QUICK STATS

We woke up in the morning stiff and a bit sore. After our usual breakfast of oatmeal, we started our preparations for another day in the desert. I worked on removing the chamois pad from one of our long pairs of bike leggings (I had found from previous experience that the pad we sewed in was located in the wrong spot and totally useless), and April added neck and ear protection to our helmets. We didn't end up leaving camp until after 11:00am! Normally we should have 20 or more miles done by 11!!

April was also not in the mood to ride. She later said she was really focused on trying to think positive thoughts and resolved not to say anything negative. Until she told me this, I thought she was just quiet because she was still sleepy (sometimes it takes her a little while to wake up in the morning). She's pretty convinced her body is entering the "rebellion stage" where it pretty much shuts down at the mention of the word "bicycle". In fact, she took one look at the first hill leaving town and said, "I'm walking!" (In her defense, it was kind of a large hill).

We struggled 11 miles to Hat Rock State Park, where I decided we were going to eat and spend a little time figuring out where we were going to call it a day. It was already noon and there was obviously, there was no way we could make our original goal of Walla Walla, about 50 miles from where we were. 

We had a delicious brunch called Jack's Mess, which included a huge order of hash-browns with peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheese. We added a couple eggs over-easy on the top and had a feast! As a bonus, this little, middle of no-where camp ground we were at had free wi-fi and lots of outlets to charge up our electronics!  Here's a picture of us with the famous "Hat Rock" in the background.  It's actually pretty big, but it looks tiny in this picture.  It's to the left of April and I, and it's flat on top - it looks like a top hat.

The owner of the restaurant told us that, in her experience (and everyone she knows who's tried it), cranberry juice is much better than Gatorade for replenishing your body during a hard workout because it includes all the electrolytes in Gatorade, plus lots of vitamins and minerals not found in Gatorade. And it's natural.

While we were recharging our electronics, refilling our tummies, and fixing our website (thank-you to those who let us know it looked funny), the wind started to pick up. As we were packing up to go, the owner was talking to another customer about the winds coming in. So I pulled up the weather before I shut off the computer. Winds from the west! At 28 mph!! All day!!!

Now, had this been gusty wind, or wind from any other direction, or our road hadn't been pretty much due east, this would have been far too dangerous to ride in. But as it turns out, the wind was very steady and strong and followed the road almost perfectly! It was like getting the super mushroom in Mario Kart (that's the one that gives you a huge speed boost for those that haven't played). We practically coasted at 15-20 mph! Uphill? No problem, a little effort and we cleared the hill while maintaining speed. Downhill? Even the slightest decline would result in speeds of 25 mph or better.

We made great time. The water and the hills (cliffs?,mountains?) were beautiful. At one point a giant four foot tumble weed joined us on the road next to me, then it weaved between us and off the other side of the road. And the wind was fantastic. At one stop, a trucker told us that he had broken three 10,000 lb tie-down straps driving into the wind! It was insane! And great! So we decided to pass on the last campground and push for the next town, Touchet (pronounced kind of like Tooshie).

Then April noticed what looked like a dust storm over the next hill....  As we approached, we noticed a police car blocking the way and directing everyone down a side street that wasn't on our map.

After some initial trouble communicating with the officer, I was able to learn that the road was blocked due to a fire. The road that we and all the other traffic were on was closed, and we were being diverted onto another road that would come out in Touchet, six miles away. But, this new road was only paved for a small portion (maybe a quarter mile), and it didn't line up with the wind anymore, so our lovely 25 mph tailwind was now a tough 25 mph cross-wind! After the pavement ended, the road turned into a small, loose gravel road, with TONS more traffic than it was designed for.

As if that weren't enough, the shoulder was covered in goat heads. No, not the animal head. It's a type of thorny plant notorious for giving bicycles flat tires in this part of the country. Amazingly, not one of the many, large, shiny, empty pick-ups that were squeezing by us offered to give us a lift. (We were of course walking our bikes at this point. No way we were riding in that cross-wind, let alone on a narrow gravel road in that cross wind!). But finally one car did stop, a small Subaru station wagon. A lady leaned over and said through the passenger window, "Want a ride?"  We had our doubts our stuff would fit, especially because there was already had some stuff in the back of the car...

We had no qualms accepting a ride in a car through this mess though, so we jumped at the offer for a lift to the end of the road. (If we feel guilty about missing those six miles, maybe we'll do laps around a parking lot somewhere ;-)). While we worked at making our bikes and bags fit in the back of the car (while those empty pickups kept squeezing by), we learned that the nice lady who stopped was named June and she lived in Walla Walla.

Amazingly, everything fit! April had to ride on my lap in the front seat. We made it to Touchet, and while we unloaded our bikes, June said that if we were going to be staying in Walla Walla, she would be happy to let us stay in her yard! Well, now we were face with a decision...go for Walla Walla 17 miles away, or try to find a place in Touchet where we were.

We ended up going for it (mostly because of the tailwind!), and, without further drama, we sailed into Walla Walla around 6:30 pm. Thanks to the wind, we had done over 40 miles in about 5.5 hours, including stops, the detour fiasco, and dinner, on a day when we weren't even sure we could make it a few miles to the next camp ground! It was quite a day!

After we got everything unpacked, April took off her shoes and socks and discovered that her ankles and calves were completely covered in dirt and dust from all the wind today!  This was definitely worth a picture.

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