Sunrise – thrilled to see CLOUDS

Once again we got away early. The first 12 miles we were on I-84. Traffic was mild and the shoulder was wide. We played hide and seek with the wind – much of the time it was blocked by the ridges coming down to the water, but every once in a while we would be exposed. Even then, not nearly as bad as two days ago.
Then we ran into a bike detour. Because of road construction blocking the shoulder, we were diverted onto a four mile back road with a nasty climb. Back to granny! Scott did have a close encounter with a deer on the steep downhill, though. It leaped across the road just in front of him. That could have been nasty if the deer had hesitated a second longer!

Starting up the climb on the detour route

Next we had a few more miles of back roads, flatter this time, leading into the small community of Cascade Locks. Taking a break, we discussed our plan to cross over here to the WA side to ride on 14. We decided that 84 had really been easy so far, much flatter than 14, and the wide shoulder kept us so far from the traffic that we hardly noticed it. Therefore we would stay on 84 all the way to Portland.
We hoped to pull off at Multnomah Falls to catch some breakfast, but when we got there we discovered that the exit was on the LEFT side of the freeway! We were not about to try and cross two lanes of high speed traffic, so we just rode on.
Nothing much was memorable about this part of the ride, except it was easy. We had lost the wind back at Cascade Locks, so it was full speed ahead.
Finally we hit civilization in the form of Troutdale, the farthest out suburb of Portland. Scott had spotted the Edgefield McMenamins on the map, so we headed there for lunch and fortification. I had wanted to visit that location for years. I believe they have both a winery and distillery there along with the brewery. Of course I had to buy a bottle of their whiskey to take home.
With fifteen miles to go, we finally pried ourselves out of our booth and got back on the road. However, our beer did not want to stay with us and we found ourselves keeping an eye out for bathroom options. At one point a construction site porta-potty met our needs.
Google maps did an admirable job of guiding us through town to the house of Corey’s daughter. The route brought back memories of coming into Portland on more than one STP ride. She and her husband are celebrating their 10th anniversary, which was the reason Corey had come up with this trip and these dates in the first place. They had a very nice home and an incredible backyard transformed into farm. There were all kinds of fruit trees, berries, and other edibles growing out there.

Relaxing in the backyard – AHHH…

Unfortunately I had to head out for the train station before dinner was served. And she had prepared a wonderful smelling curry, one of my favorites!
I am on the train now, hoping we get in on time (11 pm), as I am very much looking forward to seeing Tami and Keenan again, not to mention sleeping in my own bed.

This morning we moved to a much nicer motel just down the road. That makes us all much happier.

The view from the town park

It has been a relaxing day of recuperation. I walked around town, met up with Scott and Corey for lunch at the Full Sail brewery (salmon fish and chips with a bourbon barrel cherry rye beer!) and did a bit more shopping.

Full Sail Brewery

Lunch with a view

We also sought advice on the best route from here to Portland. The fit young men in several different bike shops described their favorite routes up and around Mt. Hood. While we believe them that those routes are far quieter and more scenic, these old men are not about to haul our fully loaded bikes up any more climbing than absolutely necessary.

A shop for Mike. More fuel for more cycling.

The choice for us is between busy 84 on the Oregon side of the river with good shoulders, or the quieter 14 on the WA side with less adequate shoulders. We believe we have worked out a compromise. We will start on 84 for about 20 miles to the Cascade Locks, and then cross over to 14 there. That will cut out a couple miles and avoid having to hitch a ride over the bridge at Hood River which is steel grated and does not allow bicycles or pedestrians. Then after about another 15 miles on 14, there is a nice backroad we can take the rest of the way into Washougal. It looks like the farther we go the more the winds die down. However, if the wind turns out to still be a problem, there are several lodging options along the way.

Mt Adams

It has been an interesting experience blogging on a bike trip. The problem is tunnel vision. All we see, all we think about most of the time is the road. Our pictures are either off to the side of the road, or looking ahead down the road. Our minds are preoccupied with planning the next part of the route. Only when we get to our goal for the day do we feel free to look around and explore a bit, but only after doing chores to get ready for riding the next day. That leaves the narrative I have to relate a bit thin. (T: and it has been a little strange to put the blog up without actually experiencing what Mike is writing about!)

A man, a river, and a mountain

The day started out innocently enough (how about that for foreshadowing?). We left our motel about 6:15 and headed across the bridge to the WA side of the Columbia. The first miles were on a peaceful backroad. We saw a herd of deer as well as a coyote. Crop dusters were making turns overhead. After a while we joined highway 14, but there was a good shoulder and traffic was light.

Foreshadows?

Farm country crop circles?

About the time we stopped to top off our water in Patterson, 30 miles from our destination at Roosevelt, we noticed the breeze picking up a bit. Soon it was a wind. The rest of the way to Roosevelt we were battling headwinds. We found ourselves taking it in five mile bites. Push for five miles, take a break, push another five miles. Thinking in terms of five miles rather than the full remaining distance made it seem much more manageable.

Time for a break

Oasis of greenery

While we had originally planned on getting to Roosevelt by 11, it ended up taking until 1:30. This of course meant we got farther into the heat of the day and were running out of water. We were SO glad when we finally spotted the the small cafe in Roosevelt. We immediately grabbed cups and poured large glasses of ice water at the soda fountain, then sat down and ordered lunch.

Mike’s not the only one who likes maps!

The plan had been to camp there and then continue on to Lyle the next day. However, when we checked the weather and saw that the winds were going to be even stronger the next two days, we realized we needed to make alternate plans. To top it off, we also learned that a section of the road ahead was closed due to brush fire.
We decided the best thing would be to see if we could find someone with a pickup to ferry us through to Hood River, which could still be reached by crossing over to I-84 on the Oregon side. We talked to the cafe owner and he hooked us up with a local customer who had an old van and a trailer. Perfect!

Traveling in luxury- no headwind!

Plenty of room

Two other cyclists, Emily and Mitchell, that we had first met back at the Lochsa Lodge came in a little after us, and decided to join us for the car ride to Hood River.

Emily and Mitchell

I should mention that pretty much every cyclist that comes through stops at the Roosevelt cafe, because it is the only food and drink stop within about 30+ miles in any direction. They even have a cyclist guestbook that we read through and added entries to.
Scott bought a six pack to share and we had a pleasant drive to Hood River, admiring all the parts of the river we were bypassing. In Hood River we headed to the pFriem brewery and had a glass while researching places to stay. It being the height of the sailboarding season here, lodging was not easy to come by.
We finally found a place that could sleep all three of us, and cheaply. They warned us, however, that there was no air conditioning. There were fans, and the temperature was expected to cool off come evening, so we took it. The place did end up being pretty much the definition of flea bag motel (FBM), a term seen regularly in touring cyclist blogs. Dinner was at the Safeway next door, after which we collapsed onto bed.

Well, there’s a fan

And there is a bed

We got on the road just before 6 this morning. Our first “lucky” was noticing that we had some light clouds. The clouds ended up helping suppress the temperatures while we rode, even though it is supposed to clear off and get to 106 this afternoon. That is ok, because we are inside with air conditioning for the rest of the day. Take that, weather gods!
The whole route was fairly flat, but a couple miles before we hit the Columbia we started encountering some heavy headwinds. That slowed us right down, and we were not looking forward to crawling the last 30 miles. Fortunately the winds died down a few miles after we joined the Columbia. Lucky again!

At last, the Columbia River!

There was not much by way of services the whole route. There was a small town with a gas station/convenience store about 14 miles out of Walla Walla, and then that was it until Umatilla. Our breaks were taken at wide spots in the road.

Taking a stretch break.

Roll on, Columbia, roll on

While cruising along the Columbia we started seeing signs of a grass and sagebrush fire along the sides of the road. This continued for maybe five miles, and in some places covered whole hillsides above us.

Burned hillside

At one point we came to some road construction where traffic had to alternate through a short section. While waiting for our turn we had a chance to ask the flagger when the fire had been. He said yesterday and the day before! He added that the highway had been closed while they were fighting the fire. We deemed ourselves VERY lucky that we had taken the day off in Walla Walla, because if we had ridden this way yesterday we would probably have been turned back.
We rolled into Umatilla, or actually McNary right before Umatilla, right about 11. We managed to find a bar with food just a block away, and for dinner we will likely check out the Mexican restaurant attached to the hotel.

Umatilla

Beer in Umatilla, even better

There is also a washer and dryer available, so for once we are not having to hand wash our riding clothes in the sink. Small victories.

There’s even a church next to the hotel, and what a charming church it is.

We did some map review trying to figure out the best routes for the next few days. We prefer the less trafficked roads on the Washington side, but more of the lodging options are on the Oregon side. We know we are going to have to camp near Roosevelt tomorrow night, but were thinking that the following night we would need to cross over to The Dalles to find a motel. That would add some miles to our ride. Fortunately, while zooming in on google maps I finally spotted a small old hotel in Lyle on the Washington side that I had never noticed before, so we called and booked it. That will allow us to stay on the WA side, and leave us with just about a 10 mile ride the day after to White Salmon/Hood River where we plan to check out the microbrews and take the rest of the day off before our final push to Portland. Finding the Lyle Hotel was definitely our last “lucky” of the day.

So today was our first rest day, though I still managed to log about 14 miles. I wanted to get to the bike shop early, so we headed back to downtown around 9. The mechanic there was able to reseat my back tire so it rolls much better, and told us if we find ourselves having to change a tube on the road, lubricating the bead with some water would help it seat better.

Building in downtown Walla Walla

It was a very well equipped shop and I picked up a few things, such as three new tubes and a patch kit, but also something called a looney bin that is an adjustable bike bottle cage. (T: sounds appropriate for you) It will allow me to carry a larger or smaller bottle if I want to. Down the street I bought a large insulated hydro flask that will fit in the new cage and allow me to keep a supply of water cold all day. Hurray! Tami, you are going to want one of these too. (T: I could have used one tonight at soccer!)

For the Odd Fellows (not a looney bin)

Corey and I popped into the ice cream shop again, while Scott headed off to see the Whitman College campus. Then we headed back to the house as it was starting to heat up (expected high of 108). On the way back Corey noticed my back tire was getting soft, AGAIN. At least it was a slow leak. I put some more air in it and sprinted back downtown before it could go flat again.

Interesting sculpture downtown

Since I had not been able to solve the problem of the repeated flats, I wanted some expert eyes on it. The mechanic took the tire off and diagnosed the problem as the rim tape moving around. He replaced it with some sticky back rim tape. I have my fingers crossed that this will finally take care of the issue.

Being lunch time, I found a place with some great curry coconut carrot soup, and then we headed back home once again. We did make a detour to a grocery store that had been recommended, Andy’s Market. I got a few things, but we could not find the beer section. Finally we had to ask. Turns out the store is owned by the Seventh Day Adventists and they do not allow alcohol or shellfish. The shellfish restriction was something I had never heard of before. (T: hope you eventually found some beer, the elixir of biking life)

Good dog!

The rest of the day has been hiding from the heat and repacking. We hope to get away early tomorrow, as it is supposed to be over 100 again. Goal is Umatilla, just over 50 miles away.

Riding wise, today was a smaller version of yesterday, which had been a smaller version of the day before. Again, we started out with 10 miles of easy flats down to Waitsburg. Almost immediately out of Waitsburg we split off onto a quiet side road through the wheat fields and started climbing. It was the usual under 5 miles per hour climb, but only for two miles this time. I practiced some deep breathing and was able to make it up with only one break.
Over the other side we had a wonderful sweeping downhill run for several miles. About the point we were thinking maybe it was downhill all the way, we came to another good hill, but only half a mile this time. From there on it was basically a regular up and down over small hills.
The emotional ups and downs involved the bike. Midway through the hills I had another flat. Like the one days earlier, it was not from a puncture, but something down near the rim, perhaps some kind of pinch on the tube. It was getting hot enough that changing the tube was more wearing than usual. It was good to have Corey and Scott there leaning emotional and other support.

First flat

With the flat finally fixed, we headed on. My tire felt funny though, kind of a thump thump feeling. Then, only a few minutes later, another flat! Again, hole in a similar location. I was out of tubes, so we had to patch one of the tubes that had flatted. Fortunately Scott had a patch kit that actually contained patches.

Second flat!

We also spent some time looking at how the tire was seated. Corey had noticed earlier in the trip how my rear tire especially did not seem to seat uniformly. Some parts seemed to fit deeper into the rim than others which meant the tire was not very round, thus the thump thump. We spent some time trying to manipulate the seating to achieve a more uniform shape, which helped, but not completely. I will be visiting a bike shop while in town for new tubes, patch kit, and maybe even new tires.
There were very few cars on this backroad, but I noticed that most that did come along while we were working on the bike stopped to check if we were ok or needed any help. Nice people!

Strange roadside decoration

Gingerly we made it the rest of the way into Walla Walla, hot and thirsty. Scott mentioned milk shakes, which sounded wonderful, so we looked around and found and ice cream shop and all ordered shakes (salted caramel for me). Cooled down, we headed up the street to a brewpub for lunch.

Downtown Walla Walla

After lunch we rode out to College Place to find the Airbnb we have rented for two nights. It is a great little house, much much nicer than a couple hotel rooms. We hid from the heat, reading etc. I was able to pull up the Sounders game on my iPad (thank you YouTubeTV). 3-1 over NYCFC, one of the best games of a dismal season.

GO SOUNDERS!!! At least Mike was wearing the correct colors.

Come evening we still did not want to venture into the heat any more than necessary, but also wanted something better than our emergency supplies, so we managed to Uber into downtown to a very good Indian restaurant.

The goal for today was Dayton, WA, a place I have read about several times but never managed to visit.

Leaving the motel in Pomeroy

We started out with a fast 20 miles. It looked flat but felt like downhill, best average speed of the trip so far (of course not a speed that would seem fast to anyone else).
Then everything changed when we hit a smaller version of yesterday’s climb. It was not as bad, but was still a grind for about 10 miles, especially the last 4.

Climbing out of Pomeroy

Weee! The descent.

However, it was some gorgeous scenery, rolling fields of wheat and windmills.

The beauty of the southern Palouse.

Also, we did not have anyone Iike the a-hole yesterday who actually moved out of the passing lane to buzz us. That happened when I was at a low point emotionally and I am afraid I screamed some nasty things at him. Corey had to cover his ears. (T: GRRR!)
The last couple days have been a special treat for Corey, as you do not see anything like this back on the east coast. Like many people from other parts of the country, he has been surprised how different from western Washington and Oregon the east sides of the states are. I told him the politics are very different too, like completely different states.
Dayton is the nicest town I have seen since Missoula.

Mural in Dayton

Tough dogs- protecting the quilt store! Grr!

There is a great brewpub (lunch AND dinner for us), a good looking fancier restaurant, a very good bakery, an art gallery, a couple museums, a beautiful old courthouse (most articles about the town feature a photo of the courthouse), and a classic old hotel with Victorian furniture (beats the heck out of the basic motels we have been staying at).

Now that’s a brewpub!

Another great courthouse

A hotel lobby to spend time in

There is even a drug store with a soda fountain. I was disappointed that it was closed. One more place I need to bring Tami back to! (T: we must go when it is open!)

Mmmm… ice cream

I was amused when we first rolled into town to see two wild turkeys crossing the road ahead of us. Unfortunately, we were not able to get our cameras out fast enough to get pictures before they wandered into the grass on the side.

Hey, who are you calling turkeys?

We did, however, later get some pictures of several deer crossing the street.

Watch out! Cyclists coming through!

The hotel has a great second story outdoor patio for guests.

A deck to relax on

We have desecrated it with our laundry, but fortunately are the only guests out here.

Airing his dirty laundry. Oh, he claims it’s clean.

We discussed using the grill to cook some steaks for dinner, but it appeared we would have had to wait too long for the sun to go down so it would be comfortable out here. We hated having to go back to the brewpub, but what you going to do? (T: Counting on you guys to make the sacrifices)
Tomorrow we should have an easy roll into Walla Walla where we have reserved an Airbnb for two nights. It is time for some rest and recuperation, not to mention wine tasting. I also need to find a bike shop. I need to replace a tube that flatted a couple days ago, as well as buy a patch kit that actually has some patches in it (that will teach me to just grab a patch kit out of the drawer at home without checking the contents – no, on second thought I probably will not learn a thing). (T: Nope, probably not)

Mike says he found some protein bars

We had thought that possibly we would just do the 20 miles to Lewiston/Clarkston today and have a rest before tackling the climb up towards Pomeroy tomorrow. However, we found ourselves sitting down to breakfast in Lewiston by 7:30 am, and were not inspired to spend the day in town. By the way, should you find yourself in Lewiston at some point, we were impressed with the Mystic Cafe. Far better than we expected to find in town. I had the huevos benedict street tacos (yum!). I believe I also saw a maple bacon cinnamon roll in the bakery case!
The first 10 miles or so heading out of town were a flat cruise along the Snake River. So far so good. Then the road turned abruptly away from the river and started to climb. Still not too bad, I think we were able to make 8 mph or so for a while, though that speed did gradually come down a bit.

Lewis and Clark went back this way.

Then the real climb started. I was immediately dropped down to a speed of 3 1/2 – 4 mph. I was in my granny gear, which is what the lowest low gear is often called. This continued for 5 long miles, though at least near the end we were able to up it to 4 – 4 1/2 mph. At first I was able to make it a mile before I had to take a break. Then a couple of 3/4 mile stretches. Then a 1/2 mile, and soon I was only making it 1/3 of a mile before wheezing to a stop.

Climbing, climbing, climbing that hill.

I was in major bonk mode, and my water was running low. Did I mention it was HOT out there? Corey hung with me, but Scott could not go that slow because he did not have the low gears we did. Finally we hit the part where we were able to increase the speed just a smidgeon, and I was able to do two last 1/2 mile bursts.
At the top I pretty much just sat down in a heap on the ground in some shade. There was a rest area there with pit toilets, but after looking around a bit Scott found a faucet with cold water. I drank at least a bottle and a half, and we all refilled for the last stretch. Between having water and eating some of my emergency candy to get my blood sugar back up, I slowly came back to life.
From there it was a breeze to make the last 10 miles into Pomeroy, all downhills and flats. We got checked into the one motel here, and then headed out for lunch and BEER. It is a sleepy town, but a bit more than we expected, including a beautiful classic county courthouse.

The Pomeroy Courthouse

It looks like we have a few climbs tomorrow, but nothing like today. I expect we will aim for another early start.

Today was not an exciting day, just ridin’ the white line and bakin’ in the sun.

Ridin’ that ole white line.

We got away from the bakery (chocolate croissant was not bad) right about 6:30. The morning was pretty much riding 12 along the river.

The Clearwater River.

On the one hand the traffic was pretty light. On the other hand the shoulder was fairly narrow, when it existed at all, and often not in really rideable condition. Therefore we mostly rode right on the white line, moving over onto what shoulder there was when a vehicle came along. Overall it really was not bad, just a little monotonous. What saved it was that the view was beautiful the whole way.

Along the Clearwater.

After a few hours we decided to stop for some food in Orofino. The Subway we found was a blessing. The shop was not busy, and the young woman working the counter went above and beyond to take care of us. We ordered breakfast sandwiches as well as lunch sandwiches for later. Our water bottles got filled with ice and cold water. It was hard to leave, but with the temperature rising, leave we did.

Rest stop- they wetted down their shirts.

At the rest stop.

Lewiston was just a bit farther than we wanted to go, and there are no lodging options along this stretch, so we were checking out the campgrounds as we came to them. Our ace in the hole was a place Scott had been once before on a fishing trip, McCay’s Bend, and that is where we ended up.

Campsite: Sunny! Hot!

Camp Bunny.

Because of our early start, we got here about 11:30. Fortunately there is a roofed shelter with picnic tables, and that is where we have set up until the sun goes down.

Waiting in the shade for the sun to go down at the campsite.

As you can imagine that makes for a quiet afternoon. We have read, worked on projects (like this blog), talked to the park manager and one of the RVers, did laundry, ate our lunch sandwiches, etc. I am really looking forward to evening when the sun goes behind the hill.

Cozy? At least there’s some shade.

Sleeping in tents on the ground, it was a restless sleep, so we were all up by shortly after 5 am, and on the road by 6:45. Most of the day was just following the river downhill to Kooskia.
After 25 miles we did finally find some breakfast at a cafe in Lowell, the first civilization we came to.

Lowell – much lower elevation than Lolo Pass. Uh oh, missing someone!

Another 25 brought us to Kooskia, where we raided the grocery store. I got a large bottle of cold water to put in my bike bottles, but somehow half of it never made it that far. The three of us also made short work of a box of chocolate mint ice cream sandwiches. We later learned that the temperature hit 101 today!

Kooskia, the town of ice cream

On the road to Kamiah. Do those people know there is a dinosaur on their roof?

No, that is not a moose. But is it a mutant jackalope?

We rested a bit, then jumped on the final 8 miles to Kamiah where Scott had learned there was a good brewpub. What luck to discover that the brewpub was right next to our motel! I had a huckleberry cider and a cucumber sour. The only problem was they went down VERY fast.

Our basic motel. It’ll do.

Over dinner at the Kamiah Hotel Steakhouse and Bar, we went over the maps planning our next few days. It looks like we will take a couple of shorter days both because of the temperatures and a paucity of places to stay along the route.