I rode only 36 miles today (Wed. 7-10), from Ione to Colville, WA (pop. 4,673), but it felt like I had run a marathon when I was done–heat and climbing took their toll. In addition to the physical challenge, I was also quite concerned for the duration of the ride about a rotational noise my rear wheel was making that I eventually diagnosed as a problem with several loose spokes. I first noticed this yesterday, and it seemed to be getting worse. More about that at the end of this post…

About three miles outside of Ione, I turned onto Hwy 20, the longest highway in the State of Washington. Hwy 20, also known as the North Cascades Highway, is now what I will be on for the rest of my journey across the state. The steep climb I faced for the first five miles on it today were a sobering reminder of the mountain passes I will be encountering in the coming days. I was climbing almost nonstop for about an hour and a half on switchbacks with hairpin turns. Thankfully, this climb came early this morning, when it was still relatively cool. It was 95 degrees by the time I reached Colville shortly after noon, and eventually reached 103 degrees. I didn’t set any speed records today, but I stayed hydrated and stayed out of the way of the logging trucks.

Shortly before getting to Hwy 20, I met Jeff from Colorado, hauling a trailer behind his bike, a 10-year-old Surly. Jeff had started his trip in Anacortes using the Northern Tier Adventure Cycling maps, but he’s not planning on crossing the country. I’m not sure what his ultimate destination is, but he told me he’s ready to be done with the mountain passes he’s had to traverse traveling across Washington. I talked with Jeff about the issue with my spokes. He said he’s not a bike mechanic, but he is an engineer, and he felt it would be important to address this soon, especially with the mountain passes I have coming up.

Several times on this trip, I’ve seen signs warning “motorcyclists” of loose gravel. Motorcyclists aren’t the only two-wheeled vehicles on the road, and loose gravel is also quite a hazard for someone on a bike. Although its warning was not a cheery one, I was glad to finally see a sign recognizing that roads are used by cyclists.

I had a difficult time finding an opportunity for a photo showing how high the climb was. This was my attempt to do so when I was about a third of the way up.

And this was what the road looked like when it finally flattened out. There were three moderately challenging (especially in the heat) climbs the rest of the way into Colville, but it was mostly downhill.

About halfway through the ride, I came across Crystal Falls and got off my bike to take a look. There was no one else at the Falls, so there was no noise at all other than the sound of the waterfall. I felt just a little bit more composed seeing all that rushing water on this very warm day.

These weeds have a front row seat for viewing the Falls.

As I was coming into Colville, Chris rode up alongside me and we chatted for a bit. Coincidentally, Chris was wearing a jersey for the bike shop I was headed to. Chris is originally from Shakopee, MN. He attended college in Missoula, and stayed out west, where he’s lived for 30 years. He said he likes living in an area where the snow falls vertically, not horizontally.

Matt, the owner of Adventure Peddler Bikes & Boards, dropped what he was doing to take a look at my bike. He test-rode the bike both before and after working on it. He tightened the loose spokes and re-trued my wheel, and said it is not uncommon to need to do this after breaking in a new wheel (I had the rear wheel replaced when I was in Columbia Falls, MT). I really appreciated the quick attention!

Matt and I also talked about the route I will be taking, and he gave me some information about the grade of the climbs I have ahead of me, the status of wildfires near Winthrop, WA (which is on my route for next week), and weather predictions for the area (hot for the foreseeable future, though the highs will decline to the low 90s by this weekend).

I have a short ride to Kettle Falls, WA (pop. 1,595) tomorrow, my last stop before I face the dreaded Sherman Pass on Friday.