Day 9 Othello to Ritzville. 69.2 miles, 2105 feet climbed
Now truly in Eastern Washington, we were getting into the part of the state that is referred to as The Palouse. Miles and miles of green and brown cultivated, rolling hills. Farmland so vast it boggles my mind. Another long section on the Palouse to Cascades (PTC) trail and many gravel farm roads make up this section. It’s a long day to Ritzville and the last chance on the route for a motel. We stopped for a comfy bed and good dinner.
Day 10- Ritzville to Rosalia, no Tekoa! 96.8 miles, 3714 feet climbed
The push towards the finish! Last year on this day we rode from Ritzville to Malden. That left about 40 miles on the last day. We finished in 10 days and 7 hours. This year it had been my goal to finish in a day less. Battling the Colockum and having to stop for the night in Wenatchee pushed us back onto last year’s schedule. As Keri and I started out from Ritzville, we began to realize that if we could finish the whole route before 7 a.m. the following morning the timer clock would read 9 days and x hours. At first our aim was to get to Rosalia (one town past Malden), camp in their city park, and get up at 2:30 a.m. to finish the last 30 miles before 7 a.m.
We arrived in Rosalia at about 5 p.m. and grabbed some sandwiches for dinner. Then we made our way to the park. There was a little league game going on and lots of people about. I couldn’t see myself getting to sleep with all that going on and waking up at 2:30. I convinced Keri we should ride until it got dark and get closer to the finish in Tekoa, WA. Our friend Darin who had come with his truck to take us back home went ahead of us to scout out camping possibilities. Every few miles we’d catch up with Darin and there was always some reason why the spot wouldn’t work. There was still too much daylight left, there were mosquitos, it was too damp. Finally we decided just to ride to Tekoa. We would still have eleven miles left in the morning because the route requires a loop past Tekoa. We met John Heaton, farmer and unofficial greeter of everyone who finishes Cross Washington, on the bridge into Tekoa and he told us we could camp in the parking lot at the end of the bridge. So at 9 p.m. in the fading daylight we set up our tents and crawled in for a few hours of sleep before finishing the last eleven miles.
The Finish- Tekoa-Idaho-Tekoa. 11.8 miles, 685 feet climbed
At 4:30 a.m. the sun was already rising and we woke, bleary eyed, and got on our bikes. We were ready for what is referred to as the Victory Lap. Five miles out of Tekoa on the PTC trail to the Idaho border and then five or so miles back to town along a rollercoaster dirt road. Luckily the weather was dry this year and the dirt road wasn’t a mud road. We rolled down the last hill and across the nonexistent finish line in Tekoa. It was 6:35 am making our official finish time 9:23:28 or 9 days, 23 hours, and 28 minutes. There to celebrate us were John Heaton and his father, Darin, and fellow XWA rider Scott, who had finished the night before. We did it again, and we beat last years time!!
Somewhere along the first or second day Keri and I both agreed that doing XWA twice was enough, never again. By the second to the last day Keri was talking about doing it again next year and I kept saying “No way!” Two days post XWA I knew we’d be back again next year.🤪
Annie Bikes 
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