Author: Greg Pezoldt

After the big rain from last night I was glad to see blue sky when I woke up. I was able to get all of my gear dried out so I was ready to go. As an added bonus, Natalie showed up in the morning. So I had a riding partner for the day and maybe longer.

Today would take us through the Little Pend Oreille Lakes Recreational Area and over the Tiger Summit. The Summit was a climb but very reasonable from the Colville side. The weather was nice to begin the days cycling, but clouds gradually were moving in. We put up with a few bouts of lite rain and drizzle for most of the day but were in pretty good spirits in general since the Tiger Summit paled in comparison to any of the 4 previous passes.

We got to the obvious Summit even though there was not a sign to designate the top. There was a sign showing a 4 mile steep descent. We decided to stop at the top and put some warmer clothes on for the fast descent. Before we could even begin we saw and heard 2 huge thunder and lightning strikes right on top of us and then an unbelievable hail barrage. The ground turned white right before our eyes. We made a quick decision to wait it out on top since riding in the hail would be really painful. Once the hail let up we started the descent…… going very slowly down since we were drenched and the temperature was most likely in the upper 30’s at this point.

I could not feel my hands or feet during the descent. Finally after 4 miles and what seemed an eternity, we got to the bottom. Frozen and borderline hyperthermia but at the bottom. There was a small gift store at this corner so we we went in to try to warm up. Some other people supporting a group ride (more on them later) where also warming up in the store too. They had some tea and the lady working was able to heat some water for us. I could barely hold the cup I was shivering so bad but it was heaven sent non the less. Still very cold but not shivering any longer, we decided camping was a bad idea. We headed toward Ione which was 4 miles away to get a motel room and really warm up. It was a good decision since it continued to rain on and off for the rest of the day and evening. Natalie got the bed and I got the floor but we both slept well that night.

After lounging at the Kettle Falls Pub and Grill, I set off to find a place to stay. Natalie (from the Washington Pass Climb had texted me about a bike hostel so I wanted to check that out. She said it was a few miles out of Colville at the top of a long hill. Well she was spot-on with that description. It took a while to get there, but it was worth it. I had a room to myself, and a hot shower. For free no less. This was all good since it started raining again. And in the middle of the night, the skies really opened up. I was never so happy in my life to be under a roof and not in my tent.

Today could have a lot of different directions.

First, I had developed a saddle sore yesterday so I wasn’t too sure how it was going to go today sitting in the bike seat.

It also rained quite a bit last night so I wasn’t sure if I was even going to get out of the tent if it kept up.

And the day had all sorts of potential for a rain soaked day.

Well, it stopped raining and I was able to sit comfortably on the bike saddle so off I went! Ahead was Sherman Pass! The highest year round open Pass in Washington at 5575. I have a LOT of history with Sherman Pass. I drove over it twice a day for 3 years commuting to Republic from Kettle Falls.

It turned out to be an excellent day for the climb over the Pass. Overcast and cool. I still sweated like a dog though. I summited right at 1:00 so it wasn’t too bad at all. The downhill was maybe less fun. Right after topping out, it DID start raining. I have cycled up and over Sherman Pass twice now in my life. Both times I have froze on the descent. It eventually stopped raining but not until I was close to the bottom. I am now warming up in the Kettle Falls Pub and Grill. I still have 8 more miles to go to Colville where I plan to stay. I hope it will be uneventful.

Tomorrow is the Tiger Summit, a climb but nothing like the last many days of climbing – at least that what I am thinking. I am glad to have the last 4 passes over with. Should have some decent cycling ahead. I will let you know.

I woke up this morning with a revelation. Up until yesterday, all of the riding I have done was pedaling closer to Wenatchee- home. Once past Twisp and Okanogan, I am now pedaling away from Wenatchee. I guess there is no turning back now, right?

I have to thank the people, especially Tom from the Tonasket visitor’s center. I camped behind the center but they let me have the key to the building so I could use the bathroom. We just made arrangements to return the key this morning. Again, thanks!

Once on the road again, big surprise. Another day, another climb. This time it was Wauconda Pass. It goes up to 4300 feet and was another challenge but not an impossible challenge. I topped out around 1:00 and cruised the downhill. As much as the climb would normally be the focus of the day, today was all about travelling to Republic. Republic is the town I worked in for 7 years when I first moved to Washington. So many stories and memories. I tried to look up a few old friends but they were all out of town. I left them messages.

While having a beer at the Republic Brewery (new since I worked there) I had an interesting conversation with a Guy who was visiting from Kettle Falls. I told him I used to live in Kettle Falls and it turned out he lived in the very same HOUSE I owned back in the early 1990’s. What would the odds of that be. Crazy.

For camping, I stayed at the Curlew Lake State Park. I had a great site over looking the lake and the weather was nice and clear. It was a good day.

As great as my rest was (and it was great thanks to Carol) it was time to get back on the bike and continue the journey and adventure.

Natalie was now a day ahead of me and Danny was on a different route so I would not see them today.

Ahead was another climb- Loop Loop Pass. It would not be as long or as high as Washington Pass but a challenge non the less. I left Carol’s house around 9:30. Not a great start but pretty normal for me. I was on the climb by 10:30. It was about an 11 mile climb but I really had no idea when I started since I don’t have a map of this portion of the ride. I took a 30 minute break at 11:30 to take some food and water. The summit came rather quickly once I started riding again. Then another nice downhill to enjoy. I have a confession to make! My biking friends all know that I perversely enjoy riding uphill. But given the nature of propelling this really heavy bike, I have quickly learned to savor the gravity assist of the downhill. Shhh…. don’t tell anyone.

I got into Okanogan around 1:30 and had lunch at this nice cafe. Really great soup! But I had another conundrum. Okanogan/Omak was quitting too early but Tonasket was another 30 miles. I felt pretty good so I opted for the 70 mile option and pushed on to Tonasket. I got some real good suggestions for a back roads ride option from some locals in the cafe and it was great. No traffic and great riding. Arriving in Tonasket around 5:15 I found that you could camp behind the visitor’s center (for free!). There was even an added bonus. The guy who lives begins the visitor’s center is playing his guitar and singing. Free music entertainment in Tonasket. BONUS!

There is a lot more climbing in the next 2 days but I am going to enjoy a hot shower and a meal at one of the local establishments tonight.

One last thing. Thank you everyone for following my ride on this blog and your positive support. It means so much to me!

After a solid week of riding and some tired legs, I took a day off from riding today. Carol works at the Sun Mountain Resort so I hitched a ride with her to work.

I spent the day in the pool and jacuzzi, hiking, and eating lunch. Here is a photo poolside at Sun Mountain

After carol got off work, we BBQed some sockeye salmon for dinner. Mmm.

It was a fun filled rest day, but it is back on the bike tomorrow. There is a lot more climbing in the next days. Legs don’t fail me now!

Nothing like waking up in the morning knowing that you have a 32 mile climb over a major mountain range ahead of you! That was what waited for me today.

I left the Colonial Creek camp ground at 8:40. Danny and Natalie had left right at 8:00 and I wondered if I would see them on the climb. The road pitched up within a 100 yards of the CG entrance and I was sweating right away. Luckily, the initial steep grade did not last all day. Most of the climb would prove to be fairly reasonable (as far as mountains go anyway). I caught up with Natalie and Danny after a couple of hours so it was nice to commiserate with someone while climbing the pass. After about 23 miles, we all decided to take a lunch break. It felt good to get off the bike for a while. Finely about 2:00 we went over the top of Rainy Pass! Unfortunately we still had to descend for a mile or so and then climb 3 more miles to the top of Washington Pass. It was not as difficult as I had thought it would be, but took longer. Natalie looked pretty strong on the climb while Danny had “bonked” pretty hard on the last few miles. He just needs to ride more days to get into cycling fitness. He only had ridden a few days and really not much before he started his tour. I am not worried about him at all.

Of course the reward for all of that climbing was the 18 mile descent to Mazama. Very fun. We all went to the Mazama Country Store for some bakery goods even though it was 4:30.

I then rode 14 more miles into Winthrop since I was staying at my friend Carol’s house. But we all met up again at the Old Schoolhouse Brewery for a beer and some food. The party was even better since Carol and our other friend Linda joined us. A fitting ending to another great day on the bike.

The very first thing I did in the morning was check the weather. Not raining! Not exactly sunny either but not raining was important.

I had a lot of options today. The camp spacing was challenging. Either to close or too far apart it seemed. I decided to just see how it went and make those decisions at the time.

I am using Adventure Cycling maps for the most part on this trip. I must admit that have routed me onto some great roads for cycling. Off the hwy, little traffic, and nice scenery. Today was a fantastic example of all of that. I pedaled along the Skagit River for most of the day.

Just outside of Rockport, a great thing happened. After 5 days, I was finally able to shift into the “big” ring. That is a good excuse to talk a little bit about my bike for any of you gear heads out there. I am riding my old Fuji S-12S that I bought in 1981. It is a chrome moly 4130 steel frame. The shifters are on the down tube to give you an idea of how old it is. The gearing is a 28/38/48 Biopace front chain ring. Probably the only Biopace still in existence….. but it works for me. The rear cog is a 6 speed 12-26. So far, the gearing is adequate. So far!

I was able to roll into Marblemount around 1:00 for lunch. That was 47 miles for the day but I wanted to get further up valley to make tomorrow as short as possible for going over the Cascades. So on I continued.

In Newhalem, I stopped into the North Cascades National Park visitor center. There was another cyclist there! Wow. I am not alone on this endeavor. Natalie was also going to Maine but on a more direct route than me. But she was going to camp at Colonial Creek just as I decided to do too.

We pulled into Colonial Creek and promptly met Danny who was cycling through the park before heading south.

So all and all it was a good day. A few sprinkles, some sun, company in the camp ground and a nice 70 mile day.

The morning starting with some research since I was off route and not too sure about my route down to Sedro Woolley. So we drove part of the route to check for adequate shoulder width and traffic volume. I selected a route which went along Lake Whatcom and over to Hwy 9. The route was great but it started raining after an hour of riding. Now I know it is unrealistic to think that I could get out of western Washington without rain, but I think the gods were sending me a subtle message about skipping part of the route. It was misery riding in the rain for over 2 hours. After getting to Sedro Woolley I headed for the first restaurant I found to get some warm food and hot tea. After warming up I decided enough was enough for this day. I am holed up in a motel room drying clothes and gear…… and myself too. I am fine now, warm and dry and hoping tomorrow is nicer. The Cascade Mtns are looming in the near distance. It is going to get interesting.

I cheated a little bit!

The sun was out early today so I was looking forward to a great day of cycling. Before leaving Fort Ebey, I took some pictures from the bluff above the sound. Great views of the Olympic mountains and the San Juan’s.

So after leaving I headed for the mainland. Along the way I crossed over Deception Pass. Then it was on to Anacortes for some lunch. After a nice lunch I had planed on detouring to Bellingham to see Sandy Barbero, an old friend from my Republic days. Trouble was it was going to take me more than a day to get there. So I called Sandy and she drove down to Anacortes and drove (yes, drove) me to Bellingham. I rationalized this in my mind because it was off route and I would make the difference by pedaling back to Sedro Woolley from her house. We had a great time catching on life. And I got to sleep in a real bed!