Sandpoint, ID

First thing this morning, our valued teammate Brendon had to leave us. He is headed off to, in my opinion, four weeks of pure hell. He was invited to a development camp for crew, which entails four weeks of rowing, erging, and living amongst some of the strongest young men in the country. Good luck Brendon! You have been a great teammate for the past week, and we can’t wait to have you rejoin us when you are finished at camp. We miss you already!
Day 6 was our hardest day yet, starting in Colville, Washington and ending in Sandpoint, Idaho. Clocking in over ninety miles, it was our longest day so far. Our route took us along the Pend D’Oreille River, with beautiful rolling hills and nice spots to stop and have snacks. The only bad part, in my opinion, was the five-mile stretch of dirt road through the Kalispell Indian Reservation. It was pouring rain and the ride was slow and difficult through the mud and rocks. Later, I will put up a picture that my dad got of Sarah’s back absolutely covered in mud. We all had a similar spray-pattern on our back from the wheels kicking up sand and dirt onto our backs.
A little while after that, we had a nice lunch overlooking the river. Our friend Jay Speakman (father of Rachel, super-speedy biker) predicted rain, and sure enough, it came. It’s incredible… he’s always right! After lunch he told us it wouldn’t rain again, but Renzo didn’t believe him. He layered up: hat, arm warmers, three jackets, long pants, winter gloves, for the 30 miles ahead. Sure enough, Jay was right, and Renzo ended up sweating all the way to Sandpoint.
Here’s an insert from Sarah Brockett:

I almost stopped biking today. After a mile of dirt road, the rain started, and didn’t let up. Everything up to that point in the day had been awesome: Ellie, Ellen and I serenaded each other up the hills and we had a pretty fast pace line set up that carried us over the first 30 miles. It was a great beginning to a long day. After the break, however, I was not a happy camper…maybe it was the overload of sugar I consumed during the break (lots of jellybeans and a half a pop tart). Whatever it was, the mud and grit that found its way into every particle of clothing and messed with my gears set off my frustration, and as soon as we hit the pavement again I took off. There weren’t any turns I had to pay attention to and I knew where we were stopping for lunch (mile 64), so I just pedaled as fast and hard as I could. It’s amazing the difference the previous 5 days of slow climbing have made—I already feel a lot stronger and I was able to average about 20 miles an hour on the rolling ups and downs for the next 15 miles. Unfortunately, mile 64 came and went, and the lunch-crew was nowhere to be found. I waited for a bit at the next intersection (mile 65), and finally decided to turn around and find the group. Jay found me before I found them and told me that they had stopped a mile back at a national forest campground to eat. After I re-joined the group, and the next bit of thunderstorm rolled through, we were off again for the last third of our 90-mile day. In the future, I think I’ll stay with the group. It was nice to bike on my own for a while, but the extra 6 miles it provided were definitely not welcome. Good news is: I got my first century out of the way!
Oh, another thing to note: Biddle saved an old dog today. We saw it wandering in the street, narrowly avoiding the cars that zoomed by. Apparently it had been frightened by the thunder and wandered off its property, but thanks to the heroics of Mr. Duke, it arrived safely back to its home.

Now we’re in Sandpoint, Idaho. Tomorrow is a rest day, and it couldn’t come at a better time. We have three 100-mile days ahead of us, and we will need the sleep and relaxation. I am planning on doing some grocery shopping, getting some ice cream, and most importantly getting to an internet café to update the blog!

Posted by Ellie