6/20/17 Ride C2C Day 3 Colonial Creek- Winthrop (over the Cascades)

Day #3. 6/20/17. Colonial Creek Campground to Winthrop
Miles: 62.5.  Total Miles:  166.5
Brutal climb right out of the campground, perfect conditions up to the top (2 tops actually), Strauss at the pass, and tail wind all day pushes us to Winthrop.

Today's ride:

Break camp 8:45am - Arrive Hotel 5:12 pm
Elevation Gain: 5378 feet
Tip of the day: Patience required

It rained a wee bit in the night, but the morning was mostly dry.  Ate a protein bar and then our peanut butter & nut bread goodie (and coffee).  

 We did 3 laps around the parking lot to “warm up” before hitting the brutal 1st climb of the day. Conditions were good - overcast skies that kept it cool with a little bit of drizzle. Simply said, it was a day of massive climbing. We had the prettiest snack spots next to creeks that you’d never stop at if you were in a car. We’d pull over, find a boulder, eat a snack and have a million dollar view. Of note: at 9:12am we had the first direct sun of our ride - felt so good!

In all, the day was 3 giant climbs - the first out of the campground. When climbing all day, you have a lot of time to think. We were going about 5-8mph up.

The second looongest climb was to Rainy Pass (elevation 4855). We started to count waterfalls and then for each number of falls, we reminisced about what we were doing when we were that many years old. For instance, at falls number 19 we shared what we were doing and where we were at that age. There were 31 falls in all… A lot of good times were reminisced. At the top we sat in the sun (and wind) and savored our delicious lunch of buttered bagel and chicken in a can (It's amazing how the simple things can taste so good).

Then 1 mile down and 4 miles up to Washington Pass (elevation 5477). In honor of the pass, Doug played Strauss on the mini-horn. Doesn’t everyone bring along a French horn on their bicycle adventures?

We bombed 21 miles down with hardly pedaling into Mazama - going 35 mph!  Stopped for a Gatorade and beef jerky snack at the store. We were blessed with a HUGE tailwind that pushed us at 20 mph for the final 13 miles into Winthrop (that’s almost unheard of - it's usually a headwind!). If you’ve never been to Winthrop, add it to your list of cute western towns with ice cream that you can eat (or in my case, coffee to drink) while on a saddle.

We splurged and stayed at the Duck’s Brand Hotel instead of camping. Took showers, washed our clothes in the bathtub, and went out for a much deserved beer and dinner. We end the day thoroughly tired, satisfied, and a little Hot, sunny, sunburnt.