Tunnel of Death 2
Diablo Lake
Diablo Lake 2
Diablo Lake 3
Clothesline Camp with Bike
Clothesline Camp with Bike 2 
Clothesline Camp with Bike 3 
Clothesline Camp with Bike 4 
Camping in Mazama Bicycle Barn 
Camping in Mazama Bicycle Barn 
36 Miles Washington Pass--Clear Dead 
36 Miles up the Mountain 18 
32 Miles Up to Rainy Pass 
Bathtub 
Today is Saturday, Aug. 1st. I have been out of cell phone reach for 2 days now. I have been climbing mountains at about 3 to 4 miles per hours on the steep stuff, 7 to 8 miles per hour on the medium stuff and there is not much downhill stuff now. I wrecked my bike again on Thursday. You would think I could ride a bike by now but it seems not. I was grinding up the mountain bucking head winds most of the day at a blazing speed of 3 mph and was pooped and had to rest. I took my foot out of the right clip and before I could get my foot out of the left clip, I had stopped and fell over into the borrow pit still hooked to my bike. I really hate that. This pit was pretty good sized with a 45 degree down hill so I smashed my face into the soft gravel and sand and laid there on a down hill slope with my feet hooked to my bike and my head in the ditch. Really nice. I feel closer to John Wayne now. I spit "True Grit" out of my mouth for the next hour. I finally got to Marblemount to get some food at the only grocery store in town for Friday and they were closed. Real Nice. I ate dinner at a restaurant there and rode to Diablo Campground to spend the night. Went 59 miles that day in about 13 hours or so. Friday I began the steep climbs up to Rainy Pass and Washington Pass. A pretty little spotted Fawn ran out into the road and ran beside me for about 100 yards or so as I started up the mountain. It was kind of nice to see her. The scenery in this part of the country is pretty spectacular. My photos don't do it justice. Very pretty country. It is a little hard to see some of it with all the sweat dripping into my eyes. I ground about 32 to 34 Miles up the mountain at about 3 to 4 miles per hour. I wrecked my bike again. I was going super slow again, grinding up the hill. Too tired to pedal any faster and I was wobbling a little and my front pannier on my bike hit the guard rail and turned my wheel quick and slammed me down. If felt sooooo gooood. There is just nothing better than heading down toward the ground with your feet locked into your pedals. I pushed my protruding bones back into my legs and put some more Duct tape on the Spurting Wounds to my pride and got back on my bike. I am getting rather tired of eating gravel. I ran out of water, filled up with the water dripping off the rocks on the side of the road, ran out again and was laying on the side of the road catching my breath and a nice man stopped and felt sorry for me and gave me water, gatorade powder, applesauce, tuna fish and a packet of pink salmon. I was very grateful. He said I was only 1 mile from the 1st pass and I was almost there. I got enough energy to keep on moving up the hill. It was actually 4 more miles to Rainey Pass but I made it. About half Dead. I then went down hill for about 2 miles and began to climb back up Washington Pass. That was another 4 miles up. I finally made it and took some photos with some Harley Bike riders. I am quite certain they had "Bike Envy" when they saw me coming up the hill. I was pretty well shot by the time I got to Washington Pass. Hard climb and hot all day. I then rode 32 more miles to Mazama to spend the night. All down hill. (Almost) I coasted between 30 and 40 miles an hour for about 25 miles of that. That was nice. I got to a little Bicycle Barn campground about 10:00 pm. Riding about 15 hours on Friday. I was pretty wiped out. Jan and Jim run the small place and let Bicycle Idiots spend the night there. I got a nice cold outdoor shower, a hot meal for $6.00, some water and a nice place to pitch my tent for $5.00. I took a couple of Ibuprophen and went to bed. There are a lot of deer all over the Mazama area. Saturday I got up and got a late start. I was pretty well wiped out from Thursday and Friday. I went to a bike shop in town to get a little advice and a little tune up on my bike. He told me that it would feel better on my butt if my seat was pointed up a little more. I had him make a few adjustments. The bike does feel better on my butt now so maybe my Butt will last a few more days before it falls off from wear and tear. I purchased a lighter rain jacket and some leggings. I sent a bunch of other junk home. Hope I don't regret it. I have another pass to climb today at around 4000+ feet or so. Shouldn't be as bad as the last two. The problem is it is about 102 degrees outside right now. I am in a Mexican Restaurant right now and the waitress was kind enough to let me in her back room to send this email and cool off. I will try and ride up the pass and make another 35 miles this afternoon. Hopefully it will be a little cooler when I leave here. I needed a little rest today anyway. If I can make 50 miles today I will feel good about that. I have already ridden almost 20. I still feel pretty lousy from this cold or flu or whatever I have. I really think it is Hint of Haunt-i-Virus from Forks, Washington mixed with a Dab of Dengue Fever. Last night I was eating dinner at the Bicycle Barn with Jan and Jim. They sold me some Rice and canned Chicken and were kind enough to heat it up for me since I sent my stove home. I kept coughing and I was getting obnoxious and Jan finally went in and gave me an old bottle of cough syrup with codeine. It helped me stop coughing so that was nice of them. I am pretty sore, tired, and worn out, but I will get some rest on Sunday and hopefully will feel better as time goes on. I have spoken to several riders along the way and they all say after 2 or 3 weeks you get used to this stress and feel better. I am hanging in there and hopefully it will feel better one of these days. Hopefully my Butt will toughen up a little and not hurt so bad also. Well take care, Thanks for all your support Dan
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