Day 86: Tonasket, WA to KOA Campground Near Winthrop, WA

August 6, 2008

77.41 Miles, 5:54:32 Ride Time, 13.10 Average Speed, 34.15 Maximum Speed

I woke up to another sunny, dry morning, and took my time getting everything together. Another day, another mountain pass - my plan today, unless things went completely awry, was to climb up and over Loup Loup, whose elevation profile on the back of my map didn't look too scary.

Outside my room, I attached the panniers while I listened to the motorcycle couple next door boasting of their 1000 mile "bike" trip, and exercised uncharacteristic restraint in not informing them of my own 6000+ mile tour, on a "real" bike.

After a breakfast of jelly donuts, I immediately missed my turn onto a back road, and instead just rode west on busy, mostly flat US 97 for about fifteen miles before crossing the Okanogan River and exiting the big road at Riverside (pop. 348). I liked the look of sleepy Riverside, and stopped for a while at a country store there. I spent some time looking through all the clutter and listening to the lady shopkeeper and another customer discussing a serial shoplifter that frequented the store, before buying (mostly as an experiment) a huge can of "Arizona" brand tea, and chugging it. The result of this beverage experiment: Ughh. I decided to stick with Diet Pepsi, Gatorade, and chocolate milk from now on.

It was a fast, tailwind-assisted ride to Omak (pop. 4,721), which, befitting its name, looked REALLY ugly - at least the part of town I saw. Everything seemed coated with grime and dust, and I didn't linger there. (It's very possible, of course, that Omak is mostly pretty, and its citizens charming, and that Adventure Cycling routed me through the run-down part of town. It wouldn't be the first time that has happened.)

I was much more impressed with Okanogan (pop. 2,484) just a few miles down the road, and, having noticed a disturbing creaking sound the last several miles, decided to stop when I spotted a small bike shop downtown. The guy at the shop agreed to drop what he was doing to look at my bike, and after making some sort of adjustment to the bottom bracket, he eliminated the creaking noise. I suppose I should have been watching what he was doing (instead of procuring a Diet Pepsi), so that I could do it myself next time. One of these days I really will have to learn how bicycles actually work...

While I waited at the shop, a woman and her two children rode up. The woman and the little girl were on a heavily loaded tandem, the boy was on his own small road bike, and they were riding the Northern Tier east from Sedro-Woolley, WA to Whitefish, MT. I noted that the tandem seemed heavily loaded (especially for a relatively short tour), and the woman proudly informed me that the tandem's total payload (the riders, the bike, and the stuff) was 375 lbs.! Impressive... especially when, upon inspecting their bike more closely, I discovered that I had easier gearing than they had!

It was super-hot by the time I rode out of town, past dry, abandoned orchards. Almost immediately I began the climb up to Loup Loup pass, sweating like a maniac - it wasn't that steep (I didn't even use my small chainring), but it had gotten incredibly hot. About half way up, a guy standing next to his car flagged me down to ask if I had water to spare for his overheated engine! I resisted the urge to ask if he was kidding, and sweated on up the mountain.

The descent down to Twisp (pop. 938) was fun, but the town itself was a dry, dusty disappointment, where it took a surprisingly long time to find a place that sold my usual choice of cold beverages. Nine miles later, though, I arrived in the much more appealing Winthrop (pop. 349), a touristy sort of place, but with low-key appeal. The first campground I checked out was slightly sleazy, resembled a trailer park, and cost $20, so I called the KOA just outside of town, and was pleased to hear that they would only charge me $15 - "Since you're on a bicycle."

I had never stayed at a KOA (mostly because the price usually approached that of a cheap motel), so I was a little excited. The place was very nice, as expected, and I secured a great site by the river. I spent so much time talking to a friendly Canadian couple camped nearby that it was dusk before I remembered that I hadn't eaten dinner (or any real meal today, for that matter) yet, so I walked half a mile down the road and wolfed down a large pizza at a little place that was getting ready to close for the evening.

Back at the campground, I lay in the tent, listened to my little radio for a while, then fell asleep quickly. After thousands of miles of touring, I was finally enjoying the camping.

Today's ride: 77 miles (124 km)
Total: 6,269 miles (10,089 km)

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