BAC Methow Valley 2012

I settled into a regular breakfast routine - orange juice, scones and other breads and granola with yogurt and sliced fruit. The breakfast coffee was very weak, so my caffeine fix took place in my room before breakfast.

We had a beautiful ride along the Chewuch River through valleys and forests out to Andrews Creek where the road ended. The river valley was also the site of the Thirty Mile Fire which killed four fire fighters in July 2001. A memorial was a ways out on a side road. We didn't go there. Here is the official report of the fire.

The weather was perfect – cool on the way up and warm on the way down. And it was mostly up on the way out and mostly down on the way back. I rode most of the ride with Terry Karro, Linda Brockway, Gary Hsueh and Jon Zuehlke. The pavement had a few pot holes. We had to concentrate to miss them, especially in the dappled light. Terry almost was swallowed by huge two side-by-side pot holes.

When we reached the outskirts of Winthrop we stopped outside of Methow Cycle and Sport and chatted with the owner who was leaving to walk her dogs. Conveniently, there was a fruit stand next to us. Linda bought some blueberries which she shared with us.

Back in town, I had a chocolate malt at the popular ice cream stand. I also had a veggie sandwich from the Boulder Creek Deli to compensate for all of the evil things in my malt.

We had our final group dinner at the Sun Mountain Lodge. This is a highly rated resort nestled in the hills above Winthrop. I had risotto with fresh vegetables which was very good. Our dessert was "Chocolate Semifreddo served with chocolate short bread, garnished with hazelnut Florentine and berry coulis". Yummy!

Here is today’s ride: