Mind Games

Day 6: Roosevelt to Plymouth: 50 miles

With more training beforehand, we may have been able to avoid the pitfalls of this day...but who knows?

The wind died down, but we still had a slight tailwind in our favor. We had an early start, a good shoulder, and very little traffic. We figured we would probably go farther than Plymouth, but decided to see once we got there.

Our bodies started talking to us pretty quickly. A twinge here, a sharp pain there--knees hurting, palms aching, and of course the ever-present butt burn! The riding that should have been easy was feeling tough.

The real problem, though, was the mind games our brains were playing. Once the negative thoughts start swirling around, they gain momentum. Will we find enough water for the ride in this deserted area? Will my butt ever stop hurting? What was I thinking that I could do this ride? On and on it went...until finally I hit the jackpot of the thought that I should just take myself to the nearest airport and head home! David was having some of these same thoughts, a notable one being "What the @#$%@ are you doing on this bike seat, you asshole? (No pun intended)."

When I whined ahead to him about these issues, he said "It's all about your perspective--sometimes the negative tries to take over." How true, and a great lesson about how we look at all the things in our lives. So, we re-grouped, told our brains to STOP IT, and decided to listen to our bodies (still complaining). We stopped in Plymouth and checked into the local campground.

How lucky for us! We met some really nice people and they suggested that our intended route would be very hilly and in a high traffic area. Not fun cycling. They provided us with a new map and a route that would take us through Walla Walla--another Washington Wine Country hot spot. Yeah!

We ate dinner at the ONLY business establishment in Plymouth--the tavern. It was ironic that after passing about 50,000 acres of vegetables, fruit, and grapes--not one of those things was on the menu! We ate the available fare thankfully, but experienced some fried food indigestion later that night. So, veggie- and fiber-free, we planned to hit Walla Walla and head on to Spokane.