Kevin Ludlow, The Czar
Jordan Ludlow, The Giant
Matthew Lyman, 2nd time cycling across and our Master Mechanic
Lance Dohnal, The one who keeps us alive
Guest Appearance (soon) by: Steve Carlston, Wild Card
"Are you serious!? Are you freakin' kidding me!?"
Those of you who know Big Kev Ludlow know exactly how he says those words. They're his catchphrases, really. This was his feeling as we pulled up to a complete stop on the I-90 an hour-and-a-half from Anacortes, WA and a bed.This delay was to be two hours.
We'd already been on the road for twelve.
Washington state decided they needed to do some "extensive blasting" was needed, and created a line of cars surely more than 10 miles long.
This setback extensively blasted our chances of getting to bed early enough to start this adventure on time.
And here...weee...go!
BOOM! Blast-off! We're livin' strong, but we ain't yella! The official pedaling began after we dipped our back tires into the Pacific around 10:00am.
Those of you who saw my Instavideo know what we'll be in the whole way...and that throwing stuff in the air is cool if you're mimicking Lebron James ;)
This is it. There is no going back like Kevin McCallister (name that movie).
We made our way through Anacortes with ease, following Highway 20 all the way to our decided destination: Marblemount, WA.
Twenty miles in, a poor decision was made.
For those not familiar with cycling you have clips for pedals. These connect to your shoes. Meaning, if you do not un-click the shoe at a full-stop, you will learn quickly that the road always wins.
The second trick to this is to choose which side you un-click wisely. AND LEAN THAT WAY!!!
Legs only work when they're on the ground.
I un-clicked as I should have, but like Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, I chose...poorly...and caught myself last minute on the hood of the car next to me at the intersection.
I felt like a complete idiot. But luckily the guys in the car, looked straight outta Duck Dynasty, were completely cool about it. I offered to spit shine it, they declined.
Our Time in the Wilderness.
We cleared our way out of Burlington, WA and over a bridge and through the woods, to Boston we go.
Highway 20 is a gorgeous ride or drive. Nothing but thick, lush, and so green as doesn't exist at home forest as far as you can see. The Cascades covered in the same vivid green only add to the beauty that only takes the effort to look up to enjoy.
This is going to be fun.
Not too many hills today and a few downhill glides that are the reason, at times, you love cycling.
I for one was thankful for few hills today, 80 miles is still 80 miles.
We stopped about 60 miles in for lunch and had a sandwich from a shop in Concrete, WA. Fantastic! If you find yourself there, go get a sandwich.
We were able to eat and fend off horseflies, although Kev got a bit of skin bitten off his leg.
Shook it off like a champ. Would you expect any less?
Marblemount? Nah. To Newhalem we go!
We made it to Marblemount with ease, but we still had energy to burn.We decided to keep going due to the fact that we have to make it to Omak,WA (over 120 miles) tomorrow to pick-up our guest-star, Steve Carlston.
And so we kept calm and pedaled on dammit!
But at this point, for me and Matt at least, our minds wanted to go, but our legs are saying no.
MY BODY'S TELLING ME NO!!! BUT MY MIIIND! MY MIIIND IS TELLIN' ME YEEEES! I know the song goes the other way around, but this was role-reversal.
We reached the Cascade Mountains State Park with 8 miles of flat land to go to our new final destination of Newhalem.
Which, lucky for us, is where the climb up the Cascades begin.
5,200ft over the course of not too many miles. Though the locals say it's pretty gradual. So don't worry about a thing like Bob Marley.
We won the day!
PLOT-TWIST!
We're staying at the Totem Trail Inn in Rockport, had to backtrack. It's the last city we could find with an inn for a decent rate. So tomorrow, bright and early at 5:25am, we make our way back to where we stopped and continue onward and upward, literally.
Please! Feel free to leave comments and give me suggestions on what you would like to hear about for the trip. I would really appreciate it so I can give the readers what they want.
It is now past 9:00pm. I gotta sign off. I know I promised pictures but the internet here isn't the greatest (shocking). But I will post bookoo pictures tomorrow.
Lemme know what you want to read about!
-Jordo
