That Long Blog

Day 43: Stafford, Kansas to Wichita, Kansas - 80 Miles (2568Total)

The deed is done. For now anyway!  To say the last day was easy would be a farce, but it sure was breezy.  The last day on That Long Trek (Part 1) consisted of intense and demoralizing, in fact completely exhausting headwinds and 45-degree crosswinds!  It was not particular scenic, and the wind continuously distracted me from whatever scenery there was.  

I started the day with a full breakfast at Joan’s Cafe in Stafford. There were two awesome ranchers discussing hot water heaters, irrigation equipment, and electrical connections.  They were very enjoyable to listen to, and were completely on the same page.  One told a story over and over about some wire on a hot water heater that he replaced, but could not for the life of him understand why the original would not provide continuity. “I even stripped all the plastic off it and inspected it.  It should have worked fine.  I don’t know what was wrong with it.”  My guess… CORROSION!  Anyway, they were funny, old ranchers being old ranchers. The food was good, abundant, and cheap!  I ate heartily and departed, convinced that even with the predicted headwinds and crosswinds, slow and steady would get me 94 Miles to Craig Sheldon’s house. That was not so.  The wind was daunting, not the same way the crazy crossings out of Las Animas were, but just consistent resistance to pedaling, despite relatively flat roads.  Perhaps I was not 100%, because it seemed harder than any mountain I have climbed, including some of the crazy multi-mountain centuries I rode previously.  I felt spent. Maybe it was psychological.  There is really not much else to say… several times I rode through big dust clouds kicked up by tractors as they plowed fields.  I stopped at a few gas stations for soda and corn dogs. I ate several cliff bars. But I felt weak!  Granted I rode a pretty crazy sprint last night, convinced that if I got to Stafford I could get to Sheldon’s, and the end of the That Long Trek (Part 1!)

I rode steadily and intentionally not pushing it too hard.   I knew the wind was too strong.  Still, I cannot believe the struggle!  Sometimes on this ride I have been shocked at my strength.  Today I was shocked by my weakness.  It was a humbling end to an incredible journey!   I made it 73 of the intended 94 miles, not stopping too much, but just going incredibly slow into the wind. It frustrated me!  It angered me. It demoralized me.  And again, it humbled me.  This trip was about a search for some perspective, which it absolutely delivered.  All

I want to do is go home and see my family!  

I rode to the outskirts of Wichita, anticipating another 20 windy miles tomorrow, but my friend Craig offered to pick me up in his “Colorado
pickup.”  Had he said any other truck, or even just “pickup,” I might not have indulged!  That said, since the theme of this ride became Colorado and The Rockies, I decided to take the ride. Suddenly, and somewhat unceremoniously, That Long Trek Part 1.0 came to an end. While I waited, I ate a funny corn dog that had no stick and was more like a corny Pig in a Blanket.  I made Gatorade. I didn’t think much. I didn’t do

Much. I just sat and breathed. I was ready for the break. The ride in the pickup was appreciated, despite never opting for a ride in my entire cycling career.  Perhaps that is the indication that I have achieved what I set out to achieve… adulthood!  I said I would declare myself an adult after this, and so I do.  John Romano is an adult. Officially and somewhat regrettably.  Humblingly and unceremoniously.  That Long Trek will hang in Craig’s rafters in Wichita, and somehow I hope when I come to pick it up, I first drive to that gas station on the outskirts of Wichita, where Craig found me spent and sweaty, and I ride That Long Trek away, whether north, east or south, for one more jaunt in America. For now, I am grateful for the safe passage, and look forward to rest, relaxation, and in a few days, going home to my family.  I’m ready for a break!

Today the roads straightened and the winds settled, and the sky displayed some perfectly puffy Kansas clouds.  It was another Loves to

Loves occasion, with some Kansas scenery and Dodge City in between.  There is not much to report, long stretches between relatively uninhabited and slow-speed small towns, light rolling hills and gentle winds. Great riding, with wide shoulder partitioned from main traffic by a rumble strip, though the shoulder was very rough in some areas.  Near the end of the day of riding, I passed through Cimmaron, Kansas, having passed through Cimmaron, Colorado beneath the first stocky summit, where I snacked on crackers and sent home post cards.  This Cimmaron was much flatter, but again I stopped at a gas station for a snack.  I grabbed a gigantic fountain cola and looked in a warmer, which had several biscuit sandwiches, and a few egg and bacon burritos. I asked the clerk - who had a great Kansas accent and mustache - how much the burritos were.  “I was just going to throw those out… they have been sitting since 8 AM.  You can have it.”  “What about the other…?”  “Take em both.”  I took them both.  I ate the first, going in for salsa after realizing it really was disgusting, and I’m not that picky.  I don’t think it would have been much better fresh, but it was a free burrito. I at the first and pitched the second, guzzling cola to wash it down. That was the final fueling of the day, with the first being a big handful of Good & Plenties. Those were hard as rocks when I bought them, and have gotten harder.  I still enjoy them though, especially compared to that burrito. Note that breakfast at Loves was leftover pizza from the night before, luckily well preserved in the frigid temperatures.  That was decent pizza when fresh, better than cold with coffee this morning.   Nothing like breakfast at Shorty’s, which had been phenomenal!  

The late afternoon terrible breakfast burrito fueled me up enough to finish the push to Dodge City.  I still appreciated the free meal!  About five miles west, The 50 was under construction, with no shoulder in the condensed lanes, as Eastbound was running single lane with Westbound, as opposed to divided as it would have been if not under construction.  It looked like a terrible place to ride a bicycle, so I used an old Ride To The Bay trick (my first big tour to San Francisco with Eddie in 2006).  I surveyed the chopped up construction zone, which was closed to traffic.  The ripped up lane was loose gravel with big rust from machinery.  Still, it was more appealing than riding with the two-way traffic and no shoulder.  I rode the gravel for several miles, slowly weaving about all over the place trying to avoid ruts and favor the most compacted areas, which were not really in a straight line.  That carried me most of the way into Dodge, and it was pretty nice to know I was completely isolated from the traffic, there being a continuous barrier between the cars and I, albeit slow and inefficient riding. It was sort of fun, and made my “Rocky Mountain Tires” useful even in Kansas!  No flats!!

Eventually the construction ended and I was at the edge of Dodge City, home of Wyatt Earp as I understand, and something of an epic cowboy Mecca, with Wyatt Earp statues and lots of old west themed insignia.  I took lots of photos of Mr. Bones with various statues, murals, and steam engines.  Then, feeling a bit like a cowboy, I rolled up to a couple waking down the street.  “Where’s a guy get a good steak around here?”  They were also tourists and had no idea (though I am also a bicycle Cowboy!!)   I asked another couple, who were from Kansas but not Dodge, and they also did not know, though they were classically Kansas nice. In my experience, people in Kansas are very friendly!  

Finally I asked two dudes who were locals, but they had little hope, and suggested all the good places were closed and that the best (or only) steam I could get was Appleby’s, which was right in town, strangely juxtaposed against the old west themed tourist district.  They suggested I follow them to the wood fired grill nearby, which they said was GOOD!  I wanted steak. At Appleby’s, I ordered a Dracula Juice (some Halloween themed mixed drink), and a steak. They were crazy busy, but the crowd LOVED Mr. BONES peaking in the window, where the bike was leaning. The food came slowly, and after I had eaten about 1/4 of the steal and 1/8 of the drink, I went pee.  I was shocked to return to find the entire place cleared!  I had not been gone that long…. They made me a new steak and somehow found the drink… and I finished that with extra mashed potatoes and broccoli. Neither of the steaks were good, and again… I am not that picky!  I wish I had followed those guys for pizza, but it is what it is!  The Dracula Juice was good! 

After dinner, I rolled down Dodge to Loves, and had a dessert of fruit fry cakes and biscuits from Chester’s Chicken… and those were DELICIOUS!   Most of the Loves in the west had Carl’s Jr., but Chester’s is far superior, in terms of shitty fast food.  The dessert was great though, and I ate it with coffee. Then I went to sleep outside alongside the line of idling semi-trucks.

Day 43: Stafford, Kansas to Wichita, Kansas - 80 Miles (2568Total)

The deed is done. For now anyway!  To say the last day was easy would be a farce, but it sure was breezy.  The last day on That Long Trek (Part 1) consisted of intense and demoralizing, in fact completely exhausting headwinds and 45-degree crosswinds!  It was not particular scenic, and the wind continuously distracted me from whatever scenery there was.  

I started the day with a full breakfast at Joan’s Cafe in Stafford. There were two awesome ranchers discussing hot water heaters, irrigation equipment, and electrical connections.  They were very enjoyable to listen to, and were completely on the same page.  One told a story over and over about some wire on a hot water heater that he replaced, but could not for the life of him understand why the original would not provide continuity. “I even stripped all the plastic off it and inspected it.  It should have worked fine.  I don’t know what was wrong with it.”  My guess… CORROSION!  Anyway, they were funny, old ranchers being old ranchers. The food was good, abundant, and cheap!  I ate heartily and departed, convinced that even with the predicted headwinds and crosswinds, slow and steady would get me 94 Miles to Craig Sheldon’s house. That was not so.  The wind was daunting, not the same way the crazy crossings out of Las Animas were, but just consistent resistance to pedaling, despite relatively flat roads.  Perhaps I was not 100%, because it seemed harder than any mountain I have climbed, including some of the crazy multi-mountain centuries I rode previously.  I felt spent. Maybe it was psychological.  There is really not much else to say… several times I rode through big dust clouds kicked up by tractors as they plowed fields.  I stopped at a few gas stations for soda and corn dogs. I ate several cliff bars. But I felt weak!  Granted I rode a pretty crazy sprint last night, convinced that if I got to Stafford I could get to Sheldon’s, and the end of the That Long Trek (Part 1!)

I rode steadily and intentionally not pushing it too hard.   I knew the wind was too strong.  Still, I cannot believe the struggle!  Sometimes on this ride I have been shocked at my strength.  Today I was shocked by my weakness.  It was a humbling end to an incredible journey!   I made it 73 of the intended 94 miles, not stopping too much, but just going incredibly slow into the wind. It frustrated me!  It angered me. It demoralized me.  And again, it humbled me.  This trip was about a search for some perspective, which it absolutely delivered.  All

I want to do is go home and see my family!  

I rode to the outskirts of Wichita, anticipating another 20 windy miles tomorrow, but my friend Craig offered to pick me up in his “Colorado
pickup.”  Had he said any other truck, or even just “pickup,” I might not have indulged!  That said, since the theme of this ride became Colorado and The Rockies, I decided to take the ride. Suddenly, and somewhat unceremoniously, That Long Trek Part 1.0 came to an end. While I waited, I ate a funny corn dog that had no stick and was more like a corny Pig in a Blanket.  I made Gatorade. I didn’t think much. I didn’t do

Much. I just sat and breathed. I was ready for the break. The ride in the pickup was appreciated, despite never opting for a ride in my entire cycling career.  Perhaps that is the indication that I have achieved what I set out to achieve… adulthood!  I said I would declare myself an adult after this, and so I do.  John Romano is an adult. Officially and somewhat regrettably.  Humblingly and unceremoniously.  That Long Trek will hang in Craig’s rafters in Wichita, and somehow I hope when I come to pick it up, I first drive to that gas station on the outskirts of Wichita, where Craig found me spent and sweaty, and I ride That Long Trek away, whether north, east or south, for one more jaunt in America. For now, I am grateful for the safe passage, and look forward to rest, relaxation, and in a few days, going home to my family.  I’m ready for a break!

Today the roads straightened and the winds settled, and the sky displayed some perfectly puffy Kansas clouds.  It was another Loves to

Loves occasion, with some Kansas scenery and Dodge City in between.  There is not much to report, long stretches between relatively uninhabited and slow-speed small towns, light rolling hills and gentle winds. Great riding, with wide shoulder partitioned from main traffic by a rumble strip, though the shoulder was very rough in some areas.  Near the end of the day of riding, I passed through Cimmaron, Kansas, having passed through Cimmaron, Colorado beneath the first stocky summit, where I snacked on crackers and sent home post cards.  This Cimmaron was much flatter, but again I stopped at a gas station for a snack.  I grabbed a gigantic fountain cola and looked in a warmer, which had several biscuit sandwiches, and a few egg and bacon burritos. I asked the clerk - who had a great Kansas accent and mustache - how much the burritos were.  “I was just going to throw those out… they have been sitting since 8 AM.  You can have it.”  “What about the other…?”  “Take em both.”  I took them both.  I ate the first, going in for salsa after realizing it really was disgusting, and I’m not that picky.  I don’t think it would have been much better fresh, but it was a free burrito. I at the first and pitched the second, guzzling cola to wash it down. That was the final fueling of the day, with the first being a big handful of Good & Plenties. Those were hard as rocks when I bought them, and have gotten harder.  I still enjoy them though, especially compared to that burrito. Note that breakfast at Loves was leftover pizza from the night before, luckily well preserved in the frigid temperatures.  That was decent pizza when fresh, better than cold with coffee this morning.   Nothing like breakfast at Shorty’s, which had been phenomenal!  

The late afternoon terrible breakfast burrito fueled me up enough to finish the push to Dodge City.  I still appreciated the free meal!  About five miles west, The 50 was under construction, with no shoulder in the condensed lanes, as Eastbound was running single lane with Westbound, as opposed to divided as it would have been if not under construction.  It looked like a terrible place to ride a bicycle, so I used an old Ride To The Bay trick (my first big tour to San Francisco with Eddie in 2006).  I surveyed the chopped up construction zone, which was closed to traffic.  The ripped up lane was loose gravel with big rust from machinery.  Still, it was more appealing than riding with the two-way traffic and no shoulder.  I rode the gravel for several miles, slowly weaving about all over the place trying to avoid ruts and favor the most compacted areas, which were not really in a straight line.  That carried me most of the way into Dodge, and it was pretty nice to know I was completely isolated from the traffic, there being a continuous barrier between the cars and I, albeit slow and inefficient riding. It was sort of fun, and made my “Rocky Mountain Tires” useful even in Kansas!  No flats!!

Eventually the construction ended and I was at the edge of Dodge City, home of Wyatt Earp as I understand, and something of an epic cowboy Mecca, with Wyatt Earp statues and lots of old west themed insignia.  I took lots of photos of Mr. Bones with various statues, murals, and steam engines.  Then, feeling a bit like a cowboy, I rolled up to a couple waking down the street.  “Where’s a guy get a good steak around here?”  They were also tourists and had no idea (though I am also a bicycle Cowboy!!)   I asked another couple, who were from Kansas but not Dodge, and they also did not know, though they were classically Kansas nice. In my experience, people in Kansas are very friendly!  

Finally I asked two dudes who were locals, but they had little hope, and suggested all the good places were closed and that the best (or only) steam I could get was Appleby’s, which was right in town, strangely juxtaposed against the old west themed tourist district.  They suggested I follow them to the wood fired grill nearby, which they said was GOOD!  I wanted steak. At Appleby’s, I ordered a Dracula Juice (some Halloween themed mixed drink), and a steak. They were crazy busy, but the crowd LOVED Mr. BONES peaking in the window, where the bike was leaning. The food came slowly, and after I had eaten about 1/4 of the steal and 1/8 of the drink, I went pee.  I was shocked to return to find the entire place cleared!  I had not been gone that long…. They made me a new steak and somehow found the drink… and I finished that with extra mashed potatoes and broccoli. Neither of the steaks were good, and again… I am not that picky!  I wish I had followed those guys for pizza, but it is what it is!  The Dracula Juice was good! 

After dinner, I rolled down Dodge to Loves, and had a dessert of fruit fry cakes and biscuits from Chester’s Chicken… and those were DELICIOUS!   Most of the Loves in the west had Carl’s Jr., but Chester’s is far superior, in terms of shitty fast food.  The dessert was great though, and I ate it with coffee. Then I went to sleep outside alongside the line of idling semi-trucks.

Given how terrible and demoralizing the winds were yesterday, and that Lamar was somewhat depressing… Granada turned out to be completely rejuvenating.  Once I was granted permission to camp out back of Shorty’s (established in 1963!!), things took a very pleasant turn.   The campsite was great, and the  tarp-tent kept me quite warm, despite freezing temperatures.  I woke up and knocked on the back door, and was welcomed into the kitchen, where Jon Jon (Shorty’s son, who now runs Shorty’s, and the guy who gave me permission to camp out back) was sitting and eating breakfast.  He offered me coffee and made me some signature eggs and sausage, both fantastic!  We talked and got to know one another a bit, and it turns out Jon Jon is a musician, and plays jazz!  He had good stories, and having run the movie theatre in my hometown during its last great dynasty, I always appreciate small business folk.  He was definitely that!  In talking, I learned that his son also has a restaurant in Holly (about 10 miles east), and that his brother has Shorty’s Too in Lakin, Kansas (about 60 miles east).  Once I realized there was another Shorty’s, I was too intrigued not to want to eat lunch there, given I thought I would be past Lakin by dinner time!

Jon Jon and I talked about his family and his business, and his music.  He was really, really nice and charismatic.  And after the demoralizing day prior, it was nice to wake up, make a friend, and not experience chaos crosswinds!   He had to run some errands, but left me with his business, just requesting I lock the door on my way out. Small towns!  Jon Jon was awesome, and again, served me the best tostada I ever had last night.  He even told

Me the secret to his father’s famous guacamole, and NO I WILL NOT SHARE IT!  It’s an awesome trick though, which I will definitely use!  Also his nephew Damian, who proposed the camp out back, was really nice as well. Now I know it’s just the whole family!  Really, really nice hospitable people, and unfortunately I didn’t have much to bring to the table!  Anyway, the Santa Fe Trailhouse in Holly (run by his son), and Shorty’s Too (run by his brother) really intrigued me, given how awesome Shorty’s  and Jon Jon were. 

I filled some water bottles, locked the door, and proceeded down the road. Holly was ten miles east, and The Santa Fe Trailhouse was not open until lunchtime, so I simply took a picture of Mr. Bones with the sign. Holly was cute, and included some awesome scenery, so I took a bunch of photos, and went to the gas station for more coffee.  There, coincidentally, I ran into Damian, Jon Jon’s nephew!  I complimented his CR-V, which I always loved, and came to find that he and I are both big Honda fans!  He showed me some modifications, and discussed some additional plans. The Honda was nice, and I reminisced about the one I had in Washington.  We swapped contact info and went our separate ways.  Another really nice descendant of Shorty, who I wish I could have met!

From Holly, I rode fast into light crosswinds, with slight tailwind component, hoping to make it to Shorty’s Too in time for lunch! Coolidge  was … cool, and I dilly-dallied there taking some photos of Mr. Bones with the local scenery.  I stopped in Syracuse for more coffee and some snacks, and continued on.  I would not have made it to Shorty’s Too for lunch, but that was emphasized when I realized that the Central Time Zone started shortly after Syracuse, prompting my cell phone to advance one hour, making it impossible to make lunch. Shorty’s Too closes between lunch and dinner.  I arrived in Lakin via a shifting tailwind, which helped blow me into town.  Since it was feasible to wait til Shorty’s Too opened again at 5:00 PM, I ate a burrito at a place down the street, and hung around until around 5:10. They let me charge my battery, so it was not entirely wasted time!

When I walked into Shorty’s II, the first thing I noticed was a sweet vintage steel Tomassini  road bike, complete with awesome eighties livery!  I introduced myself, recognizing Jon Jon’s brother based on… brotherly similarities!  Eric was working in the kitchen,  while his grandson worked the front of the house.  Similar operation to Shorty’s in Granada!  Small family businesses forever!  I have lots of respect for people who can still run their businesses like they did in “the good old days!”   We had some conversation, and Eric bought my lunch, a gesture that did not go unappreciated!  I even got a Corona!  We discussed cycling, and family, and some more background about Shorty’s. It was a really wonderful experience, and note I griped about not finding good home cooked food the morning prior.  Shorty’s and Shorty’s Too have really good home cooking!  Some of the best Mexican food I ever had!  That guacamole!!  Eric had a buffet to prepare, so we said our goodbyes and took a picture with his awesome Tomassini.

From Lakin, I motored for Garden City, but took the dead coyote on the side of the road at the Holcomb exit as a sign to not ride in the dark, pulling off at the Loves in Holcomb, which is next to the largest Tyson meat processing facility in the country, where Eric last worked before starting Shorty’s Too in 1997!  And note Shorty’s was founded in 1963!  That’s a real family legacy, and I really enjoyed experiencing it!  Next time I’ll plan to try The Santa Fe Trailhouse in Holly as well!  I bet they have good guacamole!  And everything else, including world class hospitality! 

I ate Godfather’s pizza in Holcomb, and showered at the Love’s, before finding a nice spot to sleep behind the Dollar General next door. I am positioned for hot coffee and breakfast in the morning, and saw several shooting stars while I lay here talking to Jessica.  The rolling hills between Syracuse and Lakin were really wondrous, and the winds were much more agreeable today!  I look forward to tomorrow!  Meanwhile - GOODNIGHT!  Thanks for everything Shorty’s and Shorty’s Too!  Until we meet again!

Well 2,222 has a nice ring to it! I find myself here is Las Animas, Colorado - The City of Lost Souls!  I feel quite comfortable here, as does my new companion Mr. Bones, the new addition, a skeleton who rides on back and navigates.  His legs were linked to the pedals for the first 50 miles, but both left and right shin bones (fibula and tibia?) fatigued and broke near the minimum cross section, as expected!  

The ride to Las Animas saw us pass the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, where we couldn’t resist stopping by and seeing what was sitting around outside, enjoying views of some historic military airplanes, and seeing the small Pueblo Memorial Airport as we made our way back to The 50.  From there we enjoyed a relatively straight road with strong tailwinds for most of em the day, blowing from small town to small town as we meandered our way down the Arkansas river. The last hour saw a drastic shit in winds from tail to cross and headwinds, with some incredibly powerful gusts. At one point a gust interacted with the draft from an oncoming semi truck, and smacked me in the face, seeming to make time stand still for a brief moment, as though I was stopped in a moment of gusty hell. Luckily that passed quickly!

As I pulled into Las Animas - after battling winds for an hour - I somehow over-shifted and jammed my chain between the cassette and rear wheel, which required I remove That Short Bob (a CHORE) and the rear wheel. The jam was then fixed easily, but it was a demoralizing entrance!  Las Animas has a great vibe and lots of cool murals around town, so I spent some time taking pictures before wandering to the 6 Street Sports Tavern.  There I tried to order pizza, but was informed that if I waited until halftime in the Chiefs-Broncos game (a great game to be near the border or Colorado and Kansas for), I could eat free sandwiches and chips.  I did that, and drank some Coronas while I watched sports, including an exciting double overtime battle between the Nuggets and The Bulls, after an amazing tying shot from Denver!  

The patrons suggested I sleep at The Old Courthouse, “Yeah the big fancy one, it’s super old, built in 1866!  Lay down by a tree over there, no one will bother you!”  I went that way and laid down under an awning by the old train station, which is largely dilapidated, but has lots of character!  There were crazy gusting winds all night, but The Kelty Minstral kept me quite warm!  Unfortunately Kelty’s bay blew away in the night, and so it is now rolled up and tied with a bungee cord. It could be worse, at least Indisnt blow away!  DOWN THE ROAD! 

Lots of excitement today.  I got my earliest start yet, leaving the campground at 7:50 AM.  I knew there was a chance for a high mileage day, and was looking forward to offsetting some of the low mileage days of the past week.  That started well… 

I rode the twenty miles to Cotopaxi in what was probably a record leg for this trip, helped along by the trifecta of strong tailwinds, gradual declines along The Arkansas River, and fresh legs!  Cotopaxi was awesome, a small “old west” style store was all I remember seeing open, but it was full service!  There was a small deli complimented by a dining area, a grocery store, a gift shop, and a hardware store, all in one!  The deli was one by another trifecta of sweet old ladies, and overall the place had the same essence as Austin, Nevada, my home away from home away from home.  I was broke down there for four days and five nights - see earlier blog posts… I ate a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast; which I ate while listening to a fairly large group of locals talk about ranching and hunting!  They definitely know a lot about cows, and they have their opinions!   Eventually that group broke up, almost like a formal meeting ended.  There were probably five men and three woman, with two of the men doing most of the talking. I just sat, ate, and listened…. On the way out I bought. Roast beef sandwich for lunch, and went on my way. It was a great respite!  

The fantastic time continued as the canyon somehow got more beautiful, with red rocks rising from the Arkansas river as the road winded its way down, with an occasional rise just to keep things interesting, though the tailwind took care of that!  Suddenly I was just outside Canon City, stopping a few times to investigate an ominous clickety clack that was developing in the trailer.  Eventually I realized that the trailer tire from That Short Bob was interfering with its fender, which I removed, exposing a bubble in the tire. This probably resulted from damage that the tire received while climbing out of Cimmaron a few days prior (the first few Rocky Climbs) when I heard something puncture the tire and was pleased to hear the green slime sealant arrest the leak!

I looked at the bubble and decided I would ride it down the last hill into Canon City, where I was hopeful there may be a bike shop, and at worst an Ace Hardware. Had I known what was about to happen I might have made the decision to swap the tire out on the road. And note the trailer tire (though it now had 2000 miles on it) was in very good condition (practically new) when I left Everett.  I fretted a LOT over the bike tires, but was confident in the trailer tire, which only gave me a bit of trouble with goat head thorns out of Gerlach, Nevada.  In general, even riding to Alaska, the trailer tire has never been really flat or damage prone.  

I rolled into town, past an interesting turret and an ancient Adobe style mansion, which flanked a sprawling prison on the west side of town.  The rear tire was clearly going, with shaking getting worse.  In town, I saw a sign that indicated a bike shop beside a cafe, and pulled up there to check it out.  There were two gentlemen sitting at a table out front who said they had passed me back a ways on the road, and yes there was a bike shop, and that the cafe had good food.  They gave me the idea to let the shop install the new tire, similar to what I did in Fruita, Colorado.  I removed the tire, showing them the bubble. As I explained that I had  replaced the bike tires, but had never been worried about the trailer tire until it bubbled that morning, it suddenly exploded in my hand like a gunshot, ripping a 3-inch hole in the rubber and spraying  green slime all over the sidewalk.  “I’m going to go change my pants,” one of the guys I was talking to muttered.  IT WAS LOUD!  It is interesting that the explosion happened where it did, as the total mileage when I got to Canon City was 2,100, exactly half of the originally intended 4,200!

For the record, Canon City is wonderful, a classic small town with what appears to be a thriving downtown, including an art deco single screen movie theatre, which has been restored instead of cut up and destroyed, not to let my Apollo emotions run wild (reference to a past life).

I walked in to find the bike shop closed, but the cafe opened.  I ate lunch first, which was a delicious salad wrap.  Then I sat in their outdoor seats and changed the tire to a fairly crappy spare I had (hint, it went to Alaska 14 years ago, though I cannot recall if we installed it midway or not.  I think we bought it in Edmonton, Alberta, which was the halfway point.  That worked well enough, but I still wanted a new tire!  

I rode to Walmart, which is never ideal for quality but often ideal for… breadth with respect to available resources.  That turned into a whole operation!  I replaced the tire with a brand new run-of-the-mill Blackburn, storing the spare again for emergencies, though I would not ride too far on it, unless I was on The Loneliest Highway!

Then I replaced my shoes with a pair of tieless “Walmart Specials.”  I also bought a new pack of socks.  The old shoes were very worn from starting  and stopping, and even the generic replacements will be better!  Plus I got blue to

match That Long Trek and That Giant Duffle Bag.   Finally, I bought a roll of reflective silver duct tape and a set of black letters to make labels for a mailbox.  I updated That Orange Sign, which I found in the weeds near Scipio, Utah, and read “Business Access.”  I covered that with the silver reflective tape, and added “That Long Trek” to the back.  I was pleased with how it turned out, leveraging my marquee experience from The Apollo (another callback to a past life).  By now the big day I had planned was out of the question, and I had left the canyon prior to Canon City, so the downhill river grade was not a given, but I knew the path to Pueblo was generally downhill, and the tailwind persisted.  I decided to make for Pueblo using the last two hours of daylight.  

Almost as soon as I left, I got a note on Instagram that the Colorado Department of Transportation had spotted my sign on their traffic cameras, which was somewhat strange given I just made the sign!  I was making incredible time to Pueblo, but took a large stable to the rear tire, requiring a double patch!  That slowed me down, and I pulled into Pueblo West around dusk, deciding to avoid night riding and sleep here. I spent some time adding a skeleton to That Long Trek, in the spirit of the season!   Now it’s a matter of making my way to Oberlin.  I am homesick!

It got colder last night than it has yet, 33 Degrees!  I set up my tarp lean to over a picnic table, and stayed quite warm in the Kelty Mistral!  I slept beside a big reservoir that had a little turn out beside it, and woke up to some construction workers chatting about the day. I crawled out of the lean-to, “GOOD MORNING!”  They reciprocated, but a little less enthusiastically!  I packed hastily and bundled everything up, with my sleeping bag being all frosty!   I made for Gunnison, which was 21 miles away, expecting that to be the first chance for coffee, but ended up finding The Oasis Camp Store after about ten miles. That was fantastic, cause I was COLD!  I was sweaty from riding, but also COLD!  I drank some coffee and ate some Nutter Butters, while I made conversation with some folks in the store. 

In Gunnison, I went straight to the laundromat, committed to avoiding letting my new sleeping bag get MUSTY like the last one. I dried all the frosty bits, and met a few cool dudes!  Colby was 85 years old, and spends his time traveling in a Mercedes Sprinter Van, which has an electric motorcycle strapped to the back. He rides that on mountain bike trails, even breaking ribs as recently as last year… “That’s why I quit hang gliding.”  This guy was awesome, he had a super organized camper van, fully insulated and decked out with solar panels. He was on the Starlink Network “I can get internet ANYWHERE!”  He invited me to his van and made me a cup of coffee via “pour over” technology!  It’s been awhile since I had a pour over!  “That’s Mocha, that is.  You can’t even buy that at Starbucks, gotta go to the store for that!”  It was good!  He chatted me up and offered me some peanut butter filled pretzels.  Meanwhile Matt walked up, and joined the conversation.  Matt is on the road in his diesel VW, also with a (not electric) mountain bike strapped on back. Colby offered him grapes!  So three perfectly content homeless (though Matt and I have homes somewhere) dudes stood around in a laundromat parking lot, while Colby the elder dished out life advice, as well as evading the cops while being respectfully homeless advice. It was all sort of wrapped up together!  His van was awesome, completely customized and apparently constantly being improved and maintained.  He also had a suit hanging up, “Oh yeah, I am a Jehovah’s Witness!”

Colby recommended the W Cafe in Gunnison, “Where The Locals Eat.”  I went there for a hamburger before heading out of town. Food was GOOD AND ABUNDANT!  Service was very friendly too!  On the way out of town I met Colin, who is … from somewhere in England … and is going across the country from East to West. I warned him that the Loneliest Road really would get lonely!  I also told him to stock up on any cycling supplies he needs in Fruita!  Colin, if you read this, have the shop in Fruita put sealant in your inner tubes.  Nevada may otherwise make you regret it!  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!  Beware the goat head thorns!

While the ride to Gunnison was relatively flat, running along the Gunnison Canyon, the ride to Sargents was a series of fairly enjoyable rolling hills.  There was also a tailwind!  I arrived at The Tomichi Trading Post with enough time to keep riding, but not enough time to make the summit and descend to a reasonable elevation to camp.  So I stayed at the campground here, which is LUSH compared to my typical … hole.  I did laundry, shaved, and showered!  There is also hot coffee and I roasted 11 marshmallows!  The neighbor gave me a big pile of wood too, after he saw me scavenging firewood from all the empty campsites.  It got cold in Sargents, but the stars were amazing!  I woke up with my sleeping bag stuffed with frost, and all my water bottles frozen solid!  I dunno how cold it really was, but that sleeping bag is great!  It should be warmer after I descend from the last Rocky summit today!  Meanwhile, I need to prepare for the ride!  Down the road, and GOOD MORNING!

Well I just woke up from a dream where I was living in a commune, but a war had broken out and we were all on lockdown, and the defacto president was one of my old Boeing managers.  Maybe it’s almost time to go home!  I have had two dreams lately where people were trying to steal pieces of my bicycle while I slept, and one where I woke up to another Boeing manager sleeping on my trailer like Bubba sleeps against Forest in Vietnam.  I wanna go home! I miss my kids.  I miss Jessica.  I miss my family, and my dog, and my cat. They even got fish while
I have been gone, and I miss them even!  I am homesick.  Also perhaps traumatized, based on the dreams!

Today was a good day, despite not covering much ground. I slept beside a Baptist Church, and woke up as the sun rose. I meandered over to a Taco Bell, where I sat and ate leftover pizza, and a few breakfast burritos, and two coffees. There were outlets, so I let my phone and battery charge awhile. Eventually I went outside to pack my bag for riding and found some cell phone attachments that I had purchased yesterday from Walmart in Grand Junction, with the Gatorade and roast beef sandwich. I bought them with the intent of making a camera boom that was more capable than the simple clip-on job I have been using, which provides only limited (almost no) ability to adjust the camera angle.  There was a cup holder attachment, which one would usually shove in the cup holder and then mount the phone atop, and several stick-on options for mounting the cell phone clip.  I selected this “multi-pack” cause it had the flexible (but formable, like a strong pipe cleaner) cup holder arm that I thought would make a good boom.  The Taco Bell employees got to watch me beat the plastic fittings with my small multi-tool hammer so that they cracked and I could disconnect the flexible arm from the cup holder attachment.  Once it was free I realized the arm would work, but there was no realistic way to mount it with the tools and hardware at my disposal (pipe clamps and zip ties…)  Instead, I ran the arm along the handlebar stem, and was able to mount it securely that way.  Then I used a few linked connections with ball-joint interfaces to assemble a boom, and of course the cell phone holder.  The holder itself had a ball joint to interface with the boom, but it was cheap and almost immediately some internal splines must have stripped, rendering it useless.  Walmart…  I fixed that with a few zip ties, fashioning a strap to replace the locking mechanism. It worked great in the end… and I wish I had done it a month ago!  That said, maybe all the video footage I worried about today slowed me down a little, so it’s a good thing!  I did get some great footage!

I left late, having spent time repacking and working on “the boom,” around 11:30 AM.  I only had 66 miles planned, and so I was not too worried about time. Maybe I should have been though, as I only rode 39 miles, for a full-day minimum!  That said, I was not really rushing, and there was some construction, and some pie!!

The first few miles were east, and mostly flat.  Eventually the first climb started, which seemed easy compared to some of those I have done so far. Suddenly I was at the top, and the first drop put me in Cimmaron.  I didn’t expect to find much, so I stopped at what I expected to be the only option, a very mountain gas station.  There I snacked on soda and crackers, having not packed a substantial lunch and anticipating eating Cliff Bars all day.  I sent a few postcards, and wrote them on a bench with a small table, which for some reason had a pan of cat litter sitting on the opposite table.  It stunk!!  I ignored it and got the cards filled out.  

From there I headed for the second climb.  Note that by now the scenery had changed and the views were “very Rocky Mountain!”   There were a few defunct stops in Cimmaron, but right at the base of the second climb, I passed restaurant that had a Big Boy … Big Boy, from the popular restaurant, though most are closed.  I went to one on Mackinac Island in Michigan years ago, en route to Alaska on The Long trek (the one that was stolen in Portland).  The restaurant had a sign that said “Fresh Pie Baked Daily.”  I poked my head in and asked “Do you really have fresh pie?!”  They did!  I ordered a slice of Peach Pie, as recommended by the woman who both served and baked them!  It was awesome, and served “ala mode,” with ice cream!  A surrreal experience compared to the expanses in between the Nevada mountains; where there was NOTHING!  I sat and talked to some folks while I ate, carelessly burning up an hour of riding time.  NO REGRETS!!

Finally I shoved off and began the second climb, realizing I had dilly-dallied too much and was now pressed for time, based on it being too dark to ride after 7:00 last night.  That climb had a double drop, and was called “Blue Mesa.”  I stopped a lot for pictures and videos on the way up, and was disappointed by a construction zone down the big drop after the first little one.  That was dusty and chaotic, and amidst some on the best canyony scenery yet!!  I had to go slow down the hill, and stopped many times to let traffic stop. That set me back even further!

Eventually I was through the construction and able to scream down the second half of the mountain, but by then it was getting dark!   I pulled off and talked to a guy named Mark, who was wearing coat owned by someone named J.R.  I didn’t ask why…. “Oh this is someone else’s coat.”   He had a Pennsylvania hat on, and said he was born in Ohio and that his mother had gone to Oberlin college.  We had a lovely discussion, which set me back further!  I rolled away from Mark and set up camp near Sapinero, beside a huge alpine reservoir!  its beautiful!  Tonight I'll be testing my new sleeping bag, as it's projected to be 34 tonight. so. fat at 2:00 AM I am quite comfy!

Update: The sleeping bag performed phenomenally, and I did not even need to wear my ski mask and gloves at night, despite everything being covered with ice chips when I woke up!  

Not a hard day of riding, mostly gentle interstate grades and light headwinds, which I almost LIKE at this point.  I started the day with a giant rice crispy treat from Jackass Joe’s, formerly Papa Joe’s (see yesterday…)  I planned to eat in the town of Mack, Colorado, but had I done the math from the sign reading “Next Services 65 Miles” as I passed Thompson Springs, I would not have expected food at Mack!  The ride to the border was pleasant, and I talked to a friend as I made my way to there, which was nice. He was encouraging, and gave his typical brotherly feedback.  We both agreed I may need to go back to work soon, and maybe that I have clearly spent enough time alone!  The last few weeks I started to feel sort of Tom Hanks in Cast Away, getting attached to objects and pieces of “The Rig.”  When you are alone and dependent on items, they sort of become… like extensions of yourself!  I have talked to myself, my bike, my trailer, my bag, my flag, all of them as a single entity, etc. It is somewhat conscious, and somewhat … natural!  I did ride The Loneliest Highway in the country for almost three weeks!  Hindsight it all seems like an awesome dream!  BUT IT REALLY HAPPENED!!  I wanted to get further today, but had chores in Grand Junction, Colorado, some of which were instead completed in the suburb of Fruita, which was fantastic!  Fruita was about 40 miles from Danish Flats, and I saw they had a Dairy Queen, and thus exited the interstate for CHICKEN STRIPS AND ICE CREAM!  

In Fruita, the cell phone service suddenly dropped, which complicated locating the bike shop.  I did it the old fashioned way, by asking people!  That got me to the bike shop (add name later…) which was really a terrific experience. They had a very capable mechanic, and very friendly staff.  I thought Ely, Nevada had that, but ended up with no tires and a big nick in my wheel that was fouling tires, which worked in tandem (no pun intended) with the failing protective liner between the spoke ends and the inner tube, resulting in a truly traumatic month of tire trauma!  Many of the flats were legitimate goat head thorns!  The three interstate flats were from legitimate steel belt shrapnel, I think. But some of the front tire flats were likely related to that crappy spoke liner. Some were bad installation.  But SOME must have been related to that nick that originated in Ely, NOT TO DWELL ON IT!!  Anyway, I have had like 40 flats, and now I have the set of tires that I intended to buy near Seattle, though I took the easier/cheaper options.  So next tour… new knobby tires from day 1!  That said - RESPECT TO THE KING J. GRAVEL KINGS, WHICH CARRIED US VERY COMFORTABLY AND WELL

CONTROLLABLY FOR MOST OF 1100 MILES!  Now we have a comparable set with more gage and traction, as recommended by the Fruita shop, which again was just what we needed!  They installed em, identified the shitty liner (which I had doubled with duct tape) and replaced it, and wrapped the King J. Gravel Kings up nice and neat as spares!  I couldn’t have been happier.  I think those guys could tell I had been… talking to my bike a lot!  They were empathetic and accommodating.  And regarding That Short Bob (the trailer): “You’re pulling a shit load of weight in here.”  We weighed in at 340 lbs on the way into Fruita, which is aligned with the last weight we registered, which was 320 lbs.  We added 2.5 gallons of water, or about 20 lbs!  So 340 lbs sounds right. Part of the challenge was pulling all that weight, though I thought I would pick up a passenger or have a friend hop on by now!  NO ONE IS COMING JOHN!!  The desolate stretches necessitated a lot of tools, spares, and extra water, though I find myself wondering if I had packed a spare cassette (which I did when we rode to Alaska) if I would ever have been broken down and required a new wheel.  I’ll never know, but if I ever tour again, I’ll have an extra cassette!  I considered bringing one, and even discussed upgrading mine with King J., which would have likely exposed the damage (or simply mitigated it with a new part!  NOT TO DWELL ON IT!!!)  It all worked out, and hindsight I’d change nothing!  Friends made. Lessons learned. Adventures had. 

As I approached Colorado, I noticed (quite suddenly) a return of nice green pine trees, as opposed to weeks of desert scrub grass!  It was a nice transition!   There were rolling hills into Fruita, and the ride was really enjoyable. I may have mentioned it already, but I am taken aback by the strength in my legs on the flatter terrain, even into winds!  I’m back in touring shape, and it’s hard to explain unless you have gotten yourself there. It feels good though, especially since I was ready to give myself up for a short life due to poor health and damaged heart a few years back.  STRONG NOW!!!

I ate a big lunch in Fruita, and a banana split Blizzard!  Delicious.  Also drank lots of soda!  Then the bike shop, where they recommended some tires called CANNONBALLS!  I was quickly sold by the name alone, plus they appeared to be exactly what I was looking for, similar to the King J. Gravel Kings, but more tread.  They match and still have the classy brown side wall,  not that that matters.  Also the mechanic aligned the tire label with the valve stem, again nothing I would ever have dwelled on until it was painted out to me in Ashland as “what the pros do.”  And what FREELOVE (more pro than any pro!) would do!  I’m thrilled. They also added some sealant to the tubes, and told me to expect a dramatic drop in flats!!  The tires added to the adventure, and I am just glad the ones I was rolling on generally deflated on flats or up hills, as opposed to at high downhill speeds, which I have been toying with more and more… Flying down mountains on a road bike (especially an incredibly heavy road bike) is truly exhilarating.  Ask Jess or Eddie, both of whom have achieved very high downhill speeds on tandems with me.  Jess always said I went too fast down Portland’s Greeley Hill.  Just fast enough I say!  I drank a few beers at a brewery near the bike shop while they installed my tires.  Those guys were really fantastic and seemed happy to help me, and appreciative of my intense concern for That Long Trek, my steed!

From Fruita, it was an easy jog on a nice bike path between Interstate 70 and The Colorado River, which was awesome after all this time on the road with cars!  I rode to Love’s Truck Stop, angling for a shower and laundry service!  This Loves is different than the others… when I rolled up there were some grumpy Greyhound passengers who harassed me a bit, but I just smiled and tried to make conversation.  None of them wanted to hop on, but I was pretty rank at that point, so hard to blame them. I was so rank that Love’s gave me a free shower… all I can think. Perhaps they are just nice!  Like I said, this Love’s is different!  For one the music is not the worst twangy country that you can imagine, which I’ll get into SOMETIMES.  That is what the Utah and Nevada Love’s play, loud and constant twangy country…. Ask Jess, she heard it!  Anyway, this Loves staff is super communicative with one another, friendly, and they seem happy… maybe it is a Colorado thing!  

I enjoyed the shower, which included a stack of clean towels, washcloths, and floor mat!  After the shower I changed into my only clean outfit, and washed EVERYTHING else.  I must have packed my sleeping bag up when it was damp; cause it was MUSTY!  Now everything is clean!  Including me!  And shaved. I feel incredible!  This Love’s plays a really rocking blend of crazy ass rock, Halloween music, and Bob style fifties pop.  It’s really interesting here, especially the truly family oriented staff situation.  For example the people running the truck stop side came over to say goodnight to the people running Carl’s Jr., where I am posted up charging my devices and drinking coffee.  Next is a trip across the street to The Flying J., where they have Wi-Fi (Love’s appears to be broken…)  I’ll have to find a Verizon store in the morning, as my phone keeps saying “SIM FAILURE,” which may mean there was service in Fruita and that my cell phone needs service now…. MORE TO COME.  To the Flying J so I can use Wi-Fi to call my family, and then to BED!  Clean and in a clean sleeping bag.  Tomorrow I need to find some thick socks for cold nights, and then make it past Delta, and as close to Cimmaron as possible!  Wish me luck!  

I took it fairly easy today, given the final push yesterday to make it into Green River.  I dilly dallied around the Love’s; drinking coffee and eating breakfast.  I was happy that the auxiliary battery pack that I had plugged in next to and hidden beneath the ice machine was still there.  I hid it a little too well though, struggling to get it out for a few minutes while patrons were probably watching me.  When I retrieved it though, FULL CHARGE.  Good for another day on That Long Trek. I carry two auxiliary battery packs. Both also serve as flashlights.  That’s good because my headlights suck, and so when I ride late, I often use them instead. They are brighter.  One fits in my cell phone holder. One I temporarily duct tape on. Anyway…

I repacked That Giant Duffle Bag and everything looked nicer and neater than it has for days, as the constant temperature changes have resulted in a lot of rolled and bungied on clothing, pants, sweatshirts, windbreaker, etc.  so we left town fairly clean!  We inquired if there was a bike shop. NO!  We picked up some patch kits at the Ace Hardware in Green River. across the street was Twice Upon A Time Thrift, I poked around in there, but found nothing of interest, though I swear That Short Bob (the trailer) was eyeing a spare wheel, which was coincidentally attached to a child’s bike.  Bob has a spare tire, but perhaps the bum wheel experience in Austin had us both eyeing the spare wheel.  We didn’t engage!!

Eventually we headed out of town, doing some light sightseeing on the way out.  We saw a greyhound bus getting washed, which seemed funny.  Then we saw all the passengers who were waiting to get back on!  I chatted with a few, savoring the opportunity to talk to a human. The ones I talked to were sitting by a Sinclair dinosaur, and as you can imagine we needed to take a picture with Sinclair!  Nice conversation with a few guys headed to Chicago via greyhound.  It reminded me of the Greyhound bus adventure I took many years ago, when Greyhound offered a pass where you could go take any route within a certain time limit, and unlimited routes!  I realized they had no baggage size limit, but they charged to pack bikes.  However, Jess and I made a giant stealth military or tuba looking bag, which I could fit my entire bike and touring set in (not tandem or trailer!)  I traveled all over, never paying the $30/ticket fee (and note there was one ticket per route you took).  I bussed first to New Orleans and rode my bicycle (That Short Trek) around there, then bussed to Austin, Texas and rode my bicycle around there, then bussed to Oakland and rode my bicycle to Arcata, California (about 500 miles?) Then a greyhound ticket took me to Portland, but the bus went all the way south on The 101 back to Oakland and then North on The 5 to Portland, which seemed funny at the time to me.  That ride from Arcata to Oakland to Portland was SUPER EPIC though, and I met many interesting characters. While in Portland, I attended orientation at Portland State University.  Then I Greyhounded back home to Oberlin.  I am “Greyhound Experienced.”  They stop a lot for breaks. It is interesting.  Anyway…

I eventually left town, but on the way out of town I met a guy named Dave!  This was a loaded touring cyclist, but he had NICE GEAR!  Not snobby nice though, very practical and rugged nice. He was clean and organized, headed out on a big loop including Green River to Moab, meandering around and returning to where he started.  He had sweet shades and a very nice set of front rack loaded auxiliary water supply. He was awesome and knew the terrain well. And as you know I appreciate the loaded and unsupported cyclists.  It’s different when you are pulling all your gear!  Anyway Dave had a sweet titanium bike (which I guessed was aluminum, but hindsight was clearly the darker more … gun mentally color of titanium).  NICE BIKE AND GEAR ANYWAY!  Given his experience, there are a few words that he uttered that are ringing in my ears.  “If you want to see The Rockies, you follow the Colorado River.”  He also proposed a route through Rollin’s Pass, which he described as “gravel, but good gravel.”  The pass he proposed is an old railroad grade, and so the grades would be expected to be gentle, with many switchbacks to extend the track distance and thereby minimize the grade taken by the railroad.  The railroad is gone and the pass is now gravel, for cycling and … other sports?  Anyway, his words “follow the Colorado River” are hard not to dwell on!  My plans were to stay on The 50, but I only really chose that way because I have cool Montrose cousins… so now I am torn!  Follow the river seems like such good advice!  I need to decide by Grand Junction tomorrow!!!  Stressful… meanwhile FREELOVE is preparing profiles for The 50.  I am also dwelling on weather, wondering if the southern route might be warmer!  That was one of Papa Joe (the Eagle Scout’s) points.  STRESSFUL!!  The route north (per Dave) would also be largely riding The 70, which has in general been very good to me!  Especially that totally epic hill last night…

After talking to Dave, I headed out and was shocked at the power I had on the gentle climb, which was still about 27 miles long… a long uphill, but with a light tailwind, and legs used to steeper grades!  I made good time, but did not leave until almost 2:00 (and then talked to Dave!) That guy looked GOOD for 52!  I stopped about twenty miles down the road in Crescent View, where there was an almost indescribable alien themed jerky outpost.  I can’t describe it any better than that!  The sign was labeled Papa Joe’s food mart, which was obviously intriguing to me, since I do have a Papa Joe.  It seems like Papa Joe has a brand new bag!  It was completely and entirely painted alien themed, with lots of greens and cosmic blues.  The inside was decked out with an impressive set of space themed (and weird themed in general) Hollywood memorabilia.  While the sign said free soda, I was somehow charged about $18.50 for two somewhat shriveled and skinny foot long hot dogs, one large soda, and a sticker.  I didn’t ask how much anything costs, nor did I push back when he said the price.  But either way, it seemed steep, mostly cause the foot longs were not impressive.  I was still quite happy and ate them very contentedly, just happy to have fuel for the rest of the day. Then I went back in for a Klondike bar, which are a favorite of mine.  They also had an amazing themed candy section called Rice Crispy Land, with amazing and exotic rice crispy treats.  I bought a Peanut Butter and Jelly, and packed it!

Then I decided I would ride as far down the road as I could before dark, and sleep where that was.  Curiously I have been struggling to make it to places with hot coffee this whole trip, never having an interest in dealing with the hassle of making it every day.  So usually I try to make it to a town. Tonight I decided to sleep out in the absolute middle of nowhere.

I rode another 30 or so miles down the road (amidst a stretch including 65 miles with no services).  Once the climb ended  just past Thompson Springs, there were nice gentle hills and a tailwind to help a little.  It was an easy day of riding, nothing like the gauntlet of yesterday. I pulled off when it got dark, where there was a nice exit to Danish Flats, which is some sort of drilling operation as far as I can tell. I rode up a little hill to get out of sight of anyone else, and am camped out under an absolutely amazing set of stars with Milky Way swirls, beside a large shipping tank for something… the tank creaks now and then, likely the result of pressure differentials between the ambient air and that inside the tank.  Hopefully that is it anyway!!!   CREEPY!  I can hear the sound of the traffic on the highway, so it doesn’t feel impossibly alone like this would feel if I were camped out between some of the desolate mountain towns that I went though in California, Nevada and Utah.  I don’t mean desolate in a bad way either!  Most of those towns were quite nice!!!

Anyway, the stars are amazing, the ride has been amazing, I am very excited to be 15 miles from Colorado, and should be amongst The Rockies by the end of the day tomorrow!  The real challenge begins!  I can’t wait to see what the adventure through Colorado has to offer!  I hope for safe passage, and barring the entrance of some amazing sponsor to bring me my family and allow me to continue the path to Miami, I will ride down the Rockies and make for Oberlin, as I need to get back to my family, and I need to back to work!  If you know someone interested in sponsoring That Long Trek, I’ll fly a flag with the name of their business or organization from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to Miami Beach, Florida.  You can even influence the route, if you would like to target certain places!!!

More on the stars: When you sleep out in the middle of nowhere like this, you see amazing stars, and in my experience many “shooting stars.”  The best I ever saw were Chillicothe, Missouri, sleeping beside a water tower. Tonight’s rival that, but they are a clear second!  There were also some in Nevada that were on a similar par!  GOODNIGHT!  

One more thing. For several days, we had been riding with a stuffed animal we found and dubbed That Green Dragon. Unfortunately, in the haste to make Green River, That Green Dragon was lost near the edge of town.  I went back looking for him this morning, but could not find him. That Green Dragon is gone.  I am trying to be happy about it, since he is That Green Dragon and he traveled with us to make his way to Green River, which seems fitting.  Hopefully he finds the Big Green Sinclair in Green River. I am telling myself that is his plan anyway. GOODBYE THAT GREEN DRAGON. IT WAS FUN TRAVELING WITH YOU!

Also today, That Long Trek came the closest it has to taking on a passenger, as a hitchhiker named Michael nearly came aboard!  Michael was not interested in losing any of his gear, and I let him know we could not pack it.  He decided to hitchhike. SO IT GOES!!!’

Today was a day!  I woke up dead set on going through Salina and proceeding east on The 70 to an abandoned tunnel I read about. I made Salina on time, but decided to lay low here because I realized it would be a lot colder another thousand feet up, based on the mountain I just rode down from.  Also I have guaranteed services here at The Loves Truck Stop!  Even showers…

I showered and ate breakfast at The Rancher Motel and Restaurant, where I stayed in Delta, thanks to Papa Joe!  He bought the room, and the food!  Breakfast was the standard eggs, hash browns, and bacon.  I have been adding a half order of biscuits and gravy, as an an homage to the west and cause I NEED FOOD!  I got an early start, which was necessary if I was going to make the tunnel.  I COULD HAVE DONE IT TOO!  

I rode The Loneliest Road to Holden, where it meets The 15 (Interstate 15) and they run northeast together.  That was my first bit of interstate riding, aside from a short stretch of The 5 north of Ashland.  The ten miles that I rode on the interstate included a gentle climb and a fairly steep descent into Scipio!  It was the first mountain I have been on this trip that allows one to “open it up” down the hill.  The other mountains have been traversed by smaller roads, which follow more of the local topography and have been generally windier and thus the descents less straight.  I really opened it up on the first descent today, which made me remember how fun riding mountains on major roads like that are.  Interstates are required to have wide shoulders, and generally there is a rumble strip between the right lane and the shoulder.  The interstate traffic sounds scary, but there is usually more room and again, an audial queue from the rumble strip when someone invades the shoulder.  Not so on the smaller roads!  So while I would not always pick riding the interstate over a side road, there are benefits. The real hazards are all the roadside trash like exploded retread and other obstructions.  You need to be constantly meandering around objects, but usually it’s not THAT bad.   Anyway, I opened it up into Scipio, and the drop was AWESOME!

Before I got on The 15 though, something even cooler happened. I was stopped at the junction of 50 and 15, where I had hoped there would be a truck stop, as I wanted a soda. Instead I was sitting around mixing up Gatorade and making silly videos, when a whole herd of cattle approached from down a road labeled “no service.”  They were being herded by three ranchers, one who was quite young. The herd went right past me, through the ditch between me and the interstate on ramp. It was super wild, and completely unexpected. The ranchers herded them right over the I-15 overpass, towards Holden. I have had herds approach me as I rode past fields many times, but never been completely immersed in a drive.  It was amazing!  I made some silly videos chronicling my bewilderment.  Prior to this, two horses galloped up to me near Holden, and they stared at me as I stared at them. I sort of think of That Long Trek as a horse, so it was cool that we had a moment with two other horses. Again, I am used to cows and horses running up as I pass their fields, but finding myself in the middle of a cattle drive was an entirely different experience!  

Also I found a nice orange road sign in the weeds at the “herd stop,” so That Orange Flag now has a protege. Further… I reinforced That Orange Flag’s tip today, as it was getting frayed. Even though That Orange Flag is definitively not afraid!  Now it has a duct taped tip, and will hopefully stay intact. Not bad after like 1,500 Miles in the sun and wind!

After the horses, the herd, and the hill into Scipio, I had to climb a series of gradual “bunny hills,” which aggregated to a significant climb to about 6,300 Feet. The sky and hillsides were stunning as we went up and down, up and down, all with a gentle tailwind, which is always nice up a hill!  Finally at the top, and still thinking I would  ride right through Salina after dinner, I again decided to open it up, as the road was straight and the descent clear.  That was a phenomenal descent, a solid ten miles roaring downhill, dropping us right at the sign declaring we had reached Salina (again, with enough time to make THE TUNNEL).  We stopped at an old fashioned hamburger stand for a delicious hamburger, curly fries, and a chocolate strawberry milkshake.  Then we rode through old Salina, past the Butch Cassidy Campground, which in hindsight we might have stopped at, and straight to the Interstate 70 on ramp, stopping for some overnight supplies, as there is a 105ish mile stretch without services out of Salina, which I think is the last long unsupported stretch of the whole trip!  That’s how we got to this Love’s Travel Plaza.  After The Loneliest Road in America, this place feels like an oasis!  We almost left for the tunnel, even hopping on the on-ramp for The 70, but we turned back, realizing hot coffee and bathrooms in the morning were more ideal, and the tunnel at 1000 Feet higher elevation would at the best be much colder! 

Tomorrow, we’ll head straight for the abandoned tunnel for a little exploration, but we need to cover as much as ground as possible, so it will be a quick stop!  Overall we are excited about having That Orange Sign aboard, as it has Highway reflective paint on it!  The sign says “Business Access,” and originally had an arrow pointing left. Had I known that removing the arrow would remove some of the paint, I’d have left it as is. That said, TOO LATE NOW. Though it would be good to have an arrow directing traffic around us to the left!  LIVE AND LEARN!  Now we will find a place to camp out til the morning, get an early start with hot coffee, and proceed EAST on Interstate 70, which The 50 (no

longer lonely) runs with to Green River, Utah - over 100 miles without any services!  Hopefully we have the century in us!!  If not, it may be a cold night in the desert!

One more funny bit… when I was in Ely (at another Love’s….) I bought some “tactical” gloves, cause it was COLD, and I wanted riding gloves anyway. They were labeled Scipio, which might be the brand.  Anyway, I have a windbreaker that has zippable pockets, one of which is stuck zipped shut.  I’ve never tried to fix it. After I went through Scipio (maybe the gloves are made there?), I put the gloves in the unstuck pocket and zipped it shut.  Now my riding gloves are stuck, as the zipper got just as stuck as the other side was prior to Scipio.  Maybe they should have called the gloves unZippio! 

GOODNIGHT!

The Border Inn Hotel and Casino had good food, that’s for sure.  Dinner last night was ample, as well as reasonably priced!  Breakfast too!  I ate a standard breakfast of eggs, hash browns, sausage, and a biscuit with gravy.  I wanted to make an early start because there was a hard ride and 88 Miles to ride without services!  

I managed to wake up early, which is hard when you are sleeping outside and it is cold.  Very easy to roll back up in “The Bag.”  Still, I got up early after a good rest and headed out. I took a photo of the casino, with the Leaving Nevada sign on the west and the Welcome to Utah sign on the east.  Then I headed up the day’s big hill, which was a big climb of about 1,300 Feet.  I was nervous because the climb was about 15 miles long, but since the profile that FREELOVE (who pays extra for “fancy Strava”) provided was from Baker and not the border, the summit happened much sooner in terms of total mileage, so while I had climbed the whole mountain, I expected the summit several miles later.  Then suddenly it showed up like 6 miles early, as Baker was about six miles from the border.  If that makes sense…. The benefits of psychology!  

I was “task oriented” today, as the sign said 88 miles to dinner, or that’s how I read it!  After the first hill, there was one much smaller climb, and then a gradual descent and ascent into a beautiful valley, lasting like 40 miles.  There were very light winds up the first two hills, and more steady (but light) headwinds in the valley. Luckily cell phone reception returned in the valley, along with Jess and music!  Also the road through the valley had stunning views of Sevier Lake!  The clouds were beautiful!  Utah is beautiful!

The first hill offered cool looking passes, like a micro-example of the looming Rockies!!  The second a micro version of that!  Then the valley.  Since I was trying to make time, I made a lot of small stops, often standing over the bike and not even setting it “down,” which means leaning the unwieldy beast upon a mile post or reflector.  I ate Cliff Bars continuously, and the oatmeal raisin (THANKS FREELOVE) is my new favorite.  He sent me several with the spare wheel!  I am otherwise stuck with too many white chocolate macadamia nut bars from Klamath Falls, where I stocked up with a big box of those at Grocery Outlet (Bargain Market).   Limited selection but decent price!  I am finally almost through those, but the oatmeal raisin is like a nice treat!  I also scarfed the FREELOVE Fritos.  Similar back story as the oatmeal raisin cliff bars.  I also ate some beef jerky he sent as well!  The wheel delivery from FREELOVE was BOUNTIFUL!

I pulled into Delta with plenty of light, not even stopping for a drink or anything in Hinckley, about six miles sooner.  Pulled right into The Rancher Motel, which also has a restaurant!  At the restaurant I ordered a burger, and since the salads looked good…. A big chicken salad.  Technically two meals, but I was treating myself for the successful 88 Mile stretch with no services…. I also ordered a delicious tart for dessert!!

The motel room is very cowboy, old seventies wood paneling!  It’s great for me, but Jess (and perhaps you) would not stay here.  Beats the bench tent I made last night at the border, though I was just as happy with that!  I always feel like I beat the system when I sleep for free, and it’s usually not worth a motel cause I am there for so short a time.  Though sometimes, you gotta take a shower!

There is an obvious stop tomorrow in Salina, but I have my eyes set on an abandoned railroad tunnel off the highway Southeast of there.  I’ll make Salina as fast as possible and decide if I have the legs to go further.  The benefit of going further is to break up the 130 Mile stretch between Salina and Green River, Utah.  It would only be about 90 Miles the next day with no services, and I would prefer sleep out without services having had them 30 Miles back, as opposed to 100, if that makes sense!

The King J. Gravel Kings performed phenomenally today, not letting me down as I made a pretty steep mountain descent!  Further, there was a small shoulder with lots of gravel and a slight bevel into town, but they ate it up!!!  The road before Delta was quite lonely, but has a decent shoulder and was incredibly beautiful!  

Hopefully I can get another early start tomorrow and get through Salina to the old abandoned tunnel, which I think will provide the best shelter between Salina and Green River!  Wish me luck!  I’ll be eating dinner out there, so I may stock up on something in Salina!  More to come… GOODNIGHT!

Today did not go exactly as planned.  Or at all as planned. The triumphant push to make it to Ely (see yesterday’s post) was sort of eclipsed by a front that was blowing in as I was departing, later than planned due to several occurrences.  The tailwinds that were predicted with the “morning report” quickly gave way to strong (35 MPH) crosswinds, accompanied by piddling rain and biting cold.  Since I was leaving late, it seemed appropriate to just stick it out in Ely and wait for weather (and winds) to clear up.  There are plenty of services, and the next few days of riding will be barren landscape, so I took the opportunity to charge devices, drink coffee, and read.  For perspective, when Ed and I rode to Alaska, we took six rest days, all in a row, in the middle of the trip. Partially because Ed’s brother Dan had great accommodations, and it was Calgary Stampede. When Ed and I rode to LA (first trip) we took zero rest days, making Oberlin to LA in something like 28 days. Hindsight … THAT IS CRAZY!!!  We took a day or two off in LA and rode straight to San Francisco without rest.  So the fact that I have ridden now on 20 of 27 days seems terrible.  Then I have to tell myself that four of those seven days were unplanned (waylay) due to mechanical failure.  Such is life.  So counting riding days only my daily average is above 70/Day. Including rest days makes that more like 50/Day.  I intended to average 70, so hopefully something gives and I can start making time!

The reason for the late start was that I brought That Long Trek to Ely’s Sportsworld, with the intention of finally getting those high end thick capped touring tires.  I also asked about a tune up, which they said they could accommodate. Unfortunately the tires they had were for tubeless rims only (limited supply, as most of their stock is not road, but mountain) and so I asked them to tune-up That Long Trek and repack the bearings of That Short Bob’s wheel, which was a little loose in the bearings. It’s much smoother now, and the tandem drive train is much crisper.  The tire saga continues!  I did pick up a Gravel King Panaracer, and ditched a crappy old spare I had.  Overall I have plenty of tires, just not the exact set I intended to have by the time I got to the Rockies.  Though I obviously needed them the whole time, based on all the tire saga.  I feel comfortable riding on what is currently installed, but might try to complete the set and get a Panaracer to match… for

Some reason I value matching tires, which I NEVER CARED ABOUT BEFORE!  It’s cause the Gravel Kings look so sleek on That Long Trek, with their classic brown sidewalls.  ANYWAY!  The folks at Sportsworld were extremely nice and accommodating, also apologetic that they did not have the tires I wanted.  I was not mad.  DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!

The stop for maintenance already delayed my departure until around noon, but I was not concerned because I only had 60 miles planned, to the town of Baker near the Nevada-Utah border.  Unfortunately, as I went to pack up after the bike shop, I found that the powdered gatorade reserves had exploded all over the inside of That Giant Duffle Bag.  This warranted a total repack, which is not exactly trivial. Lots of work just to repack.  Add the cleanup and it was 1:30 PM by the time I was ready to leave, though I had eaten a huge meal of Moons Over My Hammy and Biscuits and Gravy at Denny’s, and that was after the complimentary breakfast and margarita that came with the hotel!  Note I soaked in a hot bath at the hotel, and put a “camphor patch,” some witchcraft that Jessica gave me, on my sore left calf.  It seemed to help a lot, though I have also been taking ibuprofen and stretching it a LOT!  I also hand washed my riding clothes at the motel.  I WAS WELL FED AND READY TO ROLL. 

Even rolling out at 1:30 PM, I was somewhat confident I could ride the 60 Miles to Baker.  I departed after repacking in front of Sportsworld, which again was an extensive chore. As I turned out of town, it was clear that the tailwinds predicted with the morning report were NOT TAILWINDS. I felt a few drops of cold rain and turned into a Love’s truck stop, which I thought would only be a few minutes delay.  The weather report showed a front, and I felt the biting cold thrown by the STRONG crosswinds, which were largely headwinds.  It seemed like a bad idea to ride out into the desert, but I was super prepared to leave. I reluctantly watched the weather and decided to waylay in Ely.  It was slightly demoralizing!  Especially when I started to do math and calculate average daily riding.  Sigh!!

Note that when I left, if you had asked me what could stop my physically, it was my chronically sore (and now sorer) left calf.  The rest is probably good!  The ride yesterday was quite intense!  As you can probably see, I am rationalizing.  

Overall, Ely has a good vibe.  It is much more diverse than the central Nevada towns, though I had great experiences in those places!  One thing that struck me is that the people in Ely aggressively stop for pedestrians crossing the street. I’m not used to that lately!  The town has lots of murals and some public art installations, so I am enjoying it!   Even if I didn’t want to stay an extra day!  Looking at the map, there is a reasonable chance I get to the Utah border tomorrow, and cross Utah with three big days, mountains and weather permitting!  It is getting colder at night, and I have a distant fear that when I get to Colorado, I’ll not be able to ride the high elevations.  THAT WOULD BE IRONIC AFTER ALL THIS SUMMIT THE ROCKIES IN COLORADO HYPE!   Anyway, I’ll feel better when I am in Utah, having taken a painful ten days or so crossing Nevada, albeit some of that due to mechanical issues!

Overall spirits are high, but I am ready to string several days of big riding in a row, and start to see the country fly by!  I LOOK FORWARD TO

COLORADO!  Take a look at the picture of me when I pulled into Ely last night!  That was a super intense day of riding, and FREELOVE said I earned a spike for all three big mountains I summitted.  

Update: Checking the weather now as I write this at 1 AM from a chilly sleeping bag, it looks

like weather and winds are breaking and I’ll likely avoid rain and fight gentler cross winds!  Maybe I made the right call, as there were crazy cold gusts blowing when I was considering departing this afternoon!  They made me think twice anyway!  DOWN THE ROAD AND GOODNIGHT!

Update 2.0: I just looked out of my sleeping bag (barkig dogs) and for the second time this trip, an inquisitive Bobcat, this one largest than last (see Jefferson, Oregon), was watching me sleep… 

Well I looked at this day on the map over a week ago, perhaps in Gerlach, and was completely intimidated.  Now it’s over!

Normal start to the day… rode up a small hill to Raines Super Market. It was 7:00 and they didn’t open until 9:00. I went back down the hill to town, and asked a woman at a hotel where to eat.  “The Owl Club (see last night) or Depot Coffee.”  Depot coffee was a nice little cafe with delicious build your own breakfast sandwiches, in which I indulged. I also ate a big cinnamon roll and two coffees.  They had cool historical photos of Eureka on the wall, with some background about the photographer, which was interesting.  I talked to several tourists who were intrigued by my bicycle.  I am aware that I am also a tourist… one of them has an incredible compact camper, highly efficient and pulled by a sleek Volvo Station Wagon.  It was what I would imagine getting if I ever become a “camper person.”  No disrespect, I just like to keep it kind of “cowboy…”. That camper was about as my style cowboy as you could be with a camper is what I mean. 

I got a fairly early start out of Eureka, but wasted it turning around.  Long story short, I took a gravel side road hoping it would lead to a paved side road, an alternative route from Eureka to Ely. That was probably six miles round trip of rolling gravel hills, which were actually quite fun, and I was surprised how fast I could roll along them. That said, once I turned around some of them were so steep I could not ride back up them because the back wheel was spinning out (bad load distribution with one man on the tandem, as more load goes to the front wheel!) I’m glad I turned back before finding that out on a climb… perhaps new tires would help.  I intend to buy a set tomorrow.  

Once I made it back to Eureka, it was almost 10:30 AM, there goes the early start!  It makes a big deal when you are racing daylight.  There were climbs immediately out of Eureka and throughout the day, three of which were over 7,300 Feet.  That’s why the day was so intimidating on the map!  To make it worse, the morning climbs were into headwinds!   That is like climbing squared!  Bright side is that the rumble strip disappeared east of Eureka, and a decent 3-4 Foot shoulder took its place!  The 50 has not always been a good road for cycling this trip, see previous blogs…. Midway through the day, I saw a touring cyclist down the road, approaching from the east!  I was riding across a big valley between the “small mountain” and the big one. There were crazy crosswinds, and we were both struggling.  As he approached, he came to my side of the road.  That is always a good sign. Many touring cyclists will not be distracted!  Juan told me he had traveled from Queens, and I remarked that he was out of The Rockies.  He said Nevada had been harder so far, dunno if that is true BUT I HOPE SO!  Juan told me that he had been traveling with another cyclist since Moab, Utah. Soon, Yan pulled up.  Maybe he said Johann, because Juan told me we were all named John.  Anyway… John met Juan and Yan in the desert. Yan was riding from
Alaska, and will eventually turn left and go all the way to Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina. I assume he left from Prudhoe Bay, because that is where the PanAmerican Highway starts ( or ends… depending on your perspective…) Juan was headed to Tijuana, Mexico. I think that’s where he said he was going.  These guys were packed down, and had NICE BIKES.  Yan patted That Giant Duffle Bag and said he liked it!  Also when Yan rolled up, he was playing some super South American sounding music, like the kind you hear at Carnival in Rio (based on the movie about birds, called Rio).   They were awesome!  We all agreed the cross winds SUCK, but that there is just something fantastic about cycle touring.  We talked for a few and went our separate ways, John said goodbye to Juan and Yan.  

The third mountain seemed easier than I expected, with the winds changing (or the road turning out of them) so they were less inhibiting. I was surprised how fast I was at the top of the third mountain, but the way down the winds were headwinds.  Nothing worse than descending a mountain into a headwind.  All the fun GONE! 

Luckily by the fourth mountain, there was a nice tailwind.  I knew I was pushing it on time, so I rode that one pretty aggressively, with a climb out of a valley, going up about 1350 Feet total.  The tailwind lasted most of the way up, turning to gusty crosswinds near the top.  I was pumped to make it to the too, especially since I knew it was mostly downhill to Ely.  By the top, the on-bike water reservoirs were empty (6 x 24 OZ bottles).  I knew time was very tight, as it was already nearly dusk. I was somewhat convinced I would not make it.  Eventually I became completely convinced I would not make it, and stopped to check how far.  I was 12.5 miles away, and it was darker than I feel comfortable riding at.  Looking at the map I saw one thing… “THEY HAVE A DENNY’S?!”  I decided I would gun it to town, despite what was now a headwind!  Although there was a nice gradual decline to Ely, the headwind made it challenging, as did the traffic!  Soon it was almost completely dark, and I almost called it!  Then, as though a miracle to me, a wide smooth bike lane opened up!  It seemed all the cars were giving me lots of room, so I continued, the implication being that I was visible. 

The bike lane made a huge difference, and I tore along it through pitch black desert for six miles.  There were a few small obstructions that I avoided, but aside from that it was clean!  Traffic was relatively light.  Eventually the downhill got steeper and Siri said I was 3 miles from Ely.  As I descended, the air got warmer!  I flew down the mountain, hyper aware or every passing car.  Eventually the road curved around, and the first thing I saw was a gigantic full moon. Curving more, I saw lots of

lights!  I made it, having summoned a second wind for the ages, and without any water to drink (though I could have opened the “reserves,” which includes 2.5 “stuck in the desert” emergency gallons, one reason the trailer is so heavy.  I pulled up at The Denny’s, which is inside a hotel/casino.  A couple walked past and said they had seen me riding in the dark in the desert, and guessed I was happy to be in Ely..  YEP!  They said I was very visible, “You got great lights!”  That was a nice affirmation… though I will continue to avoid night riding. I accidentally walked into the casino/ bar side.  It was like a classic western, where the out-of-Towner walks in and everything stops.  Everyone was looking at me, and the hosts explained Denny’s was “over there,” pointing across the room.  When I looked in the mirror later, I understood the bar reception.  I looked crazy!  Anyway, I ate a bacon avocado burger (with minimal Avocado…), fries, and a milkshake.  I was really, really hungry, having ridden up and down four mountains into some crazy cross and headwinds. 

After Denny’s, I found out that hotel guests get a free drink and a meal at Denny’s in the morning.  That put me over the edge… I GOT A ROOM. Now I have showered, taken a bath (for my muscles), hand washed my clothes, and am relaxing in a real BED!  Originally I left my bicycle outside, but Jess reminded me I always brought it in in the past. So That Long Trek and That Short Bob and That Giant Duffle and I are all cozied up in room 214!  Tomorrow I will shower, shave, and go see about new tires… something similar to the Gravel Kings (hopefully) but also with a nice thick cap.  Luckily tomorrow only has two mountains, a fairly easy 60 Miles compared to today!  That said… The Rockies are coming!

GOODNIGHT!

Austin might be the greatest place on earth.  It reminds me more and more of a tiny Oberlin, where I grew up!  I have been here for four days, but it now feels like home, though of course any real home would include my family!  I woke up and went for another “Baptist Shower,” not to be confused with a baptism!  IT WAS JUST A SHOWER!  I hand washed my stinky red shirt (worn on desert walk) and shaved.  Then when I went to pay I had no $5 Bill, which one slips into an envelope and deposits into a little slot.  So I went to town for change, but before that engaged my friend Bob in more lively conversation. That guy has stories forever!  All told well with plenty of background and hand motions… a lot like how I tell stories.  He also loves airplanes more than me!  It is like a match made in heaven!  My favorite one from today was about him boarding a plane, but after waiting out a wind storm, and almost seeing the flight cancelled.  “I knew it was windy!  I was excited!”  He was giddy with anticipation about the flight cause he expected crazy wind flying and turbulence. HE LOVES IT!  So he boarded and said all the passengers on board were sitting hunched over, head in their laps and terrified.  Meanwhile he was craning his neck to see out the window. The plane waited ages before takeoff, and almost got cancelled even after boarding.  Then when it took off he said he was just as excited, experiencing the pilots battling the turbulence.  He said it was REALLY WINDY in a small Bombardier regional jet.  Eventually he said they hit an “up draft,” which sent the plane straight up into the air. He said he watched the thing go suddenly upwards, since the elevation was low and he had good inertial reference frame (my words not his, his were better!)   Anyway, he and I walked out and stared at the mountain, the Austin Summit looming over us, the first hill as you turn right out of the park.  He said “I think you got this” and gave me a fist bump as I paced nervously. Once that hill is done, tomorrow should not be too bad.  But I have been listening to trucks struggle up it for days, and am nervous!  Especially since I am out of shape. 

While talking to Bob, I checked the tracking on the replacement tandem wheel, which said it was in Fallon, Nevada and “loaded on delivery truck.”  That got me excited!  I went to town, hoping there was breakfast, also looking to get a $5 Bill.  Note that “Town” consists of the one stretch of Highway 50 that runs through Austin, and is not too far from the park.  In town, Grandma’s was bustling with bicyclists.  The International was still closed, having only been open once in my four days here, as far as I know.  The four days seem somewhat like a short lifetime!  Time has a way of standing still in Austin, Nevada!   I went into Grandma’s, which was not open, as the meal being served was sort of catered for the sponsored tour called “Bike The West,” which goes clear across Nevada on The 50.  These were the same group of guys I saw yesterday, a few of whom spoke demeaningly about Austin, and I had a bad taste in my mouth.  That said, the gents I talked to this morning were quite jovial and charismatic, less offensive towards my temporary hometown!  

The kitchen staff, two folks who I have seen at Grandma’s several times throughout my stay here, while also seeing them around town and doing other jobs, including driving a Fire Truck, offered me half of a burrito, which I gladly accepted.  They had coffee too!  I ate quickly, glad the day of no food but gas station food (yesterday?) was over!  After I ate it, the cyclists had all piled out, and they offered me an extra burrito (whole!). I doused that in salsa and very appreciatively ate it, with several cups of coffee.  Way better than yesterday’s gas station breakfast!  They also broke a $20 for me, and so I had the $5.00 for The Baptists. After I ate, I spent some time organizing my gear, which has not been packed for touring for four days. Then I went to stake out the post office, as the status had changed from “loaded onto delivery truck” to “out for delivery.”  I could see it was just leaving Fallon, so didn’t really expect it soon.  Also I talked to the Postmaster, and she said she had already coordinated with the UPS driver, who would be there around 3:00 PM.  I had no reason to stake out the post office, but there was nothing else to do…  I walked to a cafe a few doors down (which looks cute but is closed) and sat reading my book. I sat and read for hours, walking through town a few times, at one point grabbing a gas station coffee.  I was periodically checking the tracking, which was not changing.  Around 2:40 I went to sit even closer to the post office.  Almost immediately, the truck pulled up!  I walked over and watched the driver arranging the packages, and saw a big one!  It was obviously the one FREELOVE had packed!  The driver checked my ID and handed me the box!  I hiked it up to the bike, immediately changed the tire out for a gravel king, and set to preparing the rig!  It was nice to get back to doing what I have been doing the whole time, until Austin snagged me, which in hindsight I am totally okay with!  It is home away from home away from home, if you count Everett or Portland as home away from home, and Oberlin as home. 

The bike was ready!  I test rode it downhill to the bottom of town, by the gas station I had originally rolled into, with help from Brad and The Big Truck!  It rides beautifully, plus the largest cassette gear is 32 Tooth, while the old one was 28.  Climbing advantage!  The new wheel is better for mountain climbing!  It will help me!!!   And I was worried it might be worse.  The test ride was just the bike, so I felt STRONG, easily climbing the steepest hills in town.  I pulled up a steep one to deposit my $5.00 shower money in the Baptist Slot.  I went back and packed all but my sleeping bag and some clothes I wanted to wash, and was more or less ready to go. 

Since at breakfast the Grandma’s staff mentioned that they would be short staffed but open for dinner (tacos!) I went back down to Grandma’s and offered to wash dishes, which they had proposed at breakfast, though I don’t think they expected me to actually engage.  That got me free drinks and tacos!!!  So I ate, talking to some gentlemen from the west coast who were coming through on motorcycles.  They were childhood friends, and reminded me how nice it is to have a close friend on a trip like this.  I also talked to a Texan who is in town for pipeline work, and another gentleman from Wisconsin who “manages wildlife.”  He said he orchestrates military style “maintenance” of coyotes… calling attacks in by helicopter to keep them from mauling sheep.  NEVADA IS CRAZY!!!

By the end of “Dishes and Drinking,” I was at least somewhat inebriated.  I tried to do a good job though… Then I went to my clothes, cause the locals all warned me that they would lock the door.  THEY DID!!!  The only reason it matters (I can get them when they reopen at 7:30 AM) is that I sleep in my sweatshirts and pants for warmth.  The woman who was running Grandma’s loaned me a sweatshirt, which I have to return tomorrow, but it is like a belly shirt.  That was all they had, but I am thankful for it!  Better than nothing!  Still no socks or pants!   It’s chilly!  Also worth noting, that guy from Texas is staying at The Modern Castle!  He has a completely different opinion of it than I…. “ THAT PLACE IS CREEPY.  IT’S CREEPY!!!”  Say that with a southern Texas drawl!!!  He wants out, but there was nowhere else to stay!

Tomorrow is almost a normal day cycle touring, I just need to retrieve my clothes, return this sweatshirt, and hook up That Short Bob!  Then it is time to climb a hill!!!   I already slept hard (and obviously sobered up) but am going back to sleep now!   GOODNIGHT!

This test continues.  I’m still quite comfortable here at my temporary abode; which is a small stage overlooking somewhat of a small amphitheater, which is sandwiched between a meticulously maintained baseball field and tennis court, all of which is overlooked by the park itself, which includes a nice (and also meticulously maintained) picnic area, an in-ground pool (currently closed) and a small playground.  The place looks perfect, and there were even people here repainting the tennis court today.  The strange thing is I have a hard time imagining anyone ever using the baseball field or tennis court… there is no one around.  It all looks perfect though, which is another callback to the Field of Dreams discussion yesterday (or some recent blog).  If you build it, they will come. 

Overall the town is not comparably maintained, aside from the modern gas station at the west side of town, and a few of the buildings that are actually in use, like the library, which is adorable!   It has a feeling that it is on the “up-and-up,” but that could just be my unnatural sense of optimism.

The gentleman I met yesterday (Bob) came back for more discussion and story telling today, which was spliced into his daily routine of park

maintenance. I watched him interact with several travelers, whom wander through daily, usually with big trucks and RVs or ATVs on trailers.  He gives them all the same genuine greeting with good conversation.   He is awesome!  

Today I had a few chores, which was good, cause both the restaurants took an (apparently unscheduled) day off.  The only food for sale was that available from the gas station.  The chores included going to the Post Office to alert them of my pending delivery, and to the library for a book.  I also went and found ice for my left calf, which I strained power-walking 16 miles in the desert with a fairly heavy backpack yesterday…

Before any of that, I was invited to eat breakfast with The Baptists.  I explained that I am not Baptist, and asked if that would be a problem… “No.”  I ate a delicious meal of French Toast (strangely cooked by the same guy Roy who cooks at the International when they are not open.  Frankly his cooking for the church was considerably better, but perhaps that is an “available resources” issue?)  The meal started with a prayer, each person waiting to eat until Roy was done cooking and sitting with us.  The food was delicious, and I took part in the prayer despite not being a devout Baptist (or devout in anything but structural engineering via “applied Newtonian mechanics,” as my past lead Jonathan Reed calls it.  That is my bible… all else is dreamy speculation, albeit often quite interesting to me.  I told the Baptists about foundations and soil mechanics, because they were inquiring about a retaining wall round back of the church building.  That got me started on my favorite engineering subject, the tower foundations at the Brooklyn Bridge.  I think they entertained me more than enjoyed my ranting about engineering and the technical aspects of pneumatic caissons. I also gave a short lecture about Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Newton, all of who I attribute many of the last technical developments in science over the last 500 years.  Again, I think they entertained me more so than I them.  Either way the food was good!  I politely refused bible study afterwards (or any time I wanted…), but did engage in a lively discussion about retaining walls afterwards. Overall the planned replacement sounded stronger than what was being replaced, and I suggested adding drainage behind the wall, which will help alleviate the buildup of water behind the wall and thus alleviate the hydraulic pressure required to be reacted by the wall. That is a basic retaining wall rule of thumb.  I also suggested checking for a height limit on the blocks they intend to use to build the wall, and inquired about what sort of foundation they intend to build it on.  Most of that was being left to the construction company. I was just giving my “shop opinion.”  Made it clear that I work on airplanes, and could give them the number for That Long Trek sponsor Wisner Engineering, who works in the civil engineering department, whereas I work on airplane engineering.  Not too many retaining walls, though I have seen soil mechanic calculations associated with aircraft tie-down analysis!

Anyway… after breakfast I talked to a woman who lives in and is restoring one of the downtown bars, having purchased it about a year ago!   She said she and her wife sold everything in Reno and moved to Austin, having visited and enjoyed it so much.  My opinion is that there is great opportunity here… for someone interested in some hard work and elbow grease prior to any real return on investment!  I met her because she was installing a huge skeleton atop the bar, which she said was a birthday present from her wife!  Awesome present!  Both she and her wife had license plates that were “GRRRRLZ” and “GRRRRLS,” which I found awesome!

That was next to the library, which is in the same building (technically the library is their tenant).  The woman on the roof with the skeleton said the library was great, and she was right!  The librarian is VERY LIBRARIAN and suggested a book called Centennial, about a fictional western Colorado town called Centennial near Denver.  It is historical fiction, and I look forward to learning more about “how the west was won” from it!  It is also like 700+ pages, and so should entertain me the rest of this trip, and in particular the last few days stuck here in Austin!  The library was very nice and small and quaint, and the librarian took time to reinforce the dust cover, as I told her I would be very hard on it…

I think I actually went to the post office first, which is between the park and the library/bar building with skeleton on top.  They had a huge bowl of candy at the front, which they said was not strictly due to the Halloween season, “We always try to keep something out for the customers.”  I am not technically a customer, but I ate a bunch of candy, hopefully not too much.  I tried to be aware… maybe four or five pieces?  TOWING THE LINE!  The postmaster said she would keep an eye out for my package, after I convinced her I was not shipping drugs into town.  It takes a village!  Hopefully it shows up tomorrow or Thursday… which it is estimated to do!

After settling the post office and the lirbrary, I started reading.  The book is good so far, but I am not too far into it!  It’s somewhat academic in terms of its research of the old west, which again is why I am excited to read it as I approach Colorado!  Speaking of which, I have finally decided to cross the Rockies east of Montrose, Colorado, skipping the major metropolitan area of Denver by passing it to the South.  There are still legitimate 12,000 ish foot Rocky Passes, which I am looking for!  Hopefully I can handle the hills!  If not, I plan to remove THAT SHORT BOB (my trailer) and pick it up on the other side (if I continue from there!)

Today I also saw the first legit touring cyclist come through town.  I have seen lots of “supported cyclists” with their bikes only, and all their gear pulled by “sherpas,” but I put an asterisk on that style of touring, as it is nowhere nearly as challenging. 

Anyway, there was one legit touring cyclist to come through today!  He had front and rear panniers, and was not interested in talking too much.  He was riding a Trek 520, which is a phenomenal touring bike, and the single-bike equivalent to the Trek T200, which is like a tandem version of the 520!!! He said he had picked up the bike in Colorado, having bent the fork of his other bike there while attempting some maintenance.  Apparently he was down and out at some point too!  He said he liked the replacement, which did not surprise me!  Also, curiously he was on his fourth tour, the other originating in Columbus, Ohio and ending at the east coast.  This is his first true “transcontinental” attempt, and I got the feeling he would succeed!  Also it was intriguing, as my big tours of the past include leaving from Oberlin, Ohio and going to the west coast.  Once I left Oberlin and rode to the east coast with my sisters.  So I found it interesting that he and I were crossing paths here in Austin, me heading east, him heading west, both from Ohio college towns, albeit me from a small one and him from a big one!  His rig was beautiful!  He was confident, having already crossed the worst of it!  Meanwhile I am apprehensive, being probably 15 years older and on a tandem with heavy ass trailer.  WE SHALL SEE!! ADVENTUREEEEE!  It was nice to see another “real touring cyclist!”

Overall, Austin is better when the restaurants are open and people congregate there.  Usually that lends to great conversation!  I walked down the street at one point and some of the locals were out in the street, with cats running around. Lots of cats here!  My favorite one is named Tater - a long-haired black and white beauty!!!  I inquired if the restaurants would be open, and a gentlemen who I recognized from the first night at Grandma’s (who is also Tater’s dad) said he had been texting the woman who runs The International (one of two sometimes open restaurants).  She was planning on cooking at The Owl Bar across the street (got me…) but she  would only do that if there were 5 or more orders.  The guy took a poll in the street: “ANYONE WANT TO ORDER DINNER?”  I voted yes, which only constituted 20% of the required vote.  NO DINNER AT THE OWL BAR COOKED BY THE MANAGER OF THE INTERNATIONAL…  I walked to the gas station and microwaved a sandwich and snagged a Slurpee.  I went back later for chips and dessert before heading to watch the sun set at Stokes Castle, which was epic!  Hindsight I’d pass on the flaming hot Cheetos, and engage the dessert and coffee…

That was another day waylaid in Austin, Nevada.  Overall, I like the pace!   GOODNIGHT!

Things in Nevada keep getting stranger!  After the chaos of yesterday, including walking That Long Trek up a mountain, and scooteringbiy through a valley to a random ranch, and temporarily repairing the broken drive train just enough to move, and getting dropped at a gas station at the end of the day, and then finding a bustling bar called Grandma’s in an otherwise empty town, where I am writing from now… my debit card was compromised!  There were suspicious transactions and the bank cancelled it!  Further… the credit card I brought (linked to said debit account) is expired… THAT IS ON ME.  Therefore I am waylaid in Austin, Nevada for another 1-2 days with NO FUNDS!  I have one $20 bill!  Luckily I was able to link a different card using Apple Pay (news to me!) to my phone, and so I can eat things other than Cliff Bars and Gatorade!  That said, I guess I got a little too confident, having never been “down and out” like this on a bike tour!  We always managed to cobble something up to keep rolling, always doing maintenance and maintaining.  The mechanical failures of yesterday have been discouraging!  There are a lot of places out here that only accept cash, so relying solely on Apple Pay is additionally stressful!  But here I am!  I believe I carried more cash on past rides, but hey IT IS A DIFFERENT TIME!

I don’t know what happened to the card, but I can’t argue that the cancellation was legitimate. Someone somewhere attempted to swipe for $0.01, which according to the “Security Department” is  standard practice to check that a card is active and accessible, before the “thieves” swipe for something much larger.  There were several hours where I was not sure how to access any of my money (or credit) and I started to get very anxious about being able to keep going.  Some of that was psychological, but reassurance from Papa Joe and my sister T was invaluable.  They let me know they would help, whatever it took.  That was huge, largely for my peace of mind!  It’s not a matter of having no funds, but having no access to them.  You can’t exactly wire money to and from Austin, Nevada.  That’s my impression anyway, and a replacement ATM card may not come in time… I’ll look into that tomorrow.  

I was additionally stressed by dealing with bicycle repair alternatives, whether to order a new wheel or send for a spare that I have in a locker in Everett, where That Long Trek’s twin is stored.  Yes… there are two That Long Treks.  Identical paint jobs with the twin in Everett being a touch smaller, frame wise.  I harvested some parts off the twin to get the repairs made when I inadequately shipped That Long Trek to Everett prior to this bike ride. It’s probably covered in a former blog… I can’t remember!  I shipped That Long Trek to FREELOVE in some really terrible packaging, enough to contain it, but not enough to protect it.  Never would have shipped airplane parts that way… not sure why I shipped my bike that way… other than this weird spirit of ADVENTURE!  Freelove and I made repairs in his shop by harvesting from That Other Long Trek.  I call the one on this trip with me “The Wright One,” and the spare in storage “The Left One.”  Wright for The Wright Brothers, Left for… left over and counter to Wright…

I considered ordering a whole new wheel, and honestly prefer that alternative, but there is no margin for error if I want to keep on rolling, and I know for a fact the spare will fit. It’s hard to

Imagine a similar failure occurring (jinx…), and so I’ll use the existing spare, and get it inspected  by a mechanic at the first opportunity, which may not be for several hundred miles… something tells me FREELOVE will look the thing over, as that guy is f’ing meticulous like no one else I know, other than most Boeing engineers!  That said, should he not, I’ll not judge him.  He may be the only reason I ever left Washington to begin with, and he very graciously did not call me a complete fool for how I shipped That Long Trek (The Wright One) to him to begin with, which was … FOOLISH!!!

So who can I blame for mechanical failures stopping me on the road?  ME!  Who can I blame for leaving with a redundant credit card that was already expired?  ME!  Who can I thank for graciously “supporting the lad?!”  ROB AND J. AND LAMBETH!  Of course my parents, sisters, and JESS AS WELL!  Thanks everyone!  I’m telling myself this is the last of these… crazy as gauntlet rides… 

ADVENTUREEEEEEE!  That’s why I am out here anyway.  I was tired of sitting at a desk and obsessing over minute details, which albeit are extremely important for airplane analysis, but lead to a somewhat mundane day-to-day existence when you don’t adequately balance life with … well in my case getting out there and clearing your head.  Plus this is all adding up to one hell of a story!  And really there are worse places to be stuck than Austin!  Like at a desk….  NO DISRESPECT TO MY FELLOW ENGINEEERS!  I needed a break from the grind, and a dose of adventure. If nothing else, this trip has made me value the down time with my family when there is “nothing to do” in a way that I needed desperately.  I can’t wait to be home and have nothing to do with Jess and the boys!  There is always something to do!  And when there isn’t… “want to shoot a game of pool?”  YES … YES I DO!

Speaking of pool, since I have been gone, my kids (with help from Jess) have created a game room in the bonus room of our house, and I look forward to going home and playing with them!  There is a cool little combination pool table/air hockey table that I bought over a year ago and have never had time to find room for ( it has been in the basement).  My sons have been accenting that to create their own game room!  I wish I was there playing now!  Or in the epic man-cave that I built for my dad back home.  I miss my family.  I miss home. That said, I am somewhat obsessed with this grind, and if it ends before Miami (perhaps…), only I will know when.  BUT IT WON’T BE BEFORE I CROSS THE ROCKIES!!!  To me those are the looming challenge after which I will pat myself on the back, and look myself in the heart, and declare success, whatever the hell that is!  Pulling this rig over the Rocky Mountains has become a bit of an obsession for me, more so than achieving “Miami…”. Though YOU NEVER KNOW. I’ll need a sponsor before long, if I am to keep supporting this relatively expensive endeavor without … WORKING!  Props to my good friend and first-half-of-That-Long-Trek sponsor WISNER Engineering, from Astoria Oregon!  

The second half is somewhat of an “if you build it, they will come” thing, in that when I left I could not technically afford to finish,  nor do I have the drive to go into debt to complete this, which I did when I left. I would rather go to a beach with Jess and the boys!  But we will see how I feel after summiting The Rockies… HOPEFULLY!  I told myself If I pulled a thirty-year-old Trek tandem with a heavy ass BOB trailer across half the country and over the Rockies, someone would want to sponsor the second half and I could proceed to Miami, continuing this weird gauntlet.  I WONDER WHY THE REAR WHEEL GAVE OUT!  Those are some heavy cyclic loads.  This is why airplanes have robust inspection programs… to detect damage BEFORE it becomes a problem.  I should probably have inspected the 30-year-old-wheel… YA THINK?!

Perhaps I watched Field of Dreams too much as a kid.  And Forest Gump…. And maybe Dances With Wolves, though less directly related. I definitely watched Wayne’s World too much as a kid. Note the only movies we had on VHS were those that were annually available from McDonald’s… THE NINETIES WERE WEIRD AND AWESOME.  THIS IS MY POST!  That was a Dances With Wolves themed blog joke… If you know you know…

So I made the call to have FREELOVE pick up the spare from my storage locker, which again he graciously agreed to help with.  That includes calling the storage facility, and authorizing them to drill the lock and replace it with a new lock, thereby providing FREELOVE with the keys. Somehow Freelove - the Boeing engineer I met my first day as an intern - is an epic piece of this weird web I am weaving… as well as the guys I sat in a cube with for my first few years learning the ropes of aircraft structural analysis from!  I LOVE YOU GUYS!  Thanks for supporting this weird gauntlet ride, which has been exactly what I needed so far… PERSPECTIVE!  Also thanks Jess for tolerating this logistical and financial … burden!  I had a vision and set my mind to something, but couldn’t be doing this without you guys, my parents and sisters included!  

So here I am, sleeping for a second night at Bert T Gandolfo Park in Austin, Nevada.  Rambling away in a blog that is hopefully at least entertaining, and perhaps tonight confusing. “What the hell was that guy thinking?”  Again, I left with one thing in mind, to test my body. I had no idea how much I would be testing my mind!  So far we are persevering, and sometimes against great adversity, including literal mountains.  Never without the support of strangers, the love of family, and the commitment of friends!  On tours in the past, I usually had someone along with me, and being alone on a journey like this is definitely a different experience. It’s probably good for me!

After settling the “you can’t touch your money” mess to the best of my ability, and settling the alternatives analysis associated with the “your wheel is broke as a joke” mess, my brain felt completely scrambled. I felt like I was a weird bird perched atop a hill overlooking a tiny town of 100 people that I have no business in.  A friend mentioned the castle here in town, so I took the opportunity to walk to it, take a little break from this weird little break, if you will!  Stokes Castle is right here in Austin, and I was very glad I walked over there to clear my head.  Since the fence was already cut, I took the opportunity to pop through and look around. The derelict condition of the Castle today compared to how it is described when new is an interesting juxtaposition. The fact that it was obviously an expensive endeavor and was never really used for more than a few months says a lot about how America got to the point of wealth disparity that exists today.  So it goes.  This is America, and sadly these are some of our American values. 

Anyway, it is an interesting piece of history, and serves as an epic landmark when you approach town from the west!  Note my autocorrect tried to write Le Snark instead of landmark.  FITTING!  Anyway… an old castle is just awesome in general!  It was cool to look around, and led into a discussion I had afterwards while eating dinner at Grandma’s here in Austin.  There is another Castle (which I did not see since I passed it in the night) west of town that was built much more recently by a couple from Ohio.   STRANGE!  I am from Ohio.  That castle is used though, and apparently serves as an epic bed and breakfast!  You can eat at “The King’s Table!”  Check out Paradise Ranch Castle in Austin, Nevada!  More to come on Ohio and it’s deep roots in aerospace and strange connection to this trip I am on.  I always did like symbolism!  

Dinner was a prime rib pizza from Grandma’s, which you sort of have to eat to understand… it was good but in hindsight I wish I had opted for a hamburger, which Grandma’s only serves once a week… NEWS TO ME!  I was just glad I was able to buy dinner and not eat Cliff Bars and Gatorade, which I do quite a bit of when I am not stalled in the middle of nowhere, with no disrespect to Austin, Nevada!  The people have all been quite nice and welcoming!  I just have itchy feet and want to get moving again!

Somehow a lot happened today, while absolutely nothing happened today … life in Austin, Nevada!  GOODNIGHT!

Well this has been a truly remarkable day.  Almost the kind you can’t make up, which I am not.  The day started with breakfast and drying my clothes, which I hand washed in the shower last night.  I went to the restaurant (see previous blog post) and ate a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and a pancake.  Also LOTS of coffee, which is free at Middlegate for hotel guests!  I patched some tires (go figure…) and got on the road relatively early, but before I left I talked to T’s “old man,” who was really an old man named Nick. He told me he tandem toured with a similar rig with his past wife, from which he is widowed. Bob trailer and all!  He was cool, and suggested I ride a side road to Austin, which was similar distance but far less traffic.  FREELOVE provided the GPS profile, which showed a 7,300 foot pass either way, and similar distances.  The choice was clear… less traffic via the 2 to the 722.  Or something like that.  Nick looked a bit like a prospector, and told me he panned for gold in the desert, and that his little dog Rocky always found more than him; meaning Nick would dig and Rocky would dig, and then Nick would pan both spots, and Rocky was better at it than him. “But I taught him!”   Or so Nick said.  I decided to take his advice about the road. 

I turned out of Middlegate onto The 50 heading east, and went past the “Shoe Tree,” which is a tree right outside of town with a bunch (like tons) of shoes hanging from it.  You can look it up… Not too far past the tree, I turned onto The 722, which provided a long and continuous climb up to the pass at 7,300 feet.  On the road, I passed many cyclists (maybe 20?) headed the opposite direction.  They were competing in a sponsored race called the Nevada 508, which as I recall from a small booth was from Reno to Eureka and back to Reno (508 Miles).  The cyclists were all racing, and so none of them wanted to talk. Many of them had “sag wagons,” which are vehicles that lag behind and provide support as needed.  None of them were self supported, meaning lugging all their gear, like me.   After about twenty miles, I ran into some mechanical difficulties, which would snowball and lead to a LOT of drama!  First, there was an intermittent clicking/jolting, which I thought was the chain slipping.  I assumed it was related to chain problems, cassette problems, or “tuning.”  I ran some diagnostic tests to eliminate potential causes, even changing the chain and taking off and reinstalling the rear derailleur.  Nothing gave. Finally as I continued to diagnose, and with some input from the great J., I concluded that the rear cassette (the assembly of multiple sized gears on the back wheel) was slipping internally.  I did not have the tools to fix it.  Not the replacement parts. I was stuck.  I tried to just ride with the horrible irksome clicking, but it got worse.  Eventually the pedals would spin the cassette, which was not engaging with the rear wheel, and so I was literally spinning tires.  That was after about two hours of attempted diagnostics and reassembly. I was stuck, about ten miles up a 20 mile hill, and still about 45 miles from Austin, Nevada, which is where I was trying to get.

Finally I concluded I would rather push my bike to the summit and coast down than turn around.  At least that would get me half way…. Plus, I am a trained POWER WALKER (see first blog post…) So I started walking.  I walked for hours, and without cell service up in the mountains.  Eventually I got to the 7,300 foot pass, which was really beautiful!  It was not as bad as I expected… I guess I am in pretty good shape cause I was pushing 150 or so pounds of bike and gear and water.   At the summit, I checked tire pressures, added a little air to the still slowly leaking front tire, and began the downward coast!  That was phenomenal, and eventually the descent dropped me out into a breathtakingly beautiful valley surrounded by mountains and meadows!  I saw a ranch several miles down the road, and figured that was as far as I could get today, so I made for the ranch.  Instead of walking the bike, I rode it on “the flats” like a scooter.  It was funny, but I am sore from the walking and scooting. MUSCLE CONFUSION!!!  

When I finally got to the ranch, I concluded the only way to get my bike rolling was to fix the cassette to the wheel, essentially making a fixed gear, or in other words eliminating the “freewheel.”  I accomplished that task by taking some baling wire that I had from the great Jonathan Lambeth on Whidbey Island and stitching the innermost cassette gear to the spokes through convenient holes that were in the gear.  As I did that, I saw a guy on the ranch, and he said it was not his ranch, but he was there hunting and knew the owners. He said no one would care if I slept out front after I asked permission, while explaining why I was there to begin with. 

Eventually I got the wheel threaded up and could still access six of my eight cassette gears. This was not ideal, but was literally the only option I could conjure up.  So my plan was to ride the flats, push and power walk the ascents, and coast the descents all the way to Austin (about thirty miles.)  after I finished the repair and satisfied myself that I could at least get moving (albeit slowly) in the morning, I made a bed and prepared to lay down in it.  As I was doing that, the guy who gave me permission to crash out front came over and offered me a ride into Austin.  Since I have never optionally took a ride (or walked a bike) while cycle touring, it was sort of hard to accept, but on the other hand I had not really tested the fixed gear wheel adequately, and not at all with the trailer, so the ride seemed like a smart decision.  I took it. 

The guys name was Brad, and he told

Me a lot about himself and Nevada as he drove me to town, where he dropped me at a gas station and filled his truck.  That guy was fantastic, and said he works in mine laboratories around the state as a lab technician.  He also builds robots!!  Not your average rancher, which I thought he was at first.  He also told me all about how to eat bear… which was news to me.  Apparently he makes bear tacos and bear lasagna, and he said it is best used similar to ground beef…. NEVADA IS AWESOME!

Brad wished me well and headed back to the valley.  I checked out the gas station wares, bought a $4.00 coffee, but bawked at an $8.00 roast beef sandwich.  I would rather eat my Cliff Bars!  Anyway, I made it to Austin and needed a place to sleep, so I headed through town. I never expected to see Grandma’s Restaurant absolutely popping on a Saturday night, but it was… so I went in. The vibe was crazy!  There was a large group of French Motorcyclists singing and dancing.   There were a bunch of locals.  The kitchen was closed, but they offered to make me a pizza anyway!  I ordered a sausage pizza and a beer and sat down alone. I made an effort to talk to some old ladies who were visiting from San Francisco, but that sort of fell flat, unlike Nevada… and San Francisco.  So I was all alone for a few minutes, but then the motorcyclists started piling out to their hotels (which explains why all the rooms were taken when I inquired, though I was planning to sleep in the park anyway!  I couldn’t resist showing the French motorcyclists That Long Trek, and they seemed to dig it!! I believe they were from Armor France, if not that was the name of their club…

Once the motorcyclists left, I was left alone in the bay with several locals, who were all VERY nice!  I was even give the “local price” on domestic beers, of which I had two… a far cry from last night!  I didn’t get too crazy!

I spoke with several people from town, and they were all very nice and supportive, even offering me accommodations that were not the park. I explained the park was just fine, and they even told me where to sleep to avoid the automatic sprinklers attacking me, which has been a chronic problem on these bike trips I take!

Similar to last night, tonight was sort of surreal, going from a worst case sleep in the desert alone to a lively party of sorts, complete with sage advice about where to sleep in town.  They said no one would bother me… I think they were right.  One of the local churches even paid for my meal… which I did not ask for but appreciated, especially since I need to budget for a new wheel now, and hopefully fast shipping.  I think the hub-cassette interface (whatever it is called) is shot!  The pizza was sausage pizza was delicious, and since they burnt the first one, I got two for one!  Breakfast of champions!

The night ended with a functional test of my foxed gear repair, including pulling That Short BOB up a big hill to the park here, which is called Bert T. Gandalfo Park!  The fixed gear repair worked, but I am not sure how long it would last. I did test it with a pretty big load and some fairly high stresses due to the hill, and it worked great, though it could have durability and functionality issues… especially since it is hard to remember not to coast… that said, I was proud that I was even able to get the thing running!  Plus… I never rode a fixed gear before!  Especially an 18-Speed with a derailleur…

Austin, Nevada treated me too well, and I was even offered work roofing and “roping wild horses,” which apparently pays $350/Day!  You can’t make this stuff up!   That is all true!!  And after last night… it seemed even crazier.  SHOUTOUT TO BRAD WITH THE BIG TRUCK WHO SHUTTLED ME INTO AUSTIN!  Shoutout to myself for walking That Long Trek (which is an unwieldy beast when not being ridden like a bicycle) up that 7,300 foot pass! 

More to come… Happy Saturday!

P.S. I could argue for an asterisk on the daily mileage due to the fact that I took a 32 mile ride, but NO I WILL NOT APPLY IT!  After touring for something like 12,000 Miles and never taking a ride, but for a shuttle across the Macinac Bridge between upper and lower Michigan, and a washed out mountain pass where they made us take a shuttle car, both en route to Alaska, as well as a short ride orchestrated by my sisters in Upstate New York, I AM TAKING FULL CREDIT!

Today was not a terrible day in terms of hills, and it started with a nice tail wind!  Unfortunately the day was plagued with a trailer tire that kept going flat, seemingly getting punctured again every time I fixed it   I spent a lot of the day simply stopping to pump it up, because I did not want to take it off to patch it.  I patched three leaks, and eventually it was stable and stayed inflated. Still, it was demoralizing, but I did not want to dig into my pack for the spare trailer tire inner tube, which I do not keep as accessible as the bike tire tubes. Maybe I will now!

By the time the tire was stable, the tail wind had died down and been replaced by a strong headwind. That seems to happen in the evening around here.  The ride was beautiful, meandering last Pyramid Lake as a storm blew through.  I got a little wet, but the views were impressive!  

The headwinds were taxing.  I didn’t get the earliest start, and was running late by the time I got near Fernley, riding in the twilight for the first time this trip.  I put a bunch of flashing lights all over, but riding in the dark always makes me nervous. I pulled into Fernley and immediately bought a small pizza, two corn dogs, and a chocolate milkshake.  Now I am waiting for the rain to stop so I can go find somewhere to sleep. ALMOST BED TIME!

The local MOOPERS (see previous post), convinced me to volunteer on Playa Restoration for a day.   This was a seriously interesting experience.  When you wake up, you go to breakfast at a cafeteria of sorts, and if you are working (or volunteering like I was), you report that you work for DPW (Department of Public Works) and get to eat. Fitting work for me, a civil engineer by training!  The food was abundant and delicious, and I drank a lot of coffee!  From there you load onto buses and get transported out to the site of The Burning Man event. There, they have a fairly organized process to explain the tasks for the day and take attendance.  The venue is divided into a series of concentric circles, each segmented, sort of like a dart board.  A battalion style line of MOOPERS walks the Playa, picking up any trash leftover from the festival, and flagging “problem areas” for detail cleaners called oscillators, or worst case Special Forces cleaning agents.  There are also sergeant like restoration soldiers who watch the lines and make sure each MOOPER is in line, to assure all the ground is adequately covered.  One by one the entire gridded venue is covered and cleaned, a process that takes several weeks.  This is all in preparation for a test by the federal government, where 120 random

points are selected, about which a 30 Foot radius is inscribed.  All 120 circles are tested by measuring the percent of surface area covered by trash, and a very low (statistically zero) tolerance is defined as passing. It’s no small feat, and the work of walking, visually scanning, bending over, and picking up and/or digging up bits of trash is grueling, especially working all day in the hot desert sun with heavy winds.

I was especially impressed with how the operation appropriately towed the line of organized and too organized.  For example, as a new volunteer, I needed to be checked in, requiring some back and forth, but no tedious process or belabored tactics. Common sense seemed to be used effectively!  It was also nice to see hundreds of people working hard while having fun and dressed in whatever they felt like wearing. 

Overall, everyone I met was very positive, warm, and welcoming!  When I first arrived, I talked to a few  fellow touring cyclists, who understood my plight about needing a spare cotter pin.  On the way out of town, one of them tracked me down and handed me the spare cotter pin I was planning to track down in Fernley!  They went out of their way just to help me out, and it made me feel happy (and less trailer-stressed).

One observation when I took a shower in Gerlach, after climbing five mountains over four days from Ashland, was that I lost a lot of weight.  It was a bit strange, as though I was washing someone else’s body off.  A skinny body. I felt a little bad for it, like someone had not been feeding it.  I have been eating a lot, but that trailer is heavy!

Also, on the way out of town, a nice gentleman gave me a seat cover, which coupled with my new (as of Ashland) riding shorts, is like sitting on a well cushioned throne!  Currently dealing will less … butt pain than any tournin the past!   I guess seats and pants make a difference, but I am stubborn!  

So Gerlach certainly abided!  I was welcomed into town, given a shower, a nice little house for two nights, warm conversation and stories, a spare cotter pin, and the new seat cover.  It was an overall splendid experience!

Interesting day!  I woke up early in Canby because I had hoped to make it to Alturas last night, and felt behind.  Now I feel more behind, though today was fairly accomplished!  At the first market in Alturas, I grabbed a coffee.  The conversation with the clerk when I walked in was epically succinct!  Him: “Bathroom?” Me: Coffee!  Him: “Back by the deli!”  I guess I looked like a homeless cyclist needing the bathroom… and less like a homeless cyclist needing coffee.  That market was pricey… so I headed towards Grocery Outlet (Bargain Market).

Realizing I needed more food and water stores, I stocked up on Cliff Bars, Quaker Granola Bars, and I also added another gallon of water.  That made my load extra heavy and bulky, so I decided I needed to upgrade my duffle bag.  

I went into a thrift store right in town, and a very helpful gentleman brought out a HUGE bag with pockets upon pockets!  He let me take it out and size it up, and it fit great.  It also matched a little too well!  I bought it, at a marked down price of $25 from $40, though I did not ask to change the price. It might have helped me decide to purchase it though. The thrift store guy was cool, and had a bunch of birds in his shop, including a haggard looking but very happy Cockatoo named Sam, who was 50 years old!  They also let me charge batteries at that store!

From there I went to the post office and shook down all the gear, sending back a bunch of clothes that I did not need (since I have not even looked at them for two weeks).  That cleared up a little bull, and I was able to load everything into That Giant Duffle Bag!  The kit was much improved with that consolidation, but still the added water and Cliff Bars did add a bunch of weight. It is HEAVY!  That said, I get nervous when I run low on water, so the extra reserve is appreciated!  I was also able to put my backpack in the duffle, so no longer need to wear it!  Overall an improved kit, though perhaps over That Short Bob’s 72 lb weight limit…

After consolidating and stocking up on supplies, I headed to an old fashioned hamburger spot; which may or may not have a name other than “Hamburgers - Fountain.”  They claimed to have the best hamburgers in the west, and since I knew there was a climb to 6,300 + feet, I indulged!  It was quite good!  The shop also had delicious milkshake, and I drank a chocolate-strawberry!  Also delicious!  

By the end of the meal, I was feeling confident with the upgrades, but also behind schedule and ready to ride, so walking out to find two flat tires was surprising!  They each had small pinhole leaks from tiny but very sharp thorns.   I removed the thorns and patched the tubes. Bright side is I oriented the “tire label” to alight with the valve stem, which is something I would never ever have considered, but J. told me the pros would typically use that orientation.  He also said FREELOVE probably would!  So I rotated the back tire to align appropriately to the J. standard.  That was that, and from there I filled all my water bottles and made Cedarville, via the Cedar Summit Pass!  6,305 Feet!

Shortly after leaving, I missed a turn and did a sharp U-Turn in front of a ranch.  The rancher came out and asked if I was alright, and I explained everything was fine and that I was just doubling back to the turn I had just missed. At that point I thought everything WAS fine. Then suddenly as I pulled away and out of the U-Turn, there was a loud crash and subsequent grinding sound.  I quickly realized what had happened.  Somehow the clevis fastener on That Short Bob had worked their way loose, and the bottom one came right out.  The top was still attached, and the metal lug was bent.   I managed to reform the bend lug and luckily the fastener holes were not stripped.  I pulled a longer fastener from the spares, and was able to reattach the Clevis, also adding lock washers, which I should have done to begin with!  That got the thing rolling again, but a short while later the back tire went flat again!  Could have been a bad patch job, or could have been another thorn?  I pulled the rear tire off (disconnecting That Short Bob for the third time, which is a chore) and changed the inner-tube (no chance of botching a patch job…)

Now, at like 3:00 PM, I was finally rolling with a very heavy trailer (albeit soundly fastened together…) and fully inflated set of tires!  That totals something like 13 flats so far, but that is largely on me for not leaving with an appropriate set. I tried to reuse some old ones, which were crap. Then FREELOVE very generously (and somewhat insistently) provided a high end “trainer tire” which was just too thin for the touring rig, but did serve as a nice stop-gap!  Later J. provided the “Gravel Kings” which I love, but may be too thin for the touring loads I put on them.  Time will tell… if the flats persist I’ll buy a middle of the road but THICK CAPPED set of 38-mm wide touring tires, which is what I planned to do when the old crappy ones I brought wore out!  FREELOVE was right though, they were prone for failure!  THEY WERE DRY ROTTED!  WHAT WAS I THINKING!?

Once I got rolling, there were gradual rolling hills climbing up to the main road to The Cedarville Summit!  From the main road, there was a long climb, maybe 5 miles, with the last 3 miles at 6% grade.  I meandered up to the pass, taking great photos and at one point running into a free range steer!  He looked at me.  I looked at him.  And I rode on. 

Finally at the top, I took a few minutes to soak up the accomplishment of climbing to 6,305 feet, checked all the joints and points on the rig, and started the descent.  Given the trailer failure and tire troubles, I stopped a short way down and checked everything again.  Then I started to fly.  The way down was 3 miles straight at 6% Grade, and I pumped my brakes to avoid going too fast.  I stopped to check the brakes and tires and trailer. All was well, but the rims were HOT!  I consciously alternated pumping back and front to try to keep them cool, and screamed into Cedarville.  I rode much more conservatively than I did when I was younger.  Eddie and I would simply go as fast as the hill would take us, and generally without much though of failure or the ramifications… sometimes I wish I was still that fearless, but I think I just value my life more now!  Eddie and so sure we’re lucky, riding down crazy (really crazy) hills in Alaska at speeds often topping 60 MPH.  WE WERE FEARLESS, and maybe stupid!

In Cedarville, I bought a roast beef sandwich from the gas station (small town… only one) and that was really delicious!  For some reason I crave beef… but it seems like I perform better when I eat it?  Anyway, hard to believe I was a vegetarian for 15 years.  I still have some … hesitations.  I do not like the commercial meat industry, at least the BIG FACTORY FARMS.  BUY LOCAL!!!  It’s better. 

I’m now laying down to sleep in the city park, which was going well until all the sprinklers started cycling on. This used to happen to Eddie and I, so it is somewhat nostalgic.  I have been avoiding them by ducking and moving… and I think I am in the clear now!  That Long Trek got a bit of a splash, but I think all the gear is dry!

While I was laying down here, I heard a bunch of howling, and then a giant elk galloped right past me!  It was loud, and AWESOME!!  Now it is bed time!  That was a long post!  GOODNIGHT 

Things I Ate

Some Twizzlers 

A Coffee

A Big Hamburger

A Cliff Bar 

Some Good and Plenty!

That Roast Beef Sandwich

A Wild Cherry Pepsi

A Chocolate Strawberry Milkshake!

My side is sunburnt.  Who thought it was a good idea to ride 85 miles through solid desert without a shirt on?  ME!  I may need a new solution tomorrow!  The ride was great, through the Northern California high desert, with beautiful rolling hills dotted with pine trees, which aggregated to a several hundred foot climb, which I got back as I dropped into Canby.  Canby is more or less a ghost town, as I have not seen more than a few people alive since I pulled in.  They have some interesting architectural artifacts, including a replica of The Tomb of Jesus Christ…  it looked like. Prime spot for sleeping, but that seemed inappropriate. I laid down between the fire house (no one there…) and the apparently abandoned school… I’ll find out in the morning. There is a nice set of fully plumbed bathrooms (with hot water!) that are open between the two, and I washed my face in there.  I’ll get up early and leave to hopefully avoid anyone who shows up, though again… it all looks abandoned!  My guys tell me the hot water would not work if they were truly abandoned, so I’ll assume I need to split early!

There was a 72 mile stretch with zero services, as advertise by a sign on the way out of Klamath Falls, and so I had to make sure not to consume all my water, which went well. Luckily I have seven 24 ounce Gatorade sport bottles filled with water, as well as an emergency 34 Smart Water bottle provided by The Great J. Adams!  He insisted, and I happily obliged!

Luckily I was stocked on groceries, and so not having any services in Canby is not an issue, though apparently that sign should have said something more like 90 miles, which includes the 18 miles from here to Alturas, California.  I like ghost towns, so no complaints!  I ate tortilla chips with bean dip, and a Cliff Bar for dinner.  I’ll have to wait til Alturas for coffee, where I’ll plan the next few days of the route.  The intention was to get to Interstate 80, thus avoiding really desolate terrain in Idaho, but there is desolate terrain to the Interstate… it’s all part of the adventure!  There may be about 200 miles with nothing…. But hopefully cell service is maintained.  I may need more water!

I am currently laying down under the stars, but and they are beautiful, but there are a bunch of mosquitoes, so I have my sleeping bag… bag over my head with a little space exposed for breathing.  I just imagine the old cowboys, albeit they probably had bonfires.  But luckily the only thing ambushing me is mosquitoes!

The mountain passes clearly made me stronger, as I felt almost invincible today, despite the heat, beating sun, and lack of services.  There was cell service all day and my solar charger kept my phone alive!  I had music, which makes a HUGE difference!  Laying looking up at the starts here is amazing, as the only lights in tin are coming from the very small post office.  I wish I knew more about the constellations!  Either way they are pretty!

One way or another, I’ll roll over 1000 Miles tomorrow, which is no small feat.  The next obvious milestone is Denver, which included in the route because it was dead center and epically high. That said, I have come so far south (ADVENTURE!) that I might just go under Denver, passing it to the south… MORE TO COME!  Another benefit is I know a few folks there, but I’ll need to find shower and laundry service before that, which is about 1000 Miles away. I was telling myself if I get to Interstate 80, I can channel that route with side roads and hopefully make good time.  Either way, I can’t make the time I could with Eddie on the tandem. It’s probably better to ride a two-man bike with two people.  Also I have a ridiculous amount of gear, more than Ed and I had the first time we rode across the country!  It was a challenge!

Alturas is 18 miles away. The scenery is phenomenal.  I’ll ride there and find some coffee, and assess my best options for getting east!  Skipping Denver may be the “easier option,” and I have already climbed to nearly 4,700 feet, which more or less meets the mile-high challenge!  The rocky passes are looming!  I look forward to meandering through them![. The next leg is easily the most challenging in terms of riding and lack of stops to see friends (and use their shops and showers…….)

Today was incredible!  At one point when I was descending the mountains into Canby, my fender was rubbing. I was flying down the mountain, and tried to gently kick the fender to stop the rub.  It worked, but first the kick sent That Long Trek into a sinusoidal vibrational mode that was nearly impossible to recover from.  I ALMOST CRASHED!!  Don’t kick your front wheel when you are rolling down a mountain at 30+ MPH….  NOTE TAKEN!  Goodnight!

This post is dedicated to my good friend and retired 767 Structural Analysis Lead, The Great J. Adams.  I have mentioned Rob “The Giant” FREELOVE, who took me under his wing as a 29 year-old intern at Boeing, showing me the ropes and introducing me to the 747 Airplane.  When I returned back as a full-time employee, J. had come onto the 767 Production Engineering team as the lead.  Since I thought his name was Jay Adams, I naturally imagined a crusty old dude with a dusty wig.  Boy was I wrong!

The first conversation that I had with J. was technical.  He drew me a simple picture, and used it to demonstrate simple load paths, conservative engineering assumptions, and ultimately a robust analysis, digestible within a few pages. He was old school, and had learned airplane engineering from the best of the best.  Always a very crisp drawing.  Always well stated assumptions.  Always efficient engineering.  Never more than necessary. Never less than enough.  He was a master at telling a story with “applied Newtonian mechanics.”  Unarguable physics!  I was hooked on his craft (no pun intended…) and would spend the next four years learning from him and his experiences analyzing airplane parts, restoring antique sports cars, and yes, RIDING AND BUILDING BICYCLES!

Somehow by bumbling into Boeing, I had also stumbled into a small engineering team that consisted of fellow endurance cyclists.  J. Loved bicycles!  So did Rob!  So did I!  We were all very different, but all shared similar outlooks on life, and we all had similar styles of working hard and trying hard not to sweat the small stuff.  The next several years were absolutely amazing.  

Working under two seasoned aerospace engineers, but both the hands-on type of guys who could not only put a pencil to paper, but chase a design to a physical reality.  Whether wielding pencils or welding pieces, these guys understood the fundamentals of engineering so entirely, it seemed to me that they could do anything!

Neither of them acted entitled to their positions as aerospace engineers working in the biggest factory in the world on some of the biggest flying behemoths known to man. They were down to earth.  They were modest. They were helpful.  They were industrious.  They had all the answers to all the questions that had gone unanswered in my mind for years.  I finally knew what I was going to be when I grew up.  The hard lard is growing up!

In Ashland, J. took a day off from

Working on his VW Super Beatle restoration and race car build to give That Long Trek a “D-Check,” or a heavy maintenance visit.  We deep

cleaned and disassembled, and got the thing riding like a dream, and looking like the purple paradise it is!  J. and Rob (and most engineers) maintain their machines impeccably, while I have a bad cycle-touring habit of just blasting the bike and piling on the grime. IT WAS FILTHY!   Now she shines like showroom, and we also added some mechanical fastening (bolts) to some cracked welds in the BOB trailer.  Rob The Giant was very concerned about the cracks, and kept asking us “what about BOB?!”  HE IS FIXED FREELOVE!  While That Long Trek is FOXED (catcalls bicycle…)

Overall I needed a rest day (see Day 11 Post).  I woke up completely dehydrated and feeling like a prune, but J. And his wife Melissa encouraged me to indulge in the benefits of their comfortable retired lifestyle, including ample protein shakes and LOTS OF PIZZZAAAAAAAAA!  All in all, I should have been there spoiling them, given J. helped hand me my career on some level… but they spoiled me!  I don’t know what to say - the Ashland respite was much needed, even if I have never taken an unscheduled rest day while cycle touring… I NEEDED THAT!

Today was a good day, but it didn’t start out good…  The day started lonely, with me wishing I could see my family, and wondering when the loneliness would overcome my endurance, and send me home to my family.  It’s also en expensive endeavor… so I started out with thoughts of loneliness and financing.  That said, I did have a good sleep in Tri-City, behind a shed at a grocery outlet.  I also had a nice big breakfast with HOT COFFEE!  Still, I was feeling daunted!

It did not help that soon after starting to wind my way up some gradual mountain roads, my phone lost service.  The route was clear, so I never felt lost, but being alone in the mountains with no ability to call and check in on my family was demoralizing and scary.  That lasted several hours, and had me thinking of just going home… 

The road was gradually winding uphill through the mountains, and I stopped for a water break at a nice visitor center in Tiller, Oregon.  The hosts were thrilled to see a cyclist, but seemed skeptical when I told them how much I was enjoying the road.  They warned me that it would get windy and narrow past that point, and said something ominous about the hill, which I had not adequately researched. 

Not too far past the visitor center I came to “The Pitt Stop,” where I indulged in a dusty bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.  The shopkeeper was an old dude with long grey hair and some very good and friendly energy.  He warned me that there was a very long and continuous climb, but that after that I’d have a very enjoyable downhill, for many miles.  That guys trail information was on-point and spectacular!

I should have heeded the warning of the hills (combined with the 90 Degree DRY climate) and filled my empty water bottles, which there were several of. I had even cautioned myself to preserve the water before I guzzled too much too early!  Anyway, as I made my way up the hill, I soon understood that the guy was right.  The climb was intense, and I was LOW on water. Eventually the hill got steeper and I was down to 1.5 bottles (about 36 OZ), and getting nervous.  I took off the black jersey, and for the first time went shirtless.  That helped drastically with respect to keeping cool, which is good because until I lost the shirt I wondered if I may just keel over and die.  IT WAS HOT AND THE HILL GOT STEEP!

I was so stressed about water and dehydration at one point that I recorded a video telling my family how much I love them, and that seemed to relieve the stress.  After getting that off my chest - the idea that I had ridden myself to my doom - I relaxed and found my “climbing groove…”

After the getting to a point of physical exhaustion that I cannot recall ever experiencing, something happened. While the hill got steeper and seemed to go on forever, and the weather got hotter, I went past tired, past exhausted, and past being completely fine with quitting then and there, and going home.

After overcoming some weird physiological and psychological block, the climb got easy!  I went from scared and rationing the little bit of water I had (truth be told I could have flagged a car and gotten some water if I needed, but it felt INTENSE UP THERE), to fully confident that I would climb and make it to the top just as I was.  And that’s what I did.   Eventually the load seemed to disappear, almost like becoming one with the bike, and I just kept cranking!  And the hill kept climbing.  But I kept pedaling!

With no cell service and no one to talk to, I started talking to myself. Ridiculous exhaustion fueled rants!  Every time I thought I was at the top, the hill kept going!   Finally, finally I made it to the top.  As soon as I reached the summit, my phone was ringing, and Jess (who in turn thought something terrible had happened since I was out of touch) was suddenly on the phone!  We talked on speaker phone, and I rode the breaks down the hill for like ten miles without pedaling, just taking in what I had accomplished.  

I knew then and there that whatever happens from here, this trip has for me been a complete success, having felt like I looked my greatest fears and anxieties right in the face and climbed right past them.  It was good to talk to Jessica.   I miss her terribly!  And my kids.  And my parents.  And my friends.  But I also know I needed that experience, and I cannot imagine a more challenging experience, though there may be one just around the corner, or up the hill tomorrow!

I have not quit yet, and made it to Ashland, Oregon, where my game of Connect The Engineers ends with my first Boeing lead and good friend J. Adams.  He did everything he could to mentor me and pass his engineering skills and methods on.  J. is a master at the most valuable skill a structural engineer can have, The Free Body Diagram!  A skill I try to embrace in all of my work. 

More about J. tomorrow, as there will be a whole post dedicated to him!  The ride tomorrow is promised to be HILLY with ten miles or so of straight steepish climbing.  Based on yesterday though, one can do anything, provided they surmount their fears and anxieties!  TO THE HILLS!  

P.S. That hill I mentioned was like 17 miles straight climbing, no downhill, all climbing!  It was totally epic, and reminded me of what I used to be (and perhaps still am) capable of!

I woke up on the banks of The Santiam River, and rode up the hill to a small market.  For some reason they had corn dogs hot and ready at 8:00 AM, and I ate two.  They may have been the best corn dogs I have ever had… also COFFEE!  The lady at the shop was nice too, and I picked up some marshmallow fluff for later!  I also pitched my grape jelly, but I just didn’t want to eat it…

From Jefferson, I rode straight to Brownsville, Oregon, which is where Stand By Me was filmed !  Or so the locals told me.  I ordered a HUGE cinnamon roll from the local bakery, Randy’s.  That things was delicious!  Also more coffee.  Randy is originally from Iowa, and he has some GOOD energy!  We talked about his awesome mid-nineties F-Series pickup truck (my favorite of those trucks!)

The plateau around … smelled like amazing lemon zest for some reason.  And as I got close to Cottage Lake (where I am sleeping), aromas of lavender permeated the air!  

The plan was to ride straight to Eugene, but I stumbled on a random Tesla charging stations which had a food truck for the folks waiting to charge.  I ordered a hamburger, which was delicious.  After that I headed for Eugene, but realized I could bypass it and see Springfield, Oregon - Home of the Simpsons!  It seemed appropriate to drink some beer, so I ordered one and sat on the street.  That was around 3:00 and the sun was BEATING DOWN.  It was getting hotter by the second. I opened the bag of snacks and at half of a BIG chocolate bar from Nicky’s tenant (see Day 8 Post).  It was great!  From there I got a bit turned around and cursed Google maps for showing some roads that’s were private as public.  I did not go as far as to report the issue, which I should have, to help out the next person. 

From Springfield, I made for London Springs, but pulled off along Cottage Lake, which is absolutely beautiful!  There is a closed down campground here, where I am laying in my sleeping bag.  The stars here are Aamazong, and I’ll lay looking at them until I fall asleep!  I’ll shove off early (hopefully) and get breakfast in London Springs.  Two days from Ashland, and the end of the “second leg…”. 

P.S. I weighed the rig (and myself) at a truck weigh station today… 320 pounds!

Things I Ate

2 Corn Dogs

Bunch of Granola Bars

1 Hamburger

1 Giant Chocolate Bar

1 Giant Cinnamon Bun

2  Wheat Ales (Doh!)

Bunch of Gatorade

What a fantastic day!  I was apprehensive and anxious about setting off on the nice leg, mostly because

 Nicky scared me talking about “already snow in some of the passes” this morning.  Also her house and backyard are like paradise - an unparalleled laid back energy. Also she is a very close friend, and it’s hard to believe that Jess and I showed up on her doorstep 13 years ago with some cookies and we are still so close!  That woman has good energy!   She also upgraded my sleeping bag from a thin fleece, which I like to claim I bought because it was nice and packable, but really I bought it instead of a proper sleeping bag cause it was 1/4 the price.  Coincidentally it provides less than 1/4 the same warmth… totally different experience this evening!  Additional Update: I washed clothes and showered!  AMAZING!  And the auxiliary power packs are all charged up!  

Nicky has a tenant, who very generously provided me with some cash for a meal, and a TON of amazing granola bars and candy!  He offered more, which I turned down,  blaming the extra weight, but in hindsight the rig is so heavy and the snacks are so good I wish I had indulged to the full capacity of his offer!  If you are reading this - Thanks so much!  I thought of you as I ate a burger that you bought me today, and the snacks came in handy as I climbed some big hills out of Oregon City!  Tomorrow… THOSE CHOCOLATE bars!!  

Once I got packed, I dilly-dallied awhile, both anxious about leaving, and also genuinely sad to say goodbye to such a close friend.  The next services are in Ashland, Oregon, where my friend and mentor (and old Boeing lead) lives. He has an awesome shop, programmed to receive a road-weary tandem and cyclist. So there is a theme developing, a connect-the-dots of engineers, of sorts!  

I was dropped off at the coast by an engineer who I work closely with on my Structural

Methods and Allowables team.  I saw an old friend from the 767 Program in the middle of Whidbey Island, who has an awesome USA map that features a “Romano game piece,” which is an homage to the one we had on the 767 Production Engineering Floor.  Whenever someone traveled, we would make a laminated game piece and move it about as they reported their location. The tradition continues!  FREELOVE’s was the best, including ROB THE GIANT on a Pennyfarthing (old bicycle with big and small wheel…)

IN Everett, I met up with my whole SMA team, and we shared a great meal at The Diamond Knot in Mukilteo, right when I got off the boat from Whidbey Island.  I went from there to the great HOUSE OF FREELOVE, which is a paradise on par with Nicky’s, though a little more zen/museumy!  Two of my favorite backyards in the world!  The next day, I was in the office, where I saw many more engineers.  

Today, I passed through The City of Salem, where I had my first engineering job as a facilities engineering intern.  En route, I contacted my old boss, who is still a good friend.  He is recently retired, and met me for a delicious meal at Don Froylan’s Creamery, which I highly recommend!  He had great stories of several train trips he recently took. I could tell he is happily retired, because usually when we get together we geek out about facilities engineering, repairing freshwater and wastewater systems.  Enjoyable topics, but no where nearly as exciting as train trips. He is moving to Florida, and I might even see him in October if I make it all the way to the east coast!  It was nice to catch up, and good to hear he is happily retired!  

So anyway… I am playing connect-the-engineers. There might even be one to see in Wichita!  Maybe Denver too!

After Salem, I rode south through the beautiful Oregon countryside, where it’s lots of orchards and tree farms.  That led me to Jefferson, Oregon, where I am now laying by the banks of the Santiam River. It’s beautiful, and there are trains that run through, which is not a problem because I could sleep through a hurricane, especially after riding 85 miles!  

Though I was apprehensive and a bit nervous about this leg when I left Portland, the road les to an old friend and some beautiful views.  I miss my family terribly, and can’t believe it will be weeks (at the least) before I see them again. Luckily the 55 lb box of Legos (see Day 4 Post) arrived today, so my kids will have plenty of material to build crazy things while I am away. My older son is very creative with them, and specializes in nifty vehicles with interesting contraptions, turrets, and secret doors!

I am nervous about Colorado, most because it seems like the ride there could make the mileage seem a lot longer than it is.  They don’t call it the mile-high city for nothing!  I need to decide soon if I will change the route or proceed with the gauntlet of mountains up to Denver!  More to come!

Things I Ate

2 Eggs w/ Toast

2 Lattes

2 Granola Bars

1 Hamburger

1 Carne Asada Quesadilla

1 Pack of Peanut M&Ms

Lots of Gatorade

Yesterday before bed I spent some time “souping up the kit.”  New bungees because I LOST A BAG OF TWIZZLERS!  Added a flag to the trailer, new lights, and bought several packs of tire patch kits. Overall, it seems the flag encourages people to keep their distance!  I wish I had used them in the past, but I was too cool for school.  NOT ANYMORE!  I also think it looks awesome on there, based on watching my shadow all day. 

Tiday… that was a heck of a ride!  The first century (100 Miles) that I have ridden in 14 years! It was cold, then it was hot!  I was absolutely anyagonized near McKenna, Washington, where they clearly hate bicycles!  Several people screamed “GET OFF THE ROAD” or “GET A CAR!”  One person even slammed his break on right behind me before shouting, as if to scare me! 

After the McKenna debacle, things settled down.  The Yelm-Tenino trail was flat and fantastic, lines with huge pine trees on either side for miles.  It was like a scene from Anne of Green gables!  From there there was some hilly countryside up to Bucoda, which was a litle ghost town with one pub and one market. The people were quite nice, including the market owner, who allowed me to charge my devices. Then some friendly gentlemen out front of the pub gave me some friendly route consultation.  Small towns!  While I was there eating lunch, the Amtrak Cascades passenger line came right through town!

From there - intrigued by the Ghost Town on Tono, I segued through some extra hillside, but the town was so ghostly I didn’t even find it!  There was a giant coal plant there, so maybe that’s all that is left… Tono led to Centralia, where the weather and layout began to remind me of “the west coast” as I identify it, which is to me sort of California biased - Extra Sunny!  

Eventually the terrain flattened out considerably, and the hills gently rolled into Castle Rock, though there were some long ascents on the way. Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens both made appearances today!  Castle Rock was about 100 miles.  Shortly before arriving, I felt completely spent, but realized I had not eaten in awhile and mixed up some Gatorade.  That pushed me to town, but next a survey of the topography encouraged me to meander down to Kelso, where I am now sleeping in a grass covered vacant lot near a church!

I am about 50 Miles from Portland, where I will ride over The Saint Johns Bridge and see Miss Nicky (see Day 4 Post).

Things I Ate

1 Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit (plus hash brown)

1 Can of Fritos Bean Dip w/ Jaunitas Tortilla Chips

1 Litro Coca-Cola Classic (cane sugar)

1 Big Old Cherry Pepsi

2 Dr. Peppers

Lots of Gatorade

Six Chicken Strips with Fries

I spent about $35 on food today.