Day 3 Leavenworth to Ellensburg

Hi everyone. Camp was abustling at 5:30 again, so why not get up. Fred M and I wanted to be on the road by 7:30 as it was to be a "big" climb again today.

It was sunny right from the start. That was good as the previous evening it spat a bit and apparently there was a big shower in Leavenworth the day before. So we started off fairly warm and the climb started a few miles out (I'm starting to think miles now). The climb was long, about 20 miles, but not as steep as the day before. We started at 1000 feet and the peak was just over 4000. We stopped for brunch #1 at 9:30, a tuna sandwich, then proceeded to the peak. We passed into Wenatchee National Forest. We could really smell the pine trees. We were at the peak at by 10:30. There we had brunch #2, a tuna sandwich. Walter V was ready with the water again. The early part of the descent was nice and fast. Fred leaves me in the dust on the descents. We figure that's b/c he's got 60 lbs on me. He feels a gust, I feel a breeze. That means the head winds don't bother him as much, which we experienced a little later. Like yesterday, the winds go up the mountain, so sometimes it's a fair bit of work to get to 25 or 30 kph.
I got in a pace line for a while with some of the youngsters including Matt Z and Alex V from Taber AB (my birthplace)and Nathan Beach from Ann Arbor MI who later got a flat. Pace lines are great, and it's easy to tell who the strong riders are.

Later on we had another 500' climb over 5 k (3 mi). There was a nice view from the top. Then another 30 k (18 mi) into Ellensberg. There, the prevailing smell is that of hay. We got into camp at 1 PM, after stopping at the Fred Meyer in town for some eats. At camp, the temp was 97. That's pretty hot, and 2 long days in a row have me a little tired. But now it's 10:15 and am feeling alright. I had a little nap around 5 in front of my tent.

Today there were 2 wipe outs, including Dave T who wiped out biking back to town and received a few stitches on his forehead. Ouch. Only 5 flats today. Hilena Z set a new record with 7 bathroom breaks during the ride.

I finished with 97 k (58 mi), 4:25 min in the saddle, avg speed 22.1 k (13.2 mph)