Friday, September 14, 2007

Squamish

After taking leave of Bruce I rode the 40 miles to Squamish. I arrived at the campground at dusk and Matt was sitting in the parking lot. This was a good thing since the campsite number I had was wrong. Matt was taken away to see me since he thought I wasn’t coming. It’s been pretty funny since everyone hear has traveled great distances, so when they ask were your from SC doesn’t seem that far away until someone chimes in “he rode here on his bike”. I’ve decided to stay for a while and climb I just couldn’t see leaving an amazing climbing area without climbing some. Also I’m can’t put up pictures until I get back to Seattle since I don’t have the right cable and I’m updating my blog with Matt’s Computer. I hope everyone is doing well and I’ll write when I’m back on the road.

Bruce


On the Ferry ride from Vancouver Island to South Vancouver I met a gentlemen by the name of Bruce, who was from Vancouver and had just come over for a beer festival. He doesn’t own a car and commutes to work via bicycle as well as doing touring for vacation. He said he would take me into Vancouver since it was a little difficult to find the routes on your own. We stopped at his bike shop and he had his front tire checked and I got some air in my tires, then he proceeded to take me on a scenic tour of Vancouver and took me all the way to the other side, where I would catch 99 to Squamish. This made my afternoon.

The Dutch


In the morning I bought a ticket to Vancouver Island and rolled into Anacortes to check out the town. It was Sunday so the bookstores were closed but I managed to get some food. I got on the ferry at 2 pm for the 3 hr ride. On the ride I meet two Dutch guys who were touring around the Pacific Northwest. They had arrived 4 weeks earlier and were leaving in a week. I hitched along with them and made camp that night with them. It dawned on me close to bedtime I hadn’t caught their names. When they told me, it took me a couple of tries to pronounce them, and that was the reason they hadn’t offered them. So we made some jokes about repeating them over and over like we were in grade school and trying to pick up new vocabulary. In the morning I said my goodbyes and did my best to pronounce their names, which they said, was good though they could have just been polite. They joke that I had practiced all night I’ll be honest that I repeated them to myself at least 30 times before I went to bed. Frebus and Wannus were good sports about my ignorance and we had a great time.

The Coast


I thought that when I got to the ocean that I would be excited to the point of bursting. Like jumping for joy and such. Instead it was more of a sense of contentment. Just happy and glad to have completed that part of my journey. I sent out a text to let people close to me know I had arrived, and was amazed that so many responded since it was 1 am on the east coast.

Daver


On my last day before getting to the west coast I met Daver. I woke up to a layer of ice covering my sleeping bag and all of my stuff. I hadn’t bothered to set up my tent cause I was tired. I packed my stuff quickly and jumped on the road in-order to warm up. My hands and feet were frozen until I climbed to where the sun hit the hillside. I stopped and warmed myself there. I started riding again and maybe 200 yd later I was so hot I had to stop and start removing layers. Just then a rider passed me. We exchanged pleasantries and he continued. I started riding again and then he stopped to remove his excess clothing. I caught up to him at this point and asked if he didn’t mind riding together for a while. He had come from Chicago and was riding the same route to the ocean. I had 140 miles to get to the ocean that day and having someone to get you motivated was very nice. We got along very well and I definitely enjoyed riding with someone. We stopped to get some food, and I overheard a man in an RV explaining that the problem with North Cascades National Park is that it didn’t have enough roads and that some parts of the park were only accessible by trail. I feel that the problem with the park is it allows people like this guy. We continued on for about 80 miles before Daver’s knee began hurting him. It turned out he had hurt it several days earlier and it was bad enough that he thought he might have to quit. At that point we said goodbye and with only 60 miles left I couldn’t just stop and not make the coast so I pushed on.

Cocky

On my first full day in Washington state. I rode 85 miles before starting the hardest climb of my trip; it was almost 5000 ft in 18 miles. Also it was after dark when I began. 6 miles into the climb I was ready to stop, and with 6 miles left I had begun to walk my bike when I got to a slow vehicle turn out. Then ride the mile to the next one. I arrived at the top some time around 1:30 am. The campsite I was banking on was closed and I was to tired to ride any more so I just slept in the closed campsite. I figure the worst that would happen is that they would kick me out and give me a ride down the hill. The night was cold and really windy. The announcement board had a sign saying there was a problem bear in the campsite which added to my since of happiness. I decided to sleep in the bathroom that night. It helped with both the wind and the bear problem. I had been averaging 115 miles every day, and at just 103, I was done.

Montana

The drivers suck as bad as those in Missouri. I got run off the road by a logging truck passing another with no shoulder and me in the lane. Throughout the state there were multiple instances of just as obnoxious behavior. On the other hand the state lives up to it’s moniker of “Big Sky Country”. This is just as true at night.

Ego Check

While in Missoula I was feeling pretty good about my bike skills so I tried to track stand while holding on with one hand, and opening the trash can with then other and throwing something away. I almost pulled it off. If there weren’t an obstacle straight in front of me I would have. As you can guess the bike went down though I managed to get to my feet and couldn’t stop the bike since the 40 lbs behind me had already started going over. I was in front of PetCo. There was a beautiful woman coming in with her dog and at the sound of the bike falling the dog started barking at me. This woman smiled at me, I feel because I was noticeably embarrassed, and made tracks to get out of there as fast as possible. I was ten years old all over again and could see the other children laughing at me. I think it’s good to feel stupid sometimes.

KOA

It’s a rip off

I arrived at 1 am and was going to leave by 8 and they wanted, get this 27.82
After talking to they guy who worked their, he said that if I left before the next guy came on he would let me stay for free. So I was out by 6:30 since 7 was the shift change.

Cali

In West Yellowstone it was 11 pm and I was jonesing for a coke. So I get on my bicycle dressed in flip-flops, sweat pants, and a bright orange puffy jacket. As I wonder about the empty streets a clearly inebriated guy yells at me. He asks me were I’m from cause I don’t look like a local. I stop and he asks me to go get a beer with him. I go inside and he asks where I’m from and where I’m going. After finding out, he insists on buying all of the beer and we tour the local bars. He is from Sacramento CA and now lives in Boise ID. He decided to leave for a few days cause school is back in session and the students annoy him. I had a very interesting evening and roll back to my tent feeling warm on the inside.

Bill Bryson

Mr. Bryson has become my constant companion. After reading four of his books on this trip I hear him talking to me and imagine his reaction to what I see. He rails on the RV, which I have also come to dislike very much. They regularly take up the road pass me to close and get angry that I’m in the way of the house that they couldn’t leave at home. I noticed that every vehicle in Yellowstone had at least 1 if not 4 bicycles strapped to it. Though it was funny that I probably saw less than five being ridden.

Grand Teton National Park


Entering the park on my bicycle and know that I had arrived there under my own power made the experience that much better. The Park is one of the top five most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I continued into Yellowstone in the dark. I made a pretty big climb and the temperature was pretty low. My hands and feet felt numb as I rode into lake Lewis campsite. Riding in the evening is amazing when the moon is out. You can see everything as a shadow and there are way fewer cars if any at all. This adds to the feeling of discovery. As if you were alone in the wilderness crossing the continent, instead of on a road built by people and traveled by vast groups. I skipped old faithful, because of the crowds though I saw the prismatic pool, which was just gorgeous. I also met two nice couples. After talking for a few minutes they asked for my picture and said that I rank with the other sites Yellowstone had to offer. Our conversation was very comfortable, it turned out the two men were retired police officers. My father is also a retired Police officer which I’m sure was the part of the reason I so quickly felt familiar. That afternoon I entered Montana.

Wind


Wind has become by arch nemesis. It was the worst in Wyoming. In-order to keep up my mileage I was force to double the time on the bike. My longest day was 14hrs of riding and 16 hours total from when I left camp until I arrived at the next. I liken the wind to running up a down escalator. It’s much like riding a steep mountain all day without the benefits of the other side or even the sense of accomplishment derived from conquering a mountain. It’s frustrating on so many levels. It’s impossible to hear cars coming from behind until they are on top of you, it lowers your mileage, and you lean into it until a vehicle passes and you practically fall into the street, and it’s almost impossible to read a map. Some one from the map writing office wrote that the wind comes from the SE, but is “variable” I would love to have a chat with this person since in the 4 days that I peddled into 40-60 mph winds it didn’t deviate from the west. My throat grew raw and I felt as though I had a bad cold all of the time from the wind. I would ride in the morning until the wind picked up and then try and ride after dark since the winds were lower then. This made for very long days. I would describe my moods as bi-polar. When the wind was low and I was cruising I was the happiest I’d ever been but then the wind would pick up and my speed would drop by more than 50% and I would loose my composure, scream, yell, and shake my bike like a small child. It’s hard to describe the frustration when you know that this morning you could make this 40 miles in 2 ½ hours and now it’s going to take 7. I imagine this myself as Jekyll and Hyde. One day I tried to tie my shirt on as a cape since it would stand out horizontal in the wind though I just couldn’t make it work right. I tried just about anything to keep my mind off of the wind. This is one of those things that fit into the category of “ that which doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger”.

Rock River Wyoming

I left Laramie Wy and headed west of hwy 287. The road was under heavy construction and nearly no shoulder. This continued for a mile until I realized that the two lanes that had been closed in the other direction hadn’t been torn up yet. I picked up my bike and walked over to this section of road and had my own personal road for some 15 miles. I would have been in heaven if it weren’t for the 40-60 mph headwinds, which were just buffeting me and dropping my speed to 5-6 mph. I had my shortest mileage day to date and after 40 miles I was more mentally beat than physically and I decided to stop in the next town I came to. When I arrived I inquired about a place to stay and found that the park next to town hall was a good candidate. Around 9 I was looking for a bathroom and saw a bar across the street. I went inside used the restroom and inquired if they took credit since I was out of cash. The owner/bartender’s response was no, then he said “hey your that guy riding the bicycle?” To which I responded “yes”. He then told me that the first beer was on him and that the guy at the end of the bar would buy me the second cause you can’t drink just one beer. I thanked them and conversed with most of the 10 people in the bar. A couple of hours later I left and went to bed feeling good and having had an unexpectedly good time. In the morning I was back at the general store were the night before I got the info about the park and related my story of the free beers and the woman who worked there explained how most of the town didn’t like that bar and there people very much. I didn’t try to argue but all I could think was that if I had to choose between her and the bar, the bar gave me free beer, and never badmouthed anyone.

Timber Frame

I arrived in Laramie were Dan and Craig were working on a Timber frame church. The weather turned cold and rainy so I opted to stay another day. Sitting and watching a timber frame go up made me just want to jump in and stop riding. The church was beautiful and was such a contrast to the idea that just 100 yds away was were in 98 Matthew Shepard was beaten and left for dead on the very fence that created the church property boundary, just because he was gay. I found it hard to get motivated to get riding again, though the next morning

Flats

When I left boulder I hadn’t had a flat tire. This was about to change. In the span of 10 miles I had 4 flat tires. I was trying to fix the last flat and an older gentleman came by and inquired if I was ok and told me where the bike store was. By this point was out of tubes and patches so I walked the 4 miles into Loveland and got an education on a thorn with the name of goathead. This was the culprit for my flats. I bought liners and thorn resistant tubes. But then I was late to catch Dan in Laramie. I called a my friend skinny and though I knew he was out of town I assumed he would probably know someone in Ft. Collins that I could crash with. He put me in touch with Corey and I headed up to his place. Not only did they feed me, we went out for beers and made a night of it. In the morning I got breakfast with Corey and got on my way.

A new level of laziness

In Sweet Water Wyoming I saw possibly the laziest person on the planet. As I was reading a historical marker a car pulled off the road. I turned to see the driver reading the same marker but with binoculars. I guess getting out of the car would be out of the question. Maybe he was worried that the wind might ruin his hair, or the lack of air conditioning might cause a medical problem were his pores emit water. I thought this might be an isolated incident, but to my disappointment it was not. In Yellowstone I saw many people with binoculars. Overlooks and other sites were just to taxing if viewed from the wild world outside of the car. So the next time you feel lazy remember there is someone that much lazier out there.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

New posts coming

I'll update my blog by the sept. 16th. I sent my laptop to tacoma washington when i left colorado. I arrived on the pacific on the 8th. then i went up to canada and am staying with matt ballard at squamish. hope all is well and i'll be in touch.