day 05/06/07

the past three days have been extremely eventful. i was ready to call it quits on day 05. riding all day into the wind and almost all uphill really killed my spirits. walla walla, WA was a great town. can't say the same for pomeroy, WA, my ending location on day 05, about 20 miles short of my goal. not a good riding day. i was extremely sore, and could barely bend my knees as i called it a night. it was the toughest day to date.







day 06 started well. climbed to alpowa summit at 2785 feet! lewis and clark passed this point on there way back east, before they started climbing over the rocky mountains. yikes. i flew down into clarkston, WA, did a little FB updating as i ate a sundae at mcdonald's, with no idea of what was waiting ahead of me. i came down from that summit back to sea level only to have to climb back to over 4000 feet to reach my camping site for the night. my days have been eat, bike, eat, bike, eat, sleep. yesterday, as i struggled with that massive ascent, it became eat, bike, eat, bike, walk, bike, walk, bike, walk, sleep. i should have known when that nice elderly couple that gave me some water looked at me like i was crazy when i informed them of my destination. regardless, the climb was amazing. from what the locals told me, it is one of the most picturesque parts of idaho. i don't feel like riding all over idaho, so I'll take their word and push through idaho knowing i've seen the one of the state's top attractions.



today was a day of firsts. woke up next to a beautiful lake for the first time. rode with a northern wind for the first time. saw threatening clouds looming overhead for the first time. was chased by a farm dog for the first time. was offered a ride for the first time. turned down a ride for the first time. saw those threatening clouds start making a strange looking funnel for the first time. got a rear tire flat for the first time. saw thunder all around me for the first time. got rained on for the first time. flagged down a truck for a ride into town for the first time. stopped riding for the day before 3.00pm for the first time. quite a day.




back at the start of day 03, a woman at a convenience store asked me, "will you accept a ride if offered one?" i told her i wasn't sure. the question has been swirling in my mind for the past four days. will i take a ride? all i kept thinking about was how zenia always says i try to do too much and how greg once gave me a personality test that said that i would choose to do things the hard way over the more conventional way. the guy who gave me a ride said, "now you can't say that you rode all the way to IL." a part of me was saddened as i thanked him for the ride.