Washington Bicycle Ride, 2008

Background

Bicycle Rides Northwest, a company based in Bend, Oregon, replaced their Bicycle Idaho rides starting in 2007 with the Washington Bicycle Ride but I did not ride it that year. Linda did and found it a scenic route. This year's route was very similar but in reverse direction and Linda suggested I join her on it. I had never ridden in Northeast Washington north of Spokane so the country was new to me. Note that the Washington Bicycle Ride continues the pattern from Bicycle Idaho of being one day shorter than the Oregon Bicycle Ride.

Itinerary

Day	Start	Stop	Mileage	Elevation Gain
July 27	Mead, WA	Chewelah	77	3360
July 28	Chewelah	Colville	75	4428
July 29	Layover in Colville (we did not ride)
July 30	Colville	Box Canyon Dam	69	5225
July 31	Box Canyon Dam	Newport	56	*
August 1	Newport	Mead	44	2325
Totals			321	15338*

* Linda and I decided to take the shorter and more direct route today, since the extension did not seem to offer much beyond a few more miles and a climb and descent (on chip seal) near the end of the route. We do not have an elevation gain for our shorter route.