Tired, but having fun!

                  "Its like you're biking through a convection oven"
                                                 - fellow Lewis and Clark aficionado, Tom

           There is a heat wave in the Northwest which is and will be, according USA Today, challenging or breaking record highs across the region. Of course the week that Julien and I are in our second (traditionally hardest) week of our cross country bike trip and are going through the Rockies there is a heat wave. We have so much to say with surprisingly little time, and even less energy, to say it so I will save a few paragraphs and let it suffice to say that it is hot.
           The first thing anyone who has biked across the country, or something of the variety will tell you is that people are nice. This trip has been no exception. Every time Julien and I stop at a gas station to fill up on water, or resupply at a grocery store people want to talk to us. I suspect it is some combination of the neon yellow biker shirts, spandex tight shorts, or fifty pound panniers fixed to our bikes that attracts so much attention because normally when I go to the supermarket I am lucky if I have decent conversation, or any at all, with anyone but the check-out lady. There are two groups of people who we have gotten to know particularly well, a couple from California who are also attempting a cross-country tour, and a family, or at least part of it, from Walla-Walla, WA.
            Today was a day of records, and I am not referring to the extreme heat this time. We rode 103 miles! This is by far our longest day, our next two highest being 80 and 85 miles. Not only was it our longest day but it was also by far the most uphill we've done in one day, according to Strava's elevation reader. We crossed over Lolo's Pass, over a mountain range which separates Idaho and Montana. That being said we have been making good progress as of our last post, finishing Oregon, Washington and Idaho. We have biked over 75 miles for four days and counting, but don't know if we will keep at our current pace as we are certainly feeling the wear of nine days riding and camping.
         

Camil