Triple Century?

I spoke before about a nested century ride ... anytime you ride a 100 miles, there is a metric century, a hundred kilometers, embedded within it. In other words, you can't get to 100 miles without first riding for at least 62.5 miles. So two century rides today, both in one day. And actually, we could make that a dozen, because there were four of us on the ride, and we are a team.

We started from near Astoria with four riders, and we were taking bets on who would be the first to surrender to the reality of how tough it is to live on the road. My bets are on ... nobody dropping out! Everyone is riding so well, I'm starting to think we could well reach NYC in mid-August with the entire team intact.

How tough was today? From our summer-long itinerary, we had only two century days planned, but a slight change in course made today into a century as well. So it will have been the third longest ride of the summer. The day also included 4000 feet of climbing (and 200 feet more of descending), so we ended at a slightly lower altitude ... going from Walla Walla, Washington to Lewiston, Idaho. We will start correcting that altitude change tomorrow when we venture into the Rockies, headed eventually for Lolo Pass in three or four days. So, the third longest ride, the climbing-est ride of the entire trip, and temperatures climbing toward 100 (see, there's the third century). And we still averaged nearly 15 mph for the day!

Only one thing could make up for that ... a real bed, a hot shower, a home-cooked meal, all provided by the Legion Commander in Lewiston, Ivan Ulmer and his wife Shelly, along with their two young dachsunds, Beanie and Frankie. They have been extraordinarily generous, making the tiredness of a long hot hundred-mile day melt away, and making us anticipate the bliss of a good night's sleep before rolling down the hill in the morning to ride a slow, steady climb towards Kamiah.

My cell phone, while not really broken, found itself doing weird things as it was stashed in the back pocket of my cycling jersey, along with some road snacks. First, the phone posted something to Facebook, giving me the status of "Ooo." I didn't type that. Ignore it. I'm not in pain. But also, the phone's screen went so dim that I couldn't see it, and therefore, took no pictures.

What would the pictures have been? Ryan with a flat tire (first one on the road for the entire trip!!!). A large and vicious dog trying to chase me until I told it to "Go Home!" The dog put its tail between its legs, then chased from a safer distance of about 20 yards. Having lunch in the cemetery entering Pomeroy. And taking a rest break at the top of Alpowa Summit, on the Lewis and Clark Trail, before plunging down towards the Snake River, and the twin cities of Clarkston and Lewiston. You'll have to imagine those pictures, because, for the most part, they were not saved for posterity.

Alas, what is one to do? Guess we'll just have to keep riding, and hope the weather isn't as hot as the weatherman is predicting.