Bicycle Friendly America Winter 2018 - 34

Peter

Although Tracy is suffering, I am not. The beautiful views,
the fresh mountain air, and even the rhythm of the climb are a
joy for me. Feeling good and with Tracy's decreased power output, I try to increase my effort to compensate. Unfortunately,
the speed of the tandem is a function of the output of both
riders, and I eventually have to back off to avoid blowing up.

DAY 6
The beginning of the Fluckes' route along the Northern Tier.

DAY 2
June 2 - Newhalem to Winthrop, Washington 80 miles
(total mileage - 174) Beautiful day, 40-70 degrees

Tracy

This is the toughest thing I have ever done! I wake up not
feeling well (headache, upset stomach) and continue to feel
worse all day. I am having trouble eating or drinking anything,
so I am not able to get the energy I need to climb over the passes. We spend a total of eight hours on the bike with six and a
half hours of climbing. It is definitely a character-building ride.
Most of our day is spent climbing forty-one miles over
Rainy and Washington passes on Highway 20 through North
Cascades National Park. As promised, there are no services
between Newhalem and Winthrop; just beautiful, snowcapped
mountains, cascading streams, waterfalls, and evergreen trees.
The route is difficult, but gorgeous. Thanks to Ruth, we have
lunch and snacks on board to get us over the passes. Unfortunately, I feel so badly I am not able to eat any of it.
We have three twenty-four ounce bottles of water each on
the bicycle, and under normal conditions, we drink one bottle
per hour. But this is not normal. Due to the constant climbing,
our slow pace, the heat, and altitude, we are using water much
faster than usual. We are almost out of water about halfway up
the mountain. So now what? We have to fill our bottles from
a stream near the road, but we can't drink the water directly
from the stream because we don't know what is in it. So into
the bottles go water purification tablets from our emergency
kit. They work well, but make the water taste like iodine - terrible. I am not able to drink the water after we refill the bottles.
Now, I am feeling worse. We have only covered about twenty
miles in three and a half hours, averaging a very slow six miles
per hour. Peter and I have not been talking much. I am using all
my energy to make the pedals go round and just focusing on
getting to the top. Because I have not been eating or drinking
anything, the power in my legs continues to drop off, which
requires Peter to work even harder.

34 BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA

June 6 - Colville to Newport, Washington 96 miles (total miles
- 457) Weather beautiful, but cooler - 50-70 degrees, tailwind
most of the day

Tracy

Today we are up early because we potentially have a long ride
ahead. We are not sure where we will end today, but we would
like to get as far as Newport, which is almost 100 miles away.
We will meet up with Ruth and Rod several times during the

Everything is harder when you're sick. Tracy gathers herself during the
climb toward Rainy Pass.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bicycle Friendly America Winter 2018