Days 5 and 6

Day 5 Winthrop to Republic 8 Aug 09 114 miles

Although this is the longest day of the ride, we’re still trading driving responsibilities and Jim and Len are not yet carrying fully loaded panniers. Loup Loup Pass (4,020) and Wauconda Pass (4,310). Winthrop has a Woodstock Revisited Festival. The local paper featured stories of homemade instruments. The police blotter reported on a case of harassment by Billy goat and a report of horses running free. Seems to me this town is for escapees from Seattle; trying to find a place to be free of commutes.

Javaman supplies us with great coffee and breakfast burritos. Wish we had access to this every morning. After the Loup Loup down hill we arrive at the Okanogan River and pedal through Okanogan, and Omak. Omak has the same type of housing as the Makah Indian Reservation at Wa’atch Beach. Pat drives part of the route and tells us that there is an Indian Pow-Wow in the center of town.

On to Tonasket and back up to Wauconda Pass. Len drives from Riverside to Tonasket after we share sub sandwiches on a busy section of Route 20. Ambiance of diesel fumes. We climb up a valley between 6,000 foot peaks and the grasses become more lush with quaking aspens around meadows. Traffic dies down and the air once again becomes sweet. We can hear the larks.

Jim and I stop in Wauconda where a few cowboys are buying Coors Lite and trying to pick up the local waitress. She is a young woman working on her Apple computer in the middle of nowhere. She seemed out of place in a town with a 10x 10 general store and a gas station/restaurant combination where the tap water is considered unsafe to drink (filter problem).

We are happy for the water in the restaurant after the hot climb to the high meadows. A quick 17 mile down hill at speeds above 30 mph followed by stiff headwinds and 5 miles of fresh chip-seal (makes for a very rough and slow ride on a bike). We notice that Republic appears more affluent than many of the other towns we’ve seen along the route. Don’t kid yourself, there’s still a lot of poverty out here.

　

　

Day 6 Republic to Colville 9 Aug 09. 57 miles.

14,800 feet of climbing in 3 days takes us to the Columbia River. We take our time leaving Republic partially because it’s a short day but more importantly because the Java Shop doesn’t open until 0700. Len and Jim ride the first leg, a 3000 foot climb in about 2 and a half hours to Sherman Pass at 5,575 feet. The descent follows the gorgeous Sherman Creek as it gathers volume from many side channels to end in Lake Roosevelt on the Columbia River (a product of the Grand Coulee Dam). With the crossing of the Columbia, we say goodbye to the eastern cascade and virtually all of the climbing we will do until we reach Vermont. We climb out of the river bed and with a stiff head wind, slowly peddle into Coleville through bucolic (or “bubonic” as Pat would say) farmlands.

Pat finds a bike shop to get his computer repaired. His day was one of running back and forth on his bike, but he is not sure of his distances because of the broken bike computer. On to the Comfort Inn next to the Arby’s. We have to have a photo of Arby’s in honor of Mateo del Cruz, a biking buddy who died last month. The three of us feel lucky; lucky to be healthy enough to take this ride.