Week One!
First of all, my apologies to all who have been signing on to check my blog. We have been experiencing technical difficulties with our satellite internet connections and I have not been able to send any blogs out. But they are working on the problem so who knows what week two will bring.
Week one is already over! The days have flown by and the routine of road and camp life is taking over our lives. Let me recap the week for you.
Sunday, June 29
The day of departure arrived after on Sunday morning and with that uncertain mind checking to see if I had forgotten anything, I set out for Seattle. I hoped to be there by early afternoon but I was wrong. I was stopped on the connector out of Kelowna because of a burning mini-van: had a 2 hour wait to get across the border at Sumas in very hot sun; was stopped for 1.5 hours on the I5 by Bellingham and finally arrived in Seattle at 5:00pm. I did get to attend the kick of celebration event at the U of W., register and connect with Jon and Erica Bakker who will kindly store my car at their home over the summer. The weather is warm, the dorm rooms at U of W are hot and sleep is difficult.
Dipping of tires in Pacific Ocean
Monday, June 30 – Seattle to Sultan
We started the day with collecting at the gear truck to load our early possessions that we have for the next 9 weeks. This is a supported ride which means we do not have to carry our gear as we ride but our tent, sleeping bag etc. are all stored on highway trailer truck. All we take with us is what we need on the road that day, i.e. lunch, rain gear, tool kit for simple repairs, first aid kit, etc. We have two highway trailers, the gear truck and the kitchen truck.
To start the day we cycled along the Burke Gilman wonderful bike path for 10 km to get to Golden Garden Beach. With the peaks of the Cascades in the background and the blue Pacific waters in the fore, we dipped our tires in the sea water and, with a prayer for our safety and impact, started the 2008 Sea to Sea ride.
The ride was quite easy today, 80 km but no big climbs, I managed the ride quite well; no flats or mishaps. We road through the Coastal plain, flowers everywhere and lush coastal forest. Sultan is a sleepy town at the base of Steven’s Pass. I needed a camp chair but non to be had in town. There is no Hardware store or camping supply store here but friendly people none the less.
Falls on way up Stevens Pass, Cascade Mts.
Tuesday, July 1 – Sultan to Leavenworth
Woke up to cloudy skies which were very nice to keep the temperature down. I left early from camp today to get enough time to climb the Steven’s Pass. I rode with a friend form the 2005 ride, Fred Folkerts, and our speed was good up to the switchbacks. The morning ride was beautiful with lush coastal rain forest along the route. The last 30 km before the pass was very steep with a constant grade of more than 6%. And the going for very slow for me but also for the other cyclist. Amazing waterfalls and streams acted like great air-conditioning on this very hot climb. The route down into Leavenworth was a scream with long downhill rides of speeds up to 75 km/h. the last km was along the Wenatchee River in full spring runoff which again aced as a cooler as we rode by its banks. We have crossed the cascades and are in the rain shadow with interior Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine being the main species. Very tired but happy to have made the pass! Oh yes, we Canadians celebrated Canada Day today and sang the national anthem at out group meeting tonight. Canadian flags and cycling jerseys were evident everywhere.
Blewitt Pass, Hwy 97
Wednesday, July 2, Leavenworth to Ellensburg
What another pass? Climbed out of Leavenworth to the top of Blewitt Pass though beautiful forest and canyons. A very good climb with more ease than yesterday. I have been speaking on the nature surrounding us on the ride to the group meetings in the evenings. It has been fun getting others to look more carefully at what we are riding through. We believe God revels himself through two sources; the Band we should learn from both as we ride on this trip. We dropped into Ellensburg at the end of the ride and have left the forest behind for the sage brush and bunch grass ecosystems. The heat is building and effecting all of us by making us very tired. I am drinking incredible amounts of water! Sore quads are the order of the day but I am adjusting to the effort.
Yakima River Canyon, Basalt Cliffs from lava flows some 200 million years ago.
Thursday, July3, Ellensburg to Yakima
Today we rode through the Yakima Canyon on our way to Yakima. A spectacular part of creation with vertical basalt cliffs surrounding the river as it flows south. Almost completely treeless. This is desert and we will be cycling through it for many days (weeks). Please see the pictures to get the idea. Short ride so enjoyable except for the flat as I rode through some roofing tacks on the rode today. I have as yet not been troubled by ‘goat heads ‘ which are seed pods that has spines that puncture tires.
Our Hosts, Sunnyside CRC
Friday, July 4, Yakima to Sunnyside.
I had sweep duty today which is to serve supper last night and breakfast today and then clean up camp and leave last as a safety practice to sweep all the other riders into camp safely. It again was a short km day ant the ride was uneventful from the view of problem. We were hosted with refreshments in the morning at Zillah CRC and supper by Sunnyside CRC. Great food and fellowship . We are in irrigated farm land today and lots of fruit production. This is extremely dry country ( 6-7” of rain per year) and we rode through rain on the way to Sunnyside. The reports are that 1/2 “ fell today which is almost 10% of the annul rain. If not irrigated this would be a desert. See the pictures. Attended the Sunnyside 4th of July celebrations with a great fire works display. Rode with American Flags today to honor the US holiday.
Basalt lava cliffs on road from Sunnyside
Saturday, July 5, Sunnyside to Kennewick
Another short ride through agriculture made possible by irrigation. Again the basalt cliffs are evident but much smaller. The volcanic origin of the underlying strata are evident along the ride. Wineries are common and very large dairy farms. Rode into Kennewick to stay on the banks of the Columbia River in a city park. Spacious and shady setting. I have finished week one. Good week and camp life is a routine again. Amazing that 1/9 of the ride is already over! I am staying in camp this weekend to get some rest and prepare for next week. Went to a pub tonight with other riders and that was lots of fun and good to get to know these fellow travelers.
Shaded Camp site, Kennewick Park on Columbia River
Sunday, July 6, Kennewick
We had a great church services in the park this morning and saw some of what the local churches are doing in helping the poor . The Kennewick CRC has sponsored a number of Krin families for Burma/Thailand as they are displaced people due to the Myanmar regime. The spoke and sang for us; a moving experience. Took it really easy today as I had a migraine and needed time to recover. Swam in the Columbia to cool off. Did laundry and shopped at REI to bye a new on-top-of-the-rake bag to replace my ailing pannier.
