Yippee - A rest day! Slept in 'til 1o am, and then started running around. A trip to the bike shop, grocery store, drug store, etc. Also cleaned my bike. Had dinner with friends and am just about done repacking. Tomorrow we head to Mountain Home. It's only a 50 mile ride and it will be easy if there is a tailwind. Otherwise, it could be miserable - especially since the temps are supposed to get close to 100 degrees F.
Thanks for all the comments that keep coming in. They are so fun to read and it is so good to know I have people pulling for me - it really, truly helps!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007, Ontario, OR to Boise, ID, 63 miles, 5 hrs; 4 hrs, 10 min on the bike, Ave. speed: 12.8 mph, Climb: 1438 ft.
Another glorious day! Sunny, cool and a tailwind!!!!! I took my time riding in to Boise today - there was no rush and it was "only" a 60 mile ride. (It's interesting to see how my perspective is changing in terms of what I consider a long or hard ride.....)
It felt like I just toodled along - no really big hills, no headwinds, nothing to really wear me down or out. I liked having the break.
I got in to Boise around 12:20 pm and stopped at my office to visit the folks there. It was good to check in and see them. Then it was off to the bike shop - Idaho Mountain Touring - to return Antonio's scissors. When Antonio, the mechanic, was packing up my bike to be shipped to Astoria, he inadvertently left his scissors in the bottom of the box. It was great for me, because I had the scissors to cut off all of the bubble wrap he used to protect my bike. I didn't think he really meant to leave them in the box for me, so I returned them today. He was quite pleased to have them back.....
Then it was off to the hotel to psuedo check in. My bags were dropped off at the hotel, so I checked in and put my bags in the room. I have a new roommate, Donna - but I won't be rooming with her tonight or tomorrow night, 'cause I'm at home. Wouldn't you know it though, the hotel we are at (Hotel 43) is a luxury hotel - and I'm missing it. Oh well, at least I got the special chocolate when I checked in.
Once my bags were secure, I biked home, got in the car and went back to the hotel to get my bags. I also ran some errands, attended the meeting to go over the details for our Wed. ride to Mountain Home, had dinner and am now home doing laundry and writing this entry.
It's good to be here, but kind of surreal after a week plus on the road, biking every day. So far I've biked 650 miles and am in my 3rd state (I'm including the unplanned sojourn to Washington state).
It felt like I just toodled along - no really big hills, no headwinds, nothing to really wear me down or out. I liked having the break.
I got in to Boise around 12:20 pm and stopped at my office to visit the folks there. It was good to check in and see them. Then it was off to the bike shop - Idaho Mountain Touring - to return Antonio's scissors. When Antonio, the mechanic, was packing up my bike to be shipped to Astoria, he inadvertently left his scissors in the bottom of the box. It was great for me, because I had the scissors to cut off all of the bubble wrap he used to protect my bike. I didn't think he really meant to leave them in the box for me, so I returned them today. He was quite pleased to have them back.....
Then it was off to the hotel to psuedo check in. My bags were dropped off at the hotel, so I checked in and put my bags in the room. I have a new roommate, Donna - but I won't be rooming with her tonight or tomorrow night, 'cause I'm at home. Wouldn't you know it though, the hotel we are at (Hotel 43) is a luxury hotel - and I'm missing it. Oh well, at least I got the special chocolate when I checked in.
Once my bags were secure, I biked home, got in the car and went back to the hotel to get my bags. I also ran some errands, attended the meeting to go over the details for our Wed. ride to Mountain Home, had dinner and am now home doing laundry and writing this entry.
It's good to be here, but kind of surreal after a week plus on the road, biking every day. So far I've biked 650 miles and am in my 3rd state (I'm including the unplanned sojourn to Washington state).
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007, Baker City, OR to Ontario, OR, 83.3 miles, 7 hours, 6 hours on the bike, Ave. speed: 13.6 mph, Climb:2011 ft.
What an awesome ride today! It was basically down hill all the way - and with a tailwind! It was like having Christmas come early. It also wasn't too hot, so that made it nice too. Bright blue skies and sunshine.
One interesting aspect to today's ride was that we had our first experience riding on the interstate. It is doable, but not a lot of fun. One of the major hazards (besides cars and semi's whizzing by at 65 mph) is flat tires. With the blown out tires on the shoulders of the highway come small pieces of steel belting. They are so small you can barely see them, but they work their way into your tires and cause flats. Every time we stopped after being on the freeway, we checked our tires for bits of metal sticking out. I did not find any, but we'll see if I have air in my tires in the morning.....
Once again, the hardest part of the ride was the last 20 miles. We were following the Snake River for a while and then we had several miles of flat road with a little headwind into Ontario. I lucked out again and got to ride in a pace line with two other women (both at least ten years older than me - what is wrong with this picture???!!!!) for the last 10 miles or so. We celebrated the end of the ride at Dairy Queen.
Tomorrow it is on to Boise. I will check in at the hotel, stop and see folks at my work place and then bike home. I'm most excited about being able to do laundry and repack - especially now that I know what I really need for the rest of the trip.
One interesting aspect to today's ride was that we had our first experience riding on the interstate. It is doable, but not a lot of fun. One of the major hazards (besides cars and semi's whizzing by at 65 mph) is flat tires. With the blown out tires on the shoulders of the highway come small pieces of steel belting. They are so small you can barely see them, but they work their way into your tires and cause flats. Every time we stopped after being on the freeway, we checked our tires for bits of metal sticking out. I did not find any, but we'll see if I have air in my tires in the morning.....
Once again, the hardest part of the ride was the last 20 miles. We were following the Snake River for a while and then we had several miles of flat road with a little headwind into Ontario. I lucked out again and got to ride in a pace line with two other women (both at least ten years older than me - what is wrong with this picture???!!!!) for the last 10 miles or so. We celebrated the end of the ride at Dairy Queen.
Tomorrow it is on to Boise. I will check in at the hotel, stop and see folks at my work place and then bike home. I'm most excited about being able to do laundry and repack - especially now that I know what I really need for the rest of the trip.
Saturday, June 23, 2007, John Day, OR to Baker City, OR, 81 miles, 9 1/2 hours, 7 hours& 40 minutes on the bike, Ave. speed: 10.5 mph, Climb: 4781 ft.
This turned out to be a surprisingly good day. I think I am finally figuring out how to fuel my body to keep me going without getting too fatigued.
We had 3 big hills to climb today and I started out really tired, with no gumption and low energy and wondering if I was going to make it the whole way (the prospect of 3 more big hills was really bumming me out...). And, before we even started I had my first flat tire. Fortunately, it was as we were loading for the day and the mechanic fixed it pronto.
The first hill was miserable, but I did slog up it. The photo here is not even to the top of that first hill. I did much better on the second climb and did OK on the third. One of the hardest parts of the ride was the last 20 miles. It was relatively flat, but we did have a headwind. Usually I am riding by myself (we are spread out and most people ride faster than me), but this time I got into a pace line with two other riders. Darrell (aged 69) and Jan (aged 65) and me (aged 47) [what's wrong with this picture??!!!!] rode into Baker City at a fairly good clip. Darrell led and Jan and I got to draft behind him. He is my hero for the day!
When we got to Baker City, there were bicycle criteriums in progress. It was fun to watch for a while, but I was hot, tired, sweaty and stinky, so I headed to the hotel to clean up.
We had 3 big hills to climb today and I started out really tired, with no gumption and low energy and wondering if I was going to make it the whole way (the prospect of 3 more big hills was really bumming me out...). And, before we even started I had my first flat tire. Fortunately, it was as we were loading for the day and the mechanic fixed it pronto.
The first hill was miserable, but I did slog up it. The photo here is not even to the top of that first hill. I did much better on the second climb and did OK on the third. One of the hardest parts of the ride was the last 20 miles. It was relatively flat, but we did have a headwind. Usually I am riding by myself (we are spread out and most people ride faster than me), but this time I got into a pace line with two other riders. Darrell (aged 69) and Jan (aged 65) and me (aged 47) [what's wrong with this picture??!!!!] rode into Baker City at a fairly good clip. Darrell led and Jan and I got to draft behind him. He is my hero for the day!
When we got to Baker City, there were bicycle criteriums in progress. It was fun to watch for a while, but I was hot, tired, sweaty and stinky, so I headed to the hotel to clean up.
Friday, June 22, 2007, Prineville, OR to John Day, OR, 117 miles, 12 hours, 9 1/2 hours on the bike, Ave. speed: 12.3 mph, Climb: 5103 ft.
This was a very long, very tiring day. I did get up at 4:15 am and was on the road by 5:45 am. We had two very seriously big climbs to conquer and I did OK on the first one and about died on the second one. I just endured - with lots of stops and occasionally walking the bike.
After I finally got to the top of the second monster "hill" and came screaming down the other side, I stopped at a little restaurant for a root beer float and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I know, it's a little funky, but that's what sounded good at the time and it did hit the spot.) To let you know how tired I was, I put my straw - still in it's wrapper - into the root beer float and didn't even realize it. Other people did however, and it was captured on camera.......
One saving grace today was a great tailwind. I don't think I would have made it if I didn't have that tailwind to help me along.
After I finally got to the top of the second monster "hill" and came screaming down the other side, I stopped at a little restaurant for a root beer float and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I know, it's a little funky, but that's what sounded good at the time and it did hit the spot.) To let you know how tired I was, I put my straw - still in it's wrapper - into the root beer float and didn't even realize it. Other people did however, and it was captured on camera.......
One saving grace today was a great tailwind. I don't think I would have made it if I didn't have that tailwind to help me along.
Thursday, June 21, 2007, Kah-nee-ta, OR to Prineville, OR: 60 miles, 6 ½ hours, 5 ½ hours on the bike, Ave. speed, 10.7 mph, Climb: 2300 ft.
[Here's the report from Thursday....] Today I moseyed – mostly because I didn’t have a whole lot of get up and go. We started out with a big climb out of the canyon that I was very slow on and then we flattened out and had great views of Mt. Jefferson and several other snow capped peaks. Sorry, no photos – I’ve been putting my energy into pedaling these days. Saw several hawks today and even heard one cry out.
Today I tried a new mantra: “Hills are my friends.”, I had to do this because there will always be hills we have to climb, so I might as well embrace them! I must say it is difficult at times…..
This was a fairly short “easy” day, though I’m still quite tired. It was easy because tomorrow we bike to John Day – 117 miles with 2 honkin’ big climbs. I hope to be in by 7:00 pm. I’ll be up by 4:15 am so that I can get on the road before 6am (much cooler then). Pray for tailwinds please! That’s all for now, I need sleep!
Today I tried a new mantra: “Hills are my friends.”, I had to do this because there will always be hills we have to climb, so I might as well embrace them! I must say it is difficult at times…..
This was a fairly short “easy” day, though I’m still quite tired. It was easy because tomorrow we bike to John Day – 117 miles with 2 honkin’ big climbs. I hope to be in by 7:00 pm. I’ll be up by 4:15 am so that I can get on the road before 6am (much cooler then). Pray for tailwinds please! That’s all for now, I need sleep!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007, Welches, OR to Kah-nee-ta, OR: 67 miles, 81/2 hours, 6 hours 47 minutes on the bike, Ave. speed, 9.8 mph, Climb: 4763 ft.
[Hi TEAM JEAN - I am catching up on my daily posts - here's Wednesday's...] Today was a very hard day for me. I was up at 4:30 am and was eating breakfast by 5:30 am. On the road by 6 am. We had some major hill climbs today and they took a lot out of me. I did stop along the way as needed and even walked for a while a few times - that helps stretch some muscles as well as gives me a breather. The up side was that there were some great down hills as rewards for all that climbing. You can see that my average miles per hour took a dive today. I was in my lowest gear and going about 5 mph up those hills.
We also had some great views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson when we finally leveled out. Even after the big climbs there were several rolling hills that were very difficult because I was getting fatigued.
We finally had a monster downhill into the canyon where the Kah-nee-ta Resort is on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. That was fun. However, to get to the resort, you have to pass the Village (where there are tepees to stay in and the big pools that are heated from the natural hot springs that are there) and then climb this very steep hill to the actual resort and casino. Well, I walked my bike up that hill at 2:30 pm in the hot sun only to find out that about 10 of us (including me) had our rooms back down at the Village! Needless to say, I was a little cranky.
I had to bike back down the hill, check in and then take a shuttle back up to get my luggage and shuttle it back down. Then shuttle back up for dinner. The 10 of us ended up being called “The Village People”.
We had our group photo taken this evening – all wearing our America by Bicycle jerseys – it was a pretty neat sight to see all that red, white and blue.
We also had some great views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson when we finally leveled out. Even after the big climbs there were several rolling hills that were very difficult because I was getting fatigued.
We finally had a monster downhill into the canyon where the Kah-nee-ta Resort is on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. That was fun. However, to get to the resort, you have to pass the Village (where there are tepees to stay in and the big pools that are heated from the natural hot springs that are there) and then climb this very steep hill to the actual resort and casino. Well, I walked my bike up that hill at 2:30 pm in the hot sun only to find out that about 10 of us (including me) had our rooms back down at the Village! Needless to say, I was a little cranky.
I had to bike back down the hill, check in and then take a shuttle back up to get my luggage and shuttle it back down. Then shuttle back up for dinner. The 10 of us ended up being called “The Village People”.
We had our group photo taken this evening – all wearing our America by Bicycle jerseys – it was a pretty neat sight to see all that red, white and blue.
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