Date: 2007-06-17
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Miles today: 0.0

6-14-07Tonasket, Wa63 miles today4317 miles totalI slept really well last night. It get's light here at 4:30am, so I start thinking about coffee pretty early. :-))I made a 10 cup pot of Starbuck's in the room at Twisp, Wa.We decided we better eat breakfast in town since there wasn't any services for a while.We got packed up and rode back into town. We saw Ethan riding east as we crossed the Twisp River. He looked like he was in a hurry, so we just waved.We went to the Cool Beans Cafe and I ordered a 3 cheese omelette with sundried tomatoes, portabello mushrooms, green peppers and onions. It was fantastic!! I had a feeling it was going to be good because the owner was wearing a chef's shirt and hat. :-))We headed on east. Mrs Gorp wanted to get my money back on a soda that the grocery had charged me too much for, but it was still closed. She knocked on the front door and got the manager to refund her almost $5.00 for a Snapple that rung up as a 6-pack.We headed out of town. When we turned to the left on the trail, the road started going up. We had to climb up to Loup Loup Pass, which was about a 2500 foot climb.That climb was a steady climb with no breaks for about 12 miles.I got up to the top after Mrs Gorp again. She always beats me to the top. I was standing over my bike taking a break and drinking water when I saw a pass camera. I pointed it out to Mrs Gorp and told her we were being watched. She said "oh no, there was no one around when I got to the summit and I had to pee...oh no".Anyone know the website for the pass-cam. ;-))We got jackets on and headed downhill for a 3000 foot descent to Okanogan.There was a small uphill about half way down. There was a buck mule deer at the very bottom. He was in the road and I was still moving pretty fast, so I yelled at him to try and scare him to move.He looked at me like he was thinking; "You yellin' at me??"He started moving finally and hopped off the road. :-))I had worked hard enough on the climb this morning, then it was a cool ride downhill, so when I had to start pedaling uphill, my legs felt like jelly for a while.I got them moving and when I got to the top, I waited on Mrs Gorp before finishing the 3000 foot descent.We stopped at a store and I got some popcorn and a soda to get me to a cafe in Riverside.Someone must have told Mother Nature that I was riding east now because we had headwinds. :-(( We were riding on flat ground and only making 10mph.We pulled into Riverside and saw Ethan sitting at a bench in a small park. We went over to where he was. The first thing he said was "So that's what headwinds are like".He was hoping to wait until the winds died down some before riding on.We didn't get to eat lunch because the cafe that was listed on our map was closed down.I had a few Fritos and we headed on for the last 17 miles.We rode along the Okanogan River all the way. That glacial green color of the waters we had been seeing in the Cascades is gone. The rivers are back to their normal colors in this area.There are lots of orchards in this area. We saw Ranier Cherries and lots of apple, pear and peach trees. The land is very arid, but with irrigation from the river, they make things grow.We rode up to the motel and I saw it had a laundromat attached to it. I didn't look at Mrs Gorp, but I knew she was smiling because we haven't done laundry in a week. :-))She went and did laundry while I took a nap. I was surprised at how fast she got back. :-))We headed up to a restaurant and saw a library on the way, so we went in to check email. Ethan was there. We all went up to the cafe and ate dinner.I stopped and got two ice cream cones on the way back to the motel. I felt like I deserved them since I had to ride into headwinds today.Another great day on the Northern Tier Bicycle Trail. :-))6-15-07Republic, Wa40 miles today4357 miles totalThis morning got started very early when Mrs Gorp woke me up and asked if I was sleeping. :-))She said; "Do you hear that alarm clock buzzing in the next room??"I said; "Yeah, I do now". :-))Mrs Gorp called the front desk and after about half an hour, she got it turned off and I was able to go back to sleep.I woke up later than usual in the morning and got my coffee going at 6:30am.I walked next door to a convenience store and bought some milk. I wanted to use up some cereal I've been carrying.I saw Ethan when I went to the store. He was up early and ready for today's climb. He said he didn't sleep well last night because the cherry orchords have an automatic propane gun that goes off to scare away the birds. I guess they even leave it on at night.We got packed and were riding up the hill by 7:45am.It was nice out...overcast and cool.I'm having a real issue with Mother Nature though. The winds were supposed to be west winds today, but when I looked at The Weather Channel this morning, they said we had east winds.Where were all the east winds when we were riding west??We had a 23.5 mile climb to Wauconda, our first services.Mrs Gorp had gotten ahead of me and she was already sitting in the cafe when I got there.I was real happy to see that there was a cafe. I was getting hungry from climbing about 2500 feet already.I ordered a good mushroom and cheese omelette and had 2 Cokes.The lady said Ethan had left just before we got there. She also said he looked like he was hurting.He told me his knees have been bothering him. I hope he takes it easy enough for a while.I headed on up the mountain. I was ahead of Mrs Gorp and got to Wauconda Pass (4310 foot elevation) about 5 minutes ahead of her.I got a picture of her smiling as she summited. She was easy to beat to the top. I've really just been letting her beat me to all the summits just so she felt better. ;-))She didn't start up the hill until about 10 minutes after I left.I could have probably still beat her to this summit anyway. Ha!! :-))We headed down the hill for a 3000 foot descent. It was just warm enough that I didn't need to wear a jacket.It was a nice ride down. The rain clouds were getting thicker and I got sprinkled on just before I got to town.I waited on Mrs Gorp and when she showed up, we headed towards the motel.When I got on my bike, the rear tire was flat. :-((I walked it to the motel and fixed it in the room. That's the 4th flat and the 3rd time it's happened right at the end of the day so I could fix it in the motel room. I guess you could say I've been lucky. :-))We went to the library, but the Washington libraries put so many filters on their computers that I just give up trying to use them.I sent Chief the photo card with all my pictures from all the way back to Lander, Wy. He should get it about the middle of next week to post some on my journal.We went to have dinner. Mrs Gorp had liver and onions and I had a salad. Someday I hope she starts watching her diet better. :-))This little town of Republic is nice. It's high enough in elevation to have trees and has everything we need. We've been riding in some arid country again at the lower elevations. I even have a full sized coffee pot in the motel room...life is good!! :-))Another great day on the Northern Tier Bicycle Trail. :-))6-16-07Colville, Wa51 miles today4407 miles totalWe stayed at the Northern Inn in Republic, Wa last night. It was a nice motel in a small town.I made a pot of Starbuck's when I woke up and finished off the cereal I had been carrying.It was cool when I stepped out the door...it felt great.We headed east. We had about 3 miles of downhill first, then 15 miles uphill and a 3200 foot climb.This area of Washington is much nicer than I thought it would be. There are lots of trees even though it's still fairly arid.We got to a sign that said there was road construction for the next 14 miles, then the road became really chewed up from a road grater.I was dreading 14 miles of that, but we got to the road grater that was parked on the side of the road. It was about 4 miles up the road...from there, the road was untouched. We got there before they tore up the entire 14 miles. :-))We kept climbing and saw an old gold mine in the side of the mountain.There was a sign that said a lightening strike that hit here in 1988 had burned over 20,000 acres of this area. It's recovering nicely now, 19 years later, but some of the old trees are still standing.We got near the summit and Mrs Gorp said I was going to have to really pedal fast to beat her. Pssst, I was waiting on her at the summit for about....2 seconds. :-))We got jackets on for the ride down because it was 40 degrees.I took off and enjoyed a beautiful 4000 foot downhill ride that lasted for about 20 miles.We got to Kettle Falls and saw a cafe that was busy, so we pulled in. We saw Ethan's bike there. :-))He said his knees were feeling much better and he was going to keep riding today and take a zero tomorrow.We ate a late breakfast there, then headed on to Colville for a short day.I had about 40 emails to write and needed to check some accounts on the computer. That took up the rest of the day. :-))We have one more short day planned in two days from now, then we'll probably start moving along and making some miles again.Good luck to Smokestack and Hikernutt...a couple friends who are off Trail....temporarily I hope. :-))Another great day on the Northern Tier Bicycle Trail. :-))