Due to a mechanical and the need to stop at Ride Bikes in Issaquah, we did not get started until 2 pm. As a bonus, it was raining! (Safety tip: don’t let someone else pack your bike when you fly in from Florida).

We started the ride during the promised rain break, which was supposed to be held until at least 8 pm.

The majority of this part of the trail is a dedicated bike path sans a couple of street segments. Most had ample shoulders, except for a couple of tight areas, just before entering Fall City. After Fall City, we got onto the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (SVT). The SVT is a former rail trail that is now a dedicated bike path all the way to Snoqualmie Pass (Hyak), except for a two-mile road ride after the Tokul Tunnel and a short connector path after Rattle Snake Lake.

Other than a slight but consistent rise all the way to the Snoqualmie Pass, there should not be a story to tell. Queue night and rain - 39F rain and a medical!

I am a fair-weather bike rider and can say I have never (in my adult life) ridden in the rain. What a time to change that!

It rained hard from 8 pm until we reached the Summit Inn at 12:30 am. Most who take on endurance events know you get to where you feel exhausted and must focus on simple, appealing, repetitive thoughts to make it through. As we rode up a dark pass in the 39F rain, I mentally mumbled, “Hot shower and pancakes,” over and over again since the Summit Inn is known for pancakes. But the Summit Inn had run out of propane, so cold showers and no pancakes it was! However, those are 1^st world adventurer problems, and I was just glad we made it….

Now, onto Day 2….without pancakes 🥞.

Day2: Snoqualmie Pass to Ellensburg

61.1 miles. 717ft up / 2,205ft down.

“The Mountains to the Valley”

When you look at the basic stats above, you will notice that this day was over 2,000 feet downhill. I will make the case, though, that despite less work on this day regarding peddling, it is still about “saddle time.” In preparation for this ride, I did not have enough “saddle time.” I did plenty of cardio but not nearly enough on the bike in “the saddle.” I would pay a price for that in the coming days.

And I was still trying to understand my medical and how saddle time may or may not be at fault (explained below – TMI!).

We started in the rain and were in a rush to get to Easton as a minimum, as that is where the rain was supposed to stop. I am glad the rain was light.

After some 45 years of driving on I-90 and looking across Keechelus Lake, riding a bike path and looking across the lake to I-90 was unique. But since this was Memorial Day Weekend and a Saturday, we moved faster than the cars as it was I-90 gridlock.

This day of riding was the most straightforward, with the bike trail leading directly from Snoqualmie Summit to Ellensburg. Every other day required hopping the path onto roads and back. Also, on this day, the bike trail most closely parallels I-90. Highlights of this day were the ride down through the mountains with frequent but short tunnels.

Also of note was the stop in Cle Elum. Since we got a late start on Day 1 and could not adequately “pancake fuel,” we had run short on food. We stopped at the Cle Elum Subway, and I inhaled a 12-inch meatball sub. I NEVER eat a full 12-inch sub, and I was surprised at the ravenous hunger that moving my legs all day created; imagine that…

Day 2 also involved the start of a theme that would continue for the rest of the ride, opening and closing gates. We passed through many areas of private farming and state restrictions requiring opening and closing gates – thank you farmers and the state for allowing us access!

May 25^th, 8:04pm. Look how much light is left. That is the Thorpe fruit stand sign in the distance, so we are now several miles out of the mountains and into the Valley. Queue Black Angus cows.

Also of note was the Thorp fruit stand, an irresistible stop for the ice cream and the fruit stand’s pure uniqueness. After decades of stopping by from the I-90 side, it was fun to approach it from the back, and the bike trail rolls right up to it. DO NOT be in such a hurry on this ride that you miss some amazing roadside stops, the Thorpe Fruit Stand being a great one.

This day, we ended with a night-based arrival at our Ellensburg hotel. It turns out that night riding would dominate the next three days….and unexpectedly, we learned to like it *sortof* 🙄.

Day3: Ellensburg to Othello

80.6 miles. 2,494 ft up / 2,944 ft down.

“Down to the beauty of the Columbia and then into rural isolation.”

This day was defined by its length (81 miles) and its wild variety in trail type and experience.

Highlights:

The long climb up out of Ellensburg.

The old rail-road bridge trail crossing over I90.

Riding (barely) through pure sand just before starting down toward the Columbia.

The properly closed Boylston tunnel, which we went into anyway.

The post-Boylston tunnel muddy jungle.

The over 15-mile, 2000-foot drop down into the Columbia.

Hitting pointy-sharp fallen Basalt rocks riding through Basalt columns on the way to the Columbia (should we bring an extra tire next time just in case?)

The half dozen hours of isolation where we did not see another soul.

The stunning beauty of the ride down toward the Columbia.

The awe and visual expanse of crossing the Columbia on a bridge dedicated to bike riders and walkers.

The Beverly Chihuahua attack squad! 😲

The welcome water and “road food” of Schwana, while staring up at the stunning canyon walls of the Columbia.

The flat plains between Beverly and Othello.

The mosquito breeding grounds of Lower Crab Creek!

The peaceful isolation of the rural farms along the way to Othello.

And then, the route-finding challenges during the last four hours in the pitch black (overcast) with just our bike lights.

And finally, the 1 am gorging on well-earned “road food” at the Othello Chevron.

Of note were the mosquitos – my god. Just a couple of miles past the two new Crab Creek bridges, during dusk, we were hit by waves and waves of mosquitos. Seriously, it was right out of a cheap Netflix movie. Right at the moment when we were swamped by them, the trail had a Y that went onto a paved part of the Lower Crab Creek Road Southwest, just before Smyrna. So, we jumped right onto the street and road fast. I looked down, and there were dozens still all over my arms. So I started thrashing about, like on a FailArmy video and went as fast as my 2.4-inch tires would allow. That did it, but they swarmed every time we slowed for the next hour. I can’t imagine getting a flat or mechanical in the middle of that mosquito swarm. If you plan to ride this portion at dusk - bring a flame thrower.

Despite some great advice about avoiding State Route 26, we felt that since it was 11 pm on Memorial Day weekend, we could take Route 26 the last 10 miles into Othello and be just fine. With well-lit bikes and facing the oncoming lane with the few cars we saw coming, we would shift to the right every time a car came. Although many would disagree, this worked out well for us. At this point in the ride, some 70 miles in, I was just burned out and welcomed the road over another gravel trail in the pitch black of almost midnight. We entered State Route 26, where it meets West Gillis Road.

The new Beverly Bridge over the Columbia River.

Day 4: Othello to Ritzville

64.8 miles. 3,051 ft up / 2,268 ft down.

“Into the heart of Washington farmland.”

The Othello to Ritzville ride was defined by 4 core things:

1^st: The Farmland. A large part of this day's ride was through farmland, beautiful farmland. I had grown up working on my uncle's farm in Canada during summers, so this was a blast to my past. But I suspect some people might struggle with how flat and bland this first part of the ride could be, considering the stunning scenery of mountains in days past.

2^nd: The highways. The bike path took a significant hit on many sections here, as many were just demented rock gardens (see my section about gravel paths below). So, the majority of this day was riding on highways.

Endless no-shoulder highways are not a problem “IF” there are limited cars. And there were very limited cars *thankfully*

3^rd: The HILLS. This day was over 3,000 feet of altitude gain. The tradeoff of taking the highway is that highways are not built with the same 1-2 percent grade that the bike paths are since bike paths came from railroad-grade engineering. At one point, we hit 39.2 miles per hour on a steep downhill on the way into Lind just on gravity alone. I am not afraid to say we walked up a few of those (steep) hills. But again, one of the BIG tradeoffs of taking the road vs. the bike trail is the hills.

4^th: The most concerning was the lack of food and water past Warden. Warden has a fantastic general store with everything! (And a Subway with 12-inch meatball subs!). But beyond that, nothing reliable until Ritzville. (Lind was closed due to the Memorial Day Weekend. Depending on when you hit Lind, there may be options in ‘downtown Lind’ via Jim’s Market, but forum posts note that the hours can be variable. So, it is best to plan for no water at Lind).

Although our water supply was still at 50% when we hit Lind, we did the “beg for water” routine by asking a resident if she could fill our water. She gave us water filled with ice – thank you, Lind!

I will cover this in the Hwy section, but after trying the bike trail after Warden, we backtracked and took the Lind Warden Road into Lind (it started flat and then massive HILLS!).

From Lind, we took something masquerading as a “bike trail” 😊, for 6 miles, and then took Hiller Road North and then Dead East to Ralston. Darkness started just before Hiller Road, somewhere around the gate requiring a combination. At that point we ran into someone participating in the XWA, who smartly pitched camp while we stumbled off in the near pitch black.

Then, at Ralston, we shifted off the trail onto WA 261. This leads us directly north on the final 10 miles into Ritzville. The WA 261 section was at midnight, so there were almost no cars. Being used to the mountains, it was nice to see off in the distance during this part of the ride and see the lighting.

The “other Scott” and I agree it has been years since we had been this exhausted, mentally and physically. There were some hills left on the way into Ritzville and we again opted to walk a few of them, trying to stay awake.

This day, there was far more time on highways than on the trail.

Day 5: Ritzville to Cheney

65.1 miles. 2,480 ft up / 1,990 ft down.

“Washington agriculture into endless rolling, rocky plains of cow pastures.”

The most significant change about this day was how little we were on the trail. Of the 65 miles we road today, only about 14 were on the trail. We had become comfortable with both the low-utilized highways and riding at night, so there was ample of both on this day.

The day also competed with the ride down to the Columbia for its sheer beauty. Day 3 from Ellensburg to Othello wins hands down when it comes to total beauty and variety, but today would win on raw beauty. Today was endless, rolling, fertile green, rocky plains and cows – LOTS of cows.

This was also a very water-scarce day, perhaps worse than yesterday (Day 4). You must get water behind Lamont High School or be ready to “water beg” along the way. But even if you do plan to water beg, there are limited homes and farms along the way.

Once again, we also experienced the blissful isolation we didn’t know we needed. As we are both busy professionals and engaged family men in people oriented jobs, it was special to be this isolated, surrounded by endless nature as far as the eye could see.

I took this picture just because it was so rare to see a structure in the distance.

A shotgun blast to a no-hunting sign – you gotta love rural people!

And there was no way we were getting all the way from Seattle to Spokane without at least one flat!

We all know that pictures do not do a view justice. We saw a part of Washington state that we didn’t even know existed.

A long-abandoned one-room schoolhouse was looking over the valley. I would love to be a time traveler, as this building has stories to tell.

Endless miles of cow pastures in rocky rolling hills and the occasional farm

13 miles from Cheney, we once again went off the trail (in the dark) and picked up W Pine Springs Rd. We took that several miles and then turned left (mostly north) onto S. Mulinix Rd. We then stayed on that road all the way into Cheney. Like the other times we took the highway over the trail, we encountered many hills.

At one point, I wanted to get back on the trail, and we tried but found ourselves on a highway above a trail tunnel, so had to stick with the highway.

See the elevation map graphic above. This is the best example of railroad light-grade bike trails vs. the roads. On this day, we were only on the trail for 7 miles. See how smooth and mild that section is vs the road. Stay on the trail if you want to avoid the significant up and down of the hills.

11:55PM and the only place open in ALL of sleepy Cheney is the Taco Bell drive-through…er, I mean “ride through”.

To log it here since this day was a mess of different “roads” here is the route: From Ritzville, Briefly 261 headed south, then East Weber Road, Klein Road, Hills Road, Heineman Road, Hills Road, Urquhart Road, Harder Road, Mc Call Road, Lamont Road, State Highway 23, Stoner Road, Swift Road, Cree Road North, Williams Lake Road East and then onto to the Columbia Plateau Trail for roughly seven miles, then off the trail to West Pine Spring Road, to South Mullinix Road, West 1st Street into Cheney and then West Betz Road to our hotel.

Day 6(sort of optional): Cheney to Spokane

16 miles. +484 ft / -597 ft

There should not have been a Day 6, as it was only 16 miles downhill on concrete to Spokane so this was supposed to be part of Day 5. However, we had a problem with our room in Spokane, and “the other Scott” graduated from EWU, so we made the stop in Cheney. But this created extra time to be Jackasses along the way as this was barely over an hour ride into Spokane.

Since maps are generally 2D and roads are hilly while the bike path is railroad grade with very gentle hills, you can find yourself “above” the bike path based on a 2D map. Here, we are looking down on the bike path to Spokane as we are on the road above it.

Here is being a jackass and hiking down to the adjacent railroad tracks so we can get to the bike path instead of just backtracking all the way through Cheney to the start of the trail.

Did I hear a train? – Seriously, I did!! This is not proper adulting….

And off the tracks and onto Spokane it was. But don’t go onto the train tracks like a Jackass as if this went poorly it gives a bad reputation to users of these trails. My respectful apologies (sort’of) for what turned out to be a fun side adventure 😏.

Look at that sky! I miss clouds as in the Seattle area we almost always have 100% overcast 6 months out of the year.

Day 7(optional): Bothell to Issaquah

26 (52) miles. +980 ft / -917 ft

Day 7 was another fully optional day. Since we missed riding from Bothell to Issaquah because of the original mechanical, we made it up on our return to the Seattle area. But it is only 26 miles on flat concrete and was originally intended to be added on the front of Day 1. Of course, for us, it was 52 miles as we also road back to Bothell. And although on concrete, my muscles were sore by this point *whew*

Thank you!!!

It may seem a bit dramatic, but this was an incredible adventure, and the “other Scott” and I feel gratitude for having this chance, so we want to share thanks. We are not regular ‘hardcore’ bike riders and have been getting on “in years,” so completing this ride was a big deal for us.

Thank you, particularly to our wives Candis and Dena, for giving us this time and supporting us in what you both think was another kooky undertaking. We made it, and we “almost died” only once 😊.

Thank you to our friends Pat and Andy, who agreed to bail us out if we had to quit anywhere along the trail. Having you as a backup really helped. And knowing you would probably razz us if you had to pick us up motivated us to not want to call you, so we were motivated to complete it 😊.

Thank you to the “other Scott” for always coming up with new adventures. My life would not be as interesting without you. Safer, much safer, yes 😊, but not as interesting.

Troy Hopwood. Troy is well known in the WA biking community for organizing the Cross Washington Ride (XWA). In doing so, he has mapped out various routes. We used his XWA Lite V1.3 route map to get us off the XWA trail on a path to Ritzville. Then, we used his XWA Lite V1.7 for the path from Ritzville back to the trail. We used a good deal of his full XWA route overall. Thank you, Troy!

Joe Korbuszewski. Joe published and maintains a blog that is a must-read if you are doing this ride with some magazine-level quality pictures. (I dig the socks, Joe). https://washingtongravelriding.home.blog/tag/palouse-to-cascades-trail/

Chantale Burke, Scott McVeigh, and ZSUN Racers on Zwift. During bad Seattle weather I got in shape racing on Zwift. I have the best race team on Zwift!

Thank you to this forum on Facebook: . I would not have been able to complete this ride had I not had their input; seriously, I would not have made it. If you are committed to this ride, you must absorb the experience and knowledge found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/355582289627913

RidewithGPS. What a stunningly good mapping tool RidewithGPS is! I rarely find one so good, and I am all in on paying the total price. Thank you, RidewithGPS.

https://palousetocascadestrailmaps.com/ I didn’t use their maps but reading this site helped greatly.

Scott X 3. This picture is outside of ‘Ride Bicycles’ in Issaquah. Here are the two “ride Scotts” and the Scott that fixed our mechanical on Day 1, making Scottx3. Thank you, Ride Bicycles. We know your work was backed up, but you fixed our problem at the last minute so we could start the ride.

Total STATS from RidewithGPS.

403 miles (649 kilometers) (including varied rides around Spokane and our return to Bothell).

14,211 ft (4,332 meters) of vertical altitude gain.

11,978 ft of altitude drop.

Again, there was more altitude in our version of this ride since we often choose highways over the gentler sloped bike path.

Highways also gave as slightly more mileage. If you stick purely to the trail, you will have less mileage and less altitude gain (probably around 340-360 miles total). But you will lose a few dental fillings as you bounce around on the “gravel”.

The Budget Bike “leap of faith.”

I did this ride on a $300 Craigslist special. One of the unintended consequences of taking advice from experienced bike riders is that almost all of them are in a place where they have higher-end bikes. Their very well-intentioned advice, which I have benefited from greatly, often comes with the implication that the more you spend on bike gear – the better. However, I believe that is true when climbing out of entry-level (Walmart) gear. And….once you start hitting “better” components, I don’t believe the more money is better concept still applies. I know MANY bike riders that go on long bike rides with their multi-thousand-dollar bikes and have mechanicals and failures. Likely not as many, and likely in different ways, but still. I am not saying that since I was able to do this ride on a budget used bike, riding low-end bikes hundreds of miles is ok. What I am saying is that you can get a hell of a good used bike nowadays. I have bought multiple cheap bikes of fantastic quality and performance and have limited bike knowledge. Budget bike selection is a journey you will have to go on yourself as you navigate the well-intentioned but often conflicting advice from professionals and hardcore bike riders.

Going on a multi-day bike ride into remote areas is a “leap of faith.” Taking that leap on a low-end bike or a high-end bike still involves the same leap of faith. I would just hate to see anyone miss out on this incredible adventure since they have been told you need a multi-thousand-dollar bike – you don’t.

When I did this before – 43 years ago!

In 1981, I went on this ride with my good friend Tom just after we graduated high school. However, that was a Spokane to Seattle ride with road bikes on Hwy2. Not many pictures have survived over the years. My main memory of this ride was the thrill and risk of doing such a long ride in an analog world where we couldn’t just refer to a phone to solve our problems. Tom and I were on our own; in this case, we were camping along the way. And I have an unfortunate ugly memory of cars passing us, sometimes within inches, and drivers sometimes screaming for three days straight – that sucked. Those cars passing so close put me off riding for thirty years. In my early 50s, I started hearing about all these rail trails, so I didn’t have to ride on the road! And back into biking, I have been, which lead me to this ride again.

And I hate to admit it, but we hit those strong West-to-East headwinds just before the pass, and we bailed and hitchhiked to the top! (Hitchhiking was a thing in 1981). But I feel redeemed as I have ridden over the pass, some 43 years later.

Other Considerations

You thought I talked a lot above; wait!

12 Chihuahuas and a Rottweiler

There is an important consideration when thinking about riding your bike through some rural and remote areas. People living in these areas, whether by design or circumstance, like to live according to their own rules. I saw many examples of this. The cutest and scariest event was probably in Beverly, just east of Columbia. Riding south through Beverly is almost required as it gets you to Schwana, the only place to get supplies in the 80-mile ride. As I rode through Beverly, every home “released” 1 to 2 Chihuahuas. They just kept coming, house by house, Chihuahuas of all ages and sizes, until there were over a dozen. I love Chihuahuas, and they were working hard to get to me, and they were “amgrified” I was in their neighborhood. But I was just grinning with the “Chi Attention”. Until they called in the reserves, and a full-sized Rottweiler showed up to try to knock me off my bike. The unusual part of the Chihuahua attack squad was that I did not hear a single dog parent yell out to stop their dogs. After all, I was in “their space,” and that is just the way things worked there. As a coastal city kid who has experienced evolved leash laws, I have not seen a dog chase a car or bike in 30 years. But it happened multiple times on this trip, starting with an aggressive German Shepard in the burbs of Ellensburg that got “scary close.” That may not sound like that big of a deal but there were more incidents. Like the two boats sitting out in WA plains two dozen miles from civilisation, with no water anywhere and no boat trailer. They were sitting at an angle, awkwardly balanced on their keels. Sitting there like they were sailing in the dusk evening…. It was a disorienting sight. There was no home anywhere, just two full boats (one was reasonably high-end) and a beat-up Jeep with threatening warning signs all over it. That person, whoever they are, is in their environment, one of their making. We were just passing through, and pass through quickly we did as I did not need that person's world and ours to interact.

Why this route?

We were “credit card bike touring,” meaning using hotels. Past Ellensburg hotels become sparse. And past Othello, they don’t exist along the bike trail until past Idaho, so you must make extra mileage to get to Ritzville. What you see in this write-up is planned based on having to get to a pre-paid hotel each evening.

Water and weather

You have control of so much going into a ride like this. However, other than the essential selection of ride date, weather and temperature will be more random. For this ride, it was raining off and on for the first two half days. We had the right rain gear but limited experience riding in the rain, and in a post-mortem review, we agreed we should have practiced riding in the rain. But after the rain stopped, the weather and temperature were near perfect!!! Cool and low 60s to high 50s F. It was often overcast, protecting us from the sun with a strong tailwind for most of the final three days. And with the water scarcity on this trail, I would hesitate to do it in the summer months unless you are well acclimated to the heat.

I carried 4 liters of water, and in a crunch – I likely could have made it through any of these days with that, considering the cool weather and cloud cover protecting me from direct sunlight. No way could I have made it on 4 liters in hotter weather or dealing with a medical or complicated mechanical problem. Plan accordingly to manage the water challenges.

This was Othello weather five weeks after we completed our ride, when a rider on the bike forums noted they had to call a friend to come pick them up. Unless you are an athlete who is well heat acclimated, you don’t want to mess with heat like this while being in the “middle of nowhere desert”. Washington is called the Evergreen state. And yes, we have LOTS of trees, and love them. But part of the middle part of this huge state is desert!

B L O O D * eeekkkk - TMI Warning ***

Somewhere past Rattlesnake Lake, headed up the pass, in the dark and 39F rain, I started to get severe hip pain. It radiated throughout the region – a region I have since learned is called the “Pelvic Floor.” I ignored it as I still had energy and wanted to get to a warm shower in Hyak. When we were about halfway up the mountain, we took a break, and I peed blood! …LOTS… …and it hurt! It would have been the same amount of time to get back to Issaquah as it was to continue to Hyak, and other than horrible hip pain, I was doing ok. But I had to “go” a lot, and it was still red – UGH! The symptoms never worsened, but they didn’t improve, and we made it to Hyak, and I decided to sleep on it. On the morning of Day 2, we tried to find a clinic (good luck in Hyak) and decided to continue to Ellensburg, where at least there would be more services. Slowly, the symptoms dissipated, but not until about the middle of Day 3. After extensive blood tests upon my return with no indications of problems, my doctor felt like this was extreme dehydration or a kidney stone. And this fit because once this problem started I embraced water and electrolytes like they were oxygen, and I believe it made a difference. I have had a past history of dehydration, but never this bad.

The moral of this story is that M and M. At any point on an isolated rural ride, you can have a medical or a mechanical. I am glad my medical was somehow not critical, although at the time it felt like it! I can see a situation in hotter weather where it could have been…

Gravel Trails or Basalt Death Cookies…

Let me start this way for any of you who are used to riding in the greater Seattle Puget Sound area. Around the Sound, we are blessed with an amazing set of bike paths. But most are paved or hardpack. Look at how people commonly refer to hardpack. They commonly call it gravel, but hardpack is closer to concrete. True gravel can be found on the Duvall to Rattlesnake Lake trail, but a good deal of it is also hardpack. “True loose gravel” doesn’t fully start until you hit Northbend. But NONE of these give you a feel for the wild bouillabaisse of trail types you will experience crossing the state! This ride goes from pure sand above the Columbia to what I can only call an “extended demented rock garden.” The trail immediately outside of Lind – what is that?! “The other Scott” came up with the name “basalt death cookies” to describe the trail-embedded, sharply pointed, potentially tire or flesh tearing Basalt shards we road across on our way down into the Columbia. I say this with respect for what it takes to maintain these trails, and my thank you to the state, counties, cities and private citizens for maintaining these trails. But depending on the time of year, maintenance cycles, and recent use (horse teams just after a rain), you will encounter “gravel variants” as you have never seen before. So, it's not always gravel, or at least not the gravel you are likely used to. In places it is a rough ride – enjoy!

“New Cool” unlocked.

There was something amazing about waking up in a hotel, in a generally isolated area, and looking over and seeing my bike. And knowing I had gotten there 100% by pedaling. I will never forget how “cool” that felt 😎.

I have traveled extensively due to work and since my wife is a flight attendant. During my hundreds of hotel visits, I would always leave the hotel for a rental car, taxi, or friend pickup. But to leave via bike?! – very cool.

Night Riding

We rode the last third of the ride in the dark for four of the five days. Almost half of our ride from Ritzville to Cheney was in the dark. We knew we might ride " some " in the dark, so we were somewhat prepared. But if I had known we would ride this much in the dark, I would have had more light sources and backups. Unfortunately, our mechanical on Day 1 started us late. And then calling doctors and trying to find a clinic on Day 2 due to my medical continued our “late trend.” We had to continue in the dark since we had prepaid hotel rooms and nothing to camp with. And every day the ride became more and more rural, so it was the need to get to our hotels or snuggle up with the rattlers.

With all that said, the dark created an almost second type of ride. The 1^st type of ride is what we expected, with stunning vistas and a never-ending variety of things to look at, both urban and nature-based. The day part of the ride was a JOY – every day. The 2^nd type of ride is when the night closed in and forced us to focus. We no longer had the ease of just “looking around” to understand where we were—night meant more caution. I swear there was a section 15 miles out from Othello that I almost road off a sheer dropoff just because I looked away from my narrow headlight beam for a moment *ugh*. But that is the trick of night riding. Was that a dropoff, or just odd shadows from our headlights….? However, the night riding was curiously fun; it had mystery, isolation, and a mood all its own. During the night, I felt like our communication had to improve as we could not take for granted the ease of “just seeing ahead” to the next part of the trail. And during the day, you miss out on conversations such as, “Those coyotes sure sound closer.” “Yes, and it sounds like there are more now, also.” 😁

Front shock and such – Buffering the bump of the “rock gardens.”

A debate rages on the bike travel forums about the value of having a front shock and the tradeoff around the extra weight. Consider me in the front shock camp – 100%. Do you run in the age group where you are familiar with the word arthritis and its varied forms? Perhaps neck arthritis like me – front shock! Although I poo-pooed the idea of running tubeless tires so they could be run at low PSI, I would strongly consider that in my next cross-state ride because of how it would “soften the gravel” on this trail. I suspect tubeless, low PSI tires will buffer away the advantages of a shock, as I see many experienced riders choose no front shock but low PSI-tubeless tires. However, a front shock was somewhat of a budget and ease-of-use choice for me, and I was glad I had it, but better bike configurations are clearly out there. Check your spinal health and core fitness when thinking about a smooth ride.

Hotels

Snoqualmie Pass: The Summit Inn. Not a lot of choices there. And the Summit Inn has great pancakes (I hear!). Recommended (when they have propane).

Ellensburg: Econo Lodge. Small rooms, small beds and half the things in the room didn’t work! (Including no soap or shampoo), + twice the price of the others on this list. Not recommended, but that is OK, as Ellensburg has lots of choices.

Othello: Othello Inn and Suites. 1950s-style motor inn from the outside (initially concerning). But updated in a purposeful, warm, clean, modern style on the inside. This was my favorite hotel. Recommended.

Ritzville: Days Inn. Corporate chain type, reliable and clean. We spent some time with Toni, the manager, and she gave us high-quality leftovers from breakfast, which turned into the best trail lunch ever; thank you Toni! Recommended.

Cheney: Holiday Inn Express and Suites. On paper, the best features and furnishings with an overall rich appearance room. But nothing special. Recommended.

Lobby walk. Be aware that some hotels require the “lobby walk,” meaning you have to walk through a lobby to rooms accessed from the inside (often, these are higher-end hotels and considered more secure). The concern is that some hotels may object to bringing your bikes into the room as the Summit Inn did. That was understandable as our bikes dripped mud as we rolled in from a muddy dirt ride in the rain. So, we cleaned them and got permission to put our bikes in the room - begrudging permission. We also had to do the lobby walk in the Ritzville and Cheney hotels. We got extended stares but no objections. If concerned, stick with the motor inns with room access from the outside.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites, Cheney.

And an important note. We did this on bikes. We did not use electric-powered vehicles with two wheels. Nothing is wrong with that, just making note of it. I might eventually buy an electric-powered vehicle with two wheels, but I will resist that as long as I can, and hopefully, that is what helps me also resist aging.

Contact: I love to talk about everything and anything related to bike touring and endurance activities or just healthy aging through fitness. Feel free to reach out to my email or to tell me whether this blog is excellent or sucks: scott-clark@outlook.com

Or, I am a frequent reader and contributor on this forum; you can reach me here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/355582289627913

Dork with a water bottle

And finally, this LONG blog is over.

And I leave you with the badly placed water bottle award of the year!