BELLINGHAM TO BAKER AND BACK

At 7 a.m. this morning, John Clark, Mark Harrison and I left Bellingham for a 115-mile ride to the ski area and back. Six thousand feet of climbing and probably $35 spent at in Maple Falls (at 88-mile mark) on cheese danish, extra-salty potato chips, chocolate milk, Reece's Pieces and dry turkey and ham sandwiches. On the way up, we'd planned on stocking up on gatorade and the like at Graham's in Glacier, just before the mega climbs, but were foiled, as you can see, by Puget Power.

A forest ranger warned us of a mangy bear just below the ski area but the bear never materialized. Apparently, people have been feeding him/her and its become quite brazen. Good idea that, feeding Doritos to a wild bear, don't ya' think? Seems to me I've heard that a fed bear is a dead bear. Oh well, as long as the feeder enjoyed themselves.

Mark was king of the mountains today, I took tops in the non-carbon bike category and nobody could beat John in the lives-on-Walnut Street division. A great ride. An awesome ride. And a tad cold one. It still felt like winter up top.

Oh yeah, 6 hours and 30 minutes; 17.7 mph.