Day Four Ellensburg to Yakima 68km Uphill 1670 Downhill 2069ft

Alrighty, the pressure is on. Today we are in Ellensburg. As I was thanking Sandy, a woman from the local church for all the goodies they set us for us, she informed me that she had read my blog just this morning because I’m the first name on the list. Now that brings back memories of elementary school when I wished my last name started with a W or better yet a Y because then by the time the teacher got to me I could just copy someone else’s ideas or answer. Honestly folks, I do my best but my strong suit is talking, not journalism (as anyone who knows me in Chatham, Ontario will agree).

It was another wonderful day on the bike cycling thru the canyon that takes us to Yakima (sorry, I took a photo of the name of the canyon but sadly several cyclists are in front of the name….poor planning on my part. If a local wants to fill in the name for me, I be ever so indebted). I biked with the same people as yesterday, and ½ way thru Jake Kuipers from Trenton joined our pace line. We just took our time, snapping photos and marveling at the all beautiful creation that surrounded us. Every evening during our peleton they do a count of flat tires, falls and now wild life is being counted. We were told by a local cyclist that we might see some wild life. I don’t know if the skunk that crossed our path counts, but that was #1 for us. Two and three were the two deer frolicking in the meadow (one cyclists missed this because someone yelled out deer and he thought it was an endearment). Four, was a dead one at the side of the road. Five and six were two more deer by the rivers side. We were hoping to see a mountain goat but sadly it was not in the cards. So the final count for our group was six.

I’m not sure of the number of falls today, but in our group Jake took a nasty fall. His bike went towards the road and he hit the other side of the sidewalk. Thankfully he had a helmet on (children take that as a lesson to always wear your helmet). He sustained road rash on his right shoulder His fingers are a bit cut up along with his knees. If his wife is reading this, don’t worry, when we brought him into camp he was tended by the nurse and then he promptly went to unload the gear truck since it was his groups turn to take on this responsibility. So he’s going to be fine.

Temperatures on the bike reached just over 100F on my bike computer. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that the Christian school has welcomed us into there fine facility. The building is air conditioned, showers plentiful and as you can see on the photos we are all taking advantage of this break from the heat.
I do feel sorry for the cooks. They are busy preparing our meals in this heat (along with the sweep team…this is a group of cyclists that is assigned to unload the gear truck, help serve the food and clean up afterwards. The sweep team also makes sure the camp is clean before they leave in the morning and it is also their duty to make sure everyone arrives in the camp at night. They help any cyclists that are having a hard time, either with a word of encouragement or by just cycling along side them. They are also the last ones in.) Getting back to the cooks….what a job it is to feed us. They generally prepare twice the amount of food that a person would normally eat. I’m actually afraid to post any photos of the food we are eating because my family would be jealous. While they are surviving on Kraft dinner (not) I’m eating like a king. I really can’t say enough about this fantastic group of cooks. They have given up their entire summer to feed us nutritious food all for the end goal of the ride. I should also tell you about the SAG (support and gear people) but I think I’ll save that for tomorrow since this blog is quite lengthy.

I want to add one more thing. I’ve so enjoyed meeting new faces and sharing the laughter with everyone, especially on the road. When I first arrived in Seattle on Saturday evening I was roomed with Barb Mellema, she is in my small group and we just clicked. We have a lot in common. She has been married for 26 years (two years less than me). Our style of cycling is similar (although she is stronger than me on the flats). We both trained on the flats…no mountains for us. Her husband doesn’t peddle a bike, neither does mine and we share the same sense of humor. Oddly enough both our husbands enjoy the same brew of coffee. If you want to read an entertaining blog, check hers out. You won’t be disappointed because she has a way with words that will leave you in stitches. I look forward to getting to know the other cyclists, but for now its enough of a struggle to put a name to their faces.

Anyways, that’s the summary of the day. I still have supper, the peleton and small groups to look forward to, and as I sit here in the air conditioned gym two gentleman are busy trying to set up a movie for us later in the evening. How cool is that?! Tomorrow promises to be another short day (60 odd km). Can’t wait.

P.S. I have photos but I'm having a problem loading them to the blog today. I'll keep trying so check back later for the matching photo.

Till later, Cynthia