Day 6 - Sandpoint, ID to Thompson Falls, MT

Ride Stats:
Distance: 84.0 Miles
Climbing: 3,186ft
Ride Time:  5:12
Temp: 57-95


There are no boring days from a scenery perspective.  Each day is just spectacular.  We started the day riding along the side of Lake Pend Oreille, then followed the Clark Fork River all the way to Thomson Falls, passing other lakes along the way including Glacial Lake Missoula.  The way was lined with mountains and evergreen forests.

Gravel roads and fresh chip & seal = Welcome to Montana.  There was no welcome sign, but the road suddenly changed from nice pavement to dusty, loose gravel at the border.  Not sure how many miles we were on the gravel (my guess is around 5), but we finally found nice pavement on Route 200 East. Mostly good roads thereafter until the last few miles before the hotel, which was through a construction zone of fresh chip & seal.  We have been blessed with good roads the entire trip, so I can't complain about this minor annoyance.

Today was our last easy day.  Back to increasing miles over the next few days.

Pictures from today:

Glacial Lake Missoula

Welcome to Montana

View from my hotel room at Thomson Falls



More Gravel

Fresh Chip & Seal

Day 5 - Spokane to Sandpoint, Idaho

Ride Stats:
Distance: 84.0 Miles
Climbing: 3,186ft
Ride Time:  5:12


Today seemed like a party.  With the relatively short day everyone seemed to kick back, ride easy and spend more time socializing in larger groups.  Today also marked our first state line crossing- Idaho.  Normally the ride brakes down into small groups that tend to morph throughout the day as people try to stay within their individual comfort zone.  We took more time at the rest and lunch stops visiting and relaxing.  Good time to recover for the big days we have coming up next week.

Every day is an adventure with new and changing landscapes.  Just north of Spokane become more heavily wooded with rolling hills. We skirted around some mountains then followed the Pend Oreille River to Lake Oreille then Sandpoint.

Pictures from today.  Go to the PAC Tour website for better shots of the scenery:

North of Spokane

Back in the forest

Diamond Lake

Oreille River



Lake Oreille

Making Progress



Lake Oreille

 

Day 4 - Coulee Dam to Spokane

Ride Stats:
Distance: 89.6 Miles
Climbing: 4,091ft
Ride Time:  5:38


Much easier day today.  Challenging start with a 10 mile climb, then we had rolling hills heading toward Spokane.  The terrain changed to miles and miles of farm fields.  Some green, many brown.  Lot's of wheat with a few other crops that I did not recognize.  One rider mentioned that he thought some were for canola oil.

After the climbing, some of us throttled back today and enjoyed a moderate spin all the way to Spokane.  The temperature was 83 with a light wind from the northeast.  This shifted to a tale wind closer to Spokane.  Perfect clear day.  We have a couple of easy days allowing a little more recovery time, then we will start cranking the big miles.

I did not take many pictures today - the scenery did not change.  I have posted one below showing what it looked like about 10 miles from the finish.  You can see some mountains on the horizon, which are east of Spokane.  This gives a perspective of how far we could see.

 

Also, check out the pictures taken by PAC Tour.  Just follow the Northern Transcontinental link at pactour.com.  They capture many great pictures every day.

Day 3 - Sedro Woolley to Coulee Dam

Ride Stats:
Distance: 103 Miles
Climbing: 7018ft
Ride Time:  7:04


Another great day on the tour.  Still had a fair amount of climbing today.  Headed up through Loup Loup Pass, then had a fast decent with moderate curves.  Passing by Omak lake there were thousands of large bugs on the road.  Not sure what they were, but they appeared to be a cross between a cricket and a locust.  My guess was some form of locust.  The live ones were crawling on top of the ones smashed by cars.  Not sure if they were crying or eating.

We then generally followed the Columbia River all the way to Coulee Dam.  About  17 miles from the finish we had one more long 8% climb.  Our hotel is just across the street from the dam - very impressive.

As we moved down the eastern side of the Northern Cascades, the scenery changed from lush forests to much more open and arid.  Looks a lot like Arizona, but with a few pine trees on the hills from time to time. The wind shifted a lot - in and out of headwinds & tailwinds as we moved around and over hills.

Physically I felt good today with good energy levels.  Had a great sleep last night, which is always a challenge in hotels.  Normally on high mileage tours day 3 is a struggle for me.  Today was different.  Hopefully that will continue.  I got a sports message from Barb, the tour's message therapist.  That should help with the recovery from today.  We have a few easy days coming up to give us a little more time to recover before hitting the serious high mileage days.

Most guys that ask me about the ride have two questions: 1) How do you train for something like this?; then 2) Won't your butt hurt?   So for all of you wondering about the million dollar question - yes my butt hurts.  Saddle sores are always a battle on multi-day high mileage tours.  I generally follow the guidelines provided by the tour operators, which helps keep the discomfort for me to a relatively low level.  Between toughening up through training, using 91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, and rotating between two different seats, it is completely manageable.

Pictures from today:

Omak Lake

Columbia River

Coulee Dam

Leaving the Cascades

Looks like Arizona

Day 2 - Sedro Woolley to Winthrop, WA

Ride Stats:
Distance: 130 Miles
Climbing: 8,179ft
Ride Time:  9:25


A long day in the saddle.  The initial 54 miles was flat and easy.  We then had 40 miles of climbing through the North Cascades.  The climbing was relatively constant with only a few breaks of flat or down.  The only way to get through it was through pushing a relatively easy gear and maintain a spinning cadence.  I have an 11-34 cassette with a compact double in the front.  I did not expect to go into the 30 or 34, but found myself doing so from time to time in order to keep my cadence up and avoid a slow grind.  The temperature dropped from 95 during the climb to 80 at the summit.  Washington Pass is notorious for quick unexpected thunderstorms.  Today we were blessed with relatively clear skies with a few dark clouds just past the summit.

The scenery was absolutely spectacular - dense pine forests; rivers, streams & lakes, white water rapids; steep rugged  mountains with many cliffs, & snow capped peaks.  At the summit the pine forest thinned out significantly providing a great view of many stone formations.  Well worth the effort.  Around every bend there was something new to see.  Something that surprised me was that as I passed large streams flowing toward the road they would provide a blast of cold air - much like walking into a refrigerator.  A welcome, but short, relief to the heat.

After the summit, we had about 10-15 miles of a great descent on the backside of the mountains.  Mostly steady curves, just a few switchbacks, which allowed us to just open it up and enjoy some speed.  Then we got one final kick in the butt - strong headwinds over the last 15 miles into Winthrop.  Fortunately, I joined a group at the summit (Jim, Lynn, & Jim) and we battled it together, taking turns with the pull.

Physically, I did better than I expected.  The training plan is paying off.  I was wiped out at the end,  but that's to be expected.  I seem to be recovering well from day to day, but I am sure I will be slow tomorrow after two days with a lot of climbing.

Here are some pictures from today's ride, showing the start, places along the climb, then the summit at Washington Pass.  The ones taken from my handlebar camera show my bicycle computer.

Summit at Washington Pass

The Start

Just before Washington Pass.  You can see snow.

Day 1 - Everett, WA to Sedro Woolley, WA

Ride Stats:
Distance: 96.7 Miles
Climbing: 6,181ft
Ride Time:  6:45


A great way to begin the tour.  We started with a 7 mile ride, then took the ferry to Whidbey Island.  We crossed the island, then generally followed the coast north through Deception Pass.  We made no progress toward the east, but the scenery was spectacular.  This was more difficult than I expected due to constant up and down hills, with a few climbs in the 8%-14% range for short distances.  We were also in and out of headwinds depending on where we were on the island.

Tomorrow the real fun begins.  We are heading into the North Cascade mountains, climbing through Washington Pass.  Total mileage will be 125.7 with about 8,000ft of climbing.  I have never bicycled through a mountain range like this, so it will be a new experience.  Will be interesting to see how my training in the flat lands works in the mountains.

Ready to Ride

I completed the PAC Tour training plan!  Hit the dreaded 200 mile rides.  Actually did the 200 mile target three times.  I broke up the long ride into segments: 1) 35-40 miles on my indoor trainer (Computrainer) before sunrise using a moderate to hard tempo ride (ERG Video); 2) 25 miles to join a 50 mile moderate to hard group ride with a few sprints; then 3) various loops heading towards home (Carmel, Cicero, Hamilton Southeastern, Greenfield, then home).  It took around 12 to 13 hours to complete each long ride.

I took several rest stops at convenience stores to replenish hydration & carbs, then treated myself to a milkshake about 40 miles from home.  Starting early and breaking down the ride into manageable segments, with treats to look forward to at the end of each, is the best way I can find to handle the challenging physical aspects of such a long ride.  It all becomes a mental game.

After the 200 mile rides, I  dialed my weekly long ride back to 150 and tried to keep my normal weekday training.  Things were very busy with my job over the last two weeks, which caused me to miss several rides each week.

I fly out in three more days, so ready or not here I come!!!