I rode 75 miles this day. It was my plan for this day to be the last long day of riding for the trip, and luckily it worked out.
I met a guy fairly early in the day who was riding from Vancouver B.C. down to the Baja Penninsula. I was yet again impressed that a retired guy was making such an epic solo voyage. But he seemed to be pretty impressed that I was making my trip on a single speed bike.
I found a small bottle of Bacardi rum on the side of the road with the seal still intact. I threw it in my bag with intentions of drinking it to celebrate my arrival in Canada, but I never did.
I finished my day at Sequim (pronounced Squim) Bay State Park about 20 miles short of Port Angeles. I met this old timer there named Paul who I quickly befriended. This state park had hiker/biker camping spots too so I got to camp with my brethren. Paul was a retired military engineer (or something like that, I was a little confused about what he did). He had bought a bottle of Merlot and some cheese and rolls in Port Angeles (he was traveling the opposite way from Seattle to SoCal) and he offered to share them with me. So we sat around for like 3 or 4 hours, out on the dock at Sequim Bay, sharing stories and drinking wine. He told me all about how he spent a year cycling through Europe when he was younger and how he recently spent 9 months backpacking through central Africa. Apparently it was pretty hairy in some areas because of guerrilla activity and whatnot.
With only 20 miles left to go I had a hard time falling asleep because I was so excited about getting in Victoria the next day.
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Candian Job - Day Cinq
Not long after I left Raymond I came across another cyclist. I was flying down a hill and he was laboring up it. We both stopped and chatted across the highway. It turns out he was going from Seattle to Los Angeles. Yet another retired guy making me look like a chump by riding the distance of the U.S. west coast.
I rode 71 miles that day. I would have gotten a lot further but I got another flat just outside of Elma WA on the 101 (which is a freeway in that part of Washington). So I walked into town but surprise, surprise, they didn't have a bike shop. I was directed by a gas station attendant to the only hardware store in town, which happened to be right across the street. They had plenty of bike tubes but none that would fit my bike so I decided to try and patch the 3 blown tubes that I had. I hauled my bike over to a grassy area in front of a church a few blocks away, tore everything apart and then realized, are you ready for this......the glue in my patch kit was dried up. So in a state of extreme frustration I put my bags and my disassembled bicycle onto my back and hiked back to the hardware store. I then bought myself a general purpose rubber patch kit, unload everything onto the sidewalk in front of the store, and finally got to work.
During the process of finding the holes in the tubes I hear "GET THE HELL OUT OF TOWN!!" from behind me. I turn around and there is this older gentleman, who I quickly realized was just joking with me. He sat down and started chatting with me about my trip and the route I was planning on taking. His wife soon came around the corner, looking for him, and she immediately asked me if I had had lunch yet, I hadn't, so she invited me over to their place for lunch. The idea of a hot meal really excited me so I quickly put my bike back together and made my way over to their cozy little house a few blocks away.
The misses made me a turkey sandwich with cucumber and swiss. I was stoked as hell about the sandwich but she kept putting more and more food in front of me: sweet pickles, a freshly baked blueberry scone, a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a nectarine sliced over the top, a pile of chips, and a mug of hot tea with honey. They were really sweet people. I still can't believe that they invited a smelly, dirty Travis into their home after literally knowing me for about 2 minutes.
They argued for a while about which route I should take out of town, but once that was decided I shook the old timers hand and the his wife gave me a big hug and I was back on the road.
They sent me on a rural road the goes behind Elma and Shelton. That was the prettiest stretch of road on my whole trip. It was absolutely beautiful. Nothing but young conifers, quaint farmhouses, and small fields for 20 or 30 miles. I even saw an old couple on an evening drive in their model T.
I rode 71 miles that day. I would have gotten a lot further but I got another flat just outside of Elma WA on the 101 (which is a freeway in that part of Washington). So I walked into town but surprise, surprise, they didn't have a bike shop. I was directed by a gas station attendant to the only hardware store in town, which happened to be right across the street. They had plenty of bike tubes but none that would fit my bike so I decided to try and patch the 3 blown tubes that I had. I hauled my bike over to a grassy area in front of a church a few blocks away, tore everything apart and then realized, are you ready for this......the glue in my patch kit was dried up. So in a state of extreme frustration I put my bags and my disassembled bicycle onto my back and hiked back to the hardware store. I then bought myself a general purpose rubber patch kit, unload everything onto the sidewalk in front of the store, and finally got to work.
During the process of finding the holes in the tubes I hear "GET THE HELL OUT OF TOWN!!" from behind me. I turn around and there is this older gentleman, who I quickly realized was just joking with me. He sat down and started chatting with me about my trip and the route I was planning on taking. His wife soon came around the corner, looking for him, and she immediately asked me if I had had lunch yet, I hadn't, so she invited me over to their place for lunch. The idea of a hot meal really excited me so I quickly put my bike back together and made my way over to their cozy little house a few blocks away.
The misses made me a turkey sandwich with cucumber and swiss. I was stoked as hell about the sandwich but she kept putting more and more food in front of me: sweet pickles, a freshly baked blueberry scone, a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a nectarine sliced over the top, a pile of chips, and a mug of hot tea with honey. They were really sweet people. I still can't believe that they invited a smelly, dirty Travis into their home after literally knowing me for about 2 minutes.
They argued for a while about which route I should take out of town, but once that was decided I shook the old timers hand and the his wife gave me a big hug and I was back on the road.
They sent me on a rural road the goes behind Elma and Shelton. That was the prettiest stretch of road on my whole trip. It was absolutely beautiful. Nothing but young conifers, quaint farmhouses, and small fields for 20 or 30 miles. I even saw an old couple on an evening drive in their model T.
The Candian Job - Day Quatre
The first thing I did on day four was ride the handful of miles left to Astoria, buy a couple of corn dogs (everyone knows that they are PURE ENERGY), and interrogate the local bike shop owner about the insanely long bridge that I was about to cross. The chap at "Bikes and Beyond" was really friendly and explained that the 4.7 mile long bridge crossing the mouth of the Columbia river, with a 24 inch shoulder, wasn't really so bad. I was scared out of my mind for the first mile or two but after the bridge leveled out I started to calm down.
After crossing the bridge I stopped for a few minutes to marvel at the fact that I had actually ridden my bike to another state. But as soon as I started pedaling to the first town in Washington I realized that the weather was turning again me. It had been hot and sunny for most of the trip until this point, but as soon as I entered Washington it started to get cold and wet.
The first 60 miles or so up highway 101 into Washington were very Twilight Zonish. Traffic was flying by me like crazy but for 60 or 70 miles there were no towns, no gas stations, no general stores, nothing....just highway and cars and coastal wetlands. At one point I got another flat tire which really pissed me off because I just wanted to get to a town to eat and relax and start looking for a campsite. When I finally came upon a town, Raymond/South Bend, the people were pretty unpleasant and were no help in cheering me up. But after a calling Matt to do some research for me I ended up camping at a trailer park and was happy to just be done for the day.
I rode 77 miles that day and by the end of the day I realized that my biggest motivation to continue riding was the idea of taking a shower. Could not wait to take a shower. My body, clothes, sleeping bag, EVERYTHING was sticky and smelly and gross as hell.
After crossing the bridge I stopped for a few minutes to marvel at the fact that I had actually ridden my bike to another state. But as soon as I started pedaling to the first town in Washington I realized that the weather was turning again me. It had been hot and sunny for most of the trip until this point, but as soon as I entered Washington it started to get cold and wet.
The first 60 miles or so up highway 101 into Washington were very Twilight Zonish. Traffic was flying by me like crazy but for 60 or 70 miles there were no towns, no gas stations, no general stores, nothing....just highway and cars and coastal wetlands. At one point I got another flat tire which really pissed me off because I just wanted to get to a town to eat and relax and start looking for a campsite. When I finally came upon a town, Raymond/South Bend, the people were pretty unpleasant and were no help in cheering me up. But after a calling Matt to do some research for me I ended up camping at a trailer park and was happy to just be done for the day.
I rode 77 miles that day and by the end of the day I realized that my biggest motivation to continue riding was the idea of taking a shower. Could not wait to take a shower. My body, clothes, sleeping bag, EVERYTHING was sticky and smelly and gross as hell.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
The Candian Job - Day Trois
Day three was an intense day of riding. I rode more this day than any other day of the trip (88 miles) and a lot of it was uphill because I was crossing the Coast Range. Unfortunately the first 20 or so miles were backtracking. I decided to go backwards so that I could get onto highway 26 and heading to Seaside instead of going forward towards Tillamook which was in a slightly southernly (and therefore counter productive) direction.
There were a few times during the day when I just didn't think that I was going to make it. Riding over a mountain range on a single speed bicycle in really hot weather was starting to make me crack. If there was a point along the trip where I was really considering giving up it would have been on this day, on this stretch of highway.
I stopped at this park just off the highway that claimed to have the oldest Sitka Spruce tree in the United States: 750 years old. That was one massive, old tree. The picture doesn't really give much scale, but trust me, it was big.
I ended the day in a state campground called Fort Stevens State Park, which was in a little town just a couple miles away from Astoria. It was the biggest campground I have ever seen, something like 250 sites. I stayed in an area officially designated for hikers and bikers. I was amazed that I only had to pay $4 to stay there.
Not long after I first set up camp this older cyclist (I would later learn pretty much all touring cyclists are retired) came over and started chatting with me. This guy had ridden from Los Angeles California, all the way up into the Yukon territory, and was on his way back. Thats one epic quest; especially alone, for someone in their 60s. After talking to him I felt like a real amateur.
By this point I was feeling really filthy too. My body, and all of my gear was disgustingly dirty and sticky. The campsite I was staying at had free showers, but of course I had no towel.
There were a few times during the day when I just didn't think that I was going to make it. Riding over a mountain range on a single speed bicycle in really hot weather was starting to make me crack. If there was a point along the trip where I was really considering giving up it would have been on this day, on this stretch of highway.
I stopped at this park just off the highway that claimed to have the oldest Sitka Spruce tree in the United States: 750 years old. That was one massive, old tree. The picture doesn't really give much scale, but trust me, it was big.
I ended the day in a state campground called Fort Stevens State Park, which was in a little town just a couple miles away from Astoria. It was the biggest campground I have ever seen, something like 250 sites. I stayed in an area officially designated for hikers and bikers. I was amazed that I only had to pay $4 to stay there.
Not long after I first set up camp this older cyclist (I would later learn pretty much all touring cyclists are retired) came over and started chatting with me. This guy had ridden from Los Angeles California, all the way up into the Yukon territory, and was on his way back. Thats one epic quest; especially alone, for someone in their 60s. After talking to him I felt like a real amateur.
By this point I was feeling really filthy too. My body, and all of my gear was disgustingly dirty and sticky. The campsite I was staying at had free showers, but of course I had no towel.
The Candian Job - Day Deux
Got my first flat on the second day. I was just leaving McMinnville and I heard a hissing sound coming from the back of my bike. Luckily it happened just feet from a cemetery, so I just pulled my bike up into the grass, under a tree, and went to work. The groundskeeper was mowing the grass and giving me the funniest look.
I stopped at one point and stole a bunch of grapes from a vineyard. It turns out that they were not ripe--very bitter--so I didn't eat many. But I felt like such a badass for stealing produce.
I rode about 72 miles the second day, which was close to my goal. I ended up camping on an old logging road above an official campground. The campground was really pretty. It was on the bottom of this little gully and there was a stream running through the middle of it. I didn't have any cash to pay for a campsite so I just kept walking until I found a road that was overgrown and hiked up it.
My plan for this day was to end up on highway 26 somewhere in between Forest Grove and Astoria but I ended up on a different highway (it was highway 6 or 8 I think). At the end of the day I was unsure about the route I had taken and was considering back tracking some.
I stopped at one point and stole a bunch of grapes from a vineyard. It turns out that they were not ripe--very bitter--so I didn't eat many. But I felt like such a badass for stealing produce.
I rode about 72 miles the second day, which was close to my goal. I ended up camping on an old logging road above an official campground. The campground was really pretty. It was on the bottom of this little gully and there was a stream running through the middle of it. I didn't have any cash to pay for a campsite so I just kept walking until I found a road that was overgrown and hiked up it.
My plan for this day was to end up on highway 26 somewhere in between Forest Grove and Astoria but I ended up on a different highway (it was highway 6 or 8 I think). At the end of the day I was unsure about the route I had taken and was considering back tracking some.
The Candian Job - Day Un
As soon as I got out the door and got onto my bike I realized that I was going to have problems. The first issue I had was my panniers (saddle bags) immediately started to fold in on themselves and get caught in my spokes on the back of the rear wheel (not to mention the front of the bags were clipping my heels as I rode). I had told Matt that I would meet him for breakfast out highway 99, so I somehow hobbled all the way out there riding with basically the heels of my feet and stopping every few blocks to pull the panniers out of the spokes.
Once I finally got to where we were supposed to meet, he convinces me that we should go to this little bar for breakfast instead. But the bar is very blue collar and in an industrial part of town, so when I walk in wearing spandex cycling shorts of course I feel like a complete freak. But the breakfast was pretty good and provided a good amount of energy to start the day.
After breakfast I knew that I was going to have to do something about my bags so I had Matt take me over to Jerry's Hardware so I could buy some doweling, to try to reinforce the backs of the panniers. We spent quite a while doing that and it only seemed to help a little bit. Then I realized that I couldn't find my keys (which only consisted of the house key and the key to my bike lock). So we drove all the way back to the bar looking for them and he ended up spotting them lying in the middle of the street.
So by that point I was starting to think that all this early bad luck might be some kind of sign for me to just stay home but I'm too stubborn of a guy to give up that easily.
After we got done at Jerry's I finally got on my journey under way. Of course the bags were still catching in the spokes so I constantly had to stop and readjust them. It was a really hot day that day too, probably in the low 90's, but I powered through, all the way to Corvallis, before I had to stop for a while. I got a Gatorade at a 7-11 as soon as I got into town, then I found a nice little shady piece of lawn next to a storage unit place and laid down for a nap. I ended up staying there, sleeping, for almost an hour and a hour. Not really what I had in mind when I stopped, but I really needed it. That hot weather was draining me.
I ended up riding about 65 miles that first day. About 20 miles short of my goal, but still not back considering all the problems I had and the fact that I didn't leave Eugene until about 11 am.
I camped that night next to a big field off of the side of highway 99. I was a little worried that the landowner would find me but I wasn't really hurting anything and I was planning to be gone shortly after dawn anyway. That was the only night too that I left my panniers outside of the tent. Some little animals got into my food and ate of bunch of my bread.
Once I finally got to where we were supposed to meet, he convinces me that we should go to this little bar for breakfast instead. But the bar is very blue collar and in an industrial part of town, so when I walk in wearing spandex cycling shorts of course I feel like a complete freak. But the breakfast was pretty good and provided a good amount of energy to start the day.
After breakfast I knew that I was going to have to do something about my bags so I had Matt take me over to Jerry's Hardware so I could buy some doweling, to try to reinforce the backs of the panniers. We spent quite a while doing that and it only seemed to help a little bit. Then I realized that I couldn't find my keys (which only consisted of the house key and the key to my bike lock). So we drove all the way back to the bar looking for them and he ended up spotting them lying in the middle of the street.
So by that point I was starting to think that all this early bad luck might be some kind of sign for me to just stay home but I'm too stubborn of a guy to give up that easily.
After we got done at Jerry's I finally got on my journey under way. Of course the bags were still catching in the spokes so I constantly had to stop and readjust them. It was a really hot day that day too, probably in the low 90's, but I powered through, all the way to Corvallis, before I had to stop for a while. I got a Gatorade at a 7-11 as soon as I got into town, then I found a nice little shady piece of lawn next to a storage unit place and laid down for a nap. I ended up staying there, sleeping, for almost an hour and a hour. Not really what I had in mind when I stopped, but I really needed it. That hot weather was draining me.
I ended up riding about 65 miles that first day. About 20 miles short of my goal, but still not back considering all the problems I had and the fact that I didn't leave Eugene until about 11 am.
I camped that night next to a big field off of the side of highway 99. I was a little worried that the landowner would find me but I wasn't really hurting anything and I was planning to be gone shortly after dawn anyway. That was the only night too that I left my panniers outside of the tent. Some little animals got into my food and ate of bunch of my bread.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Candian Job (Prologue)
So I had this epic plan a while back to ride my single speed road bicycle from here (Eugene, Oregon) to Victoria, British Columbia. My uncle Scott made a similar voyage on his bike when he was younger, and his stories inspired me to try such a ride after I got my bike in June of this year.
So after I got into decent riding shape and worked it into my work/school schedule, I just went for it. All in all it was an amazing adventure and I've made some great memories. I traveled roughly 475 miles in slightly over 6 days, averaging about 75 miles a day. And now that I'm back I thought I would share some of my stories and photographs with the rest of you.
And again, I would like to thank all of the people who supported and encouraged me before, during and after my trip. I would especially like to thank Phil and Matt for letting me borrow their gear, and Amber for constantly telling me how impressed she was :-)
And for all of you who thought it was a stupid idea, or who thought that I wouldn't make it - piss off. I pedaled my skinny ass almost 500 miles in less than a week on a single speed bike, over a mountain range, through extreme heat and freezing rain, hauling almost 50 pounds of steel bicycle and gear, ALL ALONE into another country. Just try and tell me that I can't do something now...
So after I got into decent riding shape and worked it into my work/school schedule, I just went for it. All in all it was an amazing adventure and I've made some great memories. I traveled roughly 475 miles in slightly over 6 days, averaging about 75 miles a day. And now that I'm back I thought I would share some of my stories and photographs with the rest of you.
And again, I would like to thank all of the people who supported and encouraged me before, during and after my trip. I would especially like to thank Phil and Matt for letting me borrow their gear, and Amber for constantly telling me how impressed she was :-)
And for all of you who thought it was a stupid idea, or who thought that I wouldn't make it - piss off. I pedaled my skinny ass almost 500 miles in less than a week on a single speed bike, over a mountain range, through extreme heat and freezing rain, hauling almost 50 pounds of steel bicycle and gear, ALL ALONE into another country. Just try and tell me that I can't do something now...
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