Day 4 - Last day for the Hansons

The team is fired up.  Great night last night with a fantastic dinner, skipping rocks on the river and falling asleep before 11:00 because missing the Moody Road turn costs us an extra 15 miles of riding and we are tired!  The goal today is to regain Cheryl’s confidence that yesterday was an aberration and we can, in fact, get to Portland ME.  On tap for today is a 58 mile ride that only includes TWO turns 1) to get onto HWY 14 and 2) into Crow Butte State Park.  Nothing can go wrong.  There is concern that the climb up to HWY 14 will be a killer but after what we have been through the first three days?  We will chew it up!

We had the delicious ceremonial breakfast sandwich, prepared the bikes and gathered all the gear.  Greg
was so confident in the weather forecast he opted out of the rain jacket and had to be talked into at least a long sleeve.  Aggressive move.  We have learned that I don’t have a waterproof jacket so I opted for the one I know fits.  I was confident enough in the sun to go with the dark glasses however. 

The hill up to HWY 14 was not what we had spent the first few days worrying about.  It was steep but not as long as I remember and before long we were heading East with clear skies ahead.  The ride itself was uneventful.  Not great riding as HWY 14 has rubble strips and though shoulder is wide, the pavement is terrible. 

Now the weather is another story.  The first 30 miles were perfect.  Partly cloudy, cool and dry.  We did notice a few ominous clouds up ahead but Google said no rain so we were still confident.  We took a break and felt a drizzle so we rested under a tree. Notice the self timer photo.  Creative use of some branches to set it up!

10 minutes later it was DUMPING rain.  Yesterday was pretty wet but it was warmer and we were off the main roads.  Today it was raining harder, it was colder and we had 18 wheeler zipping by us every few minutes hitting us with road grime infested spray.  It sucked big time.  The thing is, there is nothing to help yourself.  No trees, no mini-marts, no nothing.  Your only choice is to keep riding.  I kept thinking “I hope to see the C&K SAG wagon soon.”  After about 90 minutes with numb finger and toes and soaked to the bone it happened.  The C&K SAG wagon!  Never have I seen such a beautiful sight.  30 minutes to warm up, a change of clothes and a hot drink and we were good to go for the last 10 miles.

We rolled into Crow Butte SP and it occurred to us that we had past the 250 mile mark and we get to open the first milestone package the kids gave us!  We are at 304 which is 34 more than scheduled unfortunately (11% more).  At that rate, I’ll input 4061 miles.  I better improve my route planning!

The package included a delicious bottle of Pinot Noir and a T-shirt with “250 mi” printed on it.  What a creative and thoughtful gift!  Thank you!

We also realized that this ride was the last for Greg and he and Krissie will be heading back home this afternoon.  It is a sad thought, but we are so thankful that they joined us for the first 4 days.  We had so much fun!  The struggles on the ride, the ibuprofen, the laughs in the RV "buttering the biscuit" (inside joke).  It was a blast.  Greg, you are simply amazing to hang with me through all the sh**t we went through on the road.  Krissie, thanks for being Cheryl's partner.  We value and appreciate your friendship more than anything.

So now it is just the two of us as we continue east bound on HWY 14 to Wallua WA.  The weather is supposed to be amazing (but we’ve heard that before).

Until then……