Month: June 2005 (Page 2 of 2)

Skykomish is a little town with one street, two bars, a train track running though it, and a little school that was probably built around 1920 2O yds from the track. That was our home last night. They weren't quite ready for us, either. The showers were as cold as the nearby stream. Still, the school grounds were well kept and we had a good dinner of lasgna and waffles & sausages for breakfast, courtesy of the local lion's club. Dave McConnell & I had two very tasty beers at The Whistling Post, a bar built in 1903, before dinner.

It was a cool evening and the tent was soaking when I packed it up. The early climb wasn't so bad, but after we crossed Steven's pass, and descended it was like we were transported to Arizona. The tall trees & cool, thick forests were replaced with scrub grass and heat in the
90's.

The cool shower at the much more modern Wenatchee school was on purpose. I also opted to sleep in the gym which means a faster (and dryer) start in the morning.

Tomorrow, we're doing 100 miles and its supposed to be in the 90's again so we're starting earlier tomorrow & I gotta get some sleep before the 5:30 alarm goes off.

Much more to come.

Today I dipped my wheels in the salty water of the Puget Sound and rode the first tour leg east to Skykomish, WA. 56 miles, another 1800 ft of climbing, my first glimpse of snow covered Mt. Ranier, and the Cascades(themselves with spots of snow high up).

The tour people had a fantastic picnic lunch set up for us & a Lasgna dinner tonight. I've got to be careful or I'll be putting weight on!

Tomorrow's ride has us climbing over Steven's pass at 4600ft. After that feat we get a 15 mi descent – which are sometimes harder on your bodythan the hills.

Friday morn was rather bleak & a good time to spend reassembling my bike and trailer. Only problem was a slight wobble in the rear wheel. By noon, the sun poked thru & Sue got me to a bike shop to have the wheel treated & then treated me to a grand little tour of the Seattle area. We got in a visit to the Pike Market & a great view of the mountains I'll be climbing over this week from the water tower at Voluteer park. Very pretty here – lush greens against deep sky blue dotted with titaniumwhite clouds.

Sat morn I had breakfast with Sue & Alicia, finished packing the BOB & headed off to join the tour in Everett. That little 50 mile journey turned out to be quite challenging. While the Seattle area is one of the bike-friendliest cities I've seen in the US with paths & bike lanesalmost everywhere, I still had 2300 ft of climbing getting to Everett.

The tour people are great – very organized & friendly. After my ride here, dinner at a local pizza shop hit the spot & so did the showers. We're camped out in a school athletic field. And small world, Dave McConnell of my home town Altoona is on the trip for the first week. He was a year ahead of me at BG (which all Toonies know to be Bishop Guilfoyle) and until a week ago, worked at the same hospital as mybrother Ed.

No pics yet. Sorry. But stay tuned. All for now. Gotta get some sleep!

7 weeks to get back home. That thought struck me as I was about to land in Seattle. But what an adventure awaits.

Made it here safely and Sue and Alicia (another friend from my Lock Haven days who also now lives out here) met me at the airport. We had anice dinner and I had a very restful sleep.

Jake & BOB (my bike & trailer) arrived Wednesday. Early tomorrow's task will be to make sure they too arrived safely & reassemble them.

Hi Everyone,
Leaving tomorrow for Seattle! I'm pretty excited and just want to get going.

THANKS! To all of you who have made contributions or pledges to The Second Mile. So far, those pledges total over $1000. That's a great piece of motivating info to take along as I start my trip.