XWA Day 1
The day began at 12:15am in Sherwood, four hours of sleep after my cousin Katelin’s wedding. My mom was still awake, reading and making us some breakfast in their kitchen while the other wedding goers still trickled in for a late night. We got in the loaded car drove for five hours to La Push. It was raining, windy, and misty through the rainforest as we got into Olympic Peninsula, hopefully to die down when the Grand Depart would start.
The parking lot at the beach was bustling with bikepackers getting ready with their last touches. I met Dylan here and we were stoked and our bikes were ready. Our last bit of preparation was to get mentally psyched to jump in the ocean!
The jump was cold but refreshing and I used Herms water shower to clean off before kitting up. The Grand Depart began and we moved our way up. I remember the feeling of the cold air on my legs and the groups impatient energy to start the day off fast. Dylan was gone off the front. I dropped back since i knew i would rather feel good at the end of the day.
Five hours of driving later
Pre-jump-in-the-water zoomies
We climbed through the hills and bombed down big descents while a light rain picked up. I changed into warmer clothes a little too late, but at least knew that I shouldn't be cold and miserable only a few hours into a multiday bike ride. I didn’t bring much - long sleeve jersey, vest, shakedry jacket, booties.
The trail snaked through forest and eventually flattened and smoothed out to the Olympic Discovery Trail along Crescent Lake. It was a massive bright blue lake and the sun started shining. I got my first trail magic aid station chips and brownie and continued on, only to find Kimmy and Donner in the forest another 15 minutes in! I was happy to see them and how excited they both were. Kimmy was as excited as Donner.
The next best section of trail is the Olympic Adventure Trail (OAT) and single track through the forest for miles, nearly all the way to Port Townsend. Another RV aid station was set up.
First climb of the day
Lake Crescent
Port Townsend came and went because the store Fast Burritos was unfortunately closed on Sunday. I had been riding with a guy named Matt who had a cool drop bar mtb setup with the Vittoria Peyotes. Nice guy and chatty about all the technical stuff.
We got to the Carlsborg gas stations, an icon of the Ridewithgps route and recommended by Andy and Parker. They were out of sandwiches so i got a haul with two frozen burritos to thaw in my pockets.
Matt and I continued onwards into the next section, a daunting 60 miles of riding into the darkness and forest along the east side of the Olympics. Big climb up 5000 ft. We descended a bit knowing that we were tired and should set up camp near water.
End of day 1.
XWA Day 2
Five AM wakeup time, but the birds chirping did it before the alarm. Also right on schedule was the rain that had started for the last hour. I could feel it pitter pattering on my bivy and knew i had to get out, get wet, and go. Matt was camped next to me but getting a slower start. Never saw him again though and learned he dropped out later that day somewhere in Seattle.
Everything got wet and unfortunately a lot of it was down. Onwards and downwards though. Once I was moving I got stoked. This is the bad weather i lived for!
Lower Big Quilcene trail was fantastic flew through old growth, the beautiful river, and had some good looking campsites next to it.
Lower Big Quilcene Trail
Breakfast Haul
Why bring a bivy when you can use existing on-route resources?
Quilcene the town had a little market where i stopped for breakfast and to warm up. Double breakfast burritos, bunch of sugar, see the pic. I caught up and rode with Mikey who had a cool pinion gear box bike and is a super nice guy. Eventually i would go a bit faster and he would drop back. One place we rode through had a bunch of eagles flying in place, hovering in the high winds.
Eventually i rode through Stottlemeyer trail system which was semi frustrating with the tight turn single track. I hustled my way towards the ferry, knowing it is a free hour of time if you make it there early. An extra hour is time to get food, organize stuff, and go farther.
Managed to get burger and fries 4 minutes before ferry departure.
Arriving in Edmonds
Bike paths through suburbs and around golf courses.
Dry stuff out on the ferry
The route through Seattle was something else. So many connector trails through neighborhoods, parks, forest, mcmansions, and suburbs. The best part was some trail after the powerlines and Blithe Hill aid.
Iron Horse Trail getting towards North Bend
Nice sunset before the rain
My decision to not go over Snoqualmie Pass was made here. Big dark clouds ahead.
Eventually i got to the rail trail that would take me up to North Bend and beyond. My left knee was a little tired but feeling ok and a warning light came on in my head to make sure I took care of it. At the same time, HEAVY RAIN soaked everything. I reached out to Tisch who offered her home to bikepackers coming through and it was the best. Dryer for clothes, sleeping bag, and warm living room floor. She had funny stories and was one of the women who fought off a mountain lion a year ago and was all over the news. Got in around 9pm. I hoped to get over Snoqualmie Pass this night, but it was wet and cold. Nobody else besides Dylan and Daniel had gone over today. They made it through a weather window.
At 11pm, Mikey and Carter role in and are eating in the kitchen. Glad they made it.
End of day 2.
XWA Day 3
I woke up at 4:45 am after restless sleep. I was tired and my legs felt heavy after two big 145 mile days. My brain was foggy and it took a while to search the dark house for my stuff drying out while others slept and soon got up.
I knew the best way cure to the anxiety around the upcoming day was to just get outside and start pedaling knowing i had everything i needed. Sunshine was ahead based on texts from friends and that kept me positive. The dark trail sprayed mist and my light kept me in my own little tunnel. My left knee hurt right where the quad connects over the front and top of my kneecap. To take off some pressure I lowered my saddle and set it backwards a bit and that helped. After a couple hours of steady uphill pedaling on the Iron Horse Trail, i barely noticed the difference. If i felt aching, standing up would relieve it. It was lightly raining on top of the pass, with moody dark clouds rolling over the mountains and valley.
I knew that weather wouldn’t miraculously get better on the other side of the three mile tunnel, but i hoped it would. The descent was barely a descent also, so escaping the west side meant pushing harder to go faster. No coasting here!
The weather shifted to sun a bit before Cle Elum and I was instantly more relieved. I knew it would be easier to keep pedaling if i was comfortable and had the option to sleep comfortably even if i didn’t sleep much.
The route was passing through rolling grass hills with rock formations exposed from the tunnels and railroad cut. Today was also going to include the Colockam, a massive rocky climb in addition to Snoqualmie Pass. I kept focused on a steady but easy pressure on the pedals and where the next food would be. That leads to Shree’s. Shrees had a hot bar of fried chicken strips, cheese sticks, deep fried burritos, and more. I got some of it all for the ultimate calorie bombs. I drank a XXL Mountain Dew also. Cheaper than water and also has sugar to power you! A guy with a “we the people” hat chatted with me about how he worked for the Klein bike company making frames before they were bought by Trek.
The Collockam was my favorite part of the day. It was a nice steady technical and rocky climb that made it interesting. The views and flowers were beautiful and I wanted to stop and take it all in. Funny but i remember it so vividly because of how i was riding it. The descent on the other hand was SUPER rocky and required mental focus the whole time. On my way towards The road leading to Wenatchee, I was excited to see a white van, probably a trail angel with food. Instead it was my friends Shelby and Zach. They couldn’t give me anything but a hug and motivation to get into town for dinner and resupply.
Beginning of the Colockam
The infamous tree. Halfway up 20% babyheads puncher.
Babyheads
XWA Day 4 PART 1: daytime
The wind howled during the night while I fetal position curled up in my bivy sack. I was a little cold, but it was really the wind whipping the fabric that kept me from sleeping well. I rushed to get out at 3am, struggling to put in my contact lenses in the wind while hiding behind some wimpy sage bushes in the dark. I ate a cold spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy’s that was as disgusting and textureless as you can imagine. I also ate a gas station danish - probably the berries and cream cheese one. I was on the road moving, without the bubble of my bike light this time because it was rolled up in my sleeping bag.
The wind howled during the night while I fetal position curled up in my bivy sack. I was a little cold, but it was really the wind whipping the fabric that kept me from sleeping well. I rushed to get out at 3am, struggling to put in my contact lenses in the wind while hiding behind some wimpy sage bushes in the dark. I ate a cold spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy’s that was as disgusting and textureless as you can imagine. I also ate a gas station danish - probably the berries and cream cheese one. I was on the road moving, without the bubble of my bike light this time because it was rolled up in my sleeping bag.
Sunrise came and brought warmth to my arms and face. The thoughts that keep me going when it’s cold are (1) Gaslighting myself on how I’ve been colder so this isn’t that bad, and (2) that it’s better than when it’s too hot. And I expected that it might get pretty hot today being on the east side of the cascades.
The beginning 30 miles of the day from Rock Island through Douglas Creek DRAGGED. It was slow moving rolling hills, I think 6 creek crossings, and some hike-a-bike to get over moto ruts. I tried to keep my feet dry for the first few crossings, but eventually said fuck it and just carried my bike through. The water wasn’t cold, but my feet could probably dry out over the day during rest stops. Needed to conserve the amount of Squirt chain lube I brought and each crossing would lead to a wet chain shedding the wax.
From Douglas Creek, there were some memorable columnar basalt cliff bands constraining some nice farmland. I was eating handfuls of my strawberry-watermelon Swedish fish that glow under black light, they had the best flavor of any candy on this trip. Before Ephrata is long rolling hills, notably separated by dogs that chase you. In a way, max effort survival sprints early in the day is probably the hardest part.
Had to stop for some real food in Ephrata at the AlChille Mexican restaurant. I got two burritos (al pastor and carnitas) and 1.5 liters of horchata in my soft flask to go. BEST BURRITO I’VE EVER HAD. I’d go back to just get another. I started listening to podcasts while following Dylan and Daniel’s tire tracks lead out of town. I think I binged a few of Zoe’s Your Diet Sucks pods, one of which seemed to describe the gas station nutrition I was practicing.
The section from Ephrata to Moses Lake was pretty easy and some of the monotony was kind of nice to zone out.
Eventually I got onto a rough gravel road going through the Potholes, a really geologically interesting spot where big potholes were formed from the Missoula Flood, and are now partly filled up with water from reservoirs. Wish I could camp here and swim. I finally checked the dot tracker at this point and found myself gaining some time on Daniel. Dylan was pretty long gone and getting close to the end! The thought of Bellingham going 1-2 entered my mind.
Got food in Othello, passing the Simplot potato factory. One of the companies responsible for nitrate pollution in the groundwater in eastern Oregon. There were potatoes in the bike lane, potatoes in the ditch, and the smell of potatoes in the air, and presumably (if my work is any indicator), potatoes in the water.
The golden hour of sunset started as I was passing through farmland. End of Day 4’s daylight, start of Day 4’s night.
XWA Day 4 Part 2: nighttime
I’ll start with my resupply at Walden, a small hispanic agricultural town with a Mexican market, an auto store, and a dollar store. By this point, I was in full send-it mode and knew I would ride through the night. Andy had sent our group chat “No Sleep Till TEKOA”, a Beastie Boys cover to pay homage to the few that ride through the night to avoid the illegal camping along the Palouse to Cascades trail. I had ridden 125 miles to this point, and was scared of riding another night, and presumably into the next day. How long is that in time? How much distance is that? Is that another 150 miles? I don’t know, and I didn’t know if I cared. I knew I could just figure it out as I went, but that was scary.
I’ll start with my resupply at Walden, a small hispanic agricultural town with a Mexican market, an auto store, and a dollar store. By this point, I was in full send-it mode and knew I would ride through the night. Andy had sent our group chat “No Sleep Till TEKOA”, a Beastie Boys cover to pay homage to the few that ride through the night to avoid the illegal camping along the Palouse to Cascades trail. I had ridden 125 miles to this point, and was scared of riding another night, and presumably into the next day. How long is that in time? How much distance is that? Is that another 150 miles? I don’t know, and I didn’t know if I cared. I knew I could just figure it out as I went, but that was scary.
The resupply went smoothly, and I transitioned to re-packing my bags for the night ride ahead. I searched for the bike light that was in my sleeping bag. Nothing fell out of my sleeping bag. No bike light. It’s not like it could be hiding in the few bags I actually had…A sinking feeling in my gut started and I asked the cashier if they had a flashlight. She recommended the Dollar Tree down the street. I got a $6 Energizer plastic flashlight. The packaging said “LASTS 20 HOURS”, so I took that personally as a challenge, I would ride through the night with a shitty flashlight that flickered when I hit big bumps. Chugged my Red Bull and got moving.
The light was strapped to my aerobars and bag. It worked ok and it’s not like I was going very fast. It was surprisingly bright. I was previously traumatized by the number of dogs chasing me (four times), so I had a hunch of what houses to look out for. Barking starts a quarter mile away and I prepared for the worst. I picked up a rock in my right hand, and continued pedaling into the darkness. The barking got louder and more aggressive. Were the dogs behind a fence? I couldn’t tell in the dark. I hit a rock and my light FLEW off my handlebars. I frantically searched for it and got back on my bike, a flashlight in one hand, a rock in the other, and panic in my head that a dog would jump out of the darkness. Somebody joked that I was hallucinating but I bet the sleep deprivation made it feel more intense that it would have been. All was ok.
I keep chugging along in the dark, my flashlight now strapped to my head, and the rolling hills seemed to never end. I remember seeing the gravel road moving under me, but not processing what happening. It was kind of pretty. That was my cue to pull over and sit on the side of the road for a few minutes. I mapped out how far to the next mega truck stop gas station, only another 10 miles or so (currently at 160). Smooth resupply and was back on the road with two more Red Bulls. I can’t believe how many flavors/colors they have. I’ll have to figure out which color is best for the emotional state I’m in while bikepacking. The falling asleep at the bars happened again, so I layed down in a nice ditch with some soft grass. Lael’s pro tip of sleeping in your helmet like it’s a pillow was confirmed and I was instantly out for 20 minutes. Back up and at it. Just a couple more hours of night until 5 am sunrise.
End of Day 4.
20 HOUR RUNTIME BABY
Tumblin'
XWA Day 5 - NO SLEEP TILL TEKOA
Is it actually Day 5, or just a continuation of Day 4?
I made it through the night, with just a quick catnap. I wasn’t feeling great, but I could continue onwards. My knee ached but I had ibuprofen and Red Bull so it was manageable. It was raining again, but pretty warm so I just embraced it. I was really happy with my layering of base layer, jersey, and shake dry jacket. I was dry, warm, and cool when I needed.
The PTC trail was CHONKY, so I finally let air out of my tires to make it bearable. Way too late, but better than never. Probably was riding at 5psi before I realized I was bouncing. As Justin quotes Shacklee, “you’re not racing cyclocross until you’re kissing the rim.” No service here, so I didn’t know how far ahead Daniel was, but competitive thoughts filled my brain and I wanted to push hard. I pulled out my 5 emergency gels and got to work. I felt GOOD. Probably because it was daylight now. I shouldn’t have felt that good after 200 miles of mountain biking but here I was, and I was going with it.
I pushed the pace up every hill, motivated by the scenery of rolling hills, rock bluffs, and the occasional river cascading through a valley. I wondered if I would see the next person around each bend in the route, and eventually I saw the yellow jacket of somebody. It was Daniel, looking pretty tired. I said hi and passed him. I think this was my biggest regret of the race. I wish I talked to him and heard his story. It’s a race, but it’s also a bikepacking race over days, and there is definitely time to talk if you catch up to somebody who you’re racing. In the moment with my loopy, fried brain, I just kept going.
There was still another 70 miles to go. I was already at 215 miles for this 24 hour ride. I had everything I needed to pass through towns and get to Tekoa though, so I kept pressure on the pedals, hoping I wouldn’t spontaneously detonate into an explosion of Red Bull, donuts, and sour gummies.
No pictures of the chunk. I thought I took more, but must have just been mental pictures.
The realization and emotions of the finish started when I saw the bridge over Tekoa. I can picture it so clearly in my head like I am there right now. But I had seven miles of Satan’s Highway to get through before I was done.
Satan’s Highway was a clay road looping from the Idaho border back into town. It wasn’t peanut butter this time but a small patch almost caught me! Kimmy sent me a message at the far point telling me it’s all downhill from here. I didn’t think that was true, and it wasn’t. I took it very personally and was offended. There were 16 punching steep hills straight up and down rolling farm land. I walked a bunch of them. One even had broken glass from the old days where they threw away ceramic wares and glass behind the house, and it was finally resurfacing for the extra comical challenge.
John Heaton and my parents waited at the finish line and took a picture of my holding my bike up in second place! John is a local who, upon learning of the bikepacking race, made it his duty to greet every finisher in Tekoa.
Bridge to Tekoa
Close call, I was almost tempted by the forbidden peanut butter.
End of the line, Idaho behind me.
NOT DOWNHILL. Two of 16 of these things.
I found my bike light on the drive back to Wenatchee.
FOOD OF XWA
You're not afraid of the gas station food, the gas station food is afraid of you.
Not included in photos: 12 cookies, PB&J, Tisch's homecooked pasta dinner, 2 large burritos, more horchata, 3 red bulls, 2 donut sleeves, 2 danishes, 5 carb fuel gels, 2 pringles cans
