Well here is my blog. I apologize for not having one of these up earlier. It is the first time I have ever done one and it has been one of those things that was kind of side tracked. The past week and a bit have been terrific! It has been rough at times climbing the cascade mountain range but at the end of the day the feeling of accomplishment was well worth the hard work out! Its amazing some of the people that have been doing this trip. A lot of retired avid cyclists and they’re quite good for their age! Just amazing.
I really wish I got this up a bit earlier. So many sights. So many stories that should be told. Although at the same time there has been a lot exhaustion and sleeping.
I can recap last week for a start. I flew into Seattle via Air Canada and in their abundant wisdom they sent my bike first to San Fransisco… So… I bit my nails all nervous wanting to start a bike tour without a bike…. It seems to be the most important thing to have on a bike tour… After much talking to customer service desk at Air Canada I got them to rush my bike along with the other 8 bikes they lost. It was a little nerve racking but it did add some excitement. Finally Sunday night at 8:30pm my bike showed up via courier.
The next day we rode with our “safety groups” which ranged in ages and abilities… so.. in other words we drove slow. Really slowly. We had our first taste that night of camping at a school soccer field. It was neat.
On day two we did the biggest day so far. We climbed to an elevation of 4200 feet… which is past the tree line and into the snow. It was a great climb. It really scared a lot of people and there were some that wanted to drop out but no one did. Some people were injured and a lot of people got rides with the van to the top of the pass.
Day three to the day seven were pretty easy days and have been blurred into one another. The excitement has been falling off and the people have been all settling down into their groups and we’re all getting used to living out of hockey bags. I have been working on mixing up with different groups and helping out as much as I can. Some days I am struggling as a young fit guy so I cant imagine how some of the other older people feel, or some of the people with injuries. I hope my helping takes some of the burden off. I truly believe the heros of this community are the ones that have the hardest time. Terry Fox is a hero because of the pain he put in… for the blood and effort. The heros are not the hot shots who have races to the finish lines. The heros are the ones that give 110% of all they have. Kinda like in the bible I suppose. The poor widow gives $5 when the rich man gives $50 but the $5 from the poor woman means she cant eat while the wealthy man has so so much left over… anyways… that’s a bit much on this subject.
Anyways, here we are. Well into week two. It’s been a great time! This morning we left Baker City Oregon, where we camped at the high school. Last night we found a nice river with a rope swing that dropped you into waste deep water into a river. It was great. From there I hitchhiked with my laundry basket to the laundromat. After the laundry and swim we were invited to join a volley ball drill session with the Baker girls high school team. Its amazing after your full time job becomes cycling how good shape you get into and how it affects the other sports you like to play. I found it so much more fun because of the body conditioning we’ve been doing. We have been taking over these small towns and people are very receptive and offer all sorts of stuff and give out lots of tips on what is fun in the area.
Right now we are staying in a little town… town of 900 or so people. Mostly back country ranchers, railroad workers or department of transport employees. Great people! There was even a sign on the way into town to welcome us. They have a general store, a post office and a pub/restaurant. The restaurant also doubles as the bait and tackle shop, beauty shop and liquor store! Hehe… one stop shopping for the average red neck housewife… all they need to do is sell ammo! The people are have been very good considering all the spandex people have been wearing!
I should get going. I must clean up some stuff and get ready for dinner. I seem to stay busy the entire day.
I really wish I got this up a bit earlier. So many sights. So many stories that should be told. Although at the same time there has been a lot exhaustion and sleeping.
I can recap last week for a start. I flew into Seattle via Air Canada and in their abundant wisdom they sent my bike first to San Fransisco… So… I bit my nails all nervous wanting to start a bike tour without a bike…. It seems to be the most important thing to have on a bike tour… After much talking to customer service desk at Air Canada I got them to rush my bike along with the other 8 bikes they lost. It was a little nerve racking but it did add some excitement. Finally Sunday night at 8:30pm my bike showed up via courier.
The next day we rode with our “safety groups” which ranged in ages and abilities… so.. in other words we drove slow. Really slowly. We had our first taste that night of camping at a school soccer field. It was neat.
On day two we did the biggest day so far. We climbed to an elevation of 4200 feet… which is past the tree line and into the snow. It was a great climb. It really scared a lot of people and there were some that wanted to drop out but no one did. Some people were injured and a lot of people got rides with the van to the top of the pass.
Day three to the day seven were pretty easy days and have been blurred into one another. The excitement has been falling off and the people have been all settling down into their groups and we’re all getting used to living out of hockey bags. I have been working on mixing up with different groups and helping out as much as I can. Some days I am struggling as a young fit guy so I cant imagine how some of the other older people feel, or some of the people with injuries. I hope my helping takes some of the burden off. I truly believe the heros of this community are the ones that have the hardest time. Terry Fox is a hero because of the pain he put in… for the blood and effort. The heros are not the hot shots who have races to the finish lines. The heros are the ones that give 110% of all they have. Kinda like in the bible I suppose. The poor widow gives $5 when the rich man gives $50 but the $5 from the poor woman means she cant eat while the wealthy man has so so much left over… anyways… that’s a bit much on this subject.
Anyways, here we are. Well into week two. It’s been a great time! This morning we left Baker City Oregon, where we camped at the high school. Last night we found a nice river with a rope swing that dropped you into waste deep water into a river. It was great. From there I hitchhiked with my laundry basket to the laundromat. After the laundry and swim we were invited to join a volley ball drill session with the Baker girls high school team. Its amazing after your full time job becomes cycling how good shape you get into and how it affects the other sports you like to play. I found it so much more fun because of the body conditioning we’ve been doing. We have been taking over these small towns and people are very receptive and offer all sorts of stuff and give out lots of tips on what is fun in the area.
Right now we are staying in a little town… town of 900 or so people. Mostly back country ranchers, railroad workers or department of transport employees. Great people! There was even a sign on the way into town to welcome us. They have a general store, a post office and a pub/restaurant. The restaurant also doubles as the bait and tackle shop, beauty shop and liquor store! Hehe… one stop shopping for the average red neck housewife… all they need to do is sell ammo! The people are have been very good considering all the spandex people have been wearing!
I should get going. I must clean up some stuff and get ready for dinner. I seem to stay busy the entire day.
3 comments:
Really enjoyed the first blog entry but can't seem to find a second?????
Carolyn
Hey Brian,
Good to finaly see you on here.... Sounds like you are having the time of your life. Hope that all goes well and we are praying for you and the whole group on a daily basis. Good luck and talk soon.
Paul
hah! we met you guys this morning at starbucks in woodstock, illinois. keep up the good work and dont get mugged in chicago! lol just kidding!
facebook us!
Teresa and Megan Leahey
p.s. please dont be crazy stalkers, hahh :)
peace thuggssssss
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