6/24/17 Ride C2C Day 7 Riverside to Republic

6/24/17. Day 7 Riverside to Republic
Miles: 58. Total Miles: 316.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 3300 ft.
Temperature: 90’s +
Break Camp: 8:15am - arrive Republic around 4pm

First 17 miles a moderate climb then 25 miles all up in 90+ degree, no shade. Downhill (mostly) for the final 16 miles. And...the LOVE tub.

We leave our lovely tent site at Margies and hit HWY 20 north with a moderate climb to Tonasket, 17 miles away. We have a slight headwind, but nothing like the other day. It is a pretty route, through dry rolling hills of sage brush and tumbleweeds, with orchard farms where there is water. The shoulder on HWY 20 is good and traffic is light.

In Tonasket we have a snack (applesauce, peanuts, Gatorade) and the temperature is starting to rise. I swallowed something funny this morning so all day it feels like I have something stuck in my throat, Annoying.

Right out of Tonasket on HWY 20, the climb begins in earnest. Doug says “oh didn’t I tell you? We do this for 25 miles”. I am definitely feeling the climb and have low energy. Thankfully the 25 miles has some flat-ish spots to break up the UP. At some point we stop next to a stream and dunk our heads in the water to try to cool off. It immediately helps our heads to clear.

Lunch was a - delicious isn’t quite the the riget word - bagel with a can of chicken. With lovely condiment choices of mustard, mayo, or ketchup,

We finally reach Wauconda Pass (elevation 4310) at 2:30pm but there are too many bugs and mosquitos for any French horn playing.

We quickly hop on our bikes and are ready to be cooled by the downhill miles. Turned out it wasn’t quite all downhill so we arrived in Republic overheated and thirsty - we had run out of water at the end.

We couldn’t find the tent camping and I think Doug took one look at my beet red face and said “let’s get a motel with air conditioning”. I agreed - there was ONLY 1 room available between the 3 hotels and so we took it - the “honeymoon suite”. We were wondering what made it the honeymoon suite and that was clear when we entered the room. YES, we soaked in that heart shaped tub.

The market across the street was perfect for breakfast and snack supplies. We walked up the cute Main Street and had dinner at Freckles BBQ - OMG ...ribs, brisket, pulled pork, coleslaw, and deep fried hand dipped mushrooms. SO GOOD!

I’m super tired so we are calling it an early night