First Week

June 28 – July 4, 1989

(2006) The following pages contain my trip diary, almost word-for-word.  A few grammatical errors have been corrected.  Some of my writings are embarrassing to me now, but reflect where and who I was at the time.  Writings in italics (shaded boxes) are text added later (2006 and 2024), reflecting some recollections I’ve wished to add lest I forget them, and to further explain some of the original text.  Some of the pictures I have downloaded from web sites, as I had some pictures ruined and some stolen.  It certainly took a while for me to put this together.

Prologue

There is an old television commercial with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy that goes something like this:

“Come to the edge” he said.

“No”, they answered. “We’ll fall.”

“Come to the edge!” he commanded.

They did. Then he pushed them.

And they flew.

Jonathan Boyer said (as best as I can recall), during the 1985 Race Across America, that “if you want to, you can get your body to do anything, if you work hard enough, if you have the concentration, if you give it the right food and you want it badly enough”.

June 28, 1989 (Day 1): Anacortes WA to Marblemount WA

Miles ridden: 86.6 (approximately 2% of total distance)

5:20 p.m. PDT Barratt House Hostel

Saying goodbye to Vicki was difficult. It’s hard to believe that I won’t see her for six weeks. Nasty hills leaving Anacortes, but it flattened somewhat even though I ascended most of the day. Looks like the hilly part comes tomorrow. 99% clouds, some rain today. Used rainwear, but got wetter because I sweat in it. High about 68 degrees. Legs are a bit tired.

Breakfast: pancakes

Lunch: apple, 6 soft-batch cookies, 2 streusels, one Gatorade, 2 large water bottles.

Dinner: pasta (swept off the shrimp ugh) and lemonade.

Route 20 was smooth, others were such that I hereby rename this the “Bumpcentennial Route”. I may see snow tomorrow; after, the weather should get better. Very nice hostel, the woman who runs it is named Mara. Reached hostel ¾ hour before steady rain.

Brad (Francisco) said that the first night was ok, the second night was the most depressing. I hope night #2 is not worse than night # 1.

Sharon Gang (from WABA) stayed here 6-6-88 on her Bikecentennial trip.

Northern tier map section 1
Barratt House Marblemount WA $5 per night

(2006) I remember ordering shrimp and pasta at the small restaurant in town – I only wanted the pasta, not the shrimp, and it was the only way to order pasta. All the food there was the “healthy” kind, which was not what I was looking for. It was an incredibly lonely evening; I called Vicki at about 9 pm PDT (midnight at home) and was pretty emotional on the telephone. I pecked at the food, as I was not really all that hungry, despite riding all day.

In a small store (it might have been a Circle K) in Concrete I ate two dynamite (pre-packaged) cinnamon streusel cakes – I was really hungry, they tasted good – I doubt they were really all that great – but I still remember it 17 years later.

I was the only visitor in the hostel that night. It could not have been more quiet.

June 29 (Day 2): Marblemount WA to Mazama WA

Miles: 76.8 (cum approx 4% of total)

About 3840 to go

8:45 PDT – Mazama Mountain Inn

Today I experienced hell. It was cloudy, slightly spritzing when I left. Never saw the sun today. Climbed from 350′ above sea level to 4855′ (Rainy Pass) and 5477′ (Washington Pass), the last 8 miles up in a cold rain. But wait! There’s more! Then 18 miles downhill to Mazama in a 40-degree driving rain. With zero visibility at times. I shivered much of the descent but pedaled when I could to generate heat.  They say here that 99% of the summer it is beautiful. Avg speed for the day was 10.0, but it dropped to 8.5 by Washington Pass. Speed up the hills was 3-6 mph. My biggest mistake was not eating enough breakfast (one bowl oatmeal) and not taking enough food. I bonked big-time. Appetite is returning, as I chowed down a burger and five rolls at dinner.

Pictures should be poor, very little view. It took a hot shower to restore my body’s temperature. I certainly had hypothermia. The inn is expensive, I’m over budget, but I hope to make it up along the way. The goal was to get to Winthrop today; I soon realized there was no way in this weather. My attitude is a little better, I guess if I can survive this, I should be able to go the distance (I hope). About 260 more miles to Idaho. I haven’t “roughed it” yet; that should start tomorrow night. I cursed at the top of my lungs going up both passes – must have been amusing to any hikers that might have heard me; saw six cyclists today; four going my way (even slower than I) and 2 westbound. Hopefully in the next few days I should find someone my speed. One of them said today that there was a solo rider a day or so away.

No TV stations, no radio stations.

(2006) I am not sure why I did not write it down, but on the roadside at the top of Washington Pass were several inches of snow.  I believe I was told that it had snowed up there just a couple of days before.  I’d never seen snow in June so up close and personal.

(2024) I’ve since seen pictures of the views of the mountains at the passes.  The clouds obstructed some beautiful scenes.

The Mazama Moutain Inn

June 30 (Day 3): Mazama WA to Omak WA

Another difficult day. Yesterday’s cold, wet mountainous ride has claimed its first victim – my right knee. Otherwise, physically I feel good, just a bit drained.

Miles: 61.6 (about 5% of total)

Avg 11.0 mph

Ate a decent breakfast, though my appetite has not fully returned. Made the mistake of playing a George Winston tape (“Winter Into Spring”) at breakfast. Made me homesick – I need sunshine. I may need to cut my mileage some to help my knee – I am greatly concerned about it. Mentally I am a roller coaster – up and down. I go from feeling great to feeling sad – pretty much like my phone conversations with Vicki. I am glad I’m doing this, but deep down I really feel like giving up. But there’s always tomorrow. If I could just ride with someone else, if just for a few days, it would really help.

It is hot (when the sun’s out), cold (when it’s not), very windy, and dry. Most of the hillsides are dusty with few trees, and lots of sagebrush (I think) grows here. It’s so windy I hope I don’t lose the tent. I saw a wolf about three miles before Loup Loup Pass. Met a German couple in an RV, started talking to them, then realized they couldn’t understand me. They laughed when I said “goodbye” in German.

I’ll never forget these experiences, but I wish I were home with Vicki and Fellini the cat. Lack of motivation is increasingly becoming a problem. Makes me wonder what Brad (Francisco) felt when he did his ride – makes me wish I did it then.

This is my first night camping – I even forgot to put down the drop cloth – but it would have blown away anyway. I hope the weather improves.

Looking at the map, I still have to cross two more passes (Wauconda – 4310′ and Sherman – 5575′). With my bad knee, they could be quite difficult.

(2006) Looking back, I recall the Mazama Inn as a virtual island of warmth in a sea of cold and wet. I was frozen when I arrived there and climbed under the bed covers for about 20 minutes before I was even warm enough to take a hot shower. The food was fantastic. There was no radio or TV, so the dining room was stocked with cassette tapes of mostly instrumental music – in particular, I selected George Winston’s “Winter into Spring”. Whenever I hear that CD, I am right back here. It is a sort of sad, but content and relaxed feeling. I want to go back to Mazama someday.  This overnight in Mazama has become a very happy memory.

Omak, on the other hand, was warm and arid. Walking into town for spaghetti that evening, I recall, when I took one step into the street in preparing to cross it, being very surprised as traffic in both directions came to a complete stop to allow me to cross.

July 1 (Day 4): Omak WA to Republic WA

11:00 pm. PDT

74.4 miles

Avg 10.0 mph

Approx.6.9% of total

An up day – up Wauconda Pass. Weather was beautiful when I left Omak, but it turned sour within minutes. Right knee was very stiff and sore. Saw a flier in Riverside about a bed and breakfast in Republic, the Triangle J Ranch. That’s where I am now. The “inn-keepers” are Jay and Linda Klemp. Staying here are Coreen (a doctor, she’s cute) and Doug, who I think is looking for a real estate job. Jay and Linda are teachers in Republic, a very small town. And they know everyone in town. Coreen just shot out to go to the hospital, she’s on call in the E.R.

Another tough ride today. The route was flat to Tonasket, where I had a fantastic fried egg and three-slice cinnamon toast, but uphill from there. From Tonasket to Wauconda, it was almost all uphill – but the hardest part – Washington Route 20 is under construction. About three miles was totally mud and dirt, caking the front fender so much that it bent the fender stays. I broke my mirror in Riverside. I dropped a water bottle eleven miles west of Wauconda when I got chased by four dogs at the same time. At least Mother Nature was not so bad – she spit on me a little after I crossed the pass and she threw a nasty headwind at me on the downside.

Coreen checked my knee, said it’s okay. Just stressed. A friend of Jay’s (who is a dentist and whose son is a racer) is coming over after breakfast to check my positioning on the bike. Good plan!

In case I lose their card: PO Box 31, Republic, WA 99166 (301-775-3933)

It sure was nice to talk to people tonight, but I’d rather be with Vicki. Dinner was great (lasagna) and breakfast promises to be great. Also did laundry (phew!). Taking lots of aspirin for the knee. Still hurts, not as bad. Jan and Steve Krusemark may have stayed here last year. Jay says that there are cyclists just a few days ahead.

Also, that was a coyote that I saw two days ago, not a wolf.

(2006) I slept outside in the bunk house – it was a very small log cabin and was hot when I went to bed, so I slept inside my AYH bed sheet. I awoke in the middle of the night to uncontrollable shivering, as the overnight low dropped into the low 40s. Finding my sleeping bag in the pitch black was challenging.

Jay invited me to stay on another day and go with him to pick mushrooms. He also was going to arm me with a rifle in case we were to encounter wolves. I wish I had done so, but I did not want to take a day off the bike so early in the trip. As I left he said, in a somewhat spiteful tone, “I’ll tell Coreen ‘thank you’ for you” (for checking my knee). I was very preoccupied at the time with my camera problems – I suspect he thought I was being a typical thoughtless easterner. I sent them Christmas cards for two years to try and make up for it, but never heard back from them. They moved to Montana a couple of years later to run a youth hostel (I found them on the internet); afterwards I lost track of them.

(2024) Jan and Steve Krusemark completed a two-year around-the-world tandem bike tour this year.  They are two of my heroes.

July 2 (Day 5): Republic WA to Colville WA

53.9 miles today
9.9avg
(8% of total)

In a motel, 9:42 pm. PDT

An extremely difficult day. Kurt (the dentist/racer) says that I might have cracks in the seat stays. We raised my saddle, though. My knee feels a tiny bit better. The film tore in my camera and I lost the first set of pictures. What a depressing start to a day. At least breakfast was good.

Climbed to 5575′ today (Sherman Pass). It was a very, very long ascent. It took three hours to climb 15.7 miles. At least it only took the next hour to go twenty-three more. Hell of a downhill, but it was chilly, yet fun. Jay and Linda met me at the pass on their motorcycle and cheered me on to the top. I met them again just before Kettle Falls in a restaurant. With them were a couple riding a tandem, named Dave and Kandy. They may be getting married after reaching Bar Harbor and returning to California. We will try to ride together to Sandpoint.

Anyway – the bike – I have to get it to Sandpoint. I will have the frame checked there on Wednesday, since Tuesday is July 4. I hope I can stay at the hostel. If the frame is damaged then either I get it fixed and I continue, or I catch Amtrak (or buy a new one?). In the meantime, I have to mail back some weight. My knee – it has to get better – else it’s time for an alternative.

I want to continue. If I can’t at least I must reach Sandpoint. We leave at 7 am for Newport.

(2006) I stayed at the Downtown Motel (369 South Main St) in Colville for $ 25.80.

(2024) It is a shame I realized too late that my saddle was too low, which was why my right knee hurt so badly.  It was because my pelvis is slightly tilted, which effectively made my right leg and left leg different lengths.

July 3 (Day 6): Colville WA to Usk WA

75.2 miles
11.5 avg
(10% of total)

A much nicer day – warmer, sunnier. My knee feels a little better, but Dave’s is now sore, and Kandy’s whole leg hurts. We are at a dive hotel in Usk – we’re quite a sight after dinner, all three of us icing our legs and knees.

No major problems today. It’s 51 miles to Sandpoint, then we’ll take an off day. Had burgers for lunch and dinner – need pasta! Cheap hotel – ten bucks. I am very tired – we’re all very tired. Candy rode with great pain today. I’ve put in over 400 miles.

The three of us get along well, but I do feel like a third wheel. We’ll see. We couldn’t reach Newport, it was too far. Vicki leads her PPTC ride tomorrow – I miss her and Fellini.

(2006) One of my favorite memories of Dave and Kandy is of the three of us, in back of the little hotel in Usk, icing our knees and drinking Rainier Beer.  The hotel was very interesting – I suspect it had belonged to a woman and her husband and that he had passed away.  She ran the place, and she must have had 100 trashy magazines and newspapers around, mostly the National Enquirer.  I spent the evening in the TV room downstairs keeping her company – while she watched the television, I wrote and looked at my maps.

July 4 (Day 7): Usk WA to Sandpoint ID

61.5 miles
12.8 avg (wow!)
(10 ½ % of total)

Hooray! Finally we reach Idaho. Beautiful weather, about 80 degrees. My knee hurt all day, but feels much better tonight. Had pasta for dinner and saw boring fireworks. This is actually a real town, population 5,000. Staying in hotel tonight (Super 8), rest day tomorrow. Plan to: get bike checked (frame), mail back unused baggage, buy a new mirror and rest. Dave and Candy’s legs are feeling a bit better, but none of us is 100 percent.

Had French fries for lunch I, pizza for lunch II. Today was a real “Eat-A-Thon”. There’s a couple here who came from Toronto. They said that “Going-to-the-Sun Highway” won’t be too bad. Also, heavy construction on highway 2 between Troy and Libby – not passable by bike – must get a ride. Vicki has a letter waiting for me in Libby.

It is 1:12 a.m., time for sleep.