First Week:  Exciting yet tough.  But are we having fun yet?  (Read and find out.)

 The North Cascades Highway challenged us with our first two passes (of 20): Rainy Pass followed by Washington (at 5417 feet). To say they were a piece of cake would be greatly exaggerating.  The swarming biting flies at the top, attracted by our copious sweat, added to the experience, as did the freshly chip-sealed road and hot temps.  

The downhill into the Methow Valley is always breathtaking -- make that thrilling-- at 40 mph on a wobbly bike battered by crosswinds, but definitely worth it.  Once over the Cascade Mountains we hit the heat of interior Washington, and soon were passing fresh fruit stands.  What pleasure to stop late in a day of riding along the Columbia River for a peach, a frozen bottle of fresh cider, and the spray an orchard sprinkler in 90-degree temperatures.

Soon we climbed over our third major pass, Blewett Pass (4105), and descended toward Ellensburg, a common stop for tourists and truckers headed east/west on I-90.  We were by now blasted and sunburnt over several days and stopped in a Mexican restaurant for lunch. The waiter took one look at us and brought four huge pitchers of ice water.  Refreshed, we debated heading the additional 36 miles to reach Yakima that evening, but decided instead to rest in a cheap traveler's motel before arriving in our week's-end destination of an inn along the Yakima River.  Here we could restock on any food, work on the bikes, float in the pool, and pause to reflect on the question:  "Is this actual fun or just really really really hard work?"

The lowpoint (emotionally) so far occurred at 6:10 pm after our day climbing the first passes, when we stopped, famished, in Mazama, looking forward to a big restaurant meal.  We discovered the restaurant was not open, and the local country store had just closed.  These were the only opportunities in a heap of ridin' (14 miles at least.) Freeze-dried campfood it would be.

The highpoint (emotionally) so far occurred at 6:11 pm the same day when three young women from Port Townsend (sort of near Seattle) told us the town was about to have its Wednesday Pizza Feed.  Beer, salads and lemonade too!  We found the local park, took a picnic table, and were soon joined by the same three young women, two other bike riders and a couple townfolk, all of us talking about the highlights of cycling and fielding questions from curious Mazama residents. 

Second Week:  A mountain pass almost every day (sometimes two.)  Chapped lips & a pleasant exhaustion. 

As we recrossed the Cascades (at least a couple times) and settled into a more purely southerly direction, the two things we observed with the most frequency:  The roadsign reading "Passing Lane --1 Mile" ... and the puzzled look by everyone we meet, followed by the question:  "But... WHY??!!"

WHY are we doing this to ourselves?  The lady in the fruit stand in the town of Mount Hood, OR. asked this question with a sincerely bemused expression -- like asking a grown man why he would want to keep hitting his head with a hammer.

In truth we are doing this extreme climbing tour for different reasons -- John, to ride a new ride that few others have done before;  Paul, as a sort of spiritual journey into suffering (and indeed suffering is involved!);  Tom, to explore places where nature is most beautiful, in a way as close to nature as possible.  (We'll ask Bill when he joins us next week.)  Of course we all share a love of bicycle touring, camping, and hard exercise -- that pretty much goes without saying.

This second week we began in Yakima and climbed White Pass (4,500 feet).  In Packwood on the west side of the pass we ran into a 200-person contingent of Cascade Bicycle Club riders on a "Ride Around Washington" tour. They invited us to crash their catered dinner, and set up a camp with them.  (Not to mention the free hot showers!)  The six-day tour, we learned, costs $1000 per rider.  It cost us $15 each for the tent space.

Over the next couple days we rode south (from Randle, WA) crossing Elk Pass (over 4,000 feet), followed by Oldman Pass (over 3,000 feet with up to 11 percent grades) until arriving on the Columbia River Gorge across from Hood River, OR.  We knew better but we decided to try the narrow metal grated bridge despite the "NO BICYCLES" sign.  The metal surface was so slick Tom was forced to walk the one-mile span, with traffic piled up behind him. On the Oregon side the tollkeepers shouted at us and half-threatened to call the police.  But we were in Oregon!

Next day came one of the most difficult climbs -- from near sea level at Hood River to Bennett Pass at 4,674.  It was 36 miles of relentless, unending uphill -- in full blazing sun. (The climb took about 6 hours.) Then we dropped rapidly only to climb again to Barlow Pass at 4,100. We dropped rapidly again, only to climb once more almost to the top of Wapanitia Pass at 3,952.  That was for all intents a three-pass day.  Our Frog Lake campground was nestled just below the pass.  Paul was so thirsty the first thing he did was use the hand-operated water pump to fill his empty liter water bottle and drink it down at one go.  That night a fierce lightning storm raged just overhead.

The Frog Lake campground hosts told us our anticipated route had 11 miles of gravel because of rockslides (this was disputed by a rider we met later) so we opted to take the highway to Bend by way of Warm Springs and Madras.  Flat, right?  No, having camped at 3,900 feet we fell to about 2,600 and then had another 1200-foot drop to the Deschutes River at Warm Springs for lunch.  A 1200-foot climb immediately followed in 92-degree heat.  When we arrived at the end of the second week in the resort town of Bend, OR, we were back up to 3,600 feet.  At last -- a full day off (after 13 days straight.)

Downpoint:  On the glorious descent south from Oldman Pass, John lost the Adventure Cycling map we have been relying on.  It was a dispiriting moment, since the map is so essential to our planning.

Highpoint(s):  A fantastic light and sound show at 4 in the morning as thunderstorms raged just overhead.  (The storms, we learned, set 70 range fires that night.) And -- a full day off in Bend with great food, beer and nice walks along the Deschutes River. 

Next week:  Now the climbing begins -- in places none of us have ever been before.

We are doing this ride as a fund raiser for Cancer Research.   To make a donation go to our fund raising web by copying the following url into your browser:

http://davis2011.livestrong.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=447594&lis=1&kntae447594=3EBF317249DD436BB7EE3232CC948B40&supId=328845816

Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated.

Lunch Stop on way up White Pass
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