The Desert

Monday our route took us from Lewiston ID to Dayton WA. Our departure time each morning depends upon several things: the number of miles we need to pedal, the forecast, and whether or not our hosts are preparing breakfast for us. We had only 68 miles to cover and our hosts prepared us a great breakfast of steel cut oatmeal so we headed out about 7. Before the day was over, we were wishing we had left an hour earlier to get an early jump on the heat. The three words for the day were: hot, hazy, and brown. At the beginning of the ride we were no longer on the Palouse. Instead we rode through barren hills until the top of the first climb. 

The top of the first climb brought us back onto the Palouse where almost all of the wheat had already been harvested. I learned later in the day that wheat harvest was a couple of weeks early due to the unusually warm summer. As a result, the landscape was pretty barren and brown with hardly a bush or tree in sight. The day started off warm but by the time I got to the second climb it was down right hot and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky to give some protection from the hot sun. The haze due to forest fires further north in Washington and in Canada was little help. 

My legs felt good all day.  I rode easily up Alpowa Summit, the first 5-mile climb of the day and continued on with John after the 2^nd rest stop. We eventually caught up with Dan and Dani and we rode together until the 2^nd climb. Dani was struggling and I learned later that her legs were cramping by the time she got to the top. Several people showed signs of dehydration today, and both of my water bottles were basically empty by the time we arrived. The air felt cooler as soon as we rolled into Dayton just because of the trees. I was again impressed with the construction crew who told us where to turn so we could avoid the one-lane traffic.

Our home for the night was the Church of Christ. They had cold water ready for us all and we walked a few blocks down to the high school for a shower. The evening meal was the best potluck of the trip with numerous salads and other unusual dishes.

Tuesday we rode 74 miles from Dayton to Richland, which is part of the Tri Cities. As we headed out of town I settled in next to Lydia who told me she wanted to take it easy today. I looked down at my speedometer and said we were going 18-19 mph. Lydia doesn’t have a speedometer so she wanted to know how fast all the people were going who passed us. I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to have to try and keep up with them. We rode side by side talking but also moved along at a good clip and averaged 19 mph over the first 20 miles. 

Lydia took off from the first rest stop before I was ready so I set out again on my own wondering if I could keep up the fast pace on my own. I did until the next rest stop about 20 miles later. We had a bit of crosswind and I was glad when John suggested we ride together “as long as it’s not at the pace you were setting.” I was happy to follow him and he ended up basically pulling me along until the road turned and we had more of a tailwind. About that time, the landscape changed from barren fields to orchards and vineyards.

Much of our last segment was on a bike path along the Colombia River. 

Once we got through the industrial area at the edge of the Tri Cities, we rode through areas of obvious wealth. That was somewhat of a shock after spending so much time in rural America where barns are far bigger than the houses. The church we stayed at was on the top of a hill (which some contend is true more often than not). I was tired by the time we arrived and the church was a welcome sight. We were shuttled to a Gold’s Gym several miles away for our showers, which were among the best of the trip. The rest of my afternoon was taken up with laundry duty. Our evening meal was served by some of the youth of the church and the college interns. 

On Wednesday morning before we headed for Yakima, Melissa announced there were no more spare tubes in the trailer. Most of us had a spare tube with us and it turned out to be a good thing. I passed two people changing flat tires in the first 20 miles. Before the day was over, we had 19 flats. Though I had none of them, I did contribute my spare tube to someone who did and provided moral support on at least one occasion. The poor quality of the roads we were on could have had something to do with the number of flats. 

Our 82.5-mile route continued through the desert. The only green in sight was due to irrigation. This included the pasture. Evidently water is in abundant supply thanks to the Columbia River. Most of the valley was filled with vineyards and orchards of apples and pears. We assumed the trees with no fruit were peach trees. In the distance we could see Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. We were on the road by 5:30 but it was plenty hot by the time we finished. I made a wrong turn about 10 miles from our final destination so got in five extra miles (bringing my total to 87.56) and it was 97˚ when I finished at 12:45.

Our evening accommodations were in the cafeteria of a Catholic school. The meal was catered Mexican food that was quite tasty. I’ve become quite good at falling asleep before the lights go out and sleeping quite soundly despite there being more than 30 other people in the same room.