We got up and were on the road by 6:40am We climbed until we reached Washington Pass at 11:30am. Tough climb with breaks every mile. I iced my knee in the snow a few times. Even though the ground is still covered with a thick layer of snow, the temperature reached 94. We filled up with water, took a few candid photos at the top and started the steep descent. I was freaking out, it literally felt like I was about to go over the first drop of a roller coaster, only I was the motor, the breaks and not fully strapped in. After the first ½ mile Matt had pulled off to take a pho
to and I told him I could not stop and he said, you must and so with a bit of courage I squeezed the breaks and slowly came to a halt, pulling the bike slightly off to the side so it wouldn’t continue to roll downhill. A flood of emotions came up and I started sobbing and shaking. I have never done anything like this before, and was scared to death, literally facing it as I looked over the edge. Once my nerves settled and the adjustment to the height, the grade and the other cars set in, I was ready to go. The horrifically beautiful view, I would have to ignore, because for the next 12 miles of descent I was highly focused on speed, balance and the white line in front of me. Any drift of my eyes and it would throw the entire trio off. We stopped every few miles to let our feet and hands regain blood flow. Having our entire bodies weight now thrust forward on our arms, and having to apply a steady pressure to the break, caused our hand muscles to weaken. Luckily we had very little traffic and almost no wind, however the steep grade with little shoulder and lots of switch backs had us testing our biking skills. To focus and calm my panic over the next hour, I began reciting a yoga mantra out loud with deep slow breaths. Once the grade became more manageable, our bikes flew downhill and I was able to peak to the right over the ridge and to the mountains beside me. We ended up stopping for a quick sandwich at a grocery/gas station/ motel for skiers that was all in one. We then biked the last 7.5 miles into a biker barn where we were able to camp in the back yard of Jim and Jan Gregg’s house. They had made a quiet oasis with a solar shower, a composting toilet and two friendly dogs. The Australian Shepard, Stout, came right up to me as I was passed out on the grass and woke me. He had just come out of cooling off in their pond and the wet fur and gentle eyes made me miss Cali and Lily. Jim said there was also a fridge/freezer we could use, which was a plus for the humira shot that I have to keep under 70’. Up until now I have been having to put the freezer pack in the rivers at night and dump snow in it to keep it cold enough with the days in the 90s. We ate an early dinner of ramen and were in bed by 8pm.
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