Day 3 (6/25) Dallas, OR --> Vida, OR (112 miles)

Started things off shooting through some very flat Oregon country....in a sense it was very familiar of the Shenandoah Valley area seein there were mountains on both sides of me and just flat, flat, flat farmland all around. Luckily there were no cattle crops anywhere so the oxygen wasn't too unbearable to breath in...that and along with a lack of dog food/chicken processing plants made things more bearable than the valley.

My main goal of the day was to get down to Eugene, OR to relax and find the track that Prefontaine used to run on. Well, I got the first thing accomplished and almost found the track the Pre used to dominate. I was prob less than a mile away from it but just coulnd't make the right turns or even cross the main road for that matter....one way roads were def the root of this problem. So, seein it was gettin late (around 3pm) and I still wanted to get some good miles in I bid a farewell to my hopes of touching the track....and riding my bicycle around it. I pedaled away with some slight disapointment in myself.

The rest of the day proved to go very well with the miles rolling by and the route following the McKenzie River. This was great for me as I got to see people fishing everywhere. It was such a refreshing change of pace from the busier roads along the coast. There was a lot less traffic....prob b/c all the drivers were in the river fishing. I would have gladly joined them, but seeing I still hadn't bought any flies yet I thought such actions of casting my fly rod would result in nothing greater than nothing itself.

Near the end of the day I was still on that long stretch of road and realizing I had no real place to camp...or at least there were no official campsites. So, I checked over maps again and saw a sign for an Inn somewhere down the road. Bingo. Ends up the inn was lacking in everything except four walls. I was offered a room that didn't have running water, smelt like mold and cigarettes, and appeared to be occupied by blankets and other sheets. I politely thanked them for the offer and asked if there was anywhere else near this area. The owners both said there wasn't much for another 15 miles or so down the road and since there was an hour or so of day light left they offered to just let me pitch my tent in their backyard. I hoped on that bandwagon, hung out with their pet dog (Tyler), and then fell asleep.

(pictures above are random from the trip...I'm in library right now and the computer wont' let me view the pics before they're uploaded...so, most def out of place as far as chronological order goes....first one is from Day 1 at Canoon Beach in front of Haystack Rock...second picture is from Day 4 on a strech of river along McKenzie River...more random pictures to follow!!!!)

Day 2: Tillamook Dyke, OR --> Dallas, OR (93 miles)

...the rain stopped, or at least long enough for Joel and I to pack up our tents and start the day wtih anything-but-refreshed-legs and a 1.5 mile climb straight up a mountain that led to a lighthouse. As the peanut gallery might have guessed..it started to down-pour about right when we turned to start the climb.

It was cold too.

We pressed on...for we had little other options. Eventually, after biking for a couple hours Joel and I decided to grab a decent meal at some Mom and Pop's diner in some no-name town. It was a glorious meal to say the least... a meal of American sized proportions. A meal where no homosapien would dryly state after wiping the last crumbs from his lips that he was "still hungry." I orded up an omlet and a tall glass of O.J. Joel orded up some eggs, bacon, toast, and clam chowder...well, minus the clam chowder seein we sat down to order our food 30 minutes too early (apparently in no-name towns they only serve clam chower after 11:00 am...fyi).

And then...Joel and I parted ways. It was written in the stars that things would end like this between us...him going his way and moi...moi going in my own direction. We shed tears, talked about all the good times we shared from the past 30 hours together....it seemedl like yesterday when we first met...it really did...We were able to put such emotions behind us and start pedaling....Joel to Astoria and me to...Virginia...well, eventually. I still had a good 8 hours of sunlight left and wanted to squeeze as many miles out of those rays of sunlight as me weary legs could manage.

As Loretta informed me on the phone the otehr night...it rains a lot in Oregon....but, it wasn't until yesterday that I really took these words to heart because it freakin rained on me on and off the rest of that damn day as if it was the last day God was permitting rain to fall from clouds. I took shelter a few times beneath outstretched branches of pine, used my bright red,neon pancho as a cover and waited....only for like 2 minutes..then i got inpatient and said, "to hell with this" and just rode off down the road.

It wasn't until 8pm that I decided to pull into a cheap motel. I needed some showering and all my gear was soaked and the gas from my stove had leaked into on of my panniers....pretty cool eh? So i found the most sketchy lookin motel i could and offered to purchase a room for a night.

As I lay beneath the sheets about to fall asleep I kept thinkin to myself that I've got to keep each day in the main focus...not the big picutre....while riding earlier that day I got really discouraged (and it's only the second day!) about how far I really do need to go. Just a day at a time though and the miles will come. Patience is the key.

Patience.

Day 1: Astoria, OR --> Tillamook Dyke, OR (78 miles)

So...day one...a thing of the past.

Joel and I camped out at Fort Stevens park which is butted up right against the Pacific Ocean and nestled deep enough in the woods that you can see RVs parked everywhere you might want to rotate your head. Anyways, it was good to just have a place to camp so we could assure ourselves an early start the followin morn. It was about 10pm and a light drizzle....and, icing on the cake, mosquitos were out past there curfew as to torment us as we staked off ground for our tents.

The drizzling rain lingered over our heads all throughout the morning as we meandered down the coast, up and down gigantor mountains and so on and so on. We stopped in Cannon Beach to get the traditional picture of "dipping tire" in ocean as to repeat the same ordeal on the flip side of the continent. Well, rather than take my whole velo down to the beckoning ocean I opted to just take the front wheel....it was lighter and probably saved us about an hour or two worth of struggling in draggin the bike through the sand, etc.

Ah....that reminds me. It took forever to get used to the entire weight of the bike. I could barely get on the thing when Joel and I first left in morning and feared that the whole trip would be just that..luckily, due to all the riding....the velo has become a part of my rump, which in a sense, has become a part of my body...therefore...as we all know....our body's decide to go through a form of bikerhomeostasis...anways.

I was cold entire day....and the drizzle on and off didn't work to me cold fingers and feet's advantage....but life goes on i suppose and there were many miles yet to roll up and down, over and through.

We took breaks where we needed them...in particular at overlooks of the Pacific Ocean and before we entered a tunnel..YIKES! Def scariest part of Day 1 ride...we pressed a button that flashed pretty lookin lights to warn drivers of the presence of velo-ers. Not only was it hard for the pupils to adjust to the lighing, but the noise of the cars' engines were amplified a million-fold due to the "echo effect." There was one car in particular that had squeeky breaks...which when i first heard the break's breaking i thought Joel was plastered up against the side of the tunnel or something. So yeh...tunnels suck and Joel and I were both fine and dandy. Our jitters were sweated out through our skin by the steep and long mountain climb that followed (for those who think bikin along the Pacific coast would be easy are living in a reality that flirts with the mentality of "not really knowing what it's like to bike on the Pacific coast).

At the end of the day Joel and I stopped by the infamous Tillamook Cheese Factory, ate more than our fare share from the sample plates, bought more than our fair share of ice cream and were on our way in search of a campsite.

We found one....though it just so happened to be situated on the other side of a "NO TRESPASSING" sign. Seein the sun was about to take a slumper for a bit we decided it'd be better to trespass than be a good, tamed U.S. citizen. We slept until......it started to pour down rain at 3:30am.....

Bike put back together with full load

"Please secure all belongings for final descent on Portland..."

Here I am.
West coast. Velo just arrived about 30 seconds ago and I now feel like a little boy on Christmas morning who just got a ....cardboard box filled with a well-weathered bike, sleeping bag, cooking stove, and other random things not worth typing out....

Today I promenaded from Joel's apt to the city (about 60 min walk), bummed around town like a local yodel, and promenaded back after i went food shopping. That was prob the dumbest thing i did today...buy groceries for the trip knowing i had an hour hike back to Joel's house....aside from that...

- passed boards for nursing...so now I can fully enjoy the trip and not worry about having to study to take the test again once I get back.
- Joel and I are officially leaving for Astoria on Friday night, camping out and getting an early departure time from Astoria come Saturday morning.
- Joel is dunna ride down the Pacific Coast portion of the trail with me...so about 100 miles or so. It'll be great to have a veteran show me the ropes.
- Just chilling out for the next few days....figuring out food rations/costs for each day, go on some bike rides around Portland, and just try to soak in the relaxing moments.

Still need to buy some things (spare tires,etc)...other than that it's just a matter of time.

(I'll work on figuring out how to post some pictures on this bloggy thing.)

On that note...time to unpack bike box and reassemble me velo and sort out all the gear...

QAF (Questions Asked Frequently)

Lately, it seems, there have been many repetitive questions tossed in my direction. Mainly questions concerning my sanity and "what are you going to do if it rains?" So here it is folks. Without any further adieu, some answers to 'questions asked frequently.' (Each question will be paraphrased to maitain the questioners privacy and not to embarass them for asking such silly questions...any names given are false and are also used as means of privacy protection)....

1. "How many miles is the who thing and how long will it take you?" - VDOT sign turner
"It's about 4,426 miles and I should be done by August 5th..." - Michael

2. "What if it rains?" - Eeore
"Then I get wet." - Michael

3. "Are you going to bring a knife or a gun?" - Chuck Norris
"Eh...no. Guns scare me and the only knife-like object I'll have is the handle to my spork." - Michael (I'll have pepper spray though...just as good right?)

4. "Why are you doing this by yourself?" - The Lone Ranger
"Because no one else has expressed interest in going and the timing didn't time out right." - Michael

5. "Is there a specific route you'll be following?" - Christopher Columbus
"Yes. Adventure Cycling Association issued maps, and are the ones who started the whole thing back in 1976. Anyways, I have their lovely color maps and having scheduled getting lost into my daily routine...yet. Maps are very organized, show mileage in each grid, an elevation profile, what each town contains (library, food store, etc), places to camp and avg rainfall/temp throughout the year for that area." -Michael

6. "Where are you going to sleep?" - Hotel Clerk
"Bringing along tent and plan on settin up camp in a designated campsite or anywhere else I can manage to pitch a tent without being labeled as a trespasser." -Michael

7. "How much gear will you be taking?" -My Bike Racks
" Carrying about 20-25 lbs of gear. Will have handlebar bag and two panniers in back with ability to load gear ontop of seatpost rack. Main gear I'll be taking are various forms of clothing, cooking stove, tent/sleeping bag/sleeping pad, water/food, spare parts...and most importantly...fly-rod and some flies." -Michael

...well, ya'll get the idea.

Bike is gettin dropped off and boxed up on Tuesday, June 12th and mailed off via UPS the next day.

That's all I got for now.

Lettin the Picture do the talking...

So yeh...check out visual aid below for a aid in visualization of route...

Aeroplane will be jumping off the landing strip in Dulles Aero-port come 3:30 pm, June 19th (Tuesday, for folks who don't have the month of June memorized quite yet.)

Revisions of trip have been taking place, day in and day out, day out and day in...I've managed to map out the miles as to land me in the Atlantaic Ocean on August 5th (Sunday, for folks who dont' have....yeh). Start date may be anywhere from the 21st - 23rd...all depends whether or not Joel Koberstein can ride the first two days with me. If so then we'll start on Fri or Sat...if not then I'll just start on the original date of June 21.