I have had a rough last two days. I have not been feeling great, and after waking up at 4:30am on Wednesday, I was in even worse shape. We left the Oakley’s beautiful, spacious home in Spokane intending to ride Highway 2 for as long as we could. The first 4 miles felt like 10, exacerbated by a 2 mile climb to even reach the highway. Once we hopped on the highway, we were given and took every excuse to stop. At mile 5, an older gentleman pulled off the road and waved us over to chat about cycling. We got talking about bicycles that fit into suitcases - how random! Then at mile 8, we came across our beloved Dairy Queen; Charlie and I grinned at one another. “Well we haven’t had it in awhile!” We enjoyed our blizzards while chatting with a retired couple about our travels, procrastinating getting back on the bike. At that point, we had been on the road for an hour and a half.
We rode 16 miles from DQ to the tiny town of Reardan. We chilled in the local park for much longer than we generally would when we take breaks. I was not feeling the ride, and I think my negativity affected Charlie as well. We decided that we would only make it to Davenport, 37 miles from our starting location. I unsuccessfully attempted to hitchhike to our destination.
When we began again, we did not have to travel very far, so we pushed it. We flew at 16 miles per hour for 13 miles to reach Davenport. My usual motivation, Olivia Rodrigo’s album, SOUR, perfectly aligned with our time on the bike. I spotted the top of the Davenport water tower approximately five miles out, which also helped me fight through the end of the ride. We zoomed past flat green fields, so we did not miss much at our high speed.
We got a motel room, stopped by the grocery store, had our ear talked off by two drunk men, and relaxed. We were both really tired, however, we were not super sure why. Lights were out by 9:30!
We both woke up around 7:45 (LOTS OF SLEEP🤩)! Charlie warned of sucky sidewinds for the day, but neither of us is clairvoyant enough to have predicted the horrendous day we had in store. For 60 miles we experienced a forceful headwind through the Washington desert. There were no beautiful Montanan trees to protect us; we languished in the open space. We stopped every 10 miles for breaks and time for me to complain. I longed for the ocean and our flight home: the sweet softness of my own bed😍. Charlie also thought about reaching La Push and the book he is planning to write about this trip.
We reached Coulee City, WA and immediately found a motel. We watched a movie and ate some ice cream in preparation for our final six days. We will be hitting the Cascades over the next few days though it feels like we just left the Rockies! Thanks for all of your music recommendations on our Instagram!!!
-Maddie