Miles biked for the day: 41
Total miles to date: 3,017
Cyclist passed: 5
After talking with my host for the evening, Janine, she asked if her boyfriend Paul could join me for the Mt. Sherman Pass. I exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? Heck yeah he can join me for my biggest climb!" I met Paul at 9:30 at a junction and went spent the entire day together. Paul is a true avid cyclists and has competed in all sorts of bike competitions and loves being on the bike as much as I do! It was a 22 mile climb that day bringing us to the summit at 5,575 feet.
In the middle of the climb I saw a truck pulled off the side of the road and as we approached the truck a man stepped out of the truck. I could not believe my eyes, it was my friend Roger from Ski For Light. He had been tracking my blog and snuck away from work to surprise me! I had no idea he worked in that area of Washington and had no clue he was planning to meet up with me. We made plans for later that evening to meet up for dinner.
Paul and I had 5 miles of the climb left when the temperatures dropped to 50 degrees and significant rain began. The rain actually felt good since we were working so hard climbing, although I was worried about Paul because he did not have any rain gear and we had a 20 mile descent ahead of us. When we summited I changed to step into dry clothes and put my rain gear on and could offer Paul nothing since he would not fit in my clothes. I felt toasty to begin the downward journey and I wish I could say the same for Paul but it was a chilly ride for him.
We made it to the town of Republic, took care of showers, laundry and had a celebratory beer just in time for Roger to turn up. He took Paul and I out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had such a nice time chatting with Roger since we typically do not have much of a chance to socialize at the Ski For Light event. What a great surprise he pulled off!
My abode for the evening was an adorable yurt which sat in front of Janine and Paul's house. I even had my own wood burning stove.
Thanks for the nice write-up! You helped get the cycling motivation up and I did a 105-mile ride, including Wauconda to Tonasket, that next Friday!
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