Day 27 - Greenville to Eufaula

You know it isn't a good sign when you get woken up not by your alarm clock but by the rain battering on your door and window. Day 4 of riding in the rain. My poor bike shoes are beginning to protest as they are beginning to smell like a wet labrador these days.

To be absolutely correct, I didn't get rained on today. A monster storm passed through during breakfast and stopped just as we got going. It did mean that my shoes and bum got soaked pretty quickly too. Mental note to throw away my old shorts soon as they are getting a bit transparent, especially in the rain these days.

My little group also managed to miss the rain on the run in to lunch. I did a little rain dance to deflect its force for a while so we only have to deal with more wet shoes and bums instead of a total soaking. This was payback for yesterday when I went through a very isolated storm and almost everyone else stayed dry.

On the run in to the last aid station today, the clouds started to look a lot more ominous and I could see the lightning. I told Jeanine that if she wanted to get in while it was dry we'd need to hustle. Hustle we did. For the last 17 miles, it was full on time trial mode. We hit 35mph several times and then rolled into the hotel parking lot with about 5 minutes to spare before the heavens opened..

We only have 3 days left. I can practically spit on Georgia (if I so wished) as Eufaula is practically on the state line. Some people have started to eat a bit less as they want to be ready to return to 'real life' portions. I'm happy to keep up my sea food diet. You know the old joke right?

Today's ride was pretty lumpy. Lots of rollers on country roads. Chip seal roads suck but smooth tarmac rocks. Alabama has definitely had some of the best road surfaces on this trip. Thank you.

Tomorrow we cross into our last state Georgia. I need to remember to take pictures of both the Alabama and Georgia signs as we missed the AL one at the other end. We also finally hit Eastern timezone tomorrow. I had a look at the map when I finished tonight. I know we have only been biting off a small piece each day but it looks pretty damn impressive now. Almost done.

OK, my roomie is almost done with the shower. Time to get cleaned up and laundered before I eat like a horse again.

Pictures are here

Day 26 - Livingston to Greenville

It rained for the third day in a row today. This time it came as a welcome break. We managed to avoid it for the first 95 miles and then 3 or 4 miles before the next rest stop, it got really dark, really windy and then really wet. Apart from getting wet socks and shoes (again) it felt really good to cool off as it had been really humid. The only sucky thing was that it meant I would have to clean my bike again tonight. Oh well.

This morning started out nice and mellow. Jeanine has relatives that lived in Livingston and work in a pastry shop. As soon as she told me this, I was up for an impromptu stop. It surprised me that no one else wanted to come with us. That was their loss. So we stopped at the pastry shop and looking at the size of the pastries, decided to split a cinnamon roll. This thing was the size of a baby and it was only a dollar. Good times. The only bad thing about it was that we spent most of the day chasing to catch up to everyone else. It was definitely worth it though.

Apart from the food excitement... burritos for lunch, it was a pretty quiet day. Hot and humid but probably still better than Portland. Dinner is delayed tonight as another storm rolled in and it got really dark just before the heavens opened. I have no desire to get drowned on my way to dinner.

So instead of talking about the rest of the ride, here's a list of the small pleasures that make us happy on our trip. Older hotels (or motels) are better than newer ones. Most motels have the rooms facing right onto the parking lot. This is great for when you wash your bike clothes in the shower or sink as you can leave them outside to dry. Well, maybe not tonight as it's pissing down.

Warm food for lunch on a wet day is fantastic. I almost cried two days ago in Mississippi when I got to lunch (dirty and drenched) and we were getting Mac and cheese.

On a hot day, which seems like every day, a cold beer at the end of the ride is perfection. Who needs recovery drinks when you can have a cold beer instead?

I've also given up using Heed or Clif bars or Power gels at the rest stops. I'm fueling my cross country trip with Salt n Vinegar Pringles and shortbread. Don't knock it until you've tried it. Just the right mix of salt, sugar and butter. Yum.

Ok, enough for now. I'm going to risk the thunderstrom and go for dinner.

Pictures are here

Day 25 - Kosciusko to Livingston, AL

Another day of rain in the morning. Another new state, Alabama, and one more flat tire. That makes 4 now.

You could tell we were moving away from the Mississippi river as the roads today were constantly rolling as opposed to the flatness of the last two days.

The last couple of days have been pretty similar. With the rain, I've been trying to rush through the day to get to the hotel. At the same time, I don't want this trip to end. Obviously I can't quite reconcile the two things.

Despite having to get up early in the morning, ride in the rain or heat or humidity, I am getting sadder about the tour winding down. We have built a good camaraderie between the riders and the crew. There are only 20 riders and 10 support crew. We eat breakfast together, ride parts of the day with each other and then eat dinner together. Over the last 25 days I've had the chance to ride (or drink beer or eat dinner) with everyone. It's been great to hear all the different life stories, the different reasons for doing this tour and to get to know everyone. I think I have made some good friends that will be in my life for a long time.

It's going to be tough to roll back into 'normal' life again. The current norm says it's normal to eat your oatmeal in a hotel parking lot just after sunrise. It's also normal to wash your bike clothes in the shower at the same time as you clean yourself. Going to bed at 9pm is normal. I never thought I'd see myself doing that. It's normal to ride 100 miles and not sure where you are or where you are going. It's also normal to drink a beer as soon as you get off your bike for the day.

Pictures are here

Forecast is for more rain tomorrow. Can I swap some of Portland's 100+ degree weather for some of the South's rain please?

Day 24 - Clarksdale to Kosciusko

In my ignorance, when I saw today's finish town, I thought we were travelling to Poland. I didn't realize that this town (formerly called Red Bud Springs) was renamed for the Polish General who assisted the military efforts of the colonies during the Revolutionary war.

The town is also on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Oh and Oprah Winfrey was born here too.

OK, history and pop culture references over.

To say it rained today would be a slight understatement. If I had swum across the Tallahatchee river, I would probably have been drier than I was cycling. I could go on for hours about how wet it was but a few examples will probably suffice. At one point I was riding up a hill while a river of water was flowing towards me. I felt like a salmon swimming up stream to spawn. When Lori finished today, she cleaned the mud off of the bottom of her bike and cleared the drain hole in her frame. Water drained out of her frame for a couple of minutes.

The day started off not too bad. As the weather channel (my new favourite channel) predicted temperature in the mid 70's, I didn't take a raincoat with me. Big mistake. We rolled out of town on a quiet road. After about 10 miles, we had to get onto Hwy 49. This turned out to be a serious chicken run. The 'bike lane' was about 9 inches wide and to add insult to injury, there was a rumble strip right through it so we had to ride on the main part of the road. Looking up the road and you'd see the other cyclists disappear in the spray as a car or truck passed by. Fortunately we were only on this road for about 12 miles and then we got back to quieter, safer roads.

We also got to see the two sides of Mississippi today. Our lunch stop was in the town of Greenwood. You could easily tell which side of the tracks was the wrong side. Lunch was in amongst the mansions with the lovely manicured lawns. On the other side of town, we saw the wood shacks that a lot of the African American families have to live in. Definitely a land of the "haves" and "have nots".

I don't want to jinx myself but it seems like I was pretty lucky today. At dinner, everyone had their flat tire horror stories. Most people got one, my roommate Greg got 3 and poor Jonathon got 7. Yuck.

Most drivers have been pretty nice to us recently. This morning I was riding along on this quiet road while the rain was bouncing off of me and the road. A car drew up next to me and the passenger window rolled down. I was expecting to get some abuse but 2 young African American girls just wanted to know what I was doing, where I was going and why I was riding in the heavy rain.

We had a couple more injuries today. My roomie Greg can hardly walk. When his feet got wet they started to hurt him. It now looks like he's walking round barefoot on broken glass. Melissa crashed in the rain too. She landed badly on her hip and went to hospital. The x-rays proved inconclusive but she can't walk, has crutches and is on the Disabled List now. That's 3 hip injuries now. Hopefully we are done with them as it hurts to see good friends not be able to ride any more.

With all the rain today, it seemed like tonight was the night to bring out the Highland Park malt whisky. As each of the riders came in, I started handing out shots of Scotch. Mark, thank you for the bottle. Everyone in Pac Tour thanks you too.

Pictures are here

Day 23 - Pine Bluff to Clarksdale, MS

One of my favourite films is the Blues Brothers. There is a scene where they say something like we are 24 hours form Chicago, it's dark and we are wearing sunglasses. Today, we had breakfast at 6am just after the sun came up. We were on the road at 6:30 and I worked it out that I had 135 miles between me and the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS. So, I decided today I would be on a mission to get there in time to go tot the museum.

Normally my roomie Greg and I are the last to leave in the morning. I'm not sure how we manage it but, by the time we pack our bags everyone has left. Not today. I started off fast(ish) with Jeanine today. We got the hell out of Pine Bluff, crossed the Arkansas river (which is a lot bigger than I thought) and then headed off into eastern Arkansas. Passing one of the many soy bean fields, or maybe it was a corn field and Jeanine got a flat tire. By the time we got it fixed, it seemed like the whole world rode passed us by. This pissed me off so I decided it was time to get into time trial mode. Riding at 27mph for about 1/2 an hour and we'd caught up to everybody again.

After this, we started riding in 10 man paceline which was pretty exciting. The highlight of this was we we got to watch a crop duster and then saw him buzz us. Thanks to young Greg for the video

By the afternoon, our paceline had whittled down to just 5 of us. Young Greg, Jeanine, Lori, myself and Steve (the part time guy). We tacked the only hill of the day which turned out to be the bridge across the Mississippi. Everyone told me that it was narrow and dangerous. Obviously none of these people have ever ridden across the Long view bridge on Seattle to Portland weekend...

The last 30 odd miles into Clarksdale were like the rest of the ride. Flat, hot and humid. Fortunately we'd gone fast enough for me to get to the Blues Museum. After a quick shower, it was out the door to get my fill of the blues. Pretty cool museum if you happen to be in the Delta.

I went for a short bike ride round town afterwards. Like most of our hotels, it's at the edge of town so it felt like a luxury to wander round town. After shooting a few pics, I looked up at the sky and saw that it was turning black. One last quick time trial back towards the hotel, with a quick pit stop to buy beer and I manage to get back home before the rain dumped.

Photos are here.

Tomorrow we are off to Oprah Winfrey's home town. It's also a long day (140 miles) and unfortunately rain is expected too. Oh well.

Life is good. I'm not looking forward to coming back to reality.

Day 22 - Arkadelphia to Pine Bluff

We got our first flecks of rain today. It actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it kept the temperature down. The rain reminded me of the weather when I lived in Tallahassee. More like a hot shower than the Oregon / Scotland rain which is always cold. I have a picture of me standing in the warm rain.

We passed a lot of churches today. Actually, it seemed like second building that wasn't a house was a baptist church. I was wondering about the size of their congregations as it doesn't seem like there are enough people to support them all. I guess it must work out. We also passed a lot of houses that looked run down or derelict but, I'm sad to say they weren't. Living in Portland, I'm obviously living in an ivory tower as to how some other people have to live in this country.

We did do one good deed today. We spotted a turtle half way across the road this afternoon. Instead of letting him go the way of most of the animals we've seen on the tour, Jeanine picked him up and put him on the side of the road in the direction he was facing. Hopefully he got to where he wanted to go.

Today we had another slight accident today. We were all goofing off sprinting for city limits signs when older Greg had a bit of a spill. The end result was some road rash on his hip, leg and arm and a bruised ego. He did win the bad ass award fro the day by riding covered in blood. Get well soon Greg.

The other exciting activity today was when we were riding towards lunchtime. Lori and Jeanine were leading the group and they spied Russell up ahead. They took off at a great rate of knots and I managed to get on their wheel. I felt a bit like Ben Hur on a chariot with my two trusty steeds. As they caught and passed Russell, they mooned him. I'm still snow blind from the whole escapade.

Currently there is a big storm outside. I just looked at the weather channel and there are tornado warnings for the area we just rode through. Fortunately it wasn't that bad for us at the time. Here's hoping tomorrow isn't too bad.

PS. I forgot to say, we had to deal with a ton of athletic dogs today. None of them were vicious but they took great delight in running alongside us for a maybe 100 yards at a time to get their morning exercise. This happened about 15 times today. I guess they don't see many cyclists round here?

Day 21 - Queen Wilhelmina Lodge to Arkadelphia

Arkadelphia, city of brotherly arks? Actually it stands for the arc of brotherly love... apparently.

I pressed the reset button again this morning. Instead of riding with the fast Hofstra's I decided to take it a bit easier today. Cue many photo stops and even a stop for ice cream and soda in between our usual sag stops.

Looking at the weather channel this morning, it predicted weather in the mid 90's with 98% humidity. Lovely. At least the weather man didn't disappoint us. It was really humid. 15 seconds after leaving the lodge, I was soaked through.

Mid morning and my wee band of slackers (young Greg, Lori and Tom who wasn't feeling well) passed by somebody's house who had a big inflatable type pool. We weer all tempted to jump in.

Most of today was spent lallygagging and taking pictures of random stuff. The Looney family reunion, Our Way street sign, vintage cars and bird houses. On the road into lunch, I rode on my own for a while and listening to some music. Playing the blues seemed the most appropriate for the South. John Lee Hooker and R.L. Burnside weer cued up. I know songs about Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia but, if anyone knows any about Arkansas, please let me know.

After lunch we got off of State Hwy 8 and get onto to some really quiet country roads. We rolled along some tree lined (and shaded) roads before descending down towards Arkadelphia. Just before the final turn off towards town, we crossed over the DeGray Lake / dam. That was when I realised that I'd actually been here earlier on this year already. When I ran the Little Rock marathon in March, I drove out to Hot Springs, AR afterwards and did some touring before picking up I-30 just outside Arkadelphia. Little did I know I'd be back a few months later.

Upon arriving at the hotel, I found that I had a care package. The vultures usually start to swoop in at this point as it usually means food. Fortunately most people were inside because of the heat and humidity. Saying that, I still had to share. Ann, thank you for the dessert bars, brownies and chocolate. I will share everything except the white chocolate.

As it was a short day today (101 miles), I had the opportunity to burn my forehead and back by sitting in the pool. Deep joy.

Tonight we had the option of Waffle House or Fat Boys BBQ for dinner. I chose the ribs. Greg couldn't decide so he went for 2 dinners. He's excited that Waffle House is open all night so I expect to hear him sneak out during the night.

Tomorrow is the last of our short days (90 miles). We're off to Pine Bluff which is famous for being rated the 'most dangerous metro area in the US' as well as being the 'worst place to live' and one of the US Army's major sites for demolition of chemical weapons. After Queen Wilhelmina Lodge.. oh how the mighty have fallen.

Pictures are here.

Day 20 - McAlester to Queen Wilhelmina lodge (AR)

While yesterday was the worst meal of the trip. Today was the best hotel. We are staying in the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge on the Talimena Parkway just across the border into Arkansas. We feel like we are in a ski resort in Aspen. Definitely a step up from the usual budget motels along the road.

I forgot to add yesterday that the tour leader bought some scales last night and we all did a big weigh in. I've managed to lose 9 pounds in 3 weeks. Not bad eh?

I think today is my new favourite riding day. Lots of rollers, beautiful scenery and several things to sidetrack us. We even got to practice our cyclocross. The signs said that the road was closed but we decided to keep going.. until we hit the construction zone and had to try and ride / walk across the dirt and dust. The pictures look pretty cool.

We also found an animal on the road that wasn't actually dead. I got to see my first live tarantula... from a safe distance.

I also found an inflatable rubber seat. The kind that you sit on in a pool. I tried to mount it on my saddle but it wouldn't stay on. Anything for a joke eh?

The cycling today was fabulous. The Talimena Parkway is possibly one of the best places to ride a bike in the US. It's a lot like the Blue Ridge Parkway but with no cars. Plenty of steep climbs, super fast descents and breathtaking views. None of the climbs are long but they are brutal. You'd go from 5mph to 50mph back to 5mph all in the space of a couple of minutes. My shoulders are sorer than my legs from all the standing / brute force climbing I had to do.

not sure whether it's because the days are slightly shorter, or that I'm riding a bit slower but, tour life is definitely easier these days.. apart from getting out of bed. We have 2 more 'easy' days of about 100 miles each before back to back 135 mile days in Mississippi. I should savour the moment eh?

One of original guys on our tour (Brian Stockbridge) was riding for charity. Http://www.nevus.org. He lost his son to a rare cancer several years ago. Brian unfortunately had to go back home half way into our trip. The charity organizer came out to meet us at dinnertime. We decided that it would only be fitting that we would help Brian and his charity out by carrying on his mantle. If anyone would like donate, please check out their website. Thank you.

Time to go outside to check out the fantastic views from the lodge.

Day 19 - Purcell to McAlester

It seems like the longer his tour goes on, the harder it is to get out bed. I've asked around and everyone is feeling the same. It's not that I don't want to ride, it's just that I like my bed. Once I'm out of bed and have some coffee in my blood, everything is great.

Talking about great. Today was one of the best riding days so far. Smooth road surface, rolling countryside, friendly car drivers, (relatively) moderate temperatures and riding with good friends. I spent most of today smiling as I rode along. For a while, I was riding on my own and got to listen to some music on my ipod. Very surreal listening to Belle and Sebastian while riding across the southern edge of Oklahoma.

It feels like we are already in the South now. There are a lot more "Jesus Saves" type billboards. The road kill has changed from deer to armadillo. The cicadas were chirping all day. At times, I felt like I must be in the jungle. Even when we rode by hay bales, I half expected to see parrots instead of cows because of all the chirping.

We finished up our 112 mile too early to go to the hotel so it was time for some a/c and a shake at McDonalds. Luckily I spied a Conway tractor with a 53 foot trailer. Unfortunately I missed the perfect photo opportunity by not having my Conway jersey on. Next time...

I have to admit that I'm not too impressed with McAlester. The downtown part looked pretty cool but the rest of the town isn't that great. I just looked on wikipedia and the town is famous for the army ammunition plant and the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Hmmm. I also had my worst meal of the trip here. Oh well, no need to dwell on the bad stuff.

The people here are really friendly. When I was paying for my crappiest meal of the trip, the man behind me asked if I was part of the bike tour passing through. When I said yes, he shook my hand and asked lots of questions. I even got called 'sir' for the first time since I lived in Tallahassee.

Photos are here

We have been banned from buying more beer for the beer cooler in the van. Not because we're not allowed any beer. It's actually because there is too much. The cooler won't close now. The Bank of Beer is no longer accepting any more deposits until the withdrawals can catch up. Good times.

Tomorrow we ride on the Talimena Parkway. It's supposed to be the toughest 50 miles of the whole tour. There are several climbs of > 13%. This should be interesting.

Oh and since my mum will probably read this in the morning. "Happy Birthday Mum".

Day 18 - Weatherford to Purcell

Day 18 will be remembered not for the cycling or the scenery but as the day Maureen and her friend Jeff descended upon Pac Tour.

The ride was pretty lumpy, rollers the whole way. None of the hills were over 50 feet high but we had about 1000 of them in total as the day added up to over 5000 feet of climbing. The countryside was pretty and the group felt strong on the road. Funnily enough, the morning looked a lot like riding in Ayrshire in Scotland. Well, if you substitute the cornfields for potato fields. OK, and if it was 20 degrees cooler...

We rolled into town round about 3pm. Older Greg and I have been contending the finish city limits signs. Today was a day for teamwork. I decided to lead Jeanine out for the sprint. I miscalculated the distance to go and had to ride in hard for 3 miles. Fortunately I managed to keep it going and she came round me for the team win at the end. As she was on the podium getting all the adulation, she thanked her loyal domestique. Greg was left to bang his handlebars in bitter disappointment.

Anyway, enough cycling talk. Maureen showed up at about 4pm tonight with her buddy Jeff. They brought three 6 packs of beer with them and a lot of energy. Within an hour, she had spoken to almost everybody on the tour. Seriously. Then the real fun began. Instead of going to the restaurant closest to the hotel, like normal, she offered to drive me to dinner at Norman which is about 20 miles up the road. Norman is the home of Oklahoma University and is way cooler than Purcell. It took less than one second for young Greg, Jeanine and Lori to decide to tag along. Can anyone say road trip?

Dinner was at a great Mexican restaurant and the margaritas were flowing freely. I'm sure we'll pay for it in the morning but, it was loads of fun. After dinner, we all felt like teenagers. All of us except Greg, who is a teenager, seemed to revert back into giggling schoolkids. Instead of heading straight back to Purcell, we went on a quest for gelato. After a bit of roaming about, we found the best place in town. 3 flavours and one double espresso later, I felt human again. It's funny how great it felt to break away from groundhog day to try something different. But it doesn't matter if it rains tomorrow or is headwinds all day. Tonight was a great mental break.

Thanks Maureen. Greg, Lori and Jeanine thank you too.

OH yeah, here's todays pictures

Day 17 - Shamrock to Weatherford, OK

Whoever said that we would have a prevailing wind all the way to the east coast was obviously spinning a little yarn as today was another day of headwind.

Not that we let this put a dampener on the day. Today was a 105 mile ride along route 66 into central Oklahoma. Apart from the wind, the only slight donwner today was that we didn't get an Oklahoma sign at the state border. No opportunity for me to raise my bike over my head again.

Route 66 plays a large part in American culture. We got to ride along it for practically all of today. Some sections weren't open to cars, others were chipsealed over and others were now the frontage road for I-40. We also got to go to not one but two Route 66 museums. In fact, the museum opportunities today were abundant. I did pass up the chance to go to the National Shortgrass museum, the National Heartland museum and the National Farm and Ranch museum. yeah, yeah, I know I missed out but, there are only so many hours in the day...

One thing we have noticed is that people seem a bit friendlier in Oklahoma than in Texas. On maybe a dozen instances today, we had truckers honk and give us a friendly wave. Nobody tried to run us of the road or shout at us. OK is OK with me. Todays pictures are here

We head south east tomorrow. Hopefully the wind doesn't change again to be in our faces.

I'm excited about tomorrow as I get to see my friend Maureen. Pactour doesn't know what they are in for.

Day 16 - Amarillo to Shamrock, TX

What a difference a day makes. Maybe it was the fact that everyone ate their fill last night at the Big Texan or that we got to sleep in until 7:30 but, today everyone was in high spirits. Come to think of it, we swapped out 2 of the crew members in Amarillo last night and the new guy actually makes a mean pot of coffee. Small things make us happy on this trip.

Today's ride paralleled I-40. That sounds pretty crappy until you realize that we were on the famed Route 66. I Can't tell you how many times I heard my friends sing the song. The consensus was that the Depeche Mode version is the best.

There wasn't much to report on the actually riding today. We rode through a small town called Alandean where the only living thing appeared to be a dead porcupine. The town did have a great old route 66 style gas station though.

We passed through Conway today. There were about 4 houses, a grain silo and a broken down late 60's Ford. What made it cool was that we saw a Conway Truckload truck drive by on the freeway just to our left. I let out a big shout and everyone thought I was a bit mad.

The next town was called Groom. Probably about twice the size of Conway. On our route sheet it mentioned the Blessed Mary Cafe which apparently makes great pies. When we got there, it was closed but it looked pretty intriguing. On each table in the diner, there was a statue of Madonna (no not the singer). Alas, no pies for us.

The big highlight of today's ride was lunch in McLean, TX. Apart from the grilled chicken, coleslaw, potato salad. Yummy. What made it even better was that the support van was parked next to the Devil's Rope and Route 66 museums. Devil's Rope is a euphemism for barbed wire. To cut a long story short, if you are ever in the Texas Panhandle and you need some AC, I thoroughly recommend this museum. Who knew barbed wire had so many uses... Pictures are here.

The last 20 miles got a bit on the toasty side. The road was beginning to melt and the thermometer on the team van showed 105 when we got to Shamrock. I was half expecting to see leprechauns and lots of green stuff here but no. Saying that, I did go to McDonald for a large shake and saw a mother and daughter with pasty white skin and ginger hair...

OK, not much else to add. I'm going to try to walk over to the convenience store for a soda without melting. Wish me luck. I'm also excited as I get to see my good friend Maureen Brown (who left Conway and moved down to Austin, TX) on Wednesday.

I wonder what my chances of finding a Guinness in Shamrock are like?

PS. Despite my valiant efforts. No Guinness in Shamrock. This is because it's a dry town. Apparently there is a ballot initiative to make it "wet". Maybe next time I come back. In an effort to make the most of the situation, Greg (my new roomie and I) went to explore town. Imagine our excitement when we found that Shamrock is home to the tallest water tower in Texas. Yeehaw.

Day 15 - Clayton to Amarillo, TX

Sometimes you just need a wee big of distance to get a proper perspective. Today's 140 mile slog across the Texas Panhandle was possibly the worst day I have ever had on my bike. In the morning, the road was long, flat and boring. I was riding on my own and had no bike trip computer or ipod for company. Time just seemed to stop dead. In the afternoon, I got to ride with some of the group but the temperature soared way too high for this Northern European. I tried putting a pound of ice under my helmet to help cool off. Apart from looking like Stan Laurel, it did work for me.

Today started off in a bad way. 9 miles out of Clayton and we crossed into Texas and into the Central timezone. About 2 miles after that, we had the first big downer of the day. A poor deer had been struck by a car in the fast lane and looked like it had lost at least one of it's hind legs. The saddest part was that it was still alive and was lying in the lane. Where's a Texan with a gun when you need them?

The rest of the day was fairly non descript. I did see a live snake on the road at one point and one of the guys said it was a rattler. I wasn't going back to check.

The only other 'exciting' thing today was when some ***hole decided to run us off the road with his big horse trailer as we were taking up too much room. It was pretty ironic as we were on the right hand side of the white snow line and he was the one with about 10 cars stuck behind him. Oh well, nobody got hurt.

Rolling into the finish tonight and we were all knackered. Close to 9 hours riding time. Did I mention the headwinds all day and the 2500 feet of climbing in the last 30 miles...

That's when the day took a turn for the better. We are staying at the Big Texan motel next to the Big Texan Steakhouse ranch. Home of the 72oz steak. We were greeted by one of their employees with 50 free beers for us.

After showering and doing the laundry, we all went over to the steakhouse for dinner. Just in time to watch some guy's attempt at eating the 72oz steak. If you eat it (plus the baked potato and all the other sides) in an hour, you get it for free. Check out the pictures.

This is my second time here. Dave Mason and I dropped in in April 1995 on our way to Portland from Tallahassee. For the record, neither time did I or anyone I know attempt the meat eating feat.

Tomorrow is an 'easy' day. 7:30am breakfast. Yay! Only 93 miles and they are finally predicting no headwinds. We're off to Shamrock, TX while my friends Toni and Stephanie left Portland for Dublin, Ireland. I think they get a better deal.

I also get a new roommate tomorrow. Ann is leaving at the crack of dawn to go back to Portland for work. Young Greg (the cool 16 year old kid) moves in instead.

Ok, time for bed. I need to lie down to process all the ribs I ate tonight..

Day 14 - Walsenburg to Clayton, NM

Today was the longest day of the tour. We clocked 156 miles as we rolled into town this afternoon. Actually, I had to ask someone that as I managed to fry my bike computer yesterday so I'm riding naked so to speak.

Talking about not knowing what's going on, I also had a hard time remembering where we stayed last night and where we are now. Imagine how surprised I was to find out today is Saturday too.

This trip is becoming a bit like Groundhog Day. Get up at 0 dark thirty, shower, caffeinate in the hotel and then go to the parking lot for breakfast. Ride till lunchtime where we get yummy food and then ride until 3, 4 or 5pm depending on the weather, climbing, distance... Then it's time to shower, wash bike clothes and find some food. After that, back to the room to post pictures, blog, watch tv for a few minutes and then be in bed lights out for 9pm... When I said this to a good friend of mine, she said but you look like you are having a great time. This of course is true but just wait until the day I post a photo 30 seconds after I wake up... Yuck.

As I said earlier, today was the longest day. We left the Rockies and headed into the high plains. Aspens and Fir trees were replaced by cactus (initially) and then just by sun bleached grasslands. During the day, my energy levels ebbed and flowed. The highlight for most of the ride was this fantastic descent just after crossing into New Mexico. During the middle of it, I had to slam on my brakes and take evasive action as two squirrels jumped out and played chicken with me. They won.

Having been plagued with headwinds, we were all excited when we reached the town of Des Moines (the NM one) and picked up an awesome tailwind. Riding along at 30+mph felt fantastic. Unfortunately for us, the John L Morrow, US Hwy 64 made us pay a high price for this. IN a 20 mile stretch, our group had 8 punctures including 3 burst sidewalls. One was mine. For those of you involved in my puncture sweepstake, my new total is now 3.

As we looked up the road from our final rest stop, we pictured an early finish tonight. little did we know that Hwy 64 had more in store for us. The winds changed and then we had a monster headwind the whole way into town. The worst part about it is that you can see Clayton from about 10 miles away and it did not seem to ever get any closer.

Our only saving grace was that lightning storm we could see in the distance never reached us. Good times.

Tomorrow is another long day of 146 miles. That'll be 430+ miles in 3 days. It's safe to say that my bike saddle isn't feeling as comfy as it used to be.

OK, blogging done, time to watch tv and get ready for bed. Groundhog day starts again soon.

Day 13 - Buena Vista to Walsenburg

I managed to spend most of last night not sleeping. This meant I woke up feeling tired and a bit cranky.

Instead of riding with the fastest folks (Dan, Brian and Ann), I chose to ride with my new friends the California girls Lori and Jeanine. We had a lovely 50 mile slight downhill with a tailwind along the Arkansas river. Several times, we all talked about getting off of our bikes and joining one of the white water rafting trips on the river instead. Even though we were all complaining about having ridden so many miles, and still having more to do, we all wouldn't change it for anything.

Lunch today was in Westcliffe, CO which apparently has an Amish community. Check out the photos for proof. It reminded me a bit of one of the old wild west towns. I half expected to see Clint Eastwood ride into town although, he probably would have been knocked down by one of the SUV's driving down Main St.

We skirted the east side of the Rockies for most of the day with a lovely tailwind and then suddenly, the mother of all headwinds appeared with about 25 miles to go. I'm not talking a little wispy headwind but the kind where you are lucky to stay upright on your bike. When I got to the final rest stop, I threw my gloves in the air and they blew about 30 feet away... Ugh.

We finally rolled into Walsenburg. OK, I use that term literally as we are in a 50's style motel about 2 miles out of town. It reminds me of the Bates motel in Psycho. The effect was furthered by the old 1968 Chevelle parked in the lot.

Tomorrow whould be interesting. I had a quick look at the Weather Channel and they have a tornado watch for some of the counties we are riding through tomorrow. Looks like we will finally get some rain... and then some..

One last note, Jeanine gave me some special drugs so I can sleep tonight. I expect to be really groggy or flying tomorrow. We'll see. Hopefully the flying isn't because of the tornadoes.

Signing out. Off to get the shuttle for an early dinner in the real Walsenburg. I'm not holding out for a Thai restaurant but, wish me luck.

Postscript. We got shuttled into Walsenburg for dinner to the local steakhouse. From the outside, it looked a bit like a concrete bunker. Opening up the front door and we saw a live cockroach lying on it's back. We quickly turned round to head back to the shuttle van only to see it peeling out of the parking lot. So, we ventured inside. It actually turned out to be pretty good and they sold more than just Coors, Bud and Miller.

Day 12 - Glenwood Springs to Buena Vista

There was only one climb today. Well, to be exact, we climbed for 62 miles and descended to 43.

The group started out nice and easy on the 40 mile old railway line bike path to Aspen. We all felt a bit tired and when we got to Aspen realized that we'd actually climbed 2000 feet. Instead of going to the normal PAC Tour rest stop, we hung out in down town Aspen and had some coffee and pastries. If you've never been, it's definitely a lot more pretentious than any other Colorado town. We spied 2 fur coat shops and many designer places too. I'm sure there were plenty of famous people floating around but I didn't recognise anyone.

Feeling super caffeinated, we started the 20 mile climb (varying from 6 - 8%) up to Independence Pass. About 25 seconds into the ascent, I stopped to use my inhaler. Last time I checked, it wasn't on the banned substances list so I knew I wasn't going to get disqualified from the 'race'. About a third of the way up the hill, I started to overheat. I did the smart thing and stopped, got off my bike, took off my socks and shoes and went for a wee paddle in the river. The water was freezing but it was a welcome change...

Back on the bike and I ran into our lunch stop which had been moved from the top to about half way up the hill. Not being very smart, I opted for a hot dog and some chocolate cake for dessert. I did impress myself by not losing it on the rest of the way up.

The climb really was amazingly pretty. We started off going through the aspen groves and then as we climbed up higher, there were pine trees with the river flowing next to us. After that, we went above the timberline and on up to the top. At the summit, I bumped into a bunch of overweight Harley motorbike folks and I told them that they should have ridden real bikes up the pass so they could have worked off their lunch. Good job thew were friendly or I might have had to make an attempt on the world land speed record going down the other side. They did get payback though as they took a picture of Ann and I by the summit sign. The way the lady took the photo makes it look like the sign says elevation 12 feet. Doh!

There's not much I need to say about the descent. Plenty of switchbacks, super fast. it felt like I was in the Tour de France... Actually, apart from a couple of small rollers, it was almost downhill the whole way to Buena Vista.

We got to Buena Vista and to be honest, it looked like a bit of a crap hole... Super 8 motel. We went to dinner at the crappy Chinese restaurant and had the blandest Sweet and Sour chicken ever. After a quick trip to the crappy super market to get a Cadbury's Dairy Milk fix we set off in search of the 'real' downtown instead of strip mall hell. Low and behold, Buena Vista really is pretty cool. Some old buildings, a Thai restaurant (my eyes started to tear up at this point) and several coffee shops... If only we'd known earlier... Walked over to the downtown museum which had a deer silhouette as the weather vane and then... we found a couple of deer bucks hanging out in the grass by the building. Smart guys. I bet there must have a no hunting law within the city limits.

Pictures are here.

Tommorow we head further south east in Colorado to Walsenburg. I plan to do some googling before heading out to dinner to the closest restaurant.

PS. I forgot to say that I am super tired these days. Not just from all the cycling but also because I don't seem to be getting enough sleep... even though I get to bed at 9pm. I was so tempted to lay down by the side of the road this afternoon for a power nap. 12 days down and 18 to go. Ugh. Please send good coffee beans. Stumptown preferrably.

Day 11 - Rangely to Glenwood Springs

Sitting here in Glenwood Springs and it finally feels like I'm on vacation. We rode the 125 miles to here by about 3:30pm. After, showering and laundering, that gave us time to go wander round town. Walked over to the fancy Hotel Colorado (that we aren't staying at) and then had a look at the hot springs swimming pool. Then there was time to do some shopping in the cool local bike shop. Not as cool as Cyclepath of course. Later on tonight, we are having an ice cream social. Oh yeah, life is good.

Today started off with another not so prevailing wind as we battled our way eastward and then south. I was promised tailwinds and they haven't been delivered yet. Oh well..

Highlights of the day included the 50 mile valley we rode along towards lunch. The downside was that Halliburton has some kind of plant in the valley so we had to deal with about 1 million trucks driving by. The upside was that the drivers were exceptionally courteous and every time a truck passed us, we got a slight draft that eased the headwinds..

We passed through a couple of interesting towns. Rifle and Silt for example. I took a picture of the Rifle Fire Department building.

Riding through Rifle we also saw a highly ingenious kid you had managed to strap some kind of engine to his mountain bike. He coasted along sounding like he was riding a lawnmower. Awesome.

More motorized innovation. We got to see a couple of cowboys round up their cows. The only difference to the good ole days was that they were riding ATV's. Seems kind of lazy if you ask me eh?

When I posted last night, I said we were crossing the continental divide today. I got it wrong. It's actually tomorrow. We head through Aspen where the rich and famous live and then head up the 12000 feet that is called Independence Pass. I'm bringing my crampons and climbing rope just in case.

Ok, signing off to go get my sundae.

Day 10 - Vernal to Rangely, CO

As last night felt like it wasn't a school night, I woke up with a bit of a hangover this morning. must be something to do with the Polygamy Porter and not drinking enough water...

Today it felt like we were on an Adventure Cycling tour rather than Pac Tour. Instead of the usual 120 miles, it was a measly 53. We started off with a leisurely breakfast at the local diner, As we were heading into Colorado today, I just had to have the Denver omelette.

The ride today was super easy and mellow. Lots of time putzing along at 14mph. The highlights were seeing a prairie dog stare at me from a sand mound and also seeing hundreds of spent ammunition shell cases by the side of the road. Apparently somebody doesn't like prairie dogs judging by the amount of 50mm calibre casings on display.

Apart from the obligatory "Welcome to " sign, the other highlight was passing through Dinosaur, Co. I missed the opportunity to take a picture of the Dinosaur Baptist Church. Who knew dinosaurs were religious?

The final run in to Rangely was pretty unexciting. A long gradual downhill past many oil wells. It didn't look like town would have much to offer. Turns out that this is the nicest hotel we have had all trip. After lunch, a few of us went for a short bike ride through town. We look a bit like a biker gang ready to cause trouble until we found the one cool coffee shop in town. Yay. We also found the pub for tonight's dinner...

Not much else to report today. It felt good to have a short day. Hopefully my legs start to feel a bit better for tomorrow as we cross the continental divide in our run in to Glenwood Springs.

Ok, I'm off to the pool to try and even out my farmer tan. Photos are here

Day 9 - Evanston to Vernal, UT

This might be short as I'm stealing wifi from the hotel across the road.

Today was the queen stage of our tour. While those pansies riding the Tour de France got a rest day, we had to be up at 5am to get ready for our 149 miles (+9000 feet) jaunt back into Utah. About a third of the riders decided that today would be a good day to do only part of the route. The shuttle vans were going to be busy. I woke up feeling like crap and my legs were like lead. Today was going to be a long day.

We started with a nice 30 mile section along I-80 which I found out is not flat. We'd climb at 10 mph for 3 or 4 miles to then drop down the other side at 40mph only to repeat... over and over.

Getting of the freeway at Fort Bridger the day perked up instantaneously. The climbing started on the other side of town. It felt like we were climbing on a moonscape seemed to be made of soft sand.

After the next checkpoint the scenery changed again. We were back into alpine pastures with pine trees and snow capped mountains in the distance.

Then it changed again. We crossed back into Utah and through the town of Manila. Mikey is this where you are really from? It's much smaller than I thought? We climbed up through red rock wall canyon to have lunch in Flaming Gorge National Recreational area. Amazing isn't a strong enough word. The 2000+ feet climb out of the canyon was beautiful. I might not be able to post my pictures until tomorrow as this hotel doesn't have wifi. All I can say is that, there were several steep switchbacks and the grade was about 8%. Couple this with the strong headwind and I was struggling to pedal at 6mph.. Bleurch.

Over the top and we found out that we weren't really over the top. The climbing continued for many more miles. At about mile 130, we actually started to go back down. Then we hit the sign warning truck drivers about the 8% descent with 10 switchbacks for the next 10 miles. You can only imagine the words I uttered when I saw this. The 50mph downhill descent was fantastic. I saw a beautiful canyon on my right as we dropped down but, not wanting to stop or even take my hands off othe handlebars, I just kept riding. It felt like we had dropped into hell at the bottom. The temperature rose by what felt like 40 degrees and then we found out we had to climb out the other side. Doh!

Up and over the last climb and it was a nice gentle run in to town. Before going to the hotel, I stopped off at 7-11 to get some beers for the group.

Everyone is feeling like a kid in the candy store tonight. It's the anticipation that tomorrow is our 'rest' day as we only have to ride 53 miles into Colorado. Instead of having to get up at 5am and eat breakfast in the hotel parking lot, we get the luxury of "sleeping in" until 7:30 and then eating in the local diner. Life is good.

I am so happy that tomorrow is an easy day as I've been getting really run down the last few days. It's been really tiring but, this has definitely been an exciting challenge and I've got to meet some cool people too.

I'm sitting outside the Best Western across the road and my pictures are now uploaded.

Day 8 - Brigham City to Evanston, WY

Day 8 was one of the prettiest days so far. We managed to get away from 10 mile long straight roads, sage brush and scrub and headed back into the hills and pine forests.

We started off by skirting the edge of the Great Salt Lake to go down towards Ogden and then headed east up one of the canyons. As soon as we took that turn, the wind slapped us in the face and I had visions of us having to ride 80+ miles into a force 10 gale. Lady luck shined on us as once into the canyon, the wind dissipated. Although the road was narrow, and the sign said bikers probably shouldn't be on the road, it was amazing beautiful. On one side, a river flowed past us, and on the other, we could see waterfalls. After climbing up through the canyon, we were in what looked like an Alpine meadow. Pine trees, poppies, wild flowers oh and... a big reservoir on the other side. The down side was that it felt like every car that passed us was an SUV towing a boat or ATV's. I guess not everyone in Utah goes to church on Sunday morning.

The next little climb was the 20 mile trip up over the Wasatch mountains where the pass was at 9000 feet. I was starting to feel all the efforts I've made over the last week and it felt like I was beginning to overheat. Lunch was at the top, home made mac n' cheese and sandwiches. The descent down the other side was both scenic and fast. The pine trees of the climb gave wave to red rocks. I wasn't brave enough to snap any photos at 45mph though.

After the super fast descent we only had 20 miles to go to get to Evanston. This is where my tiredness, lack of sleep and overheating caused me to poop out. I ended up sitting at the back of our merry little band; Ann, Jeanine, Brian and Dan and they dragged me home. The scenery was gorgeous and apparently some people saw some antelope. All I know is that I was ready to be done.

Photo taken at the state line - check.
In the hotel, showered and laundered - check.
Beer in hand - check.
Mexican food at the local hole in the wall joint - coming soon.

Photos are here.

Tomorrow is the mother lode stage of our little tour. Almost 150 miles with more climbing than I want to even think about as we head back into Utah. I just need to get through tomorrow and then we have the easy 50 mile day on Tuesday into Colorado. I'm hoping that a couple of coronas and super burrito combined with an early night to bed will help get me through tomorrow. Well, that and the diaper rash cream I'm about to apply too.

Day 7 - Burley to Brigham City, UT

Sorry but after 290 miles in the last two days, my creative juices aren't flowing well tonight.

After yesterday's tough day, I was a bit worried about today as it was 10 miles longer (148 miles) and more climbing (4500 feet) than yesterday. Instead of a full on headwind, we 'only' had a cross wind. I decided that today was the day to see what I had inside of me. I went into time trial mode and rode the course harder and with more focus than yesterday. In the end, the support car only passed Ann and I with 10 miles before the finish. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake as we had to wait 40 minutes to get our bags and room keys. Oh well.. It was worth it as I was showered, laundered and fed by the time some of the other riders finished.

Today's ride took us up and over the hills into Utah. There were many sections where the road was completely straight. I think that we went 25 miles in a straight line with only one slight bend to the left. Crossing into Utah, I could see the mountainous backdrop but they never seemed to get any closer. It took about an hour to actually get to them.

We suffered an attack from some of the locals. For a couple of miles, we were bombarded by grasshoppers that apparently had a death wish. I half expected to find dozens of them stuck inside my helmet when I took it off.

The only other excitement for today was the trip to dinner. The hotel is about 2 miles south of downtown. Before I started this trip, I thought I would be up for extra sight seeing and walking around after each ride. What has transpired is that as soon as I get off the bike, I just want to shower, clean up my bike, wash my bike clothes and eat somewhere close. So, tonight's dinner was at the local greasy diner. Spanish omelette and hash browns.. Yum.

Next time I have a mellow day, I'll write up what my typical day looks like. Believe me, apart from the cycling, it really isn't all that exciting :)

Tomorrow has some climbing as we head up out of the Salt Lake basin and move into Wyoming. Oh yeah, pictures are here.

Day 6 - Mountain Home to Burley

If yesterday was a mentally tiring day, today I physically took a beating.

140 miles into a headwind for 8 hours. Ugh. This was the day to try and find my inner strength. Apart from the headwinds, we also had to deal with a crappy chip seal road surface.

Towards the end, I was riding with Ann and the Hofstra's (father and son from Michigan). We were echeloning because of the wind. After I pulled off, I found myself hugging the gutter trying to get into the draft. It made me feel like I was racing the old 'Piece of Cake' road race down near Albany, albeit at a slower pace.

Just after that, as we are riding up one of the countless short climbs on chipseal, I looked over at one of the many portable irrigation systems watering a field on my left. At the end of the pipe, there was a big smiley face and the motto "Have a nice day". If I'd had the energy, I would have gotten off my bike and well.... you can guess what I wanted to do..

It wasn't all bad today. I started off about 10 minutes after the last other rider today and finished with the fast group. There were some poor b***ards who ended up riding for an hour longer than me. Ouch.

We also managed to get the whole group to stop off at the ice cream shop in Buhl (Trout Capital of the USA apparently) where they served potato ice cream. Only in Idaho. Actually, it's vanilla with potato flakes but it really was yummy.

The other high point was just before lunch when we rode through the Thousand Springs area. There were several waterfalls that appeared to flow out of cracks in the cliffs.

Pictures are here

At dinner tonight, everyone looked like a cross between a scene from Dawn of the Dead and The Charge of the Light Brigade. If anyone has any control over wind direction, can you please put in a good word for us. Today was the hardest ride so far and tomorrow is 10 miles longer. The good thing is that we cross into another new state, Wyoming

Signing off now. I just found that we can get the Tour de France on tv here...

Day 5 - Caldwell to Mountain Home

Today was a 'rest' day of only 99 miles. Ok, I did ride round the parking lot to get the full hundred...

While I am feeling physically strong at the moment, I had a bit of a mental mind fart on this section of the tour. We skirted round Nampa. You can see all the signs of urban growth. Many new housing developments next to old broken down barns. I couldn't get my camera out int time but I saw a horse in a pasture eating grass next to the sign saying the land was for sale and zoned residential.

Mental stress seems to be debilitating than physical stress. When I got my first flat tire on day 2 (I think) I ripped the sidewall. That evening, I coated it with duct tape and a dollar bill shim so I could get some more miles out of it as it was a brand new $50 tire. Since then, I've been worrying about the stupid thing exploding on me. Tonight, I'm putting on a new tire just to maintain my sanity.

Then, my left pedal started clicking loudly every revolution. It sounded like it might fall apart. Having calculated, that I have at least 750,000 more revs to go this tour, I called for the cavalry and my good friend Stephanie is going to mail me another pair just in case. Thank you so much Steph.

Mentally, today was tough. I could feel myself being a bit cranky and wasn't really in a good mood for a while. The scenery was expansive. You could see sage brush / high desert for miles but, while everybody else thought it was beautiful, it creeped me out as I'm a city boy and the countryside I'm used to is from Scotland and Western Oregon. I rode on my own for a bit and longed to have my ipod to hand.

After a yummy deli sandwich for lunch and a metaphorical self slap to the face, I snapped out of it. We only had 28 miles to go on our 'short' day. We passed Mountain Home AFB and Ann then spent the rest of the ride singing songs from Top Gun. Ugh..

We arrived in town a couple of hours earlier than usual so that gave us time to clean ourselves, bikes and laundry ahead of time. Off to the city park tonight to go see the Summer Concert. I hear it might be the final Spinal Tap reunion tour...

Oh yeah, pictures are here

Oh and, just for John Schader, you'll be glad to know that Rebecca (the daughter of the tour operators) plays accordian. She serenaded us for lunch today.

Day 4 - Baker City to Caldwell, ID

Maybe I shouldn't be tempting fate but I'm feeling really strong both mentally and physically at the moment. I'm also relaxing and getting into vacation mode too. I was the last person to leave base camp this morning and had caught most of the folks by lunchtime.

We spent most of the day on the Oregon Trail again. There were two brief sections on I-84 as we had no alternative. It actually turned out to be the smoothest piece of tarmac on the whole trip so far. One whole side of the freeway was closed to cars while ODOT was laying new tarmac. We got to ride on the smooth surface before any car had been on it. As I came up to one paceline of our tour group, I noticed that Susan (the older lady on the recumbent) was leading the charge. It looked just like the pied piper of Hamlin leading the kids down I-84 to Idaho.

Today we crossed over into Idaho. And approximately 12 seconds later, I got my second flat tire of the trip. One per state might turn out to be pretty expensive.

I did manage to find an old CF trailer by the side of the road. How appropriate I was wearing my Conway jersey. Pictures are here

One of the best things about having reached Idaho is that now i more inclined to tell people I meet that we are heading to Georgia. It felt a bit lame to say that when I was still in the same state I started with. I was chatting to an old ranch hand earlier on today. I told him about the bike tour while he reminisced about the Korean war. He was seriously chatty and I bet I could still have been there if I hadn't said I needed to head off.

Tomorrow is our first day of less than 100 miles. 99 to be exact. I'm tempted to ride round the parking lot at the end but...

Day 3 - Pendleton to Baker City

It seems like everyone has finally got into vacation and touring mode. Breakfast was more leisurely than usual and no one was in a rush to leave. Must be something to do with the oatmeal and blueberries.

We rode through the Blue Mountains on the old emigrant trail and managed to stay off of I-84.. The route followed the old Oregon Trail. Despite climbing 2500 feet in the first 20 miles, everyone was all mellow and in fine form. We even had time to ride up a gravel hill off the course to take some pictures of a scenic viewpoint.

Our group had it's first accident today. One lady fell while removing her arm warmers on a descent and is now on her way home to California with a broken pelvis. Get well soon Lisa.

The puncture counting crew will be glad to hear that I got my first flat today.

Apart from the downer of knowing that a new friend was leaving, today was a good day to get into the groove. I'd heard that if you get through the first five days, you can get through the whole tour. I should be fine as long as I keep a steady supply of Chamois Buttr.

The other big highlight today was the way I "crushed" everyone for the 45th parallel sign. Oh yeah baby, it was all mine. I saw a few upset sprinters banging their bars in disappointment but they knew the best rider won. :)

It's weird being back in Baker City and not being here for the Elkhorn stage race. I rode a slow lap of the crit course. Very slow indeed as I got stuck at a traffic light. Tonight, I'm playing the role of Julie the cruise ship entertainment hostess as I'm rounding up the troops to go to Barley Browns brewpub.

Tomorrow we hit the first two big milestones of the trip. 1). Changing timezone and 2). Crossing into Idaho.

I'm feeling very excited and energetic at the moment about the tour. I do promise to keep blogging when I am run down and feeling like a$$ though.

Pictures are on my flickr a/c. Time for dinner and a celebratory beer or two.

I forgot to add that I saw my first Conway truck about 5 miles outside of Baker City...

Day 2 - The Dalles to Pendleton

Today's ride can be pretty much summed up in two words. "Tailwind" and "I-84".

The first 110 miles were almost all on the freeway heading east. The group (more about them in a minute) rode the first 100 miles in exactly 4 hours. If we'd been going the other way, we'd have needed headlights. The excitement of the day was our attempts to avoid running over rumble strips and gators (shreds of semi's tires). Between the 5 of us, we had 4 flats.. none by me... Hmm, did I just jinx myself?

Our little band of road warriors was a disparate group. Ann and I from Portland, a father and son from Traverse City, MI and a lady from Central California with a prosthetic foot. This sums up the whole tour group. We have a 60+ year old lady riding a recumbent bicycle, a 16 year old kid who thought this looked like fun and a couple from Denver on a tandem.

The last 30 miles today were along a beautiful valley next to the river. As soon as we got off the freeway, we turned off the gas and got to ride at a more mellow pace. We arrived in Pendleton earlier than expected. This gave us some time to go get a beer and milk shake before checking in to the hotel.

Pictures are here

Tonight's dinner was at the all you can eat buffet at the Indian casino just outside of town. Oh yeah, we got our money's worth out of them.

Tomorrow is the big sprint day. 45th parallel sign which is about 15 miles outside Baker City.

For anyone that cares... yesterday's ride was 103 miles in 6hrs 21 and todays 135 mile ride took 5:50.

Day 1 - Troutdale to The Dalles

Day one started the previous night when I had to do the 26 mile round trip back home to pick up my cell phone. While I was there, I also found my sunglasses which I'd managed to leave behind... Good job I used my checklist eh?

This morning was a 'late' start for the tour as we got to 'sleep in' until our 6:30am breakfast.

We rolled out of the hotel at 7:15 with a ceremonial escort for some of the guys from my cycling team. Thanks John, Mark, Saul and Tom. The first few miles were nice and mellow as we headed out to Sandy on Hwy 26 and our first rest stop at Rhodedendron. Being smarter than me, the Half Fast Velo boys turned round and headed for home.

On the climb up to Government Camp, it started to get warm. For a brief moment there, a few of us thought about taking the side trip up to Timberline lodge... After calculating that this would involve a 6 mile climb and another 2000 feet elevation gain, we saw the error of our ways.

Between Government Camp and the turn of for the Meadows ski resort, we saw hundreds of butterflies that apparently had a death wish. I'm not sure what type of butterflies they were but if you check out my flickr page maybe you can tell me.

After lunch, my full belly helped in the descent off of Mt Hood on Hwy 35. Apparently I didn't eat enough though as I then swallowed a bug whole and spent the next 5 minutes trying to free the beast.

Hwy 44 had a few miles of climbing and then a beautiful 15 mile descent down into Dufur. The scenery went from Douglas fir trees to Ponderosa pine, sage brush and then wheat fields in the blink of an eye.

This is when things started to go pear shaped. It's only 14 miles from Dufur to the Dalles but, we hit ferocious head winds and somebody turned on the oven. Riding down the final descent into the Dalles is supposed to be a super fast road. I had to stand up and pedal to hit 18mph. Riding through downtown The Dalles, I saw a temperature gauge reach 94 degrees. It made me so happy that I'd worn my all black cycling team kit.

Several cold showers later, we chose to ignore the recommended restaurants for dinner and went to Cousins. You know a place is going to be good when the door clucks, baahs and moos when you open it. The large John Deere tractor in the restaurant didn't hurt either. One pot roast, large vanilla shake and two hefeweisens later, we waddled back to the hotel.

Time to start getting things ready for tomorrow as breakfast is at 6am.

D-Day minus 1

Spent most of today packing, trying not to get too excited and running round like a headless chicken.

Drove out to Troutdale with my gear bag and met the supprot crew. They are are pretty cool people. Then drove home so I could ride back out... In the process of all this, I realized I've left my cell phone at home.. doh!

Just got back from the pre tour briefing... Lots of rules and regulations but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it after a few days. Most of the riders seem a bit older and while I'm sure they have all been riding for a million years, I have a the feeling I should be able to keep up.. :)

We're off to the pre dinner banquest at the Edgefield in a few minutes. Time for a beer and then possibly another bike trip home to get my phone... We'll see how motivated I am.

The attached photo shows the route sheets for the next 30 days. They weigh about 1/2 a pound...

The Pre Tour tour

So my bike tour officially starts on Sunday from Troutdale. Having heard from a million people the question why my coast to coast trip starts there, I decided I really should go coast to coast....

With a bit of bribery, one breakfast in Cannon Beach, Ann drove myself and Craig over to the coast. Craig said he'd rather ride 87 miles with me today than have to paint his garden fence.

In typical Oregon summer beach weather, it was a beautiful day the whole way to Cannon Beach except for the last 2 miles when the fog socked in and you couldn't see the ocean, I swear it was there as I could hear it and about 100 seagulls.

After the obligatory photo close to the beach we headed off inland. When we got to Portland, I was surprised to find anyone still in town as it seemed like every single car in the Pacific NW, was on Hwy 26 heading to the ocean.

Today had lots of climbing and even more heat. As we got into town, the mercury was reading 93... Anything over 75 and I turn into a puddle of sweat.

No major catastrophes or excitement to report except that the new bike is better than awesome.
More pictures here.

Tonight is the last night I get to sleep in my bed for a month. 30 different beds in that timespan. Sounds like a good excuse for me to get one last trip in to Thai Noon.

Tomorrow is the tortuous ride from my house to Troutdale. All of 13 miles.

Hey Geoff, I know you are in Shanghai but thanks for letting me take your car to the coast today :)

Bad luck and good luck

Less than a week to go and it's time to taper off on the riding, relax and start to get mentally ready for the ride right? Wrong, I managed to make things a bit more stressful for myself by breaking my carbon bike frame. I'm not exactly sure when I did it but I'm guessing it was a couple of weeks ago when I rode from Tygh Valley back to Mt Hood on a really crappy road. The expansion bumps were massive and occurred every 20 feet for about 10 miles...

I noticed the crack last Friday night on my way to Bend. While there, I ended up riding a couple of times and I saw that the crack got worse. I started to think that the chances it might not be too smart to try and ride this bike all the way to Georgia.

Sooooo, on Monday morning, I took my bike over to my favourite bike shop Cycle Path in North East Portland. I wanted to find out if my frame was rideable or if I could get it warrantied. This is when my luck started to turn.

I got to the shop and bumped into the rep for the company that made my bike. It gets even better than that... Scott Montgomery, the CEO of the company (Scott Cycles) was also in the shop just visiting Portland for the day. When I told him I was planning to ride across country on this bike this coming weekend, he got all excited and told me he would do what he could to help me out. Normally it takes several months to get a new bike frame back from warranty. I was more than happy to hear that he was going to help me out.

Tonight, I went back to Cycle Path and found out that the frame hasn't arrived yet and that if it doesn't come tomorrow, I won't be able to get it until Monday as the shop is closed for the July 4th holiday. This would be a problem as I'm supposed to be in Pendleton by then. Cue stress levels raising instantly... However, Bill, the co owner of Cycle Path told me he would strip down one of the bikes in the shop and then use that frame to build up my bike with my existing parts. He's going to rush this through on Thursday so that I will have a bike for the tour.

All I can say is thank you from the the bottom of my heart to Scott Montgomery and Greg Talbert from Scott cycles and a massive thanks to Bill Larson at Cycle Path. If you ever need a recommendation as to where to buy a bike and what brand...

Oh yeah, here's my new frame. Beautiful eh?