Thou Shalt Not Steal

Wednesday, June 11th. We awoke early-ish. About 8 o'clock. We both showered and got cleaned up. We had a hearty breakfast with Jerry and Kathy. Jerry had an eye appointment in Levenworth, a small Bavarian (German of some sorts I do believe) community that's really cute and fun. Since Jerry was already heading into town, he offered us a ride- which would had also cut 15 miles off our daily commute. While I felt skeptical... I mean, we should bike it... our poor mileage the days prior made me feel inclined to accept. So we accepted.

Jerry gave us the scenic tour and I must say the area around there is simply gorgeous. I think I've seen few places more beautiful than the Washington Cascades.

The view going into Levinworth.

We decided to make this trip a bit of a detour. Josh and myself had decided due to my high frequency of flats (for those not counting 4 in the first 2 days) I needed new tires. So we scoured the local bike shops of Levinworth to get some satisfactory assistance. The first was a joke and not worth our time, but the second was extraordinary. It was a little store called "Der Sportsman" which I can only assume means "The Magical Bike Store That Can Fix Anything" in German. This was without a doubt the best bike store experience I had. They helped me pick out the right tires, a pair of biking gloves (bye bye duct tape gloves!) and even helped me pick out a new seat. This is a big deal- every other store just gave me their "opinion" on the best seat. Der Sportsman showed me what makes a seat good, bad, and fitting a specific seat to me. And let me tell you- my ass has never felt so good on a bike.

So anyway, I got new puncture resistant tires (100$), new gloves (30$) and a new bike seat (100$). I feel like I bought other stuff, but I blew a cool 275 in about an hour. Ya know, money I don't have.

So with a fresh pair of tires and a high amount of confidence we left town, with the wind to our backs! And two miles down the road..... flat tire. Wow. What are the odd with brand new tires? So we put a new tube in and another two miles down the road... flat tire. Are you f'ing kidding me?!?

So I tell Josh to wait where he was and I bike back into town to discuss this with my local bike friends. Well, they were baffled. The puncture holes were from inside the tire, near the rim, not out where the tire is. Odd. Anyway we had no explanation and changed the tire and I'm off. Again! Two miles down the road, flat tire. Something must be wrong. So the people from the bike shop pick me up and upon further investigation, they discover the tape that keeps the sharp spoke holes from rubbing on the tubes was lose, and causing my tubes to pop upon inflation. Finally, problem solved, and many thanks to those at Der Sportsman, especially Eric.

Eric fixing my tires. Eric, you're the freaking man. Give him a raise.

So we get back on the road, and another two miles down the road what do I realize? Well hot damn- I forgot my wallet at the bike shop. One more trip back and forth! I have the best of luck on this trip. So what did we learn from all this? Do NOT cheat on cycling mileage. I might had gotten a free 15 miles from the ride into town, but I made up for it all by biking back and forth so many times. Lesson learned, I'll never do it again.

The rest of the day was great though- we had a strong tail wind pushing us forward and we made our way out of the mountains. The terrain really got more and more arid as we hit the central region of the state. It's fascinating how a few miles seems to make a drastic change for Washington State. I won't bore you with the simple details. It was a lot of down hill, good miles traveled. I even saw some tumble weeds!


So we continued to follow Route 2 North from Wenatchee for about 10 miles until we hit a state park. It was about 8 pm and we were both tired and happy to pitch our tent. It seemed a bit wild- our fifth day on the road and we were camping out for the first time. It also gave us much needed practice for our camping skills. The tent went up easy, and did I mention we shipped Josh's tent home? That's right, we're packed in tight like sardines. Not pleasant, but a necessary evil for the purpose of total weight. We were hungry, and there was a convenience store around the corner, so we picked up a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread and started frying. I had a total of 5 egg sandwiches (exactly what it sounds like) and Josh had 3. We were pounding eggs like a maniac. Over all it was a good night, we were right on a lake, and the view was pretty. I got to talk to my family. Even the mileage was adding up. Another one for the books boys and girls.

Trip Summary
Day's mileage- 48.80
Total mileage- 179.00