DAYS 2, 3, AND 4

DAY 2
Miles: 51.8 from Sedro Woolley to Marblemount

Nice ride, and after Day 3, I can tell you that Day 2 was a piece of cake. I made a little detour to the town of Concrete, because I'd heard there was a place called Concrete Auto Parts, which is fun to imagine. Hmmm... Didn't see it, but too much time on the bike gave me time to think, what about Concrete Manicures, Concrete Psychotherapy, Concrete Groceries.

Just as we have lots of lupines in New England by the side of the road, here they have foxglove like crazy. It's so beautiful as you ride along.


One fun thing about day 2 was where we stayed that night. Clark Cabins is a throwback to the 1940's or earlier, and it's on 140 wooded acres, just across the road from the Skagit River. There are bunnies everywhere! And they actually FEED them. What are they thinking?? But I guess bunnies are their trademark, and it was a delightful place to stay. Had a snack of morel mushroom soup and homemade pecan pie (don't tell my orthodontist I'm eating nuts!) at the little restaurant there. The red cabin shown is where I stayed. It has two bedrooms, so my roommate for the night, Cheryl, and I each had our own room. They give us a different roommate assignment every night, which is great so that we can get to know each other.

DAY 3
From Marblemount to Winthrop
Miles: 91
Began: 7:00 am
Finished: 6:45 pm
Elevation climb: 7400 feet, minus 18 miles of downhill after Washington Pass, followed by 15 miles of biking into the wind to Winthrop. I think we descended 5900 miles, so still had a net gain in elevation.

This day was the hardest I've ever biked in my life!! And apparently, the more experienced Womantours cyclists thought so, too. But I didn't walk, and I didn't sag. There is no shame in sagging here, though, and a few people did get a ride to Winthrop. One quit at the lunch stop, got a ride up to Washington Pass, and biked downhill to the motel in Winthrop. One woman I was biking with, Penny, caught her front wheel in a pavement groove, bent it out of shape, and ended up borrowing the trip leader's wheel. Michelle, the trip leader, was driving the big van that day, so Penny still ended up being able to bike most of the day. She's getting a new wheel today. I sympathize.

Anyhow, we had sag stops at about mile 20,40, and 60, to get more snacks and water. Since it was such a long day, Linda (our chef -- a former chiropractor/innkeeper/life coach ---really nice and interesting person) prepared lunch for us. We eat very well, and had mahi mahi the other night!

The two really tough parts were Rainy Pass, which was just a pimple, compared to Washington Pass, the highest point of the day. I'll see if I can show you the elevation climb for the day, below.

After Washington Pass, we got to coast downhill for 18 miles! It was great, and the only hazards were being sure not to crash on occasional gravel patches or going too fast and out of control. You have to feather your breaks, which means just pulsing them. It's tempting to just let loose, but I think I maxed out at 32mph downhill. (Uphill, there were long periods when I could only pedal 3.7 mph).

Finally, we were out of the Cascades at mile 76, with 14 to go. But then it turned out we were biking into the wind for the rest of the day, running low on water and energy. Michelle, the trip leader showed up with more water. She showed up later, too, to be sure each of us remaining was okay. Though it was getting late,I asked if it was still okay for me to finish the day on my bike. It was, though it was already after 6pm. To be fair, my new friend Vicki and I had taken a detour after Washington Pass and the downhill, so she could get a latte, and I could get a Klondike bar. So we were running late partly because of that. Arrived at the motel in Winthrop at 6:45pm.

Linda had dinner ready at the kitchen in the back of the big trailer (the front holds our luggage), and each night we have plastic stacking lawn chairs arranged in a big circle by the kitchen and the two buffet tables set up in the parking lot. So that's where we eat dinner each evening. It's starting to feel like a moving community.

DAY 4
A day off!! People have been doing laundry, walking into town, and helping each other with these blogs. There seem to be two groups: those who say they wouldn't want to waste time at a computer doing a blog (or don't know how), and those of us who, however inept, spend way too much time doing it anyway. The hard part for me is getting the pictures out of my damn camera and into the computer on the blog.

This morning, a bunch of us walked a mile into downtown Winthrop, a tourist town, to some touristy "saloon" which was recommended for breakfast. We're on our own for meals on days off. Everything we do seems to be a photo opportunity. One of us will take a picture of whatever group we've formed, then somebody will say, "Ooh, will you take one with my camera too?" and so it goes.
So now it's time to try uploading pictures and the elevation map.






Til next time,
Lynn, the Biker Chick