Day Four – Hills Galour!

Day four began like the previous days – one warrior sure and ready, one warrior weary and worried. The goal was from Port Angeles to Kingston, Washington. Ready, set, go:

The bikes are ready. Where are the guys? You know how women get harassed about taking too long to get ready? Have you been around two men trying to get out the door for a full day of bike riding? Yeah, well…

Here is a closer look at Jay’s bike. I didn’t have one before. When we bought Jay’s, our focus wasn’t on the travel/biking blog. So no one took pictures. I came out and admired it, but I didn’t think to take a picture:

This bike doesn’t need all the regalia to make it stand out because the rider is up high. On Art’s bike, it’s the opposite. It can be harder to see. You can easily see the difference in height in the photo below. They have lights, Art’s fancy flags, and their orange/yellow vests to help. I wish they’d agree to wear a sign that reads, “Precious Cargo” on it. But, no. LOL.

Finally, they appear to be ready:

But wait, Art is on his phone. He’s actually taking screenshots of their path as they often have no signal available to follow it. Jay waits, then decides since he goes a bit slower, he’ll head out:

Bye, be careful, I call after them:

They started with one mile uphill, about a six or seven-degree climb. The second hill was about an eleven to twelve-degree climb. Both were really hard! Then they hit the third hill. They are working hard every day to make this dream come true.

Now I share with you the next adventure in The Money Pit RV living. During the Journey of a Lifetime starring Art and Jay, I’m sitting at Les Schwab waiting for our truck brakes to be replaced with four, yep, four dogs! We thought it was our RV brakes. But here’s the surprise: The RV brakes were fine! Yay!

We had to replace our two front truck tires. One had a bolt in it. Both were bare in the center. It’s hard on a truck to pull and to stop, that much weight. So, $1900 plus later, I was near tears. Okay, I cried a little bit, but the dogs all wanted to be on my lap since I was sad. I was driving, so I had to buck up for them. I settled for just a lump in my throat for a bit.

Jay fell twice on this day. His feet were stuck in the clipless pedals they both use, and he couldn’t pull them loose. They look similar to this:

And the shoes are like a cleat that fits into that piece.

Both falls were because of giving the right of way to vehicles. Poor guy has been so disheartened. So we think we’ll be buying him regular pedals with some spiky metal on them to help keep his feet in place as he rides. Jay made it twenty-five miles. Art made it all the way, a total of sixty-two miles.

Here are some pictures Art took when he started riding alone. Just look at that smile:

He smiles to the right, and to the left – LOL:

And some beautiful water shots:

These two lunatics have been friends for around 28 years or so. And they take care of each other. They do things they enjoy together. This was a big idea that Jay had. He just hasn’t been ready like he thought he would be because of the recumbent bike issue. So Art is “team” riding for them. What Jay can’t do now, Art will finish. They’re crazy, but they sure are a couple of good guys!

Next Up: Day Five – Alone…