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Day 37: Annapolis!

  Beltsville to Annapolis, 31 miles, 1000 feet of climbing. Today’s ride presented us with the usual weather elements: warm and humid - we’ve ridden in hotter; sporadic strong headwinds - they helped cool us off; hills that had challenging gradients - they were short compared to what we’ve tackled elsewhere on this ride.  Nothing was going to prevent us from enjoying the last leg of our adventure - and we enjoyed it thoroughly! Any thoughts that perhaps we should have finished up last night instead of holding off the final 30 or so miles until this morning evaporated as we made the final turn to the waterfront in Annapolis and saw Susan, Ann, Bill’s son Peter, Mike’s son and daughter-in-law Matt and Deanna, and Mike’s brother Tom there to greet us and cheer us into the final stretch.  It really was a great day for us. We’re staying in Annapolis for the night.  We showered and had a lunch with the group and have dinner planned for later this evening at a nice restaurant in town. Mike is
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Day 4: Speaking of Spokane … and Rain




Spokane to Kellogg ID, 97.5 miles, 2221 feet of climbing, mostly front loaded

What the gods giveth the gods can taketh away. What was given yesterday - a tailwind - was taken away today. We rode almost a 100 miles into a sustained headwind, with a biting rain thrown in for most of the last 40.  And since the weather forecasts reported a 0% chance of precipitation, it made the experience even deeper for us. We were cold and wet by day’s end, although we did have the sun shining for the last few miles of our ride. So, to the Wind gods, we must now rethink whether to include you in the pantheon of deities that we worship,  Thank you for the lessons in humility, but now its time to move on.

Many parts of today’s ride were quite beautiful. We enjoyed the hilly ups and downs of eastern Washington’s Palouse country and 73 miles of bicycle only trails (still a bit more to do tomorrow) of the Trail of the Coeur D’Alenes in Idaho, including a bridge over Chatoclet Lake.  We even stopped for a sit-down lunch at The Gateway Cafe in Plummer, ID, the start of the Trail. So lots of the day was really terrific.  But strong headwinds and wind-driven rain takes a toll, making it feel like we’d ridden quite a bit more than the 97 we clocked. We were pretty tired at the end of the day, grabbed a bite to eat and are doing laundry.  The clothes we wore today was far from a pretty sight. However, and Susan and Ann (our wives) will not be surprised to learn, we managed to botch the one load of wash that we did,   Our clothes came out of the washer with some sort of white tissue/paper like substance all over then - and we really mean all over.  We may not try this again. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 26, 2021 at 6:10 AM

    Keep the faith (although it certainly appears you are being tested). Hope you can catch a break today! You guys continue to amaze with your doggedness and stamina. And it’s good to see a couple photos proving you can still stand!
    Bettina and the boys

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  2. UnknownMay 26, 2021 at 8:17 AM

    Clean clothes only get dirty again.... Loving the updates and looking forward to the feature film. Thinking Clooney and Pitt? Damon and Affleck? Abbot and Costello?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ed PMay 26, 2021 at 10:40 AM

    Absolutely gorgeous countryside and another US State under your belts. Hope you get somewhat of a break from the steep climbs and can enjoy your trip.

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  4. Jay ZagorskyMay 26, 2021 at 3:17 PM

    Great job making it through the Cascades and onto the Coeur D’Alenes. The Montana border is not that far away. The headwinds, rain and other problems are all temporary. The stories are forever!

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  5. RobinMay 26, 2021 at 7:08 PM

    Astonishing on so many levels. That you are biking in wind and rain 100 miles a day in the mountains. That you are so far from home. That you are fuelled by energy bars and hot dogs. That you didn't make plans for a place to sleep. We are loving following along on your brilliant excursion and cheering you on madly. Robin & Lynn

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  6. Ahmad FaruquiMay 26, 2021 at 8:26 PM

    I was wondering if you guys would get rained upon and you did, and you had to also deal with fierce winds and steep climbs. I admire your resilience in the face of all odds.

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  7. Ed PMay 27, 2021 at 12:22 PM

    You’re all wrong. I guarantee you that these guys are building the biggest Uber bill in history!

    ReplyDelete

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