Rode 89.07 miles (Average 13.9)
By the way, I'm riding with 26 inch wheels and fat touring tires, I almost wish I had my road bike. My touring bike is really heavy and the tires are slow! A lot of people are riding beautiful titanium or carbon bikes that weigh nothing and are extremely fast. I'm the only person with 26 inch wheels. I bought my awsome steel Bruce Gordon touring bike with the intention of riding across the country fully loaded, self supported. That didn't work out and I had this great bike that I was dying to ride, so I brought it. It's really overkill and slow for this fully supported ride. I can't wait to so lots of self-supported touring with it, but for this, I really kind of wish I had a light road bike. I do like the low gears on the Gordon, they are very friendly on my bad knees, but I haven't really needed my granny much at all.
Our third state - pretty exciting! Big Sky country! Today was long day! My toe was feeling better. I loosened my shoes a lot and it was just fine. Had to stand up A LOT today to relieve my sit bones. It really slowed me down a lot. Scenery was beautiful today!!! I'll be seeing a lot of Montana for a while now!
Lisa's Big Ride Across America
I will try to update this blog regularly and keep you all informed on how I'm doing and the amazing things I'm experiencing. Thank you all for your support. Looking forward to sharing my journey with you. I hope you all are having a wonderful, exciting summer! Stay active, stay healthy, and peace to all. Lisa
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Day 6 - Spokane, WA to Sandpoint, ID
Rode 81.51 miles. Average 14.2 mph
Beautiful Day - 70s. Butt really hurting in the morning. A lot of riders are suffering from the same butt pain. Sit bones are sore and some people have saddle sores. I bought a gel seat cover in Spokane and tried it out for about 6 miles today. It spread the pressure and pain out everywhere instead of just over my sit bones. I quickly took it off and just dealt with it. Big toe hurting today and top of it was numb. Tendon on other foot that lifts my foot up also hurting. Both of these we just minor annoyances though compared to the sore sit bones. Great easy day though! Another tailwind! Checked in at high school in Sandpoint and rode into town before showering or setting up tent. We Made it to our second state! Very exciting! Sandpoint is a great tourist town with lots of little shops and bike paths. It's a big ski town in the middle of beautiful mountains and near Priest River. Can't remember the name of the mountain range. Got a bike shop to fit me for some Specialized shoe inserts to help spread out the pressure on my metatarsals and help with the toe pain. Got back to the high school just in time for a cold shower and dinner (got some great sorbet in town - a nice treat). Fell asleep writing in journal again. Cold evening!
Beautiful Day - 70s. Butt really hurting in the morning. A lot of riders are suffering from the same butt pain. Sit bones are sore and some people have saddle sores. I bought a gel seat cover in Spokane and tried it out for about 6 miles today. It spread the pressure and pain out everywhere instead of just over my sit bones. I quickly took it off and just dealt with it. Big toe hurting today and top of it was numb. Tendon on other foot that lifts my foot up also hurting. Both of these we just minor annoyances though compared to the sore sit bones. Great easy day though! Another tailwind! Checked in at high school in Sandpoint and rode into town before showering or setting up tent. We Made it to our second state! Very exciting! Sandpoint is a great tourist town with lots of little shops and bike paths. It's a big ski town in the middle of beautiful mountains and near Priest River. Can't remember the name of the mountain range. Got a bike shop to fit me for some Specialized shoe inserts to help spread out the pressure on my metatarsals and help with the toe pain. Got back to the high school just in time for a cold shower and dinner (got some great sorbet in town - a nice treat). Fell asleep writing in journal again. Cold evening!
Day 5 - Rest Day, Spokane, WA
Rest Days are wonderfull! Started my blog at the Gonzaga University library. We are staying on campus in the dorms. Bought some new bike shorts with denser padding. got a 1hr maggage - wonderful! Had some great pizza and did my laundry. Good Stuff!
Day 4 - Odessa to Spokane
Rode 81.00 miles today. Average 14.1 mph
Amazing tailwind today! Practically blew us up the hills! Great day of biking! Butt still in pain. Rest day in Spokane - a wonderful and much needed thing. Went out with some people that night and had a great time. Pictures to come. This computer is not allowing me to upload any of my pictures. Also, on a side note - thanks for all the comments everyone has left. It's great to hear from everyone! I really enjoy reading them. Hope everyone is having a great summer!
Amazing tailwind today! Practically blew us up the hills! Great day of biking! Butt still in pain. Rest day in Spokane - a wonderful and much needed thing. Went out with some people that night and had a great time. Pictures to come. This computer is not allowing me to upload any of my pictures. Also, on a side note - thanks for all the comments everyone has left. It's great to hear from everyone! I really enjoy reading them. Hope everyone is having a great summer!
Day 3 - Vantage to Odessa
Rode 84.87 miles today (average 12.1 mph)
Woke up feeling very refreshed. Fell asleep last night at about 8:30. After breakfast at the restaurant again we biked over the Columbia River. The bridge was I-90 with no real shoulder, but luckily it wasn't windy. I guess it can get pretty bad when it's windy and large semi's are passing by at high speeds. Across the bridge led to a hill climb with a great tourist lookout point near the top. There was a wild horses monument at the top of a mountain ridge and the view of the Columbia River and bridge below was beautiful. This part of Washington is basically a high desert with lots of sage growing everywhere that wasn't farmed. One side of the road would be wheat fields with irrigation sprinklers and the other side would be desert sage. It was pretty crazy! Felt good today, except for my extremely painful sit bones. Riding alone today was zen training for pain tolerance. Camped at high school in Odessa, a very small town with wheat as it's only livlihood. Many of the farmers however are paid not to grow wheat in their fields now by the US Dept of Agric. because the country has too much wheat! Pretty backwards. The entire town knew we were there, we pretty much doubled their population. We shared the high school with a football camp. Went down to a restaurant and had a local beer. It felt good to relax.
Woke up feeling very refreshed. Fell asleep last night at about 8:30. After breakfast at the restaurant again we biked over the Columbia River. The bridge was I-90 with no real shoulder, but luckily it wasn't windy. I guess it can get pretty bad when it's windy and large semi's are passing by at high speeds. Across the bridge led to a hill climb with a great tourist lookout point near the top. There was a wild horses monument at the top of a mountain ridge and the view of the Columbia River and bridge below was beautiful. This part of Washington is basically a high desert with lots of sage growing everywhere that wasn't farmed. One side of the road would be wheat fields with irrigation sprinklers and the other side would be desert sage. It was pretty crazy! Felt good today, except for my extremely painful sit bones. Riding alone today was zen training for pain tolerance. Camped at high school in Odessa, a very small town with wheat as it's only livlihood. Many of the farmers however are paid not to grow wheat in their fields now by the US Dept of Agric. because the country has too much wheat! Pretty backwards. The entire town knew we were there, we pretty much doubled their population. We shared the high school with a football camp. Went down to a restaurant and had a local beer. It felt good to relax.
Day 2 Easton to Vantage, WA
Rode 73.41 miles today
Overslept this morning. Only set one alarm and turned it off and slept for 20 minutes longer. Late for breakfast setup. The morning ride was beautiful but cold. There was mountains and a river. I rode by myself for the morning and enjoyed it. I took a very long lunch break at the check point. We have a water stop, a check point, and a second water stop each day that our crew provides us. Rode the afternoon with Ane and David. My butt was killing me!!!! Sit bones were SO sore! I had to stand up every 15-20 minutes. It was a tough afternoon. We had a strong headwind which makes it feel like you are not even moving. There was the crest of the hill we needed to climb lingering in the distance for about 3 hours that we never seemed to get any closer to. Headwinds are not good for your mental state at all. They are draining and terrible. But we made it. I rode with a lot people at this point and we encouraged each other to the end - it was great having their support - I needed it! Finally at the top of the hill, the downhill was amazing and long! David and I stopped at a petrified forest site. There was some petrified wood enclosed in iron grates. It wasn't that exciting, but fun to do some sightseeing. We camped on the Columbia River and ate dinner at a restaurant at the campsite. It was great!
Overslept this morning. Only set one alarm and turned it off and slept for 20 minutes longer. Late for breakfast setup. The morning ride was beautiful but cold. There was mountains and a river. I rode by myself for the morning and enjoyed it. I took a very long lunch break at the check point. We have a water stop, a check point, and a second water stop each day that our crew provides us. Rode the afternoon with Ane and David. My butt was killing me!!!! Sit bones were SO sore! I had to stand up every 15-20 minutes. It was a tough afternoon. We had a strong headwind which makes it feel like you are not even moving. There was the crest of the hill we needed to climb lingering in the distance for about 3 hours that we never seemed to get any closer to. Headwinds are not good for your mental state at all. They are draining and terrible. But we made it. I rode with a lot people at this point and we encouraged each other to the end - it was great having their support - I needed it! Finally at the top of the hill, the downhill was amazing and long! David and I stopped at a petrified forest site. There was some petrified wood enclosed in iron grates. It wasn't that exciting, but fun to do some sightseeing. We camped on the Columbia River and ate dinner at a restaurant at the campsite. It was great!
Day 1 - Seattle to Easton
I rode 82.8 miles today. The day was great! It was so fun to meet all of the riders for the first time. I was feeling much better, just had to stop to blow my nose constantly! I was pretty worried about how I would ride today, considering I hadn't ridden in a little over a week, but it wasn't bad at all. We crossed our first of three mountain passes - Snoqualmie Pass at 3,000 feet. It was a beautiful ride, past huge old trees in the national forest. The pass wasn't that steep. The roads out here are not as steep as the roads in the east. It was just long and windy with beautiful scenery. I rode with Margo, Ane, David, and Michael Yee for a good part of the day. My sit bones were killing me at the end of the ride. I was riding with a selle anatomica saddle and switched it out to my backup terry butterfly saddle at the end of the day. The saddle was working great for me at home, but I couldn't get it comfortable this day at all. Hopefully the Terry will be better.
I was so concerned about having my luggage weigh less than the maximum allowed weight of 70 lbs that I left a lot of things home that I wish I had packed. It was kind of cold last night, so I went to REI in Seattle and got some long underwear and good snacks. I was very glad to have them tonight. Today's weather was 50s - 60s. It was a chilly morning and was glad to have my arm and leg warmers.
Well the first day was amazing, and I'm looking forward to each day to come!
I was so concerned about having my luggage weigh less than the maximum allowed weight of 70 lbs that I left a lot of things home that I wish I had packed. It was kind of cold last night, so I went to REI in Seattle and got some long underwear and good snacks. I was very glad to have them tonight. Today's weather was 50s - 60s. It was a chilly morning and was glad to have my arm and leg warmers.
Well the first day was amazing, and I'm looking forward to each day to come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
