At a month back from my trip through Central America, I decided to try to ride non-stop (or with only very short breaks) to Spokane. During the Central America tour, I’d fantasized about riding while not laden with a bunch of gear.
A few hours into the first night, I got a little spooked by being on the remote, gravel, John Wayne Pioneer trail with meager illumination in pitch black. I kept picturing being stalked by a mountain lion hunting at night, vaguely recalling that they like to hunt at night, and that bicyclists, travelling at just the right speed, trigger their hunting instinct. I have no idea if either of those things are true.
So, a little ways past Easton I took an access road to the interstate. I passed under some power lines and learned that the buzzing one can often hear from these things is actually accompanied by arcs of electricity that are visible in the dark. Riding on the wide shoulder of interstate 90 wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t very fun (or legal) either, so I decided to stay at a motel in Cle Elum.
The next day, a few miles past Ellensburg, while riding and contemplating how to get across the Columbia River (with the trail’s trestle closed and gated), I decided I wasn’t having much fun trying to make it to Spokane in time to catch a train back in time for my Spanish class on Thursday. So, I doubled back, stayed a second night in Cle Elum, and made my way back on Wednesday, the third day. All in all it was 3 semi-full days of cycling for a total of about 260 miles.
I’m glad to have a data point that high-endurance cycling is not for me. I’m also glad that I decided to do it, and then just did it, with the gear that I had, not necessarily the gear that I wish that I had had. I couldn’t find my waterproof booties, so I brought some extra ziploc plastic bags. I couldn’t find any gloves or mittens, so I brought an extra pair of wool socks and cut thumb holes into them. Both of these makeshift solutions worked well enough. I spent more than I wish I had on motels ($60/night for 2 nights in 2 different motels in Cle Elum), but all in all it wasn’t too expensive of an excursion.
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