Week 2

Day Five;
We finally had a day of rain. It went well. By the time we got to Zillah the rain had subsided and rain jackets were left in the support vehicles. The Church in Zillah was out to welcome us with food and best wishes. Sunnyside was alive with fireworks for Independence Day. Food was served by the local church. Another good day, and time to sign off.


Day Six;
My 80 km ride ended up with more than 110 km. Sunnyside to Kennewick trip was along the Yakima Valley Canyon. If have been riding with the same group of people for a few days. Within a very short time we have clicked as to riding style and speed. We also seem to share the same kind of humor. We decided to take a more leisurely pace today and enjoyed the scenery of the canyon and the mountains now further in the distance. A break in the ride was taken at a coffee shop in Benton.
Coming into the park, Louis fell on a gravel patch, which was unfortunate. The bike seemed fine and the skin damage minor.
We got lost in Kennewick trying to fine REI but that helped getting our bearings for later trips into town.

Day Seven;
The Kennewick Church looked after the Service in Columbia Trail Park. Wow! They sure treated us well.

Day Eight; Monday July 7 Kennewick to Pendleton
Our group changed a bit today with the addition of Christine from Sarnia. At the state border we were met by a Washington State Trooper who was very interested in our Tour. The canyon and river valley soon changed as we left the “730” to rolling hills and wheat fields.
In town I ended up helping Nathan get a new front wheel after he accidentally stuck his foot into the spokes trying to unclip.
In Pendleton a group of us did the underground tour. This city under the city dates back to the 1800 s’ when the Chinese were in the area for the railway construction.

Day Nine; Pendleton to La Grande
We started the day with a nice ride along the river. It was starting to warm up as we headed up Emigrant Road and up the pass through the “foothills”. This was a good climb to do in the morning. The rest of the route was “down hill”. A twenty-four flavor ice cream shop was near the end of our cycling for the day. We stayed in Pioneer Park between the baseball field and the soccer field. Wow the weather on this trip has been great.

Day Ten; La Grande to Baker City
This was my first sweep day. We started out helping two stranded cyclists in the coffee shop who were waiting to get their chain replaced. A quick fix got them on their way. We were able to take a lot of time in the small communities we passed through. I handed out quite a few cards indicating the web site regarding poverty issues and what the Tour was trying to accomplish. In Union we were treated to freezies at the local library. People were very friendly and interested in what the Tour was trying to accomplish.
We also stopped in North Powder and in Haines. The Haines Bar and Restaurant was a typical western establishment.
The temperature is rising. It was close to 100 degrees here today.


Day Eleven Baker City to Huntington
This was a short fast ride today. Part of the ride was on the Interstate 84 which was under construction. A few people had a hard time with the heavy volume of traffic, but there were no other roads through this canyon. Huntington is a poor dwindling town. We stayed at the “school” in town that has an enrollment of 88 students from K to 12. The welcome we received was a surprise. The people were excited to see their population increase by 30 % with the Tour stopping in their town. A few people work at the cement plant down the road. The others are retired or on welfare. When I tried to explain the purpose and cause of the tour one individual explained that poverty was right here in their community. Their church had moved out and had taken the town bell with them. This town also had a large Chinese community during the construction of the railway. One Lady pointed out the sign on the restaurant wall that stated, “White Help Only”, which meant that this was not a Chinese restaurant. Huntington too had an underground town below the town.

Day Twelve; Huntington to Ontario Friday July 1

Week 1 Through Washington

Day One;
We cycled in our “Safety Groups” after dipping our tires in the salty water of Puget Sound. Within five minutes we had to make emergency repairs to a poorly assembled bicycle.

Later a bicycle shop helped complete the repairs and we were on our way. Due to the range of cycling abilities we split the group into two. The range of abilities and the quality of the bicycles are extreme. The first day jitters with nerves on edge, created a few falls, but everyone made it through the first day. Nine flats in total for the group.

Day Two;
Tuesday was hot. I ended the day having traveled 130 km. Stevens Pass was a long hard climb. People seemed to move from group to group trying to find cyclists with similar levels of ability. The scenery in Washington State is similar to BC. It brought back many memoirs. After the summit of Stevens Pass the scenery changed and became more dessert like. Our group of seven ended the day with a speedy down the mountain ride to our next campout.

Day Three;
Levenworth to Ellensburg; (101.3 km)
Blewett Pass brings you into a whole new terrain. The grade was not as severe as the day before and even with the high temperatures the ride was very enjoyable.

Day Four;
Through Yakima Valley Canyon and on to Yakima City on day four. We started out having to wait for a skunk. Like a polite cyclist we gave it the right of way. We saw a number of deer and a couple of fawns along the river. The canyon road has very little traffic and the ride was enjoyable with a good group of cyclists from Iowa and Ontario. When we got to a small town on the way we were welcomed by signs welcoming one of our cyclists. We stopped for another “lunch” at a local restaurant before heading into camp.

Day Five;
We finally had a day of rain. It went well. By the time we got to Zillah the rain had subsided and rain jackets were left in the support vehicles. The Church in Zillah was out to welcome us with food and best wishes. Sunnyside was alive with fireworks for Independence Day. Food was served by the local church. Another good day, and time to sign off.