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Our first week of riding is over, and my first period with the team. We left the little town of Republic around 8.00am and headed out in beautiful sunshine for the highest climb of the whole crossing - Sherman Pass, 5,575'. It was more or less 18 miles of pure uphill, mostly for me at about 7mph. The scenery was spectacular, the smells glorious, the traffic unfailingly polite in contrast to the more westerly part of Washington, and if you could forget the pain, it was lovely. But it wasn't painless. I appreciate all the messages of support for my backside, but it has been (relatively) fine. My main problem has been numbness in three fingers of my left hand, in spite of padded riding gloves, changing position often, and regular flexing. It's so bad now that I can't squeeze the toothpaste tube with that hand - literally. Hope the strength comes back.
Anyway, after all the group made it to the top (sometimes there has been as much as 2.5 hours between first and last, which represents a big problem for Emma, Becky & Bill in the SAG wagon) there was much taking of photos with the Sherman Pass sign, as that represented our most-feared obstacle. We have climbed almost 22,000' in 5 days - 4,500' daily on average.
Then the descent, which really favours the heavier guys like me, and which we regard as our reward for all that heavy work dragging ourselves up. Tom Phillips, one of the best climbers, took off first, with me right behind him. After 200 yards I realized I didn't have my glasses on, so had to anchor up and fix that, as some of the bugs and bees that have hit us have been the size of model aeroplanes. (Yesterday something flew inside my shirt on the descent down Wauconda Pass and started to bite. I had to do an emergency stop, fling down bike, pull off helmet and glasses and shirt and get it out.)
Anyway, being a lot heavier than Tom, a 53-year-old maths teacher from Northern California who is very fit, I caught and passed him after about a mile, then had a most glorious descent, hitting a maximum of 47.7mph. This Ride, we keep reminding ourselves, is not a race, but every day there are little mini-races going on between the guys, either first up a climb or first down, and since I'm never going to beat the lightest 2 or 3 on the climbs, I figured I might have a chance today. However, after about 10 miles of more-or-less continuous descent I could see in my mirror two figures catching me, slipstreaming each other to maximise their effort. Pretty soon my nephew Tim and Stuart Rowell caught up with me, (Stuart is an amazingly-fit man for 61, always among the best of the climbers) then the three of us pulled each other along for a while before Stuart stopped to take off a jacket, and Tim and I went like crazy to our lunch stop at Roosevelt Dam on the Columbia River, trying to stop anyone else catching us. This resevoir is amazing. Backed up by the Grand Coulee Dam, it stretches about 150 miles up into Canada and has a total shoreline, including its tributary rivers, of about 5,000 miles.
What we will remember about it mostly is how unbelievably cold it was, as a few of us went swimming in our cycling shorts. Being cut all over by razor-blades is the approximate feeling. It's only about six weeks since some of the high passes opened after the winter snows, and this water was pure snow melt. Tim did a good impression of running on water when he went in - he dived, came up and was back out before anyone had time to get a photo of him in.
Then our finest moment of the Ride so far. Seven or eight of us climbed out of Kettle Falls after lunch and crossed the Colville River en route to Colville, an old western town of 5,000 people. Since it was only seven or eight miles, Tim and I hatched a plan to sprint for home as soon as we saw the town sign. We all got in a paceline doing about 22-24mph, Tom leading for a while, then Stuart, then me, then Dan, then Zack, and finally Tim and I, with the luxury of leaving the Ride tomorrow, broke away and stayed ahead all the way in. Later we reminded each other that before the start we had said we were going to be "big-picture" people - it's about finishing, not competing. Tim said that went out the window for him on the first day. Later Stuart told us he and Zack had had a plan to break just before us and hold us "on the rails" as they went by; everybody was at it. It all adds a wee bit of psychological excitement to the day's craic, and everybody's moves are dissected minutely over the dinner table.
Dinner and hospitality today and tomorrow are being provided by the United Church of Christ in Colville, with Pastor Tammy Bell and some very nice folks. There was a welcome banner in the church hall and loads of fresh fruit, drinks and snacks. They had no programme arranged for us except showers, bike service, food and bed, which was much appreciated.
Thanks as always for your prayers and practical support. If you want to see some pictures - believe Bryan has put some on the Ride blogspot -http://www.blogger.com/www.yfcbikeride.org/blogspot
Anyway, after all the group made it to the top (sometimes there has been as much as 2.5 hours between first and last, which represents a big problem for Emma, Becky & Bill in the SAG wagon) there was much taking of photos with the Sherman Pass sign, as that represented our most-feared obstacle. We have climbed almost 22,000' in 5 days - 4,500' daily on average.
Then the descent, which really favours the heavier guys like me, and which we regard as our reward for all that heavy work dragging ourselves up. Tom Phillips, one of the best climbers, took off first, with me right behind him. After 200 yards I realized I didn't have my glasses on, so had to anchor up and fix that, as some of the bugs and bees that have hit us have been the size of model aeroplanes. (Yesterday something flew inside my shirt on the descent down Wauconda Pass and started to bite. I had to do an emergency stop, fling down bike, pull off helmet and glasses and shirt and get it out.)
Anyway, being a lot heavier than Tom, a 53-year-old maths teacher from Northern California who is very fit, I caught and passed him after about a mile, then had a most glorious descent, hitting a maximum of 47.7mph. This Ride, we keep reminding ourselves, is not a race, but every day there are little mini-races going on between the guys, either first up a climb or first down, and since I'm never going to beat the lightest 2 or 3 on the climbs, I figured I might have a chance today. However, after about 10 miles of more-or-less continuous descent I could see in my mirror two figures catching me, slipstreaming each other to maximise their effort. Pretty soon my nephew Tim and Stuart Rowell caught up with me, (Stuart is an amazingly-fit man for 61, always among the best of the climbers) then the three of us pulled each other along for a while before Stuart stopped to take off a jacket, and Tim and I went like crazy to our lunch stop at Roosevelt Dam on the Columbia River, trying to stop anyone else catching us. This resevoir is amazing. Backed up by the Grand Coulee Dam, it stretches about 150 miles up into Canada and has a total shoreline, including its tributary rivers, of about 5,000 miles.
What we will remember about it mostly is how unbelievably cold it was, as a few of us went swimming in our cycling shorts. Being cut all over by razor-blades is the approximate feeling. It's only about six weeks since some of the high passes opened after the winter snows, and this water was pure snow melt. Tim did a good impression of running on water when he went in - he dived, came up and was back out before anyone had time to get a photo of him in.
Then our finest moment of the Ride so far. Seven or eight of us climbed out of Kettle Falls after lunch and crossed the Colville River en route to Colville, an old western town of 5,000 people. Since it was only seven or eight miles, Tim and I hatched a plan to sprint for home as soon as we saw the town sign. We all got in a paceline doing about 22-24mph, Tom leading for a while, then Stuart, then me, then Dan, then Zack, and finally Tim and I, with the luxury of leaving the Ride tomorrow, broke away and stayed ahead all the way in. Later we reminded each other that before the start we had said we were going to be "big-picture" people - it's about finishing, not competing. Tim said that went out the window for him on the first day. Later Stuart told us he and Zack had had a plan to break just before us and hold us "on the rails" as they went by; everybody was at it. It all adds a wee bit of psychological excitement to the day's craic, and everybody's moves are dissected minutely over the dinner table.
Dinner and hospitality today and tomorrow are being provided by the United Church of Christ in Colville, with Pastor Tammy Bell and some very nice folks. There was a welcome banner in the church hall and loads of fresh fruit, drinks and snacks. They had no programme arranged for us except showers, bike service, food and bed, which was much appreciated.
Today we climbed that pass and rode 60.1 miles, which I think gives us a total of about 348 for the first five days. Undoubtedly the hardest physical thing I have ever done, but also exceedingly satisfying, especially when we give out the brochures telling what we are doing this for.
Thanks as always for your prayers and practical support. If you want to see some pictures - believe Bryan has put some on the Ride blogspot -
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