Day 9: Center Ferry to Colfax, WA: 35 miles
Well, hamburger butt returned with a vengeance today! We packed up and left the Snake River at about 8:30 a.m. Our first experience was a 7+ mile uphill! Of COURSE I should have expected to climb back out of that Snake River valley, but I really didn't expect that much of a challenge right off the bat.
We had decided already to make this a short day because there are few services between Colfax and Spokane on our route, and we REALLY needed to to laundry. All our clothes were getting smelly and salty, even though we have washed almost every single day (or so it seems). What we didn't know at that time is that of our 35 miles today, about 25 of them were uphill. Not short steep Virginia uphills--long, gradual, depressing, and did I mention LONG--uphills! I used a lot of sailor language as we would round a curve and see yet MORE hill above us. At one point I thought we'd have to levitate to go any higher, but those hills just kept rising in front of us!
The downhills were fun today, but so much shorter. Our best moment was at the Dusty, WA Country Store where David found that they do indeed import good beer here! Of course, since we were mid-ride, he couldn't drink any--but at least he was happy to see it on the shelves.
So it was a hard day, with lots of uphills, and hamburger butt abounded! But we found a grocery store with more good beer and a good Mexican restaurant, and did lots of laundry--so we're ready for the next stage of the ride!
Spokane is next (tomorrow); then on to Idaho within the next two days!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Hump Day???
Day 8: Walla Walla to Center Ferry State Park: 67 miles
Well, we hated to leave Walla Walla so soon, but off we went after posting some blogs. It was a bit late when we left, and we had planned a long day. It gets pretty darn hot in this part of Washington! About 90 during the days already--and LOTS of sunshine. Sun may be the unexpected enemy--we're already trying to avoid it as much as possible, but in this gorgeous farmland country, there are very few trees.
Today, we had lots of ups and downs--literally! We had several long, gradual uphill climbs. The good news was that each of those was followed by a LONG, wonderful downhill! And since there was little wind, it was bicycle riding at it's best.
The green horizons were awe-inspiring. All the different crops and colors of green mixed together like a wheat/pea/onion quilt. So gorgeous and so different than our usual mountain beauty! But it's HOT! I guess that's why all those crops grow well here. The terrain is moving from beautiful farmland to more desert-like and brown. But all is gorgeous!
We rode for about 55 miles before we were supposed to hit the REAL hills. We had looked at a map and decided to refill our water bottles and maybe buy a snack in a little town on the map called Dodge. But when we got there with empty water bottles, there was NOTHING there! There was a composting toilet for travelers (yay!) but no water to be seen.
We spied a farmhouse across the road and decided to knock on the door and ask for water because we had at least 12 more hard miles to go. A very nice woman came to the door and offered to let us fill our bottles. When I told her about our original plan to re-fuel in Dodge, she said "Well, that's what you're doing! This is Dodge: Population 2. My husband and I just moved here." That may have been the nicest town ever! Great service and nice people! So off we went up the big hill with nice cold water and a warm feeling in our hearts to accompany the ever-present warm feeling in our rears!
Actually, hamburger butt did not really occur on this, our longest day of riding so far. Maybe it is due to those awesome downhills! Or could it be that we're getting used to this????
Central Ferry is a very remote park on the Snake River. We were the only tent campers there, and had a really lovely evening. I can't wait to post the pictures of the full moon rising over the Snake River (hopefully when we reach Spokane). It was truly a wonderful sight and a pretty remarkable spot.
We were talking about how much Tom would have loved being on this ride. Although he would have been much more prepared and would have laughed at our butt burn (and never admitted if he had it too). And we're thrilled to have received the news and a picture of our niece Erin's new baby--Tomas! It's fun to stay connected even though we sometimes feel we're in the middle of nowhere...
Next stop, Colfax, WA!
Well, we hated to leave Walla Walla so soon, but off we went after posting some blogs. It was a bit late when we left, and we had planned a long day. It gets pretty darn hot in this part of Washington! About 90 during the days already--and LOTS of sunshine. Sun may be the unexpected enemy--we're already trying to avoid it as much as possible, but in this gorgeous farmland country, there are very few trees.
Today, we had lots of ups and downs--literally! We had several long, gradual uphill climbs. The good news was that each of those was followed by a LONG, wonderful downhill! And since there was little wind, it was bicycle riding at it's best.
The green horizons were awe-inspiring. All the different crops and colors of green mixed together like a wheat/pea/onion quilt. So gorgeous and so different than our usual mountain beauty! But it's HOT! I guess that's why all those crops grow well here. The terrain is moving from beautiful farmland to more desert-like and brown. But all is gorgeous!
We rode for about 55 miles before we were supposed to hit the REAL hills. We had looked at a map and decided to refill our water bottles and maybe buy a snack in a little town on the map called Dodge. But when we got there with empty water bottles, there was NOTHING there! There was a composting toilet for travelers (yay!) but no water to be seen.
We spied a farmhouse across the road and decided to knock on the door and ask for water because we had at least 12 more hard miles to go. A very nice woman came to the door and offered to let us fill our bottles. When I told her about our original plan to re-fuel in Dodge, she said "Well, that's what you're doing! This is Dodge: Population 2. My husband and I just moved here." That may have been the nicest town ever! Great service and nice people! So off we went up the big hill with nice cold water and a warm feeling in our hearts to accompany the ever-present warm feeling in our rears!
Actually, hamburger butt did not really occur on this, our longest day of riding so far. Maybe it is due to those awesome downhills! Or could it be that we're getting used to this????
Central Ferry is a very remote park on the Snake River. We were the only tent campers there, and had a really lovely evening. I can't wait to post the pictures of the full moon rising over the Snake River (hopefully when we reach Spokane). It was truly a wonderful sight and a pretty remarkable spot.
We were talking about how much Tom would have loved being on this ride. Although he would have been much more prepared and would have laughed at our butt burn (and never admitted if he had it too). And we're thrilled to have received the news and a picture of our niece Erin's new baby--Tomas! It's fun to stay connected even though we sometimes feel we're in the middle of nowhere...
Next stop, Colfax, WA!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Happy Happy in Walla Walla
Day 7: Plymouth to Walla Walla, WA: 59 miles
This was a day of mostly flat terrain, but with a rare easterly headwind. David "The Machine" Maddox pulled me the first 30 miles. It was not hard pedaling, but the headwind made it feel like a 30-mile uphill! I would probably still be trying to get to Walla Walla if it weren't for David!
We headed up the Columbia after an inauspicious start at Umatilla. Our new motto is "If you have a choice between hunger and a truck stop, choose hunger." We were burping greasy breakfast food the first 30 miles!
This part of Washington is more desert-like and just gorgeous. We pedaled beside the river for the most part until we got through Wallula Gap. We had beautiful views of some pretty dramatic terrain. There was quite a bit of truck traffic on this road, but they mostly gave us wide berth. It is interesting, though, that the only time you meet traffic is that 20-foot stretch where there is no shoulder, there's a cliff on one side, and the river on the other. Murphy's Law exhibited time and time again...
At one point, we surprised 4 white pelicans on a little pond. They took off and escorted us for about 5 minutes--not bothered at all by the wind! They are like most of the other wildlife. Things like tractor trailer trucks, cars, and trains don't even cause them to look up. But let two people on bicycles ride by slowly, and they get pretty interested! We have had a lot of unusual interest from the animals, and it made me wonder how often this happens to us as humans...we can go through many of our routines in almost a trance--not noticing until something different happens. Maybe we need that variety to feel alive??? Just a thought on our 10-week meditative journey...
Hamburger butt resurged after about 45 miles on this day, but we still had 15 left to get to Walla Walla! It was slow going--I am trying not to stop except for every 5-10 miles. We got sunburned and parched, and ran out of water about 2 miles before our destination. At one point I yelled to David "Walla Walla better be worth it worth it!"
It was! What a fantastic town! Wide streets (supposedly based on the old stagecoach days), nice people, and fun shops! We found some shorts for David, a book for me, and all the other supplies we needed. We tasted some fabulous Washington wines and had a great dinner (LOTS of veggies!) at Grapefields Restaurant. It just doesn't get much better than that!
Our route from here is up through the Palouse Plateau and on to Spokane. We hope to be there by Friday! Our LONG trip through Washington state will come to an end about two days later.
This was a day of mostly flat terrain, but with a rare easterly headwind. David "The Machine" Maddox pulled me the first 30 miles. It was not hard pedaling, but the headwind made it feel like a 30-mile uphill! I would probably still be trying to get to Walla Walla if it weren't for David!
We headed up the Columbia after an inauspicious start at Umatilla. Our new motto is "If you have a choice between hunger and a truck stop, choose hunger." We were burping greasy breakfast food the first 30 miles!
This part of Washington is more desert-like and just gorgeous. We pedaled beside the river for the most part until we got through Wallula Gap. We had beautiful views of some pretty dramatic terrain. There was quite a bit of truck traffic on this road, but they mostly gave us wide berth. It is interesting, though, that the only time you meet traffic is that 20-foot stretch where there is no shoulder, there's a cliff on one side, and the river on the other. Murphy's Law exhibited time and time again...
At one point, we surprised 4 white pelicans on a little pond. They took off and escorted us for about 5 minutes--not bothered at all by the wind! They are like most of the other wildlife. Things like tractor trailer trucks, cars, and trains don't even cause them to look up. But let two people on bicycles ride by slowly, and they get pretty interested! We have had a lot of unusual interest from the animals, and it made me wonder how often this happens to us as humans...we can go through many of our routines in almost a trance--not noticing until something different happens. Maybe we need that variety to feel alive??? Just a thought on our 10-week meditative journey...
Hamburger butt resurged after about 45 miles on this day, but we still had 15 left to get to Walla Walla! It was slow going--I am trying not to stop except for every 5-10 miles. We got sunburned and parched, and ran out of water about 2 miles before our destination. At one point I yelled to David "Walla Walla better be worth it worth it!"
It was! What a fantastic town! Wide streets (supposedly based on the old stagecoach days), nice people, and fun shops! We found some shorts for David, a book for me, and all the other supplies we needed. We tasted some fabulous Washington wines and had a great dinner (LOTS of veggies!) at Grapefields Restaurant. It just doesn't get much better than that!
Our route from here is up through the Palouse Plateau and on to Spokane. We hope to be there by Friday! Our LONG trip through Washington state will come to an end about two days later.
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.
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.
Sailing, Sailing...
...Over the High Prairie!
Day 5: Lyle to Roosevelt, WA: 62 miles
We started out from James and Patrice's house armed with all our gear and some fresh hard-cooked eggs from the farm's chickens! I can highly recommend Patrice's cooking...we had wonderful meals while we were there. They really touched our lives in a great way during our stay there.
Weather reports were for a "good" wind day. That means the wind would be raging up the Columbia River Gorge, and you could tell on the high prairie that the wind had picked up! We climbed a bit and then found a terrific tail wind. The panniers on the bikes are amazing sails--we had to use our sailing experience to maximize the tailwind benefits. At one point, we were traveling about 16-20 mph WITHOUT PEDALING at all on flat ground or slightly uphill! That was pretty cool!
All was well until we had to descend back into the gorge. We had plans to stop at the Maryhill museum and state park. It promised to be a fabulous 4-mile downhill. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The winds were SO strong and the road was curvy. That nice tailwind is not easy to deal with when it's coming from the side and hitting those panniers. It wants to move the whole bike out from under you! So, we were hanging on for dear life--yelling "Maintain, baby" the whole way down. At one point, we were pedaling as hard as we could in an easy gear to make DOWNHILL progress! At the bottom, we were exhausted and white-knuckled, but safe and sound. This was Columbia River Gorge wind at it's finest!
So we decided NOT to head west (into the wind) and go to the museum. We turned east instead and let the wind take us the last 20 miles into Roosevelt park. Our first night of camping was a windy one! This park is a favorite of windsurfers and kite surfers. We met a fantastic group of people from Hood River, OR who come to this place every Memorial Day weekend. They were so generous and fun to be with--offering us salad (yeah!) and lots of their food, as well as good stories. There were kids and dogs everywhere, so it reminded us of being home and camping with the kids. Memorial Day is the beginning of the windsurfing season, and they got a huge wind day to start with. If I ever decide to move to the Northwest, I would check out Hood River because the people were so nice! Thanks, everyone, for your hospitality!
We had the "shakedown" of our camping gear and everything worked out well. The titanium cookware and eating utensils are as convenient as they are light! The new tent is awesome, and the setting was just gorgeous. A perfect end to an alternatively exhilarating and horrifying day due to that wind! It has unbelievable power..and you have to work with it rather than fight it.
Day 5: Lyle to Roosevelt, WA: 62 miles
We started out from James and Patrice's house armed with all our gear and some fresh hard-cooked eggs from the farm's chickens! I can highly recommend Patrice's cooking...we had wonderful meals while we were there. They really touched our lives in a great way during our stay there.
Weather reports were for a "good" wind day. That means the wind would be raging up the Columbia River Gorge, and you could tell on the high prairie that the wind had picked up! We climbed a bit and then found a terrific tail wind. The panniers on the bikes are amazing sails--we had to use our sailing experience to maximize the tailwind benefits. At one point, we were traveling about 16-20 mph WITHOUT PEDALING at all on flat ground or slightly uphill! That was pretty cool!
All was well until we had to descend back into the gorge. We had plans to stop at the Maryhill museum and state park. It promised to be a fabulous 4-mile downhill. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The winds were SO strong and the road was curvy. That nice tailwind is not easy to deal with when it's coming from the side and hitting those panniers. It wants to move the whole bike out from under you! So, we were hanging on for dear life--yelling "Maintain, baby" the whole way down. At one point, we were pedaling as hard as we could in an easy gear to make DOWNHILL progress! At the bottom, we were exhausted and white-knuckled, but safe and sound. This was Columbia River Gorge wind at it's finest!
So we decided NOT to head west (into the wind) and go to the museum. We turned east instead and let the wind take us the last 20 miles into Roosevelt park. Our first night of camping was a windy one! This park is a favorite of windsurfers and kite surfers. We met a fantastic group of people from Hood River, OR who come to this place every Memorial Day weekend. They were so generous and fun to be with--offering us salad (yeah!) and lots of their food, as well as good stories. There were kids and dogs everywhere, so it reminded us of being home and camping with the kids. Memorial Day is the beginning of the windsurfing season, and they got a huge wind day to start with. If I ever decide to move to the Northwest, I would check out Hood River because the people were so nice! Thanks, everyone, for your hospitality!
We had the "shakedown" of our camping gear and everything worked out well. The titanium cookware and eating utensils are as convenient as they are light! The new tent is awesome, and the setting was just gorgeous. A perfect end to an alternatively exhilarating and horrifying day due to that wind! It has unbelievable power..and you have to work with it rather than fight it.
Make New Friends But Keep the Old...
One is Silver and the Other's Gold--isn't that the old Girl Scout song? It really came to mind during our time in Lyle, WA
We're catching up on the last 4 days or so because we finally found our first internet cafe! So, back to Day 3 of the ride:
Camas to Lyle, WA--64.5 miles
The ride to Lyle was going to be a long one, but it was SO beautiful! I was very happy about our decision to stop in Camas because we had a huge almost 4-mile climb about a mile out of town that would have done me in the day before! That climb took us to one of the most beautiful views I've seen--the panorama of the Columbia River Gorge from high up. It's almost too hard to describe how gorgeous this place is--you must come to see it for yourselves! The Gorge is steep on both sides through this portion, and although the road was a little narrow, the cars were all very cautious with us on the road.
We are learning to use our rear view mirrors more and more each day. It's funny--if you get them positioned correctly, you can see at a glance the things you need to. Often, in the first couple of days, all I could see was the welcome sight of David riding behind me! Fun, but not totally practical. The mirrors are small, but give you enough information if you set them properly. And of course, if you spend too much time looking in the rear view, you miss the pothole right in front of you! How like life...
After our big climb, we had a big descent right back down to the river level and then experienced a rare northeasterly wind. Not too exciting, but not horrible either. We found the most fabulous coffee bar in Stevenson, WA for lunch. It's called the Bahma Coffee Bar and it made me want to move to Stevenson immediately! Excellent salad (we're missing the fresh food and produce we usually eat at home) and great service--really a lovely town.
Washington State has flowers everywhere in bloom--Shirley poppies along the highway in droves, lupine by the acre, and rhododendron in every color imaginable. It's so pleasant to ride along and look at all the color nature offers.
An interesting thing along this stretch of road were the tunnels. We were on Rt. 14, and had five tunnels to go through. The way they have accommodated bikes is to have a button that you push. Then a light starts flashing on either side of the tunnel so the cars know there's a bike in there. Luckily, we only had one car pass us inside the tunnels, but it was pretty exciting. We sprinted through these--leap-frogging (I would push one button, David the next) and riding as fast as we could to get through the scary, dark part! After that, there were just a few cars and we had a nice ride into Lyle, WA.
James and Patrice Archuleta put us up during our stay in Lyle. David knew these two old friends from his days in China Lake. They moved to Lyle in 1999 and have a fantastic spread in the High Prairie area with sheep, horses (and a mule), lambs, chickens (and one of the funniest-looking roosters I have ever seen), cata, and a Blue Heeler to keep everyone in line. It was a fantastic place to stay--especially since they put us up in our own little cabin!
The Washington gang treated us royally. We had quite a feast that night, and they mentioned that if we could stay another day, we could participate in the wine tastings that all the local wineries were having for Memorial Day Weekend. Well, when they put it like that...OF COURSE we stayed!
Rest day consisted of lazing around, trying to post to the blog, and wine tasting! We particularly liked the Dry Hollow Winery--the setting reminded me of Tuscany, and the wine was excellent! We also met up with Dirk, our new friend who we met in Paonia in April. He took us to his house and we had a fantastic time with Dirk, Jan, and a few of their friends. What a fun evening and a great way to spend time off the bikes! We also got a tip about a great free campground in Roosevelt, so that will be our next stop!
Thanks to all our old and new friends for making this part of Washington so fun and special! (P.S. we left our camera connector in Lyle, so we'll have to post pictures when it catches back up with us or we buy another on. Bummer!)
We're catching up on the last 4 days or so because we finally found our first internet cafe! So, back to Day 3 of the ride:
Camas to Lyle, WA--64.5 miles
The ride to Lyle was going to be a long one, but it was SO beautiful! I was very happy about our decision to stop in Camas because we had a huge almost 4-mile climb about a mile out of town that would have done me in the day before! That climb took us to one of the most beautiful views I've seen--the panorama of the Columbia River Gorge from high up. It's almost too hard to describe how gorgeous this place is--you must come to see it for yourselves! The Gorge is steep on both sides through this portion, and although the road was a little narrow, the cars were all very cautious with us on the road.
We are learning to use our rear view mirrors more and more each day. It's funny--if you get them positioned correctly, you can see at a glance the things you need to. Often, in the first couple of days, all I could see was the welcome sight of David riding behind me! Fun, but not totally practical. The mirrors are small, but give you enough information if you set them properly. And of course, if you spend too much time looking in the rear view, you miss the pothole right in front of you! How like life...
After our big climb, we had a big descent right back down to the river level and then experienced a rare northeasterly wind. Not too exciting, but not horrible either. We found the most fabulous coffee bar in Stevenson, WA for lunch. It's called the Bahma Coffee Bar and it made me want to move to Stevenson immediately! Excellent salad (we're missing the fresh food and produce we usually eat at home) and great service--really a lovely town.
Washington State has flowers everywhere in bloom--Shirley poppies along the highway in droves, lupine by the acre, and rhododendron in every color imaginable. It's so pleasant to ride along and look at all the color nature offers.
An interesting thing along this stretch of road were the tunnels. We were on Rt. 14, and had five tunnels to go through. The way they have accommodated bikes is to have a button that you push. Then a light starts flashing on either side of the tunnel so the cars know there's a bike in there. Luckily, we only had one car pass us inside the tunnels, but it was pretty exciting. We sprinted through these--leap-frogging (I would push one button, David the next) and riding as fast as we could to get through the scary, dark part! After that, there were just a few cars and we had a nice ride into Lyle, WA.
James and Patrice Archuleta put us up during our stay in Lyle. David knew these two old friends from his days in China Lake. They moved to Lyle in 1999 and have a fantastic spread in the High Prairie area with sheep, horses (and a mule), lambs, chickens (and one of the funniest-looking roosters I have ever seen), cata, and a Blue Heeler to keep everyone in line. It was a fantastic place to stay--especially since they put us up in our own little cabin!
The Washington gang treated us royally. We had quite a feast that night, and they mentioned that if we could stay another day, we could participate in the wine tastings that all the local wineries were having for Memorial Day Weekend. Well, when they put it like that...OF COURSE we stayed!
Rest day consisted of lazing around, trying to post to the blog, and wine tasting! We particularly liked the Dry Hollow Winery--the setting reminded me of Tuscany, and the wine was excellent! We also met up with Dirk, our new friend who we met in Paonia in April. He took us to his house and we had a fantastic time with Dirk, Jan, and a few of their friends. What a fun evening and a great way to spend time off the bikes! We also got a tip about a great free campground in Roosevelt, so that will be our next stop!
Thanks to all our old and new friends for making this part of Washington so fun and special! (P.S. we left our camera connector in Lyle, so we'll have to post pictures when it catches back up with us or we buy another on. Bummer!)
Friday, May 25, 2007
How Do You Eat an Elephant???
...One Bite at a Time! Have you ever heard that joke? Well, I was reminded of it on our first day of riding across the USA. We had our first bite of America today (Wed, 23 May 07)! It was slightly larger than I had expected.
It was an auspicious day to start our ride. We heard from Heath Maddox (Tom's son) that the woman who hit Tom last year finally pleaded "guilty" and worked out a sentence with the judge. We're glad to have that behind us! We also saw a bald eagle on the wing on the way to start the ride--another good sign!
We set our destination for the first riding day as Newberg, OR--where Larry Daane lives now. The twist is that the trip was 62 miles--much farther than I had expected for my first day of riding. Maggie and Jim took us to Lincoln City, where we dipped our back tires in the Pacific Ocean right near the Chinook Wind Casino! Just as we dipped, a wave tried to crash into us!
We started on Rt. 18, and Maggie took our stuff to Larry's for us--so all we had to carry was our rain gear and some snacks! As we departed, David asked "Has it hit you what you are beginning here?" I said "Well, today it just seems like a bike ride--but ask me again in two weeks." Since our longest ride so far has been 7 days, I think it will hit me after awhile.
We made it over the coastal range with only about 1000 feet of vertical and a bit of construction, but generally had a good ride. At about the 4 hour mark, my rear told me we were done riding. But we still had 15 miles to go! So we slogged it out, but my rear felt like hamburger meat by the time we hit Newberg...
So the theme for Day 1 was "Butt Burn" and it was not pretty! We met up with Larry at his house and he took us for a fabulous Mexican dinner! Then it took about 3 seconds for us to fall asleep. Dawn cooked us breakfast the next morning and we loaded up to head out for Day 2!
It was an auspicious day to start our ride. We heard from Heath Maddox (Tom's son) that the woman who hit Tom last year finally pleaded "guilty" and worked out a sentence with the judge. We're glad to have that behind us! We also saw a bald eagle on the wing on the way to start the ride--another good sign!
We set our destination for the first riding day as Newberg, OR--where Larry Daane lives now. The twist is that the trip was 62 miles--much farther than I had expected for my first day of riding. Maggie and Jim took us to Lincoln City, where we dipped our back tires in the Pacific Ocean right near the Chinook Wind Casino! Just as we dipped, a wave tried to crash into us!
We started on Rt. 18, and Maggie took our stuff to Larry's for us--so all we had to carry was our rain gear and some snacks! As we departed, David asked "Has it hit you what you are beginning here?" I said "Well, today it just seems like a bike ride--but ask me again in two weeks." Since our longest ride so far has been 7 days, I think it will hit me after awhile.
We made it over the coastal range with only about 1000 feet of vertical and a bit of construction, but generally had a good ride. At about the 4 hour mark, my rear told me we were done riding. But we still had 15 miles to go! So we slogged it out, but my rear felt like hamburger meat by the time we hit Newberg...
So the theme for Day 1 was "Butt Burn" and it was not pretty! We met up with Larry at his house and he took us for a fabulous Mexican dinner! Then it took about 3 seconds for us to fall asleep. Dawn cooked us breakfast the next morning and we loaded up to head out for Day 2!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Day 2: The Ride Through Portland
Day 2 was our first day with all our gear. We are learning as we go about how to pack our stuff into those panniers, and it was comical trying to pull everything together for May 24th.
Dawn made us a fabulous breakfast and sentus off from Newberg on the local's backroads--which we appreciated very much when we got to Rt 99, which was our route into the center of Portland. LOTS of traffic! Speeding cars and trucks! Scary--even though Portland is a very bike-friendly city and has many bike lanes on most of the roads (even some interstates). And although we started and ended our day at sea level, we climbed the entire time!
Maybe the most disconcerting was the trip across the Willamette River on the Ross Island Bridge in the center of Portland--we were traveling on a 3-foot sidewalk looking at oncoming traffic. It was pretty scary meeting a tractor trailer coming at you at 70 mph with only a few inches of sidewalk as your buffer!
We got lots of practice at starting and stopping with our heavy loads. There are a LOT of traffic lights in Portland, and we seemed to stop at every one! We decided we spent at least an hour of our day stopped or starting back up.
We crossed into Washington State over the I-205 bridge, which has a 9-foot pedestrian and bicycle lane right in the middle. So there we were--with 4 lanes of traffic on each side whizzing by. And of course it was uphill the whole way into Washington!
The good news was that we were within sight of Mt. Hood and crossing the fabulous Columbia River. It was deafening from the traffic, but very beautiful nonetheless.
We entered Washington and left traffic behind for awhile. We decided to go as far as our rears would allow. We had spent a lot of saddle time with all the traffic and lights, but not a lot of miles. It turns out the stopping point was Camas, WA. We arrived into town after about 45 miles of riding and I stopped. I told David that either I was just going directly to the Funeral Home across the street or we could check into a hotel! He picked the hotel and we had a lovely evening in Camas, and a wonderful dinner at the Prune Hill Restaurant with our first taste of Walla Walla Wine (say that three times fast).
Back to the hotel room with our hamburger butts and a couple of massages--then another night where we fell asleep in 3 seconds or less! Maybe we'll get used to this soon...
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
We're Getting Ready To GO!!!
Hi all--
Here we are in Oregon--after a delightful 4 days with Maggie and Jim. We have been treated like royalty! We have played with horses, cows, dogs, cats, and of course, Maggie and Jim! Drew even came up for a day and it was great to see him. It's quite a menagerie here and I am loving it. If only they would get one or two alpacas, I would be very happy living the farm life vicariously through them!
We have had some wonderful walks in the Oregon woods, a great "shake-down" bike ride yesterday, and a little horseback riding thrown in for kicks (actually, Prince literally kicked with David riding bareback!). Anyway, although we are tempted to just stay and enjoy Maggie and Jim's hospitality for 10 weeks, we decided to do the bike ride we planned.
We spent some time shopping in Corvallis, a bicycling mecca--and found that they really DON'T make waterproof shoe covers, so we decided to try and make them ourselves. We found a fantastic outdoor gear fabric shop in Corvallis (The Rain Shed), and David is now sporting new booties. Check them out in the attached pictures! We'll also post some scenes from our home away from home in Oregon, and the next time you see a post, it will be from the road!
We plan to start tomorrow (Wednesday)--from Lincoln City on the coast. We'll hopefully ride to Larry Daane's house in Newberg. The next day we plan to cross over into Washington State and ride up the Columbia River on that side. This will avoid some of the Cascade Mountain Range and should be beautiful! I think it will take 3 or 4 days to make the trek along the river, and then we'll head up into Washington State toward Spokane. Wish us luck!
I am a bit nervous--somehow the idea of riding my bicycle across country wasn't as daunting from our living room in Colorado! Riding with all our bags packed on the bikes will very likely be quite a challenge! We'll let you know how it goes...
Let the fun begin (or continue)! Wish us luck!Thursday, May 17, 2007
Setting The Stage
Welcome to the Tom's Ride Blog. We plan to update this site weekly with our progress, funny stories from the road, and plans for where we plan to be in the upcoming week.
Log in frequently and come join us if you can!
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