RedSpoke Day Three

Lincoln Rock to Coulee City

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This morning I awoke at 3 a.m. to the noise of our next door tent neighbor packing up her tent and rustling around getting ready for the day. I got up shortly after 3:30 a.m. and started my day. After breakfast Brett found he had another flat on his rear tire. This time, however, we found a staple which was the culprit. After butchering another tube change the flat was fixed and we were ready to head out. Our ride was flat for 8 miles then 8 miles up the Orondo grade at 6% to 7%. I rediscovered how to change a 6% grade to a 3% grade about a mile into the climb. You can do this by switchbacking up the hill. This really changed my outlook. Suddenly I was moving at 6 mph to 7 mph as I zigzagged up the hill. Traffic was light so I had plenty of room to use the wide shoulder or even both lanes. It was great. I arrived at the top not too long after Brett and the others. After Orondo there was one more significant hill at the bottom of Moses Coulee. This is beautiful country but absolutely in the middle of nowhere. The vastness and emptiness of Moses Coulee is amazing. On the hill up, I used the same switchback technique and felt great going up the 7% to 8% grade. We rolled into Coulee City and it was over 100 degrees. We had silky smooth old fashioned chocolate milkshakes and tasty hamburgers at the Steamboat Cafe and a few beers at the local pub prior to dinner. It was so hot though, I blew out my flipflops on the walk back to camp. We went to bed early and had the best night's sleep of the ride.