August 21

Another conditioning ride. We went from here over Chinook pass and on to Paradise. Mt Rainier was its ususal fickle self, could see it well while going to Yakima and over Chinook and even when we went through the gate to the park. When we were about 5 miles away from Paradise, it clouded up and we didn't see it again the rest of the day. Ate lunch at Paradise and then tried to help another cyclist with a flat tire. I could get the tire inflated with the little compressor that I bought but the air would leak around the spokes and not keep the tire inflated. We then came back via White Pass and on home through Moxee and back roads. A good trip, I did learn that on some corners I could not keep up with Paul and his sportier bike. Our main aim though is to be safe. Next is servicing the bikes and leaving on Saturday.

As part of getting ready,Paul and I took a 520 mile trip the second weekend in July. We needed to see if we had the endurance to go the distances that will be needed on the upcoming trip. We left home, going through Wenatchee, picking up highway 2 there and going over Stevens pass to Snohomish, thence up to Darrington and then on up to the North Cascade Highway and back east. We stopped in Marblemount for lunch and then after we came across the top just had to stop in Winthrop for ice cream and on to Chelan and then cross country back home, going through Withrow. A good trip and all did fine. Paul did get an air cushion for his seat after the trip. We still have not decided for sure what we will use for communication devices, but will probably go for a Chatterbox system which is wireless and mine will hook up with my phone. We each have a good 250 miles between fill ups of fuel, getting 45-50 miles to the gallon depending on how hard we are riding.