Prologue

The bikes arrived in good shape - as did we - last night (Thursday). We spent a fair part of today reassembling the bikes without too much difficulty. We did have a problem with Mike’s seat post. It had been removed for shipping purposes and mechanic that packed the bike must have secured the clamping mechanism in a way that was not easy to fix, or even obvious how to fix. So we walked the bike to Gregg’s bike shop, maybe a mile away, waited a few minutes until Priscilla came out to take a look at the bike, and then watched as she expertly fixed the problem. Great, quick and friendly service. And at no charge. Can’t say enough good things about that experience. And cannot say enough good things about Claire, Bill’s daughter, and Doug and Lizzie, for letting us take over their garage and surrounding environs as our base for assembly, packing and leaving piles of boxes, packaging, garbage ... and probably a few bike parts that we should have taken. (Claire has an obvious deep affection for her father which, for those of us that know Bill, is difficult to understand. But the heart works in mysterious ways - and this is a deep mystery.) 

After returning from the bike shop we determined to put a few miles behind us on Friday and so started packing the bikes for a late afternoon departure. Although we intended to - and probably did - pack relatively lightly, when the bikes were finally ready to go, it was amazing the change in bike feel and weight. It felt like steering a tank. And, naturally, packing took much longer than we thought. We did not leave until around 7:30 PM - destination Woodinville, about 20 miles away. The ride was mostly along the Burke-Gilman and Sonomish bike trails near Lake Washington. It was a bit late to be leaving but the weather was beautiful and by leaving today we shortened our ride tomorrow to “only” 100 miles or so. It is going to be a tough one, with a significant climb to Steven’s pass. 

Steven’s pass will be about 60 miles into the ride with the balance, thankfully, largely a descent into Leavenworth. (Not the federal penitentiary in Kansas, although we might feel like we are there.) So today was essentially the prologue to the trip with the adventure starting in earnest tomorrow (Saturday). We’re both a bit nervous about the distance and the climb but, well, we’re here and there’s no turning back. Tomorrow will be interesting.