May the 3rd time be the charm. . . I've lost this entry twice!
Up early today to share a pot of Nancy's good Starbuck's coffee before walking over to the trailer for a hearty breakfast of steelcut oats. Linda soaks the oats overnight which makes them creamy and delicious. Prepared snacks of scrambled egg sandwich, banana and enery bars. Due to the long day and anticipated difficulty, everyone was on the road by 7 am. The first 18 miles were beautiful as we constantly looked up at heavily forested slopes leading to snow-capped peaks. Then, we began the long climb up into those slopes! For 36 miles we climbed and climbed. Reached Rainey Pass at 4855 ft. and then, finally, Washington Pass at 5477 ft. Altogether we climbed 7000 ft. I rode up a little further at W'ton Pass to the Overlook
and was rewarded by a spectacular view not seen from the road. Having been warned that the ride down might be quite chilly, I put my windbreakers and warm gloves back on. This proved to be unnecessary as the sun was out by then and only the first few miles of descent were chilly. Steep descents are not my favorite riding, but by feathering the breaks and paying closs attention to the road, I made it just fine. Actually, about half way down (past the 8-10% grades), I began to really enjoy the descent. Vicki came whizzing by yelling "Geronimo" with her fist is the air. I would never have let go of the handlebars. What a woman! After the long descent, the final 15 miles were awful, because I only had a few sips of water and the headwind was quite strong. I finally rolled in at 6:30 pm - after some and before some others. Fortunately, Linda didn't serve her good spaghetti until 7:30 which gave me time to shower and relax. I believe this was the most difficult day of cycling I've ever experienced. Emery Pass (Texas) and McKinsey Pass (Oregon) don't compare with today's climb. The beauty of God's creation today was just spectacular.
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