Thursday, May 16, 1996
Day 5
Davenport, Washington to Deer Park, Washington
Today's Miles: 55
Cumulative Miles for the Tour: 301
Degree of Difficulty: Very Easy to Very Difficult
Terrain: Rolling Farmland to Heavily Forested Areas
"Are they INSANE???" It wasn't the usual reaction we've come to expect while biking across the country, but it's typical of the honesty we have encountered as we're headed for our last days in Washington.
I spent the morning finishing posting the journals onto the website from the lobby of the Black Bear Motel in Davenport. Cheryl, the new owner of the motel, had recently moved from Benecia, California, a little town in the Bay Area, a couple miles from where I live. She was giving us the rundown on Davenport. The town is so small, they don't even have mail delivery. You have to go down to the post office to pick up the mail. Her business has been good lately because a 14 year old boy set fire to the local courthouse, trying to destroy the records that were being used to take him to court. I still don't know how this helped Cheryl's business, but she's booked up almost every night, now.I checked the e-mail and started smiling. The 5th grade students in
Mrs. Carr's class and Mr. Brock's class at Emerson School in Oakland are reading the journals each day. They sent me e-mail, letting me know that they were enjoying our bike trip. Thanks especially to Lottye Clayton for copying the daily journal and handing it out in the classrooms. As soon as Emerson goes online, I'll put them in touch with several schools around the country as we pass through 12 states on our way to Washington DC.
Adam, Rachelle and Gary
The ride from Davenport to Reardan was a very quick 12 miles. The tail wind pushed me across so fast, that I was able to catch the other guys, even though I started 45 minutes behind them. It also helped that they found an espresso hut and were waiting for me. That's where we met Gary and Rochelle.
By the time I got to Reardan, Adam, Lee and Ken had become fast friends with Rochelle, the owner of the espresso place, and Gary, who got on the phone to tell a friend of his what we were doing. "Are they INSANE???", was the reaction he got over the phone. The whole place went up in a roar of laughter as we all looked at each other and said, "Yeah...probably. But the GOOD kind of insane."Dave had laid out a route for us that continued a little passed Reardan and then turned north. Gary and Rochelle both agreed there was a better to way to do it, and showed us a different route that would cross over the Spokane River and follow the river to Tum Tum. It was one of the best rides, so far, of the trip. The road started out extremely flat, then forked into a downhill that took us through a heavily Forested area that opened into a wide plain vista that looked like the set for the Ponderosa Ranch on Bonanza. We all kept smiling, hardly having to pedal at all for 20 miles.
The Dam
after having lunch on the bridge
At the bottom of the valley, we stopped on the bridge overlooking the Spokane River. I had a couple of pieces of cold pizza stashed in my saddle bag, so Lee, Paul and I had a quick bite as we stood in the middle of the bridge watching the water flow by. It was a quick, 1/2 mile climb to get to the plain above the river bank. We followed the road to an overlook of the dam that was creating the river and saw one of the largest bird nests I have ever seen. I swear that nest was built from LOGS! It was sitting on top of a wooden electrical pole, overlooking the cliffs on the river. When Ken gets his pictures developed, I'll scan one in for this journal so you won't think I was exaggerating.
Lunch at Tum Tum was interesting. Lee was so excited about what we had just done, he wanted to put it in the journal, IMMEDIATELY. Read his account of the first half of the day right below my journal entry.
An Osprey Nest
overlooking the dam
Tum Tum sits on a lake in the center of hilly for rests. Ken and Lee looked at a map and decided they wanted to lead the group over a dirt/gravel road that went over the top of the hills instead of around them. Chuck tried to warn us against it, but everyone was in a hammerhead mood and agreed to go for the gusto.
I took off early to get about a 15 minute head start. IT WAS STEEP!! Ken has a level on his bike to see what the grade of the roads are. It tops out at 14%. This climb put it off the scale. About 3/4 of a mile into the climb, the road forked to a "Y", with warning signs that the road was not maintained, we would be on our own if we continued. And, man, did it continue. It was probably one of the steepest climbs of the trip...about 2000 feet in two and a half miles. I wouldn't trade it for anything.We came out of the back side of the hills and had a straight 15 mile shot to Deer Park along rural blacktop roads. It was a shock to see so many cars as we crossed Highway 395. It had been several hours since we left the regular road. As we were setting up our tents in the park, the "friendly" neighbor in the house that borders the park, stopped chopping wood long enough to holler over the fence, "Are you guys foreigners or do you speak English." Dave went over to talk with the man and learned that he had run a campground for 3 years and said it was the worst experience of his life. Oh, well, so much for the welcoming committee.Tomorrow will be our last day in Washington as we cross the border into Idaho. I'm looking forward to the rest day at Sandpoint so I can do laundry, catch up on the journals and relax a little bit. The weather gods have been extremely good to us so far on this trip. We'll see if we can keep it that way.Mark Miller
May 13, 1996
Several more riders have gotten the "journal writing" bug. Each of us has a different perspective of the day's events. I hope you enjoy them. We'd love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments.
Flexibility, adaptability or improvisation -- whatever you want to call it, it's got to be the key to a successful ride like this one. Yesterday I was too sick to ride with the others, and this morning I was raring to get started. Little did I know what a spectacular morning it would be.
We headed out on Route 2 from Davenport, WA towards Reardan. Ken, Adam and I rode together in an group with a prevailing tail wind and made the 12 miles in no time. Having to "de-hydrate" we stopped at the first promising spot -- Grey Wolf Espresso Co. We had Mocha's and Ken and Adam shared a lemon poppy seed muffin while we chatted with the proprietors, Rochelle and Gary. They're a pair of local entrepreneurs who are expanding their restaurant. He also sells dietary supplements, and they're cooking up something new they claim will be in every Espresso bar in the US in a year. If today's visit was any indication, they'll be successful -- they sold us something called "liquified oxygen" to help us on the hard road ahead.Thanks to them both for the suggested route changes. That's where the improvisation paid off today in a big way. We ended up heading north on route 231 from Reardan through 6 miles of beautiful farmland that turned into a pine forest until we finally dropped down to the foot of Long Lake Dam. All of it was DOWNHILL!After a pretty short climb of around 6% grade we found a scenic vista overlooking the dam and with a huge osprey's nest at the top of a pole.After a few more miles on the flat plateau above the river, Mark and I stopped to look at ancient native american wall paintings. Somehow the knowledge that man has considered a place holy for centuries instills it with a special spiritual power. A few more moments to consider how we fit in this world...After four or five more easy rolling miles we pulled off the road at a small lake with an active farm at the west end. Everywhere we looked we saw remarkable beauty. Changing cloud formations, yellow wildflowers that looked like small sunflowers, pine forests and a clear cold rocky shored lake.Finally, we rolled down a fairly steep grade at about 40 mph with spectacular views of the lake down into Tum Tum, where I now sit with my lunch, prepared by Sheryl at The Hideaway Restaurant and Lounge all by herself since Glen left her alone for the afternoon.That's all for now...I'm hungry!Lee Smith
A NOTE ON ESPRESSO BARS AND WASHINGTON STATE FROM LEE:
By now, most everybody knows about the espresso coffee phenomenon that swept east out of Seattle on Starbuck's coattails. Here in Washington State, espresso is sold almost everywhere, and there are hundreds of little drive thru espresso bars reminiscent of photo mats of old. Mark's favorite location so far advertised with a lighted sign that said "Fine Food, Espresso, Bait & Tackle". This morning in Reardan, after we left Rachelle and Gary, we passed a Chevron Station with "Espresso, Movie Rentals, Automotive Repair, Whirlpool Washers and Sylvania TVs." We'll let you know when we notice these places start to disappear.
Washington no more! We just keep trucking, or pedaling, whatever the case may be. Today was another great day. We started out at a little before nine in the morning and were eating lunch thirty miles later in a town called Tum Tum. The trip there turned out to be 15 miles shorter than we planned.
After biking our first ten miles Lee, dad, and I stopped in for some java. Our "short" little visit turned out be a rather long and beneficial one. This guy named named Gary just happened to be having breakfast there when we biked in. After selling my dad some "super-duper oxygen juice" (aka- water), Gary examined our planned route and supplied us with another possible one. Being that he was a local (and sort-of wise looking) we took his advise.It really paid off! The morning trip was mostly down hill. Dad and I decided (after flying through, under, over, or up [depending where we were] miles of terrain) to take it slower. We tried looking for some wild animals (anything worth writing home about) but saw nothing. Over all the trip today was short and fast, just the way I like biking. I'll write again tomorrow. See ya!Adam Iobst
Day five and the group's "family atmosphere" is holding out well. With 250 miles already down, my body just didn't feel ready for the ride. A busy schedule and a quick reality check and I was in the van - holding off my start for a few miles.
Of course, when Lee 'phoned from the Espresso stop there was no longer an option... I *had* to ride... No choice. Especially with the prospect of a school stop (sadly a dead end today). Still, I was just in time for the greatest section of the day's ride - a long descent through a pine forest. Fantastic scenery and no climbing to wear me down! Never did catch our announcement on the radio, though. Oh well.Ten quick miles gone and common sense returned. The others had supported me well - checking my progress and offering good company. After several days of pained riding, another climb would have been crazy. An afternoon in the van was inevitable.Pride swallowed, it was time for a change of perspective. Now I could watch the world go by where before the world watched me trundle past. Some change. Transient views became fixed images both in mind and camera. From the outside, the cyclists interact seemingly individual and yet somehow interlinked... Arriving in close sequence at most stops. Individually ugly, yet beautiful in combination!?! They'll kill me for this. Maybe.Paul Wyer
The group woke up this morning under a sky of scattered marshmallow-like clouds with the wonderful sun glimmering through. Could it be possible that we would have yet another day of pedaling with picture perfect weather conditions? YES!!
Today's planned route of 60 miles between Davenport and Deer Park began on Hwy 2 but branched north 12 miles later at Reardon, following county roads along the rolling agricultural terrain that eastern Washington is famous for. The group decided to deviate from the planned route after talking to a couple who owned an Espresso Cafe in Reardon. When I got news of this my first reaction was, how dare they change the route without first asking my opinion. I quickly calmed down knowing that these are the type of cyclist who have the experience and common sense to be successful in anything they do. Watching them roll into the Earl Mix Community Park (a beautiful park and our campsite for day 5) in the late afternoon grinning from ear to ear confirmed that they had a great ride and enjoyed the 55 mile, substitute route.The endless duties of being part of the support crew this year have limited my opportunity to ride with the group as much as I had hoped for . . . especially with the current weather being so accommodating . . . maybe tomorrow!P.S. I miss you and love you Bernadette, see you in 12 days!David Blair
Bike America Tours
dblair@wtp.net
1-800-738-7271