Prunus persica, or how I acquired and used 40 pounds of peaches

While Tommy had his heart set on biking all the way to Wilbur over Washington Pass, my one desire was to buy peaches (prunus persica) during our Eastern Washington Excursion. Before leaving home, I researched all of the little orchards and farmstands from Twisp to Omak. I took orders from family and friends, promising a box of joy on my return.

After stopping at 4 roadside stands, we learned that freestone peaches were not ready yet and that the early redhaven variety was not as prized for canning. Oh well, I had my heart set on peaches and if I needed to freeze them all then I would!

Hoping that Wenatchee might be just far enough south to have the freestone peaches in season, we took Hwy 2 home instead of Hwy 20. At the Wenatchee farmer's market, we scored. A very friendly lady was selling 20 pounds of organic peaches for $1/lb. Good price. The question was, did I want one box or two? I ended up buying 5 boxes of peaches: 2.25 boxes for me, 1 box for Alex, 1 box for Beth, .5 box for Shari, .25 box for Jessica. I also bought 10 pounds of cherries because they were so good.

What did I do with my treasures?

Rum Soaked Cherries - 16, 4 oz jars

Amaretto Soaked Cherries - 5, 4 oz jars

Amaretto Soaked Cherries and Peaches - 6, 8oz jars

Boozy Cherry Molasses with Rum & Kirsch (3), with Amaretto (4) - 7, 4 oz jars

Sweetheart Cherry Peach Jam - 5, 8 oz jars

Rainier Cherry Peach Jam - 6, 16 oz jars

Hibiscus Peaches - 16, 16 oz jars

Frozen Peaches - 10 lbs

Peach Cherry Rustic Rye Tart - 1, 9-in tart; 8, 3-in tartlettes

Crunchy Top Peach Pie - 1, 9-in pie (Received Honorable Mention at my Neighborhood Association Picnic Dessert Competition!)

Eating - 6 peaches (If I were Lynn, this number would be much higher - to the tune of at least one full box of peaches just for eating.); 3 pounds cherries - Tommy ate about 2 pounds on the way home from Wenatchee.

Could I have used more? Of course! I have already got my eye on this Peach Butter and this Peach Chocolate Dessert Sauce. Next year.

Swawilla-what?

After a couple days of recuperation at Roger and Ellen's, I was ready to try my legs again. The blazing hot finish to my adventure on Tuesday had convinced me that riding in Eastern Washington in July was insane. Nevertheless, as I sat looked out over Lake Roosevelt and contemplated riding over the mountainous Manila Creek road, I became more and more restless. I had my bike in a place I've never been able to ride in, and the riding should be excellent. The plan was to catch the first ferry (a free state ferry connects WA-21) across the lake at 6am. Then I would stand a good chance of getting the biggest climb of the day done before the sun hit me.

As it turned out, my plan worked pretty good at first. Thin morning clouds kept me out of direct sunlight all the way to the summit, 2000 feet up from where I began. From the top I could look down over the Swawilla Basin, the southernmost portion of Lake Roosevelt that ends with the Grand Coulee Dam.

The descent was fast and furious. I was averaging somewhere between 30-35 mph, just flying along, when I saw road construction up ahead. I forced to wait... for 45 minutes. To be honest I really wasn't that frustrated. The clouds were still blocking the sun and I had no agenda for the rest of the day. When we did get going again, I was thankful to be paced. The last few miles of the road, before it hit highway 15, were one of the most ridiculous descents I have ever seen. Sharp corners at a 10% grade with enormous cliffs and no guardrails. The flagger actually told me that there was a pile of cars at the bottom of one cliff, and there was no way to get them up. The construction job was to widen the road so that rails could be put in.

I got going again and cruised through Elmer City. Then it was a short steep climb past the dam itself to the town of Grand Coulee. Time for significant climb #2. I learned that in Eastern Washington, long straight hills are simply referred to as "grades." I was to ride up Coulee Grade and then down Wilbur Grade on WA-174. These grades are my kind of climb. I'm not much of a climber, but because of my build, I really prefer a long, consistent climb to short steep stuff mixed with flat stuff. Above a certain grade and I am in big trouble. Anyway, I found a good steady pace at about 9 mph, and climbed up to the top of Coulee Grade. Near the top, a strong north wind picked up and I finished the climb at 18-20 mph. You can see that I was happy!

The ride down Wilbur Grade is awesome. You can see Wilbur itself 10 miles down the road, 1000 feet lower, and you just go. Even though it was a highway, cars can't pass you very quick when you're going 40!

The 5th and final left turn of the day brough me back to highway 21 and I made the final short climb to what Morgan's family refers to as "The Curves": my reward for the day. Here's a photo from the top of The Curves.

The long, sandy driveway made a fun but challenging finale to a great ride. I made it back to find out that Ellen (Morgan's great aunt) had called people along the road to let them know when I road by. I'll probably be in the Wilbur newspaper... again.

As always, click on any photo to see the rest of them on our flickr page. Click here for my ride details.

No Longer a Proponent of 80 Mile Warmups

It's been a wasteland here since March, but I'm going to dive in headlong with the latest Lingbloom summer adventure.

On Tuesday I left Bellingham at precisely 5am. There was just enough light that I only needed a tail light. The goal was to ride over the Cascades via Washington Pass to Winthrop. In one day. The early start was great. I made it to Alger by 6am, and Concrete (49 miles into my ride) by 8am. There I stopped at a road side diner for some breakfast sandwiches, and was whistled at by a couple of country bumpkins. In Bellingham, my response to this kind of behavior would be to wink or blow a kiss in return, but I've seen the movie Deliverance, and decided it was high time to get on with my ride.

When I got to Marblemount a little after 10 am, I had ridden 80 miles. I was pretty tired, and I hadn't even started climbing yet. The highest elevation I had reached on my ride was only about 700 feet, on Lake Samish Drive. Marblemount is at about 300 feet above sea level. Over the next 42 miles, I would gain 5,200 more feet!

I took a break at Colonial Creek, slammed a cliff bar (I was eating constantly all day) and began the 32 mile ride to the summit. Looking down at my speedometer, I was barely able to maintain 8 mph up the steep incline. When I did the math, it was pretty disheartening.

An hour later, I was slogging along when a car came flying by me honking like crazy. It was my only road rage instance of the day... or was it? In fact, it was just a pleasant surprise from three friends returning from Chelan. I talked their ears off for a few minutes and then continued on my way.

As I continued up the pass, I became more and more drained. By 2pm I was stopping every 30 minutes to take a quick break. A little after 3pm the broom wagon caught me (driven by Morgan), and though it sounds ridiculous, I was so tired that I briefly considered catching a lift and skipping the last 2 miles.

Even though it was smoking hot, and even though I was dead tired, and even though 8 mph is not fast enough to ride away from flies, I sucked it up and powered to the finish. I was exhausted, and my knee was killing me. But I made it.

After a nice little photo shoot (you can go to all the photos from this ride on our flickr account by clicking on one of the above photos) I mounted my bike to attempt the descent down to Winthrop. I made it Mazama, and that was it. The 10 minute break, combined with 20 minutes of not pedaling while flying down Washington Pass, had convinced my knee it was finished. Every pedal stroke was agony. It was disappointing not to make it at least to Winthrop, but the hot wind in my face put me over the edge. I called it a day.

If I ever do this ride again (and I would love to), I will drive to Marblemount and start from there. Riding 80 miles before a challenging climb is stupid.

If you want to see the route I took, you can click here. Click on the "Summary" tab for the elevation profile (Which I think is always the most interesting part).