Campsite at Diablo Lake on the wetter side of the North Cascades.

May 22, 2006 Day one summary relayed by phone: They rode into wet cement. No, they rode into Concrete, wet. (They were wet all day from the rain and are camping in Concrete , Wa. ) We rode 47.25 miles from Anacortes in the rain to Concrete, WA. Average speed = 10.5 mph, riding time 4 hours, 28 min. They could see mountains ahead, (when the clouds and fog cleared occasionally) Jay interjected....they look big and they have snow on them!!

Read a bit about beautiful Concrete, WA at their www site http://www.concrete-wa.com/ Apparently the town is searching for a "few good ghosts" - not your average everday quest!

Details of two photos taken May 22nd.

The map below shows in red the progress made on Day 1, 47 miles at 10.5 mph and 250 ft above sea level. Just for perspective they will have to climb up to 5,477 ft above sea level today or tomorrow to cross the Cascades Mountains.

May 23, 2006 On day 2 of the trip they made it to the Colonial Creek Campground on Diablo Lake east of Diablo in the North Cascades National Forest. Mike may provide better data in the future but looking on the map it looks like they made about 45 miles on day 2.

Some news from the road - Jay phoned his mother (yes even retired guys, if they are lucky, get to do that!. )It had been raining and they were wet. They had stopped at a place with hot showers. They did not get as far as they wanted to.

From Mike on the road. We left Concrete today after staying at a cool outpost type motel, diner, campground, laundry, store place. Food was good, people were neat. We rode in good weather until about 1:00 and then it rained. We pulled into a NPS visitor center and visited with Ranger Josh, a young guy out of Missula, Mt. He gave us advice about traveling and where to camp. We stayed out of the rain for a while and Charles willed Josh to make the rain quit, it did and we decided to press on to Colonial Creek Campground about 10 miles farther. It made the next day's climbs somewhat shorter. Colonial Creek was cool. We had a campsite on the river with a pier to sit on, when it didn't rain, which wasn't long.

May 24, 2006 News from Winthrop, WA. Jay called his son Mike in the evening but only got voice mail but left a messsage. They were either through the Cascades or almost through. Lots of snow up in the mountains and Jay was having bike problems. He could not get into two of his lower gears and was taking a beating in the mountains and rain. This kind of surprised his son because he can fix just about anything. His message said there isn't any cell coverage and won't be for about 200 miles.

They went through Washington Pass and Jay said he was doing 38 mph downhill without touching a pedal. Jay said he even tapped the brakes a few times.

They were going to a campground that had a washer and dryer since they have been soaked for 3 days.

more news from the 24th -

Mike phoned his wife Becky on the evening of the 24th and she shared the following report.

Mike called last night. He said riding over Washington and Rainy passes was a blast! He got off the bike to rest, but didn't push his bike at all so he can say he pedaled all the way over them. The down hills were fun. The snow banks are 6 feet high beside the road in spots. It's so beautiful...he will send a memory card from the camera soon because he wants me to see what they are riding through. The mountains are incredibly beautiful.

I asked if skies were clear, "No", he said, "but when we can see through the mist it is great scenery." Jay took a ride for 18 miles due to difficulties (with his gearing). And Charles was way back with another rider that they had picked up that morning. They intended to stay in Mazama but there was no place to stay so they rode 15 more miles then up a big hill to a campground in Winthrop. The host invited them to sleep in the house where they could do laundry. Mike is sending home his binoculars and some tee shirts. I said that I noticed in the starting picture that Charles, (the more seasoned bike tourist) had the lightest load. "Yeh", Mike said, "but he needs to buy some stuff. He's been cold."

The east slopes of the mountains are much different, it's neat. He likes experiencing the change.

May 25, 2006 News from Okanogan, WA. Today we rode Loup Loup Pass, the third of 5 in Washington. After riding the 2 the day before, I was tired and though I made it fine, I struggled with the cold conditions. The ride was mixed with rain, sleet and sun. It is difficult to dress for the wide variety of weather conditions. I have taken the stance of riding in "granny" for 10 to 15 minutes or until my speed is 4.1MPH or less and then get off and rest and get a drink or eat something. It is tough to park Aurora and BOB on steep hills because of gravity. I have a toe clip strap to use as an emergency brake. Tomorrow I will use it on Wauconda Pass. We had thunder and lightning in Okanogan while waiting for Jay to arrive. We took a motel room on the chance that Jay would'nt mind. When he arrived in a pickup truck, he was glad. This evening, we ordered in and talked about families and live in general. It is the first time we have had to do that. It was a good night.

May 26, 2006 We awoke to rain again this morning. Jay announced that he was pulling out of the trip because of the discouraging time in the mountains. We are sorry to see him go. Charles and I left at 8:30 for Tonasket. A short 30 miles with no hills. It is a rest ride of sorts. Tomorrow we do Wauconda Pass and the next day Sherman Pass. After Sherman Pass we will take a rest day. With Jay leaving, I will be riding alone from Minnesota to Cleveland as Charles is heading south from Minnesota to ride with other friends. I may try to get some other through bikers to ride with us so I have someone to travel with. I don't really want to ride that far alone. I guess I could but it would be lonesome and harder in camp.

May 28, 2006 I had phone call from Mike Porter in Kettle Falls, WA. He phoned last night to say that the rain is still falling on his trip but that his spirits are high. There has been so much rain that they have only cooked dinner in camp one night. They have been eating out most nights. Tomorrow they are going to enjoy a day off the bikes. This will be their first day of rest after seven days of rainy riding.

Mike also reported that Charles has a problem to solve. When packing up his tent this morning Charles stopped to talk to the one of the campground attendants. That little interruption resulted in Charles forgetting to pack his tent poles. He phoned the tent distributor, REI, and they don't stock or sell the poles separately. As Mike was speaking on the phone Charles was weighing different ways to solve the problem. One solution would be to rent or borrow a car and drive back to get them. Another would be to phone the campground owners and ask if they would see if anyone traveling east would be willing to bring them to Kettle Falls tomorrow. For the night Charles was going to rent a motel room, which might not be so bad after all!

Mike said that his legs were getting stronger, he was eating well and sleeping well and really enjoying the trip. He is going to see if anyone staying at the campground would let him go online with their computer to give us some more updates.

I asked Mike if he, like many other cyclists, ever had the problem of getting a song stuck in his head while riding all those miles. He said that he often caught himself reciting "Rain rain go away come again some other day."

Pioneers of the trail for 2006. A few people have mentioned to Mike and Charles that they are the first long distance cyclists of the season to pass through some of the towns this spring.

At one campsite at county fairground there wasn't any pavilion to offer protection from the rain while preparing or eating breakfast except the bathroom. Solution? Breakfast in the men's room.

May 31, 2006 Becky here. Mike called from Idaho. He and Charles are now accompanied by Heather and Terry. (Terry on bike, Heather in a car... see www.miles2go.net ) It is fun that they can pick up strays along the way. They have had 2 beautiful days in a row. Last night they camped on a beautiful point on the Pend Orielle River, near Ione, WA. Terry has a tent that he has never used, so he is letting Charles use it. (Heather is driving "sag"...so she and Terry have a cabin tent and the spare) Mike felt crumby yesterday because he feels he didn't eat enough. His knees hurt, he bonked in the middle of the day. Today he ate heartily and felt better.

Read more in the next section

Sandpoint, ID to Cutbank, MT