Date: Tuesday, 16 August 2016
Time on Bike: 3:40:00
Total Travel Time: 4:45:43
Miles Covered Today: 40.74
Total Trip Miles: 2.096.6
Average Speed: 11.0, Maximum Speed: 33.7
From: Republic, WA
To: Tonasket, WA
(Uploaded on 24 Aug 2016)
I didn’t have a good night's sleep. Not at all. I went to bed about 9 PM. But between the runny nose and the way I felt, I don’t think I actually fell asleep until after 11 PM. I could already feel first thing in the morning that it wasn’t going to be a good day…
The gang had breakfast at the same place we had dinner last night. I wanted to stay closer to home. I also needed to change the battery in my bike computer. It had been flashing low battery all day long yesterday. They need Apple to design that piece of crap! Cateye… make your instructions clearer. And easy!!!
Get this. Replacing the battery wipes ALL your data… even the odometer. Ergggggg!
We left a little after 8 AM as Bunny needed to walk across the street to the “supermarket” after it opened to buy me some drugs. Something to dry up my nose, but not make me fall asleep and fall off my bike! I didn't feel great when we left the motel parking lot.
A slow start to the day. I hung back hoping the mojo would return.
Carl dropped back to talk to me. We started to climb up to Waconda Pass pretty early in the ride. He is a really, really smart guy. A scientist like me. William & Mary undergrad. U of Penn grad school if I remember correctly. Math & Physics. And he is very well read. Did I mention that he is smart?
He explained the emergence of the Reformation movement from Catholicism. We talked about religion. The miles, and slope still seemed to go on forever…
I fell back and was last person on the road. But still hanging in there.
As usual, Bunny found a nice shady place to meet us for a break on the climb. I was ready to climb in the car.
It was painfully slow and just awful for me to climb today. With my stopped up nose, I felt like I just couldn’t get a full breath. But I wasn’t going to let a summit of a measly 4,310 feet stop me. I eventually made it. I had a lot of support. You will hear it in the video Bunny took.
We took our group shot. Two down, two to go.
Woz had to get his picture taken at Wauconda Pass as well.
The downhill was fast. As we came off the descent, it was still a gentle slope to our lunch stop in Tonasket, WA. But we had a headwind. And it was hot. And it was very dry. And I felt like crap.
I cycled those last 10 to 15 miles with Rachel. She would slow her pace when I lost contact and let me catch back up to her. I panicked when I ran out of water and wanted to find a shady place to rest and refill my bottle. No shade! Had to get some water from Rachel anyway and we eventually made it down the hill. The last 4 miles or so was maybe at 6%, so thankfully we flew into town.
This is the advantage of cycling with a group. Support. Everyone has an off/bad day. The others in the group keep your head screwed on and have your back. Glad to have had these guys with me today!
We arrived in Tonasket and it was hot. Even Carl looked for relief in the shade.
I used Find Friends to locate Bunny & Woz. They were in the shade of the parking lot of Shannon's Cafe & Deli. Even though the temperatures were in the 90’s, it did not have AC. Woz & I (and Bunny!) really needed the AC.
The gang ate at Shannon's while we went next door to Whistlers Family Restaurant that had AC. Got some potato soup and a salad.
I had my fears that I now might not be able to finish my bike trip. I was afraid that if I biked that remaining 25 or so miles to Omak in this heat on this day, my entire trip might be over! Finished. Done.
Rachel gave me an idea when she told me that she got sick on the plane over from the UK and slept for 2 days in her hotel to get well ASAP. A better plan seemed to be to hop in the car and drive with Bunny to our hotel and crash in the AC and try and recharge my batteries. And... do some drugs to help me feel better. I talked through my idea with Bunny. She agreed.
I explained my situation to Carl, Jenn, and Rachel. They not only felt my pain, but supported my idea. They too thought it was a better plan to miss the rest of the day rather than take the chance and possibly have to end my trip. That way I would be able (hopefully) to climb the third of the four summits we needed to cross in the Cascades Mountains tomorrow morning.
Similar to my feeling when I “cheated” in Montana, once I saw the route and the hot conditions on the road, I knew I made the right call.
What I didn’t know was how I would feel tomorrow morning.
Bunny, Woz, and I arrived at the Motel Nicholas in Omak, WA and it was hotter still.
I took two Benadryl and I was in bed by 3 PM. I woke up for dinner at some point and went back to bed.
I slept for about 16 hours. It helped.
