Lets say you are planning to bike up a mountain. You are expecting a cold rain. Do you wear your rain gear? If you wear it, you will be soaked in sweat, and baking. If you do not wear it, you will be soaked in rain, and freezing.

We woke up today to a wonderfully entertaining surprise....Taters had her first flat tire of the trip. She did a prety darn good job of fixing it.

It gave Rog and I a chance to nap.

We tried stalling, hoping the rain would subside. Eventually we hit the road, a bit bummed that it was going to be another day of riding in the rain.

The climb was challenging, especially in the rain. Muscles are stiff, joints don't want to move, and the traffic keeps sending filthy water your way. It surely wasn't the most enjoyable climb, and our bodies were still aching from yesterday. TJ and Katie seemed better off than the three older folks.

After 2000 feet of climbing, we overtook a very wet and rainy Wauconda Pass. I only had the camera out briefly, and we sprinted for the town of Wauconda to find a place to dry out. In town we found a cafe.

At the cafe, we met these 2 kind strangers, biking the other way. To learn about their voyage, which trumps ours, check out their websites!

http://www.matsuya.co.uk/meanderthal/
http://jackeagle.com/

After that, we put on several layers of clothes and it was only a quick 25 mile mountain decent to the town of Tonasket. 25 miles of 55 degree rain can get a bit chilly.

I don't have a ton of pictures from today because of the rain. There wasn't much to see for much of the day except fog, rain, and trees. We have climbed 2 mountain passes in 2 days, and need a break. We are not planning on doing a 3rd straight tomorrow; instead we plan to stop at some location as close to the base of the next mountain as possible. My legs, hips, and knees are all asking for a break.

41 miles (1859 total)