When You See Windmills From Town........

When I rode into downtown Ellensburg yesterday I could see windmills in the distance.  Should have been a clue.....  Started out today's ride into a pretty steady headwind.  I was doing the math - figured I would be out there 10 hours at the rate I was going (ultimately it only turned out to be about 5).   Some nice scenery, though, with wind turbines set against a background of rugged mountains.

We started climbing almost from the get-go, ramped it up a bit at about 6 miles as we turned on to US 97.  We peaked for the first time at about 17 miles and then had a bit of a down-hill run.  Once we were over that first bump, the trees started to appear again and there was a bit more agricultural land and greenery.

At 19 miles we had a SAG stop, and hark - perhaps a wind change.  As we turned right to embark on a bigger climb up to Blewett Pass it seemed that we might have a tailwind for a while.  I thought it might be too much to hope for, but it actually lasted for the entire climb up to mile 33.  Lots of traffic on US 97, but lots of passing lanes as well.  The big trucks were very courteous to us; the RVs and busses are always more of a concern.  I'm not sure if some schools are now out, but it seemed to me that there was more RV & boat traffic than we've had before.

I'm glad I had a jacket with me today.  Chilly at the top and about 20 miles of downhill.  Nice downhill but a narrow-enough shoulder that we had to be pretty attentive to what we were doing.  A turn into US 2, a bit more climbing, and voila - Leavenworth.

Leavenworth is an interesting place.  The population is under 2,000, but it is a bustling tourist town.  The entire town centre is modeled on a Bavarian village.  In its early days it was a railroad and logging/sawmill town.  When those businesses relocated or closed, the town was in danger of dying.  In the 1960's a concerted effort was made to find a new identity and a Bavarian-themed tourist town was born.  I walked around a bit today - nice little shops and definitely lots to look at tomorrow.  Also a beautiful mountain setting for it.  I ran into some other cyclists in town.  The Fuller Center ride is staying here tonight.  They're going cross-country - Washington state to Washington DC, doing good deeds (helping on building projects) as they go.  They stay largely in places like church basements; a lot more altruistic than our princess tour.   Another great day!

Stats for the day:
95 km / 59 miles from Ellensburg WA to Leavenworth WA
3658 feet up
3904 feet down
Weather:  windy.  Pretty nice temps.  Started a bit cool - about 10C with wind.  Went up to mid-20sC at one point, down to 13C at the top of the pass and then back up into the 20s.  Mostly sunny with a bit of cloud cover.