Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Day 8 Tuesday 7/14/09

Day 8 Tuesday 7/14/09

Gramd Coulee to Medicine Lake, WA

77 Miles

357 total miles

?? (many) calories (Heart Rate Monitor still not working!)

Today's ride was a long one-- the weather forecast had me worried that it would be a hot ride-- it turned out to be a perfect day for riding. I climbed up out of Grand Coulee-- at least 10-12 miles until I reached the rim of the plateau and looked straight , I mean straight, 10 miles down into Wilbur. After joining up with US Route 2 and lunch in Wilbur at the Rendezvous Cafe. I rode another 30 miles on to Davenport, then finally another 27 miles onto Medicine Lake. The shoulder on US 2 is wide and safe, and with the exception of some pave mt cracks was a bike superhighway-- The terrain changed significantly from rolling wheat fields, through high plains pine scattered sparse forests to a rolling range land. I witnessed 3 juvenile red tail hawks learning how to hunt, chasing prey in a field, each one rolling up in the air above the other two and then diving back down onto the hapless rabbit or groundhog or whatever it was they were chasing.

As I rolled into Medicine Lake, I was chased by a big dog at mile #72 and was able to gear down and outrun him, as fortunately I heard him before I got to him! I also watched deer, heron and osprey as I came into town.

I have made a new friend, Sandy Pfeiffer, who is a www.warmshowers.org member in Medical Lake and works at Eastern State Washington hospital here-- she has been a fantastic host-- had a cold beer and a delicious meal prepared for my arrival... I can't thank her enough for her hospitality and wish her well with her upcoming tour plans. Tomorrow will be something of a recovery day-- a visit to REI, the One World Cafe and maybe some bike stores to reconsider my handlebars and stem configuration which need a bit of an adjustment.

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