Day 6: Hermiston to Walla Walla, WA

Welcome to Washington! We made it to the second state in our journey. And I knew we were getting close when I started seeing the apple trees.

Today was another day of rollers, only this time they were big rollers, which I liked better than the constant small rollers from yesterday. Today they were big enough that the momentum from the descent helped propel me half way up the next climb. We did have one 3ish mile climb, but about 2900 feet of the elevation gain came off the rollers.

Because today was a short ride we arrived at our hotel, The Marcus Whitman Hotel, around 12:30pm. The Marcus Whitman Hotel opened in 1928 and was actually started collectively by the people of Walla Walla when they decided they needed an event space and accommodations for visitors. Unfortunately our early arrival meant they didn't have our rooms ready. Mine wasn't ready until 2pm so I had a chance to sit around the lobby and get to know my travel mates a bit better. And, for those who might have been concerned, I did NOT sit around in my biking shorts. I changed out of those immediately. Finishing the ride early in the day also gave me the opportunity to enjoy a much earned ice cream cone.

I've gotten several questions/comments related to post-ride food, so I thought I'd answer them. First, Mark made the observation that I partake in a post-ride coke, which many like to enjoy as a boost during a ride. I too like an occasional coke during a long, hard ride and will likely enjoy a few cokes on some of the long rides to come. However, I also find coke to be a refreshing post-ride treat and often drink one (or two) when my travel mates are enjoying a beer. I love a good dark beer, but with as much riding as we're doing I just can't drink during the trip because they significantly impact my recovery.

Second, dinner. I haven't mentioned dinner in any of the previous posts because I generally write them before dinner. Dinner is a mixed bag. Sometimes, like tonight we're on our own to find dinner, other nights there's a catered buffet at the hotel, or we have a tab at a restaurant and we can order off the menu. As a vegetarian I rarely feel like I've gotten everything I need from the buffets so I generally also have a protein shake before bed. I also have a hard time eating large quantities of food and prefer to eat lots of small meals. So far I've been able to track down a glass of milk at the hotel restaurant or a gas station nearby to mix with the protein powder I brought along.

If you have other questions or are curious about some aspect of the trip, feel free to add a comment and I'll do my best to address it.

Tomorrow is another big day of almost 100 miles and our third state. After one night in Washington we're headed to Idaho.

Day 6 stats:

• distance: 70.5 miles

• elevation gain: 3448 ft

• nutrition:

  • breakfast: cheese omelette, hash brown, yogurt, oatmeal with brown sugar and walnuts, and Skratch crispy rice cake bar

  • lunch: cheese quesadilla, guacamole, mango with Tajin, 1 chocolate chip cookie

  • post-ride: 1 recovery drink, 1 small coke, kate's real food chocolate mint bar, and a banana

  • gels: 2

  • bloks: 0

  • 39 oz skratch superfuel, 26 oz zym, 13 oz water

Day 7 details - Walla Walla, WA to Lewiston, ID

• planned distance: 98.6 miles

• planned elevation gain: 4859 ft