Bicycling for a better life
Ride to Ellensburg in One Day
Riding in August
My previous ride was a month earlier, in July and in the middle of the week. I only met two other cyclists, and two horse riders. In August, it seems a lot of people took their vacation to ride the trail. Most start at the top and ride down, west. I must have met twenty or thirty people riding down. Once I got past Hyak on the eastside, however, I didn't see another soul until Easton.
Well I failed. I didn't do it in one day, I didn't make it. As luck would have it I tried it on the hottest day of the year. I also decided to start from home which added 30 miles to the trip. I expected about 120 miles. But I was feeling it before I got to the tunnel, about 50 miles. Not only was it hot but I had a headwind. The wind was so strong that when I got to the tunnel, standing 200 feet away the air from the tunnel made it feel like I was in a meat cooler.
On the other side of Snoqualmie Pass it is pretty desolate, at least from the point of view of the trail. I don't know what I would have done if I couldn't continue, I don't think I knew enough where I was to give anyone directions to find me. So I kept pushing myself to get to Easton.
I stopped at the little store in Easton and had a bottle of water, a bottle of Gatorade and a popscicle (there was only one popscicle left, but someone told me I looked like I needed it). That was on top of the two gallons of water I drank along the way. But I couldn't recover. I was cramping up horribly and very painfully. I had ridden 80 miles so far and decided there was no way I could go another 40 miles - that was the end. I rode to Lake Easton State Park, took a shower and waited for my ride.
I felt sick the entire night. I tried to drink and eat but it didn't seem to help much. My entire body was cramping up and I was very tired. Whenever I would yawn my jaw would lock up in a cramp - oh the pain! The next morning I found my weight was down ten pounds. It took a couple of days for me to get back to somewhat normal.
I'll try it again, but it just shows how vulnerable we can be and we should always be prepared for the unexpected.
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