Day 11 June 30, 2011

A beautiful day as we biked 97 miles from Mountain Home to Twin Falls, Idaho. We did not have the strong tail winds we had yesterday but for most of the ride we did have a tailwind. The scenery was vastly superior to yesterday. The land was more like that of eastern Oregon as we spent some time riding beside the Snake river. For those of you old enough to remember this is where Evel Kneivel tried to jump the Snake river. In addition to riding by agricultural land with mesas in the background we also went through a lot of dairy cow country. Not the most pleasant smell to ride to but you take the good with the bad. Some of the riders really flew today and averaged 20 mph. I was happy with my 15.5 and being able to finish the ride. This was the first real test for me and so far so good. Tomorrow is a short ride of 38 miles.

Back in the saddle

Day 10.  Hard to beleive that we are already on Day 10 of the ride.  Thanks to |Katy, who shipped me some old biking shorts, and to Doctor Chuck,  who has helped treat my injury and seen more of me than he ever wanted to, I was able to get back into the ride.  We rode from Boise to Mountain Home, Idaho today a total of 53 miles.  |I had my first experience with riding on an interstate.  When local roads are unable to get you from point A to point B bicycles are authorized to ride on the interstate.  We rode about 11 miles on it and it was the nicest roads that we had.  We just have to be very careful on the on and off ramp areas and when in doubt the traffic gets the right of way.  We had a tail wind of about 20 mph for most of the ride today.  Riders were getting up to 35 mph on the flats.  Even with my sore butt I was up to 30.  I was going about 27 mph at one point feeling pretty good about myself when two of the ride leaders went by me like I was standing still.  Not very picturesque on today`s ride.  I took a picture that I was going to try to add to this post but I am not that far advanced yet.  With the tail wind no one wanted today`s ride to end.  You never saw so many dissappointed people as when we arrived at the hotel.  We mostly got in before noon but the rooms were ready.  I wouldn`t recommend Mountain Home for your next vacation.

One state down

Today we entered Idaho leaving behind Oregon. Unfortunately I entered riding in the van. Hopefully that will be my last day as my sore is feeling much better. Oregon is an amazingly beautiful state with so much diversity in its scenery. I went to a local bike store and had some additional gears put on my bike to make the hills easier. Hills back east are a completely different animal than the hills here. These ones go on forever and really test your climbing ability. For you biking fans I changed from a 12/25 cassette sprocket to an 11/28 sprocket. This should help next week when we get to the Tetons. We lost two riders today who only signed up for the first leg but are gaining two more who I believe will be going all the way to Portsmouth. We had a great barbecue dinner tonight and tomorrow is a day off for everyone. It was 92 today in Boise and is supposed to be hot again tomorrow. Boise State is down the street so I will try to get a picture of the blue field turf. No blog tomorrow unless something really interesting happens.

Or

Day 7. Sunday June 26th

Another day in the van for me. A beautiful day to ride 83 miles for most everyone else from Baker City to Ontario, OR. with a lot of downhill riding and some interstate riding I was joined in the van today by three other riders. Two had saddle sore issues and the other had a knee issue. The old adage goes that "misery loves company" but I hate to see anyone else unable to ride. Hopefully only one more day off the bike for me. We entered the MST zone today so we are now only two hours behind the east coast. We enter Idaho tomorrow and then will have our first official rest day in Boise. I think we are going to try to get a group picture on the blue field turf.

Day 6

Another non-riding day for me. We have a doctor on the ride and I asked him to take a look at my injury. He suggested that it may be best that I not ride until we leave Boise. That will give me 3 more days of recovery. He will be checking on a daily basis to monitor the healing. Tomorrow we head to Ontario, OR which is MST. Maybe I'll get lucky and be a fast healer

Day 5. Friday June 24th

Today everyone but me biked from Prineville to John Day, OR a distance of 116 miles. Unfortunately I only made the first 29.5 miles. I developed a painful blister on my upper leg where it
meets the rear on the inside. I decided that discretion would be the better part of valor and opted out of the ride at that point. The blister has since burst and is being treated and I will miss tomorrow's ride as well. I guess my new goal is to bike across as much of the USA as possible. Hopefully I will only miss the one day but they told
me the blister was in the worst possible place. The scenery was amazing today with widely variable temperatures. It was 36 degrees when we started with a head wind. Hopefully I will have better news tomorrow.

Day 4 June 23

Today we biked from Kah-nee-ta to Prineville, OR a 60 mile ride. We started in the desert and had to climb out so we started with a 4 mile climb. We were rewarded with a straight downhill with my speed over 39 mph on descent. We ended up in the eastern agriculture region of Oregon after a long steady climb on some not so great roads. The views were amazing as we rode. Mountains on one side and alfalfa fields on the other. The fields were all being irrigated. The weather cooperated today. Bright and sunny with temps in the low 40's to start and warming up to the low 70's. There was a strong breeze which was mostly at our backs. Tomorrow we ride 120 miles. Much better day for me personally. No flats and a good energy level. I have to remember to keep the fluids and food constantly going.

A hot one

Day 3. Welches to kah-Née-Ta, OR. We started with a climb to the base of
Mt Hood. It was supposed to be a 13 mile climb. The highway guys wouldn't let us bike on part of the highway under construction. Everyone was loaded in a van with the bikes on top and let out 2 miles up the road. Lots of ups and downs as we climbed to 4000 feet at least a couple of times. We then entered the Oregon desert. Yeah who knew they had a desert in Oregon. We biked through an Indian reservation and it was hot in the high 80's Not a great day for me personally. Another rear flat which was a slow leak so I worked a lot harder than I should have. The heat also got to me a bit. Right before the hotel we had an amazing downhill switchback. I got up to 39.4 mph and I'm sure some of the other riders went even faster. 60 miles tomorrow to Prineville

Day 2. June 21st

Today we biked from St. Helens to Welches, OR. It was a 75 mile ride and was incredibly beautiful. The sun came out and the temps climbed into the low 80's. We rode along the Columbia river for a good stretch and on a nice bike path. We then headed toward Mt Hood and the views were spectacular. I hoped to add some of the pictures I took to this posting but my camera died today. 65 miles tomorrow starting with a 13 mile climb. This is when they say the ride will start to get difficult. Stupid me I already thought we started that on day 1. I'll have to try to find a new camera but we are not exactly in a shopping Mecca. The hotel we are staying in tonight is top of the line
R
Ps

June 20th

The first official day of the ride, 69 miles from Astoria to St Helens. This was supposed to be an "easy" day and I guess that it was since pretty much everyone was in the hotel by 1:30. Also it was a straight shot on route 30 with no turns However it wasn't that easy. There were a couple of very challenging hills in the ride. Luckily we were pretty much done with them after 40 miles. The race leaders say that this is nothing compared to what we can expect on days 3,4 and 5. The sun is still pretty much a figment of our imaginations. It came out for a few minutes today Nd then it went back to cloudy conditions. It did warm up in to the 70's today

June 19th

Kind of anauspicis start to the ride. Today we biked to the Pacific ocean to dip our rear tires in the ocean. 8 miles into the ride I got a flat. Rear tire of course. No Sag support on the ride today so I got more practice in fixing flats. Hopefully the first and last one of the trip. For those of you who attended FLETC. You would notice a familiar smell in the air here. Lot's of wood pulp plants here and the aroma is in the air. Tomorrow is a 69 mile ride to St Helens. A lot of really nice people on the ride. It should be fun to go through this together.

Have arrived in Astoria. The weather is cool and damp. Katy's brother Kevin picked me up at the airport and delivered me here. Bike looks like it made it through the shipping process in excellent shape. Long day of travel we have a short ride scheduled for tomorrow

getting ready

The ride starts next week on Father's day.  Training pretty much done.  Fly to Portland on the 18th.