Day 4 began with a
somewhat late start. I didn't leave Mel's house until around 9:45 or
so (after some waffles with REAL maple syrup!) and I rode the five
miles into town to look for a spare tire and perhaps search out a USB
cord for my phone. I ended up picking up a Specialized Armadillo 35c
wire bead tire from the local bike shop. That thing was so thick and
non-pliable that you probably wouldn't even need to put an inner tube
in it! It looked and felt pretty much flat-proof though which I guess
is a good thing. Passing by a cell phone store I picked up a Micro-B
USB cord so that I could charge my cell phone (I had forgotten my
cord back in Philadelphia). Finally, I stopped at the infamous
Jack-in-the-Box fast food join (remember the early/mid 90s when there
was that e. coli outbreak at the chain?) to try out their burgers
(not really any different or better than McD's or BK) before heading
out on Vantage Highway. It was quite low traffic and ended it's run
down to the Columbia River with a multi-mile, fast, flowing descent
where I averaged 30+mph and hit 43mph at one point! Along the way I
passed by the Gingko Petrified Forest.
 |
| Bridge along a (loooong) gravel road |
Crossing the I-90 bridge was
quite harrowing as there was no bike/pedestrian lane and absolutely
no shoulder. Luckily, I-90 isn't as busy as I-95 on the east coast
so trucks and cars were able to switch to the left hand lane to pass
with no problem. Once on the other side, I ended up preemptively
changing out my cut up rear tire that had flatted twice already and
the tube was starting to push through the two patches and two layers
of candy bar wrappers again. Good thing I didn't flat on the bridge
– that would not have been fun!
 |
| Shot up barrel |
 |
| Salt field? |
From there I
headed south along the river, passed a hydroelectric plant, went
under the old railroad bridge across the river that 'connects' the
JWT (indeed closed by a high chain link fence that would have been
impossible to bypass) and took a left going east along a gravel road
that went through a small, depressed trailer park town in the shadow
of a ridge of low mountains. This road went on for the rest of the
day, eventually climbing up and over the ridge. I passed by an impromptu shooting range as well as a lot of white, salt-like sandy
desert patches interspersed throughout the 'normal' dried brown
grassland and shrubs and rocky soil. I only passed a handful of
houses and I can count on one hand the number of cars that passed by
the entire afternoon. I ended up setting up camp that night at the
intersection with route 26 on a short spur that led down to a gated
off nature preserve.
Day 4 began with a
somewhat late start. I didn't leave Mel's house until around 9:45 or
so (after some waffles with REAL maple syrup!) and I rode the five
miles into town to look for a spare tire and perhaps search out a USB
cord for my phone. I ended up picking up a Specialized Armadillo 35c
wire bead tire from the local bike shop. That thing was so thick and
non-pliable that you probably wouldn't even need to put an inner tube
in it! It looked and felt pretty much flat-proof though which I guess
is a good thing. Passing by a cell phone store I picked up a Micro-B
USB cord so that I could charge my cell phone (I had forgotten my
cord back in Philadelphia). Finally, I stopped at the infamous
Jack-in-the-Box fast food join (remember the early/mid 90s when there
was that e. coli outbreak at the chain?) to try out their burgers
(not really any different or better than McD's or BK) before heading
out on Vantage Highway. It was quite low traffic and ended it's run
down to the Columbia River with a multi-mile, fast, flowing descent
where I averaged 30+mph and hit 43mph at one point! Along the way I
passed by the Gingko Petrified Forest.
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