Colonial Creek campground to the Bike Barn (54 miles)

Phew!  What a ride today.  We started off bright and early at 7am.  The weather was cold and very damp.  Facing a 32 mile climb, we knew to take it easy right off the bat.  Shortly after starting my right knew began to hurt.  Everytime I pushed down a sharp pain shot through my knee.  Pretty soon I knew that I had to do something, or I wouldn’t make it up.  I stopped and took a couple advil, and I was off again. 

Doug, Terese and I stopped for a breather beside a beautiful stream.

Pretty soon I was into a rythum, eating through the miles.  I’d stop every 15-20 minutes for a quick rest, and then tackle the next section.  At about 12:30pm we crested the first pass of our journey, Rainy Pass., where snow lay on the sides of the road.  Then followed a steep downhill, which would have been great if I didn’t know that I had to go up all of those feet and then some.

Yay, Jim and I made it to the top.

The last major hill of the day was even worse.  3 miles uphill to cover 1800 feet or so.  It was very steep, and just never seemed to end.  Plenty of rest stops, and snacks later the sign came into view.  What an amazing feeling/relief to know that I had made it up one of the hardest stretches of climbing on the entire route. 

Then after bundling up, we had a cold, scary, and exciting downhill trip into Mazama.  The hill was amazing, we went down all the feet that we had climbed that day in only 18 miles.  After coasting into Mazama, I saw Joe, relaxing on the porch of the general store.  After a coffee and a pastry, we set in to wait for the rest of our team.  At about 4pm, with everyone reassembled, we decided to ride ahead 6 miles to a bicycle only campground that a couple, Jim and Jan, had established.

At Washington Pass, Jim, Doug, and Terese are bundling up for the long, cold trip down the mountain.

Proof that I made it.

Tomorrow we’re looking at another 53 miles, with the Loup Loup pass to climb before our day ends in Oakanagan.  Hopefully, we’ll take a day off there to recumperate, and wait for our two newest team members to catch up.  Doug and Terese joined us in Cement, and have fit in really well with our group.  I personally appreciate that because they’re riding a tandem, they’re traveling at a similar pace to me, especially uphill.

The Bike Barn, a nice place to stay.