Day Two:More wind!!

I woke up a couple of times during the night and was pleased to hear absolutely nothing.No rustling of leaves and no gusting wind to pull at my tent.When my alarm went off at 5:30am though things were different.I dragged myself out of the tent,pulled on my running shoes and climbed the steep bank up to the road by the bridge.Once at road level I was met by a gust of frigid air that had me wishing I was back down the hill nice and warm inside my sleeping bag.However I had to run, so run I did.Nothing special mind you just an easy 45 mins out and back toward Loomis in the west.I had to run up a gentle hill which meant that most of the run back would be downhill and that's always a bonus.The extra bonus was being able to watch the sun rise over the hills on the eastern side of the valley.There were scattered clouds about but looking southward toward Omak I could see that is was considerably darker there than where I was.The wind, it seemed, was pushing that darkness north toward me.Damn!


Back in camp it was a quick breakfast followed by the chore of re-packing everthing.No doubt I would get used to it as I had on previous trips but for now it was a pain.That said ,I was on the road by about 7:45am and soon found myself in suffer-mode as I pedalled into a cold,ever-increasing wind.I was trying to figure out just how fast(or slow) I was going and as I don't have a computer on my bike I had to rely on the mile markers on the road.It was quite a shock when I found out that I was riding along at about ten miles per hour.Now I know it was windy but really,on a good day I can run that fast.It wasn't until my first rest stop when I saw a paper cup roll on by at speed that I realised just how strong the wind must be.Just sitting on the side of the road was an experience and as the cold crept in I had to put on another layer to keep my core temp warm.


Skies darkened and as I rolled through Riverside north of Omak it was evident that it was going to be a race into the wind to Omak if I was to beat the rain.The problem with that is there are a couple of rolling hills on the way through there and standing up to push up a hill is not a option when dragging a trailer.There is just too little control to power through anything.I solidiered on and as I began the descent into the commercial village outside Omak the skies started to break.I made it to the Shell station just in time.


I parked my rig outside and made my way inside the warm, and more importantly, dry truck stop.First thing I needed was coffee-hot and black!Bless the U.S of A, fifty odd cents for a 12oz coffee.What a country!!I settled into a booth and hung my jacket and gloves out to dry with more than one person eyeing me strangely.Seems lycra-tight wearing guys with funny accents aren't the norm around these parts.I held on to the coffee cup with hands still shaking from the cold and watched through the windows as the trees,buffeted by wind and rain, bent under the might of nature.This was going to be a long rest stop.

I struck up a conversation with a trucker who was eating at a nearby table.He laughed when I told him what I was doing but he expressed admiration for all cyclists who were able to get out there in the elements and ride cross-country.We discussed various routes that I might take and he gave me lots of clues about what to expect as I headed south.He even told me that if I wanted he would give a lift all the way to L.A.I mentioned that L.A was a little out of my way but I must say when he pointed out that at least it would be warm down there,I was tempted.We talked for about 40min or so and as he left he told the manager to put whatever I wanted to eat on his tab and then he wished me luck and was gone.Lunch was nice that day.

After eating,chatting to the waitresses and drinking more coffee it was time for me to head out.The rain had stopped for the moment and my next camp wasn't getting any closer with my sitting there so I put all my clothes back on,said my goodbyes and was off again-into the wind.

Being constantly cold is something I was used to when riding in the Andes last year,the difference now though was I was cold and wet.I was hoping that I'd seen the last of the rain for the day and that I would gradually dry off as I was blasted by the wind.It was not to be though.I was riding through a constant spitting for the next hour or so and after passing the hamlet of Mallot I could see another storm rolling up the highway toward me.I spied an heritage point of interest pullout complete with a shelter covering a picnic bench.I rode up and realised that a shelter is not really a shelter when the wind is blowing the rain horizontally.I grapped the tarp from the top of my trailer and wrapped myself up in it,sat on the bench of the picnic table and turned my back to the storm.It was actually a relief as I was warm again all wrapped up like that.The rain didn't last too long and I uncovered myself and headed off down the road again at a blistering ten miles an hour.

The day didn't get any worse and there was to be no more rain.I actually began to enjoy riding along and was now getting used to the slow pace and accepted it as part of the experience.The plan was to get as far south as possible each day but I was behind my schedule already and I wondered how far south I would get if these winds kept blowing for days.I knew my fitness would increase as the days went by so I wasn't really concerned.Timecould be made up later, one way or another.The only problem I was beginning to realise was that if I was to be on the road all day how was I to spread the word about Athlete is Kind.How was I supposed raise money for these guys if I didn't have the time to speak to anyone.The order of importance was always going to be;raise money for AIK(and for the trip);do the Deca Iron;ride to Mexico.If I spent all my time riding to Mexico then sure,I would be fit for the Deca but I wouldn't have the money to do anything afterward and AIK wouldn't have much more than a few hundred dollars to show for it.I would have to think about that at camp that night.

As the day wore on I decided to camp early and while approaching the township of Monse I saw a bridge crossing the river.I figure that where there is a bridge there would be some shelter so when I reached the intersection on the highway I turned off and rode onto the bridge.I stopped and checked out both banks of the river under the bridge.On the far bank I spotted a boat launch area and decided to check it out.It was great.A nice open area with an orchard on two sides,the bridge approach on the northern side and the river flowing slowly at the front.It even had a really clean toilet block ,which is always a good thing.

I spent some time figuring out where would be the best place to camp.There was a great big sign telling me that I was not allowed to camp there so I would have to be sneaky and find some hidden spot to put my tent and equipment for the night.I would also have to wait until just before sunset to do it.As it was still about an two hours before real darkness set in I found a spot on the riverbank ,under a tree and cooked myself some dinner.Pasta and cup of soup again.It was tasty and hot and it soon warmed me up as the light started to fade in the valley.While waiting for the last of the days light to fade I hid all my stuff and did my second run for the day-if you could call it that.I did a quick warm up by running the 800m or so out to the highway and did some drills and stuff on the way back.Once back at the boat launch I did ten hills reps back up to the bridge.Each one was only about 150 meters but at least I did something.
I decided to camp in a pretty secluded spot not far from the toilet block.It was a nice soft area surrounded by trees in a disused part of the orchard.The only problem was that I had to make my way though a whole bunch of vines with very sharp thorns on them.The bike made it through okay but the trailer wheel got a flat thanks to a pesky thorn.At least I would have something to do later that night.I quickly set up my tent and went about getting everything ready for bed and then fixed my flat trailer tyre.
After a bit of journal writing and about half an hour of map studying I decided that I would try for a longer day tomorrow to make up for the miles I was behind schedule right now.I figured I would use tomorrows ride as guide to see if I could make up time or if I would have to change my strategy a bit in order to have the time to raise funds,write on my blog and train for the Deca.I would not run in the morning but try to get away as soon as light permitted.With that I wrapped myself up again in my sleeping bag and fell into a deep sleep after covering 54 miles on another tough day on the road south to Mexico.