Seattle to Oregon

June 3, 2009

A challenging but rewarding day indeed! Today’s ride was the third-longest I have ever done, and I was carrying around 35 pounds of gear! Add to that the fact that it was still above 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the late afternoon and you can imagine the inherent challenges.

Pods today changed only somewhat. Instead of Pod Lickity Split, we renamed ourselves PodEBAG (“pottybag”), which stands for Eva, Brad, Anna, and Graham. The pace was not nearly as rigorous, but the hills were long, steep, and unforgiving. These were also some great downhills thrown in there, but the uphills are more notable. Just as we crested the top of the “big hill,” we saw the next one, equally large and imposing, just a few miles ahead. I didn’t notice it at the time, but the bike lane disappeared just as the hill got really steep. Perhaps it’s a sign that most people don’t consider that particular hill bikeable, but Sars and I made it up without walking on that hill or any other today. The advantage of making it up first was notable: I got to take pictures of the rest of my pod struggle up, whether riding or walking. I snapped a great picture of Graham coming up the second hill with his tongue sticking out that shows the steepness of the hill fairly well.

I noticed at one point that my face was covered in salt from sweating, which is not good. But “mommy” (Anna) came to our collective rescue with electrolyte tablets to dissolve in our water. The results were instantaneous--we all felt much better. What a great pod! I hope we all ride together again soon.

We arrived in Seattle to our site around 7:00 PM, the last pod rolling in around 9:00. A lot of people were in the van today for various ailments, and Sarah had to be picked up, as she couldn’t make it all the way. Jessica and Adam went home to Vancouver for their college graduation (apparently Adam made a speech!), and Taryn has mono! It was Bugsy’s birthday, so she and Carly were on sweep crew, but they also had to be picked up. Those hills were certainly no walk in the park, especially with all the gear in the hot sun. I’m just glad I sent a bunch of unneeded clothes home to lighten up my load significantly. Tomorrow we have a micro-credit presentation to attend in the morning, and I plan to see Laura Rayburn and possibly Mary Nietfeld as well.

June 4, 2009

Great to have a day off finally after four days of riding. It seems to be a good ratio, for me at least. The presentation about micro-credit by Unitus was quite good. Eliza presented in a way that was convincing, yet humble, bold yet realistic. Though there was a powerpoint presentation involved, the presentation was very informed, and many riders asked lots of relevant and important questions.

We dispersed after that, heading in our own separate ways to do a wee bit of sightseeing. I actually took the opportunity to reconnect with Laura as well as Mary and Park. Rather unfortunately, Lena was not in town, but at least I got to see her family. Laura actually treated me to sushi, which was unnecessary but greatly appreciated. It was a rather nice restaurant, and I felt slightly underdressed in my “I’m an Agent” team t-shirt. We didn’t linger very long at dinner, but it was good to see her nonetheless. Mary made me lunch earlier that day in the cottage behind the house. We later headed downtown to pick up Park and head to the sculpture garden. Ironically, we ran into several green-shirted people around the city in just an hour or two.

Big day tomorrow--109 km! Better get off to bed!

June 5, 2009

It’s good to be back on the bike after our day off in Seattle. On the morning of our day off, we went to a presentation by Unitus, a non-profit organization based in Seattle. The presenter, Eliza, though relatively new to Unitus, was very knowledgeable and helpful in answering our questions about micro-credit and its positive and negative consequences in various communities. At noon, we were let loose to explore the city!

Perhaps the highlight of the ride today was the ferry ride from downtown Seattle to Bremerton. I frankly didn’t even know we were taking the ferry until the day before, and would need to consult a map to see exactly why it was necessary, but it was fun nonetheless. The hour ferry ride flew by, and was highlighted by eating a second breakfast, cleaning up after a coffee spill on Eva’s foot, and holding up an entire ferry of cars waiting to leave the boat because we weren’t quite ready to roll.

The ride itself was rigorous--about 109 kilometers, with heavy traffic and high winds. Certainly not our most scenic route thus far, the main treasures included lots of evergreen trees, a few lakes, and a brief view of mountains in the distance. In particular, the traffic was extremely distracting to me. It was relentless and incredibly fast. We were on one major road for thirty miles, and more semi-trucks passed us than I care to recall, not to mention the other motorized vehicles.

I must say that I was very proud of the way in which my pod worked as a team given the obstacles, particularly after lunch. What may have been unbearable alone was quite gratifying in a group. We all took turns leading, using a special predetermined hand signals--as well as some impromptu ones--to point out obstacles in the path. Although we occasionally got separated, we often stayed close together, sometimes drafting one another, a tell-tale sign of courage and trust.

As hard a day as it was, one of our longest of the summer, the challenges we faced have made me extremely thankful for the great team that we have--one in which each member is indispensable and in which each member must rely on others for safety and well-being. There are no individuals--it is not a race to Mexico. Let’s face it: as fun as it sounds (and is!) to bike from Vancouver, Canada to the Mexican border, I would hate to do it alone. Thanks so much, guys!

I think we’ll all sleep well tonight. In addition to a long day of cycling, we all have beds for the first time thus far, and hopefully not the last. A quick note that Taryn has mono, and has left the tour temporarily. Her father came to pick her up in Seattle with her bike. She hopes to be able to join us later this summer. We all miss you, Taryn, and hope you feel better very soon!

June 6, 2009

In comparison, an easy day today. After a long chat in the morning with some of the members of Set Free Christian Fellowship in Elma, WA, and a carb-filled breakfast, we headed out for Bay Center, WA. Everyone was incredibly nice, and multiple people went out of their way in the morning to tell me that they prayed for us. My original pod consisted of me, Eva, and Adam, but we quickly left Adam behind and forged ahead.

Compared to yesterday, the weather was much nicer (cool and cloudy), the traffic less intense, and the shoulder wider. I also feel as though it was more scenic, but perhaps I just had more chances to take my eyes off the road. It was sad to see that thousands of acres of trees were blown over by a storm. There were fields upon fields of nothing but stumps directly adjacent to full-grown forests. It was a neat moment: the traffic died down enough and I opened my ears enough to hear a bird singing beautifully. It’s easy to drown out the sounds of the earth with all the man-made sounds, but I feel it’s important to listen to the birds, the frogs, and the water whenever possible and to be still.

The first pod has a history of this year of not stopping often, and not for long. Eva, quite impressively, is able to eat without even stopping to get the granola bar out of her camelbak. Whereas I don’t think we stopped even once before lunch, however, Eva wanted to stop for an espresso at one point, in Raymond, WA. By the time we were done, two other pods had passed us and the “cripples” were just pulling up o the same espresso stand. We teamed up with the other pod when we caught up with them, and Angela had the brilliant idea of going bowling. It starting as a joke, but it actually came to pass. We got a steal of a deal--7 people bowling one game each in an hour’s time, including shoes, for $10 TOTAL. Apparently, the girl working got scolded for giving us a discount, but we didn’t complain. It was even cosmic bowling because of a birthday party that was happening concurrently.

From there, the seven of us trekked to the United Methodist Church in Bay Center without complication, except for the fact that Bugsy, who was driving the van, had no idea where we were and came out to try and find us. We did try to call her, but had no reception. At dinner, there was way too much food: tacos, cake, and ice cream to feed a small army. We didn’t finish all of it, but were able to take most of the food for later consumption. I’m sweep tomorrow with Eva--should be sweet!

June 8, 2009

Yesterday I finally set foot in Oregon for the first time! The bridge over the Columbia River was not incredibly fun to bike over alone, but nonetheless Oregon seems quite nice. Cody had to stop because of his knee, and since I was sweep, I stayed with him until the van picked him up, and then continued by myself to lunch in Astoria. On the way, I encountered my first bit of rain so far on the tour, though nothing too bad. It wasn’t enough for me to get out my rain jacket. I must say that it was sort of annoying to have to wait for everyone to have their fun without leaving them behind. After lunch, several people decided they wanted to go to the farmer’s market on the other side of town. So I was obligated to go as well. I don’t think anyone bought anything, but I guess they enjoyed looking around. I seized the opportunity to watch the bike with all the stuff and call my parents to let them know I’m still alive. Eva relieved me of my duties at one point and watched the bikes while I searched for a costume for us (required for sweeping). At a toy store, I found lots of things that would have been funny, but ended up getting two pirate eye patches--one for me, and one for Eva. I chose not to wear it until we arrived in Seaside. Probably the right decision.

After a spaghetti dinner that we prepared, we all headed down to the glorious beach to play frisbee and to see the sunset. I didn’t bring my camera, but were one to capture the beauty of the day, no more pictures would ever need to be taken. It’s in moments like these that I think about an anonymous quote that has been on my wall for some time: “Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.” The beach in Seaside has appeared on many postcards, and justifiably so.

June 10, 2009

It was a long day from Seaside to Cape Lookout State Park yesterday. Despite the fact that Anna, Graham, and I went to Radio Shack, stopped for coffee, and didn’t knowingly pass anyone, we were the first ones to arrive at lunch. For the first time, I felt a bit of strain (admittedly self-induced) on my left knee. In a stroke of brilliance, I decided to follow Graham at 20+ mph for several miles in order to catch Anna and Eva. I could feel my knee starting to feel funny, but pressed on nonetheless. Naturally, right as we caught up to them and overtook them, we ended up missing the turn because we were so focused on catching them. Our destination and motivation was a great dairy land, known for cheese and ice cream particularly. The ice cream was quite good, and I picked up a few great-looking postcards as well.

Our first night of camping was quite good on the whole. Figuring out logistics took longer than expected, but our aptitude should improve with time. At night, I sat down with Bugsy by the fire, only to realize that I had essentially volunteered to keep it going while she started a second fire to increase cooking speed. I did better than I thought I would, not to say that the fire didn’t ever come close to becoming extinguished. It was fun--I hadn’t been camping in quite some years now.

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Certainly our most gruelling yet rewarding day yet, I heard that it was about 115 km from Cape Lookout to Newport. The pod changed somewhat: we got Patrick in place of Graham, mainly because he was ready sooner. The hills were large and frequent. In fact, right our of the gate we climbed a three-mile hill. Great way to start off the day, eh? The downhill following was of epic proportions. So epic, in fact, that I got a flat midway down it. Fortunately, since I had not before changed a tube on Stella, I was able to fix it with the tools I was given in about 20 minutes. My pod was stuck waiting at the bottom of the hill, since they didn’t want to come back up to see how it was going (they didn’t know what was wrong, but Anna knew that I had stopped). I felt badly for making them wait so long, but was glad that I did it without any help.

I was careful from that point on, until I was able to inflate the tires the rest of the way at the bike shop in Newport. The tried to give me a tube for free to replace the one that went flat, but I left the money for it under the tube I gave them to recycle. After about half and hour, we hit the road again to go to the barbecue by the campsite hosted by the bike shop. My body would have been content being done for the day, but luckily the six miles were primarily flat and downhill. Our bike shop hosts are phenomenal--they prepared a fantastic burrito meal on the spur of the moment, not realizing until this morning that we were coming today.

This morning we managed to get an interview on the local radio station on short notice for a ten-minute feature. Graham, Bugsy, Rachel, and Carly were interviewed while the rest of us listened in from the dock. Parts of it seemed a bit dry, and others were funny. For better or for worse, I feel as though each person erred on the side of honesty. For instance, Graham admitted he didn’t know where we were headed tomorrow rather than consulting the others who knew, and Rachel admitted that she had hitchhiked once or twice so far. I believe that the broadcast is available at kcup.net.

Apparently the local newspaper is also coming this morning to take our picture, but I’m not sure exactly when. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into town later and buy some postcards!

June 11, 2009

An incredible day today! Not too much riding (only around 52 miles), but remarkably beautiful. The hills were not huge, yet they seemed super-high when at the cliff over the ocean at the top. I had fun taking pictures today, particularly after lunch. Some were just of scenery, but I’m most proud of my action shots of my pod riding, consisting today of Ben, Adam, and Patrick. I would bike ahead--usually uphill--to get the perfect shot, dismount, and wait until they would come around the corner. I got good shots of Adam especially, since he was usually behind me. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind just biking back and forth continually between Newport and Florence for 1800 miles. I don’t think it would even get old. But I have heard that the section between Coos Bay and Brookings, OR is absolutely gorgeous. We’ll soon see!

At lunch, for the first time in my life, I saw live whales (excluding Sea World). All that was visible was the spout, but it was exciting nonetheless to see the back emerge a tiny bit and to see the bit of water spray upwards. I tried to get other people to see it, and some did, but if you don’t know what to look for, it may have blended in with the rest of the ocean and the waves. I also particularly enjoyed watching the waves, though small, crash upon the rocks and make huge splashes.

The church in Florence fed us a meal to die for of hamburgers, chicken, potato salad, fruit, veggies, rolls, and ice cream. I am continually amazed at how much I can eat, but am thankful for such a wonderful meal. And we didn’t even have to cook it! We were scheduled to do a presentation on micro-credit, but since the group stayed here last year, the people helping had already heard the spiel, and nobody new came, so we decided to save it for next time. Another beautiful ride in store for tomorrow, heading to Coos Bay!!