Wake up, Legs! Wake up, Brain!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Day 4 - Coulee Dam, Washington to Spokane, Washington
87 miles
3,517 feet of climbing

Woke up to another sunny, cloudless morning.  Started the day with a 12-mile climb out of the "valley" we descended into yesterday to get here, which began immediately after we departed the hotel.  Quite a way to wake up the legs!  Too bad I didn't have an exercise to wake up my brain . . . a mile or so up the climb, I reach down to take a swig out of my water bottle. Nothing, nada, empty.  In my haste to get an early start up the hill, I had forgotten to fill my water bottles.  Not too bright.  In fact, I'm calling it the bonehead move of the day.  I wasn't going to make it up the climb and to the first rest stop at mile 22 without hydration, so I had to stop at a convenience store on the way up and buy a bottle of water.  I'd like to blame it on the altitude, but I was only at 500 feet.  :  )

Did you know that the state of Washington produces the world's highest potato yield per acre?

Aside from the bonehead move of the day, it was a great ride.  Sure, the climb was tough, but it was very scenic.  Plus, we were able to get the climb done before it got really hot.   The rest of the route consisted of rollers and gentle climbs, which allowed us to maintain a decent speed.  There was one sort of steepish climb at mile 75, but it was relatively short, and was preceded by a slight descent that allowed you to gather momentum to carry you at least part of the way.  Even with me taking a wrong turn as we neared our hotel, we finished the ride by 2 p.m.  We had some time before our rooms were ready, so I jumped in the hotel pool to cool off.  Very refreshing!  I was ready for another 87 miles! (Not).  Anyway, it was great to have an early day and have some extra recovery time for the old legs. This is our last night in the great state of Washington.  I think I'll celebrate by trying to stay up past 10:00.  : )

Coulee Dam