We were getting a little later start than I had hoped at 11 am when we unloaded the bikes from the car. That, in itself, took a bit of time because we had secured our bikes and their tires to the bike rack with 4 separate locks (we were being very safe ... we did not want our bikes to get stolen!). Anyways, we were ready to head out when Lisa remembered that her bike seat needed adjusting. So we pulled out my multi-tool but the bolt for the seat wouldn’t budge. We both tried, and finally we asked the old guy camping next door for some help, but he couldn’t get it either. The bolt acted like it was stripped, and just would not move. Lisa said I could go on the ride without her while she found a bike shop in town, but I didn’t want us to get separated, so we loaded the bikes up again and drove into town. We drove around looking for a bike shop and finally, headed to the visitor’s center to ask directions to one, stumbled into one. They adjusted Lisa’s seat, pumped up her tires, and we got her outfitted with some waterbottles, cages, and a little backpack. I splurged on some finger-less riding gloves, which were actually really helpful later in the day when we actually got to ride.
Finally, just after 1:00 pm, we were back at the camp site and getting back on our bikes. We rode out of the park and onto the city streets, which was actually pretty challenging while trying to read a cue-sheet for the first time. I kept having to stop and read the sheet of paper for the correct turns and streets, which was really a pain. I think I need to find out how other cyclists handle their cue sheets. I finally rode with it crumpled under my hand on the hood, and then glanced at it whenever I needed to. We got turned around a couple of times because the directions on the cue sheet weren’t 100% accurate, but eventually found ourselves going very fast down some country road. There were cherry trees and apple trees whizzing by us; it was very pretty and there wasn’t much traffic.
Our route was great as far as traffic went, but we did hit an awful lot of hills. Like, tons of hills. And steep ones at that. Luckily, we got our share of downhills as well as climbs. But it was a very windy way to get to Monitor on the backroads. Once in Monitor we tried asking directions from a passing car and I got to use my Spanish because the women inside didn’t speak more than a word or two of English. Lisa and I joked that Eastern Washington is kind of like traveling to another country. You get a different culture and a different language, but you don’t even have to go far for it. It’s perfect.
Unfortunately, the ladies we talked to didn’t know how to get where we wanted to go, but we made some lucky guesses and ended up on the correct roads finally. We rode until we got to the Anjou Bakery, which was a very cool little place where we ate and refilled our waterbottles. Lisa loves baked goods and was in heaven.
From Monitor we continued on the back roads (and just a smidge of highway) to Cashmere, which was about another 1.5 miles down the road. It was nice to finally be in a cute little town over here. Monitor was unimpressive and Wenatchee is just plain ugly. But Cashmere was a beautiful little place, a little like Sedro Woolley during 4th of July with flags everywhere on their main street. We biked to the Aplets and Cotlets Factory and ate free samples, then picked up some of their goods for bike food (great bc they are filled with sugar, sugar, and more sugar). Next, we did a tasting at a distillery, and then it was time to head back.
Our route back was a shorter, more direct way to get to Wenatchee. It took us for almost 6 miles on Easy Street, which was really amusing to us because Easy Street was one gigantic hill. We had to ride up forever, and then finally got a good downhill.
Once we were back in Wenatchee and at the campground we had biked 26 miles. It was the longest bike ride Lisa had ever done. Her butt was sore, but otherwise she was feeling pretty good. I was very pleased with my new bike and the seat. I didn’t really have any soreness, although I need to be sure tomorrow to re-apply the butt cream part-way through the ride. It does make a difference in comfort.
After eating some dinner we pedaled into Wenatchee for some free Wifi, so we could make plans for tomorrow. We’re headed to Spokane. The most memorable thing about our ride tonight was all of the bugs! We each kept getting bugs in our eyes because we weren’t riding with glasses on. Boy, did we learn our lesson! At one point, I think I had two or three bugs floating around in the same eye!
We did learn another lesson today, too. Earlier, on our way to the bike shop, Lisa’s bike kept swinging and hitting my car and I was worried because it started taking a little paint off. I wanted to put something in between the bike and the car, but because there was normally a gap there, I was afraid whatever we put there would fall onto the road instead of doing its job. But Lisa came up with a great idea, to stick a panty liner to my car so that the bike could swing and hit it but the car would still be protected. It worked like a charm, but it sure was funny to be driving around town with a panty liner stuck to the back of my car!!
We are looking forward to more biking tomorrow. Hopefully Lisa won’t be too sore.
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