WHAT A DAY!! The saying that ”the wind is a cyclist best friend or worst enemy” couldn’t be truer, we were peddling to get downhill. The wind was coming at us from every angle except for the back and I felt like it was a battle that the wind would win, especially during some of the middle miles. Once again we were riding through nowhere land with long, long stretches of road and I think I counted 4 houses for the entire day. During one stretch of the road about 1:00pm or so when it was nice and hot, we had a particularly strong headwind, the road was pretty rough and badly paved and there were some seriously steep hills. For one hill I put my bike in the granny gear, tucked my head down and tried not to look up until I felt less resistance on my legs which meant the end of the hill. It was probably the hardest I’ve worked yet on any hill. During the last 25 miles we got really sick of fighting the wind and Rachel and I began drafting off each other taking 1 mile intervals. Drafting is wonderful for fighting the wind, but it requires a lot of concentration and you can’t look at much except the back of the cylist in front of you, so its only good when you just need to get through some miles. Catie joined in at the end and we were able to maintain a nice crusing speed to finish up the ride. To top off the struggles of the day, when we got to camp we found out that there was no chance to shower. I almost cried. We were camped out in the town park however and there were some horse stables nearby and some little kids helped me wash my hair. They held the hose and gave me shampoo while I leaned over and scrubbed. I’m sure it wasn’t the most environmentally friendly action, but a girls gotta do waht a girls gotta do. One of the guys went out and bought a whole bunch of fireworks and beer and we had ourselves a little 4th of July celebration. I didn’t really drink the beer because it makes me sleepy, but I enjoyed the fireworks.
T
Thompson Falls, MT to Missoula, MT 102 Miles
My first century! Thats bike lingo for a hundred mile ride. Its the furthest I’ve ever ridden my bike in one day and it sure is far. Not too hard though after all the 80 and 90 mile days we’ve done. I felt strong again which was nice after struggling a bit for the previous two days. We were fed a great breakfast at Minni’s Cafe in Thompson Falls, MT which has inspired me to write down a food blog of the day.
2 restaurant size pancakes, one egg, two slices of bacon, one cup of coffee, one granola bar, two bags of trail mix (sandwich baggie size) 3 cookies, one banana, two peanutbutter and jellies, one espresso,a bagel, a bag of gummy bears, more trailmix, a chicken salad, a bowl of pasta and a rice crispie treat.
The day is generally broken up by rest stops that the American LUng Association staff sets up for us every 20 miles or so as I believe I mentioned. When we finally got into Missoula, MT I was ready to be off my bike and ready for the rest day. We had ridden about 265 miles in 3 days. I went to bed at 9pm and slept until 8 and now I feel rested again. Some of the riders who are a little stronger and in better shape probably don’t need to rest as much, but because I’m still adjusting to this, its all I can do to stay awake past 8 every night. Also, I should comment that I have never enjoyed showering more. We met a guy at Thompson FAlls who was riding from Fairbanks, Alaska to somewhere in Colorado aided by the leading dog in his sled team. The dog would alternate between riding on a cart behind the bike, and helping this guy, John, pull his bike. IT was the craziest thing I’ve seen in awhile. When we bumped into him, he hadn’t showered in 10 days and was feeling pretty cheerful about that. He thought we were wimpy for having support staff and I felt like punching him in the face for a minute. There is nothing like riding 85 miles and then having someone tell you you’re a wimp. If I was getting a big ego about this, that would be one thing, but I am simply happy to complete every day, not in the rear and able to ride the next day. Thanks once again for all the support from home!!!
Day 7: Sandpoint, ID to Thompson Falls, MT 87 miles
Our third state!! And our last for awhile. We are going to be in Montana for a long, long time. Luckily its supposed to be one of the most beautiful states that we pass through. So far it is comparable to Washington state and Idaho, but with more mountains. I struggled for a bit this morning because my thighs were extra stiff and I couldn’t seem to get going at a decent speed. Catie and Rachel went ahead and I was peddling along when two of the older guys on the trip-Cliff 69 and Bruce 60 came up alongside me. Cliff has a great southern accent and as he came up beside me he goes “would you like us to ride with you for a bit?” and then Bruce comes up and says “we’ve got you surrounded now Loretta”. It was a great moment. I rode with them and listened to them share interesting facts about the lakes and wildlife and before I knew it, my legs felt good and I was ready to go. It was a hot day, about 101 and some people in the group who are used to riding in the cool northwestern temperatures began having problems with the heat. It is definitely an adjustment because with the amount of miles we are doing, there is no way to beat the heat. I was riding with Catie for awhile, I think around mile 58 or so and a huge deer sprang out of the bushes on one side of the highway and went running across the road right in front of us. It very nearly hit Catie, proabably within 5 feet. We were thanking our lucky stars that it didn’t because A.) that would have been a messy crash for us and B.) we had just had a messy crash and weren’t really looking for another. When we got into Thompson Falls, MT Catie and I went swimming in a lake to cool ourselves off. As we were walking back to our campsite (the local highschool again) our ride leader, Daniel, came rushing down the hill and said “get in the car, get in the car there are bears”. Apparantly the mama bear was on one side of the road and the baby bear on the other and Catie and I were walking right in between. Montana is NOT civilized 
, but I like it. We ended up sleeping in the gym of the highschool because of the heat and the bears. Unfortunately the mosquitos are crazy in Montana and a bunch got into the school and ate me up while I was sleeping. I guess i’d prefer that over being bear food.
Resting and onwards
The rest day in Spokane was nice and pretty busy. I had to pick up a Camelback to make sure that I got enough water and also a new computer because mine had been hurt by the fall the day before. Days are completely broken up now into rest days or ride days. I have no sense of Sunday through Saturday, no idea really of the date and general idea of the time. Its a very interesting sensation. I can look at my clock for instance and know that I will be riding for the next 7 hours, but from then on its just a question of how many miles I’ve done. Catie and I went to Mass on campus and then had breakfast. It was nice to eat a good lunch later on as our lunches have been stricktly peanut butter and jelly. I have already eaten 15 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but I’m so hungry all the time that my mouth waters at the thought of them when I know its almost time for lunch.
Day 6 Spokane, WA to Sandpoint, ID
We crossed into our second state!!!!! So what can I say about Idaho….well-their license plates brag about their potatoes “famous potatoes” but we had spaghetti for dinner, bagels for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly for lunch so I can’t comment on those. We were only in Idaho for 60 miles total but it was a very beautiful ride. The miles caught up with my legs finally and I was pretty tired for the whole day. We were fighting a head wind for a long part of the day which made it harder. You know in the Lion KIng where the hyeneas make each other shudder by saying “Mufassa”? That’s how I feel about “tailwind”. A hill is one thing because you can put the bike in whatever gear your legs can handle at the time and you know that not only is there an end, but there is also most likely a sweet reward of a couple of miles of no peddaling with the downhill. A tailwind is different because you feel like you’re going nowhere despite the effort. That being said it was a pretty relaxed day because we only had 77 miles to ride, and we got to take some beautiful pictures and stop whenever we felt like it because we knew we could still get in early. The group camped in the backyard of Sandpoint High School and were served cafeteria food by a very nice lady who cooked everything herself for the whole group. Afterwards, a group of us went to Mass at St. Josephs- the local Catholic church. When we got back we found that the boys had hung Catie, Rachel and I’s bikes up in the tree. We have our revenge planned.
A little more info about the ride so far
Day 3 was Vantage to Odessa
A beautiful day! I felt great! The scenery was pretty for the first 30 miles or so but was brown again towards Odessa. Apparantly there is a type of wheat that grows in the desert climate and thus does not need to be irrigated. It made for an interesting ride because there were beautiful fields of green wheat on one side of the road, and then desert on the other (or some variation of that-such as two sides of green..two sides of brown… trust me you notice these things on a bike). We had a nice tail wind for part of the day and it was a good temperature. When we got to Odessa and showered, Catie and I went into “town” to get a coffee. Now I know what people mean when they say a little podunk town. It was so tiny!!! I went to a cafe that was advertising espresso and other coffee drinks and ordered an espresso.The lady looked at me like I had 20 heads and then said “thats all you want? Coffee in a cup?” I was like “yeah, an espresso”. So she makes the espresso and then comes over and shows it to me and goes “are you sure this is what you want?” NOw at this point I was wondering if she had been out of the cafe any time recently and noticed that she was ADVERTISING ESPRESSO ON THE FRONT LAWN. But I simply assured her that yes, I wanted the espresso. She charged me 25 cents-I gave her a $20. I dont’ think she figured out that I was from out of town…. We camped on the front lawn of the highschool and some local ladies made us dinner and breakfast. There are a bunch of college age guys on this trip which has been awesome. We played cards after dinner and once again I was in bed before dark.
Day 4 Odessa to Spokane
I couldn’t believe it when I woke up for day 4 and felt great again. I was a little stiff in the thighs starting out, but warmed up quickly. Now before I tell this story-let me assure you that I am ok and that I got up and rode my bike afterwards. We were just peddling out of town and I had put Catie on camara duty (we are sharing a camara between the 3 of us for the most part). Catie tried to take a picture one handed while riding her bike and lost control. I was right behind her, so as she skidded, my tire wedged its way into the side of her bike and threw me over the handlebars, over Catie’s bike and over Catie. I was in the air for awhile and clearly saw the sidewalk coming up to meet my head and I remember thinking “thats going to hurt”, but not being able to react. My helmet saved my life-or at least saved me from a trip to the hospital. I bruised my cheek and got my shoulder pretty good but other than than I was fine. I was seeing stars and was disoriented but after the stars faded I got back on my bike and we started towards Spokane. I rode really slow for the first 6 miles because I was still pretty dizzy, but that faded eventually too. The best part is that our ride leader had seen the whole thing in his rearview mirror because he was trying to pull over to the side of the road to tell us that we were going the wrong way out of town. What a bunch of bimbos. We had an AMAZING tail wind for a good part of the day and almost the entire group stopped at a small town for breakfast and to hang out because we were moving so fast. We made it into Gonzaga University by 3 easily-eagerly anticipating our rest day
Day 5 Rest day in Spokane
Day 6 Spokane to Sandpoint, ID
Day 7 Sandpoint, ID to Thompson Falls, MT
Day 8 Thompson Falls to Missoula, MT
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!!
