I woke up and it was already windy out. I exited my tent and while I was packing stuff up one of the wind surfers told me it was going to be a windy day all day today and that I should just hang out till tomorrow, but such is the life of a touring cyclist, I don't get to pick my days, I get to ride though it all... well, mostly, I'll be honest, if it was something crazy like 45 mph winds, I would have just stayed put.
The theme of today was just a constant headwind, from morning till night. There wasn't much I could do but just keep pedaling. At least the canyon scenery was great and it was mostly flat except for a 750 foot bluff I had to climb. I was on the side of the river with less services, and was a little concerned when the few services on the map turned out to be either out of business or way down the bluff near the water, meaning I'd have to go down and then re-climb this bluff, something I was not really wanting to do.
A little bit after noon, on top of the bluff I found a pavilion along side the road and stopped to eat some lunch in it's shade. It was getting hot again, but at least the headwind helped keep me a little cooler. While eating I had finished up all the water in my water bottles, and found out that I should have changed the water in my reserve bottles because there were some interesting things floating in them.
Since it was still some distance to the next service that may or may not be there, I had to once again go knocking on the door of one of the few houses along the route. I was very happy that they allowed me use of their hose and I filled up on water and continued my ride.
A couple hours later as I had descended and was getting close to a legit town, a man in a work van stopped ahead of me and came out to greet me. It turns out he was also a cyclist and had done a bunch of tours and was a warmshowers host in Portland. He offered me more water and then a place to stay when I got to Portland if I need it. I love that there are people like this out there.
After a full day of fighting the wind, I made it to Bingen and went looking for the hostel, which was a re-purposed old elementary school. $19 got me a bunk there for the night. I took a much needed shower and then did some exploring around the place as it was just interesting, lockers still lined the hall walls and the gym was open for anyone who wanted to use it. Before I knew it, it was 10pm, lights out time in the bunk rooms, and I fell fast asleep, enjoying another night in a bed!
Start: West Roosevelt, WA
End: Bingen, WA
Distance: 69.52 miles
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