Wednesday 14 Sept 2011.
Daily report from the Team Eliminator Roving reporter on the scene.
Day 54 Randle, WA to Seattle, WA
Tuesday 13 Sept 2011 5'th day of the 8'th week. Day 51 on the Road. 3 days in the pits..
When we left in the morning we knew only 100 miles separated us from our destination of Seattle Washington and the end of our tour. It felt good to know we were going soon to accomplish our task but the task was what it was all about. After our last cross country trip in 2008 we all suffered from PTBS better known as Post Traumatic Bike Syndrome.
Your body and mind has been focused on only one thing, a daily chore of pedaling and pushing forward. I guess you could call it a routine of sort. But this routine is unlike the normal daily routine we all have at home. Pedaling a bicycle to places you never heard of and on roads you know nothing about is an adventurous routine that has your attention all the time. Around the next bend in the road could be a long flat straight road or a monster hill to climb. Any hard exercise, including cycling, is 50% physical strength and 50% mental strength. Because of this you cannot let your mind talk your body off the bike. You need to keep your mind in check at all times or you are finished. If the wind is blowing 40 mph in your face you can easily become mentally defeated well before your muscles give up.
Your body is also constantly talking to you as you ride. It is always worried about keeping hydrated and fueled and will not let you forget. Just getting low on water becomes stressful when you are a long distance from the next watering hole. You legs are always asking for a rest they cannot have. It may be a routine but not a normal routine.
All along todays route, instead of apples and pears we rode alongside wild blackberry bushes that would continue even onto the Interurban Trail. Miles of the ripe and delicious berries were everywhere. We stopped and munched on them every once and a while. It was incredible the amount of berries we passed. It seemed like someone could start a blackberry pie and jam company just picking from one section of the wild crop.
One of the signs we would see during the day is not one you will find back home in Connecticut but is important here.
Some of the areas we rode through were buried under feet of ash after Mount St Helens exploded. It was hard to imagine what it would have been like living through that terrible mess. We were choked by a little dust and smoke on our journey west. What would the air be like after that explosion happened? Not just when it happened but for week and months. Every puff of wind must have stirred the ashes into the air again. How do you ever clean up after a mess like that? Where do you put all the ash? I am glad we missed that one.
Someone asked us which cross country trip was better. Well they were both better if that makes any sense. Each was different and unique. We had more of the unknown on the first trip because we had less experience. The added miles and days of WWTII made for a longer workout and that was better. Both tours were fantastic and gave us a feeling of accomplishment. Now being in the somewhat small group of people that can say they have crossed the USA by bicycle TWICE is a cool thing too.
We covered over 4560 miles with bicycles weighing nearly 80 pounds. The team lugged these heavy bicycles over countless hills and mountain ranges with over 188,000 feet of total climbing. That would be like scaling Mount Everest from “sea level” more than 7 times! Over 1/3 of our cycling days were “Century Days” that is a day of 100 miles or more. Even figuring in the 6 “easy days” we had (65 miles or less) we still averaged over 88 miles a day.
Our bodies feel strong and not worn out after this journey. All of us could easily continue riding another 4500 miles if we had to.
This whole excursion could never have happened without the most important thing of all.
Something we did not mention on the web or in the blog. This was not because we forgot, but because this was so important we wanted to save it for the end. We did not want the most important thing to get lost in our daily adventure stories.
This cross country cycling trip would not have happened if we did not have the full support of our families. We all fully realize how lucky we are to have families that understand and were willing to do without as we rode our bikes. Lucky is the wrong word I guess, because there is no luck involved. We have great families backing us up. How many wives in the USA would let their husbands take off for nearly two months to ride a bicycle?? Well we only know a few and we are married to them. Anyone got a few names to add to that list…..I did not think so. Let’s not forget our kids that also had to do without as we rode. Thanks everyone! Hopefully somehow we can repay everyone for their sacrifice.
Also let’s not forget our friends that helped us train and also supported us. We would not have a website or blog if we did not get help and our lawns would be 4’ high. We always knew if one of our families needed something we could count on them to be there. That made our ride less stressful. Thanks guys.
Without all of these people and more behind them this this ride would just not have happened. Because of them all we had to do was the easy part ….pedal our bikes.
100 Miles
3074 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 55 - 80 degrees
The Wild West Tour II “The Northern Tier”
TOTAL DISTANCE 4559.7 miles
TOTAL CLIMBING 188,030 Feet
Niantic to Seattle
When we left in the morning we knew only 100 miles separated us from our destination of Seattle Washington and the end of our tour. It felt good to know we were going soon to accomplish our task but the task was what it was all about. After our last cross country trip in 2008 we all suffered from PTBS better known as Post Traumatic Bike Syndrome.
Your body and mind has been focused on only one thing, a daily chore of pedaling and pushing forward. I guess you could call it a routine of sort. But this routine is unlike the normal daily routine we all have at home. Pedaling a bicycle to places you never heard of and on roads you know nothing about is an adventurous routine that has your attention all the time. Around the next bend in the road could be a long flat straight road or a monster hill to climb. Any hard exercise, including cycling, is 50% physical strength and 50% mental strength. Because of this you cannot let your mind talk your body off the bike. You need to keep your mind in check at all times or you are finished. If the wind is blowing 40 mph in your face you can easily become mentally defeated well before your muscles give up.
Your body is also constantly talking to you as you ride. It is always worried about keeping hydrated and fueled and will not let you forget. Just getting low on water becomes stressful when you are a long distance from the next watering hole. You legs are always asking for a rest they cannot have. It may be a routine but not a normal routine.
Today’s ride would end with a thirty plus mile ride on a Rails to Trails bike path that will keep us off the busy streets of Seattle. This is called the Interurban Trail.
All along todays route, instead of apples and pears we rode alongside wild blackberry bushes that would continue even onto the Interurban Trail. Miles of the ripe and delicious berries were everywhere. We stopped and munched on them every once and a while. It was incredible the amount of berries we passed. It seemed like someone could start a blackberry pie and jam company just picking from one section of the wild crop.
Some of the areas we rode through were buried under feet of ash after Mount St Helens exploded. It was hard to imagine what it would have been like living through that terrible mess. We were choked by a little dust and smoke on our journey west. What would the air be like after that explosion happened? Not just when it happened but for week and months. Every puff of wind must have stirred the ashes into the air again. How do you ever clean up after a mess like that? Where do you put all the ash? I am glad we missed that one.
Someone asked us which cross country trip was better. Well they were both better if that makes any sense. Each was different and unique. We had more of the unknown on the first trip because we had less experience. The added miles and days of WWTII made for a longer workout and that was better. Both tours were fantastic and gave us a feeling of accomplishment. Now being in the somewhat small group of people that can say they have crossed the USA by bicycle TWICE is a cool thing too.
We covered over 4560 miles with bicycles weighing nearly 80 pounds. The team lugged these heavy bicycles over countless hills and mountain ranges with over 188,000 feet of total climbing. That would be like scaling Mount Everest from “sea level” more than 7 times! Over 1/3 of our cycling days were “Century Days” that is a day of 100 miles or more. Even figuring in the 6 “easy days” we had (65 miles or less) we still averaged over 88 miles a day.
Our bodies feel strong and not worn out after this journey. All of us could easily continue riding another 4500 miles if we had to.
This whole excursion could never have happened without the most important thing of all.
Something we did not mention on the web or in the blog. This was not because we forgot, but because this was so important we wanted to save it for the end. We did not want the most important thing to get lost in our daily adventure stories.
This cross country cycling trip would not have happened if we did not have the full support of our families. We all fully realize how lucky we are to have families that understand and were willing to do without as we rode our bikes. Lucky is the wrong word I guess, because there is no luck involved. We have great families backing us up. How many wives in the USA would let their husbands take off for nearly two months to ride a bicycle?? Well we only know a few and we are married to them. Anyone got a few names to add to that list…..I did not think so. Let’s not forget our kids that also had to do without as we rode. Thanks everyone! Hopefully somehow we can repay everyone for their sacrifice.
Also let’s not forget our friends that helped us train and also supported us. We would not have a website or blog if we did not get help and our lawns would be 4’ high. We always knew if one of our families needed something we could count on them to be there. That made our ride less stressful. Thanks guys.
Without all of these people and more behind them this this ride would just not have happened. Because of them all we had to do was the easy part ….pedal our bikes.
100 Miles
3074 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 55 - 80 degrees
The Wild West Tour II “The Northern Tier”
TOTAL DISTANCE 4559.7 miles
TOTAL CLIMBING 188,030 Feet
Niantic to Seattle
Day 53 Yakima, WA -> Randle, WA
Monday 12 Sept 2011 4'th day of the 8'th week. Day 50 on the Road
We got underway early knowing we had to clear "White Pass" which is at 4500 feet above sea level. It is a long steady 55 mile climb to reach the pass. After clearing the summit we will be treated to a near 45 mile downhill run returning back to 900 foot elevation.
Yakama’s forecast was for record heat approaching 100 degrees again today. We would be high in the Cascade Mountains where it was cooler by the time the heat was turned up.
The ride up to the pass has, for a few days, because of traffic concerns on RT12 been worrying the Team. RT12 is the only road going over the pass. We have been told it can be dangerous and potenially loaded with tandem semis hauling apples. The crew was mentally prepared for some white knuckle riding. In Maine it is logging trucks, in Washington it is Apple trucks.
93 Miles
4816 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 65 - 90 degrees
4581 overall
86.4 MPD ave
Yakama’s forecast was for record heat approaching 100 degrees again today. We would be high in the Cascade Mountains where it was cooler by the time the heat was turned up.
The ride up to the pass has, for a few days, because of traffic concerns on RT12 been worrying the Team. RT12 is the only road going over the pass. We have been told it can be dangerous and potenially loaded with tandem semis hauling apples. The crew was mentally prepared for some white knuckle riding. In Maine it is logging trucks, in Washington it is Apple trucks.
But to our surprise RT 12 was nearly traffic free! After all the horror stories we were riding on an empty road. We had a few things going for us that we were unaware of. First the apples are about a week from harvest. All the empty apple crates have already been delivered to the orchards eliminating that traffic. Since the apples are still on the trees the trucks that haul the fruit are parked waiting.
And now the big thing that helped us, there is a road construction project going on near the summit. They can make traffic wait as long as 45 minutes to get through. All the locals and trucking companies know this so for now they are avoiding this route. PERFECT! We did have to wait a few times and once for over 30 minutes but it was worth it.
It was midday with bright sunshine when we reached the summit at White Pass.
All they way up we kept looking for Mt Rainier. Where is that big bump in the earth anyway? The road we were riding is buried in between mountain peaks so we could not see anything. As we headed on our 45 mile ride down the mountain we came around a bend and BOOM, there it was - Mt. Rainer. A monster of a mountain completely covered in snow. In fact we had planned to ride the access road to Paradise on Mt Rainer but the road has been closed since September 6th. They still have four feet of snow up there.
The wagon train rolled into the tiny town of Randle where we planned to spend the night at another B&B. Finding motels in these small towns can be impossible. The Hilton is not planning on building a motel in Randle population 350 or so for a while I guess. First order of business after we arrive in town was dinner. Randle had two small eating establishments if you do not count the gas station that had snacks. We sat at our table looking at the menu when one of the locals asked us about our trip. When we roll in with our loaded bikes all wearing the same jerseys it makes people curious. They all have the same question where are you going, where did you come from, is it for a cause, how many miles do you ride a day ect.
They offered us congratulations when we said tomorrow will be our last day on the road. We ate our fill and when it was time to pay the owner of the restraunt told us the people in the booth who congratulated us had already paid our tab! They slipped out before we could even thank them. How cool is that? Another great example of good people doing good things for people they do not even know. We were flabbergasted.
Tomorrow if everything goes as planned we should reach our final destination Seattle.
93 Miles
4816 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 65 - 90 degrees
4581 overall
86.4 MPD ave
Day 52 Grandview. WA -> Yakima, WA
Sunday 11 Sept 2011 3'rd day of the 8'th week. Day 49 on the Road
Lucky for us today will be another very short mileage day do to availability of motel rooms tomorrow. First we all got to sleep a bit late because the B&B we are staying at is not going to feed us until 8AM. I guess most people that stay at a B&B are not in any rush to get going in the morning. We basically had an entire house again not just one room to sleep in. We had a full working kitchen two bedrooms and even a hot tub we did not use on the deck. The beds were comfy and the place was spotlessly clean.
For the past couple nights we have been looking at return flight information. Like everything else the prices have increased quite a bit since we first looked at them over a year ago during the planning stages of this journey. We also need a flight that will get us home at a reasonable hour so we can get a volunteer to pick us up at the airport. Having to go to the airport is bad enough, doing it at midnight is terrible. That is when Ken’s uncle had to pick us up last time. We want to avoid that this time.
As you can see from today’s profile we were on a steady uphill trend for almost 30 miles. The climb was not difficult but it lasted for a few hours. Tomorrow will be the big climb over Whites Pass and the last range of mountains separating us from the coast. Then we should have a great downhill to the long Interurban Rails to Trails bicycle patch that will take us into Seattle.
Just after we left the B&B we started going past miles of tall aromatic vines hanging from strings tied to cables high above.
The air was filled with a perfume type sent. The tall green vines are one of the main ingredients in beer, hops. We pulled into one of the farms for a quick look when one of the family owners, Stacy Puterbaugh came up to us.
Ken asked a few questions and the next thing we knew Stacy was taking us on a personal guided tour of the family operation.
It was an amazing site of farmer’s ingenuity in action. Custom made machinery, tunnels and conveyor belts stripped the precocious hops off the vine and sent them to a drying area.
The naked vines entered a shredder before they were dumped into a pile outside to spread on the fields for fertilizer.
Along our route today we passed other crops of apples, peaches, pears and grapes. They were all soon to be harvested. Ken snagged a few pears and peaches all were good but just not quite ready yet but still tasty though.
We passed a sign that looked interesting. Possibly a new business one of our followers or team members may be interested in starting on the east coast. Pooper Patrol. Oh yea, own your own business and become rich and famous. Any takers??
Tomorrow will not be as easy as today was on us. We will have to cover twice the mileage and four times the climbing to go over a mountain range separating us from the west coast .Early to bed and an early wake up will be the order of business. Whites Pass Washington ………….Team Eliminator is heading your way.
51 Easy Miles
1648 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 65 - 100 degrees
For the past couple nights we have been looking at return flight information. Like everything else the prices have increased quite a bit since we first looked at them over a year ago during the planning stages of this journey. We also need a flight that will get us home at a reasonable hour so we can get a volunteer to pick us up at the airport. Having to go to the airport is bad enough, doing it at midnight is terrible. That is when Ken’s uncle had to pick us up last time. We want to avoid that this time.
As you can see from today’s profile we were on a steady uphill trend for almost 30 miles. The climb was not difficult but it lasted for a few hours. Tomorrow will be the big climb over Whites Pass and the last range of mountains separating us from the coast. Then we should have a great downhill to the long Interurban Rails to Trails bicycle patch that will take us into Seattle.
Just after we left the B&B we started going past miles of tall aromatic vines hanging from strings tied to cables high above.
Ken asked a few questions and the next thing we knew Stacy was taking us on a personal guided tour of the family operation.
It was an amazing site of farmer’s ingenuity in action. Custom made machinery, tunnels and conveyor belts stripped the precocious hops off the vine and sent them to a drying area.
Because of the lack of available motels we are only traveled 51 miles today. It was great actually, to be honest. Riding only 50 to 60 miles a day would give you the time to enjoy a few minutes looking at a working farm or some other point of interest. It was a pleasant break in our normally rushed days.
Along our route today we passed other crops of apples, peaches, pears and grapes. They were all soon to be harvested. Ken snagged a few pears and peaches all were good but just not quite ready yet but still tasty though.
We passed a sign that looked interesting. Possibly a new business one of our followers or team members may be interested in starting on the east coast. Pooper Patrol. Oh yea, own your own business and become rich and famous. Any takers??
Tomorrow will not be as easy as today was on us. We will have to cover twice the mileage and four times the climbing to go over a mountain range separating us from the west coast .Early to bed and an early wake up will be the order of business. Whites Pass Washington ………….Team Eliminator is heading your way.
51 Easy Miles
1648 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 65 - 100 degrees
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