Day 13 - Burley to Pocatello

About 86 miles and we climbed about 1,700 feet.

Great day for a bike ride.  Weather was great.  We saw Register Rock, big rock the Pilgrims signed when they were in town, or something like that, not sure what that was about though. 

You might also notice we were wearing our Club jerseys today; did you know it was club jersey day in Idaho?

We were on the Interstate highway three different times.  This particular highway was much less traveled and the shoulders were much cleaner and as a result, much easier to ride.

Here are a couple of clips from today.  The first is a cattle guard. 

For folks that do not know what this is, it is a series of bars across the road.  It does not allow the cows to cross.  This guard was in great shape, it was pretty new.  Going over this one, was like going over ice; many of them are old and very uneven.  It almost feels like you are going to fall off the bike.

Couple of more clips:

This is a clip of a crop duster, be patient, but it is worth the wait.

Day 12 - Twin Falls to Burley

About 45 miles today and 2,200 feet of elevation gain.

Yesterday, coming into Twin Falls:

This morning at the falls:

The weather on the trip so far has been just amazing; we have been so luck!!  AND the wind Gods were great to us again today; we had a very strong tail wind for just about the entire ride.

We also did the two optional add ons, the one down to Shoshone Falls and down to the Twin Falls.

Clips from Shoshone Falls:

Then a few miles down the road we went to the Twin Falls Hydroelectric Plant/Park.  Funny thing is, there was no place where we actually saw "twin" falls.  

Clip of the sheep farm at the top of the hill coming up from Twin Falls Hydroelectric Plant.

Well, that is the end of the most recent spate of easy days, back to work tomorrow.  Over 80 miles tomorrow, special needs loads at 5:20, breakfast is at 5:30 and then start of the ride.

Day 11 - Mountain Home to Twin Falls

Almost 97 miles and about 2,600 feet of elevation gain.

THANK THE WIND GODS, is all I can say; we had one hell of a tail wind which made this ride, which could have been pretty grueling, really enjoyable.  The winds were so strong that when we turned south, it felt like I would have been blown over.  Had it been a head wind, not sure I would have wanted to finish.

We went through lots of farm land, lots of agriculture.  When I think of farms, I think of growing stuff; well there were several cow farms, lots and lots of cows as far as the eye could see.  I also saw a couple of sheep farms.

We had our first significant detour today. Bridge out. No possibility of walking around or through the site. Following the posted detour, we had our first stretch of corduroy dirt road. Ridged and really bumpy. Toss in some loose gravel and more packed dirt, it was a challenge.

Here are a couple of clips from the rides.  The first is a cow farm:

Here is a clip of the Snake Canyon from the route:

This clip is from the bridge over the canyon coming into Twin Falls.  The winds were so strong they ride leaders requested that we walk the bikes over the bridge.

Several of the towns we stopped in for overnights in Oregon were very, very small.  So far, two of the towns of the three we stopped in Idaho seemed pretty big to me.

Day 10 - Boise to Mountain Home

About 53 miles and 1,500 feet elevation gain.

But before we get to today's ride, let's look how far I have come.  I think this looks pretty impressive.  It took me eight days to cross the state of Oregon by bicycle.

Not as impressive, lot's more to go.  You can barely see the highlights in the upper left hand corner of the US map.

By the numbers as of 6/26/2018:

Total trip miles:  3,690
Days of trip: 50
Miles completed so far:  627
Percent miles completed:  17%
Percent days gone:  18%

Today's ride was pretty awesome in regards to my performance.  Highest average for the whole trip so far.  I was into the hotel about 1 PM (the sun was still up, lol), and we started about an hour to two hours later than we have been starting.

Idaho, well so far there is not much to see or to talk about.  Lot's of desert, dry but not to hot today, maybe a lot has to do with the fact I was completed before the height of the heat in the afternoon.

Tomorrow is double compared to today; close to double the miles and double the elevation gain.  Luck to me, hehe.

Day 09 - Boise

Satish and I just did an easy ride today, about 13 miles and 112 ft. elevation gain.  We were told we needed to get out and do something so we did not freeze up for tomorrow.

We also went to a stretching session this morning.  But it was really a yoga class in disguise.

Lunch and dinner on our own today.  Found a neat little sandwich shop right by the hotel, will start looking for a dinner place later on.

Working on the bikes today.  Rotating tires and giving them a good cleaning, concentrating on the drive train.

Day 08 - Ontario, OR to Boise, ID

About 64 miles and 1,500 feet of climbing.

With a heavy heart, I left Oregon today and entered Idaho.  For those of you in the know how to properly count states as a visit, that is a new state for me.  We have about five more days in Idaho, no rides over 100 miles, wheh, but a couple of rides in the 90s.

Hello Idaho:

Hey look at that, there is a bison farm, kind of smells stinky a bit.

A couple of more clips:

Day 07 - Baker City to Ontario

About 85 miles and 2,100 feet of elevation gain.

A LOT less climbing today, but 85 miles is still a pretty long day.



Going into the Mountain Time Zone.



A couple of clips from the high desert:

A clip of a descent:

Riding on Interstate I-84.  We were supposed to stay right of the rumble strips and stay out of the travel lanes at all costs.  They also gave us very specific directions negotiating on and off ramps.  Apparently, riding a bicycle on the Interstate is legal in Oregon as long as there is no other way to get where you are going.

Clip of the Snake River:

As I was riding down the road I smelled lavender; looking up, I saw there were lavender fields:

Day 06 - John Day to Baker City

About 80 miles and 5,000 feet of climbing.

Bike club jersey day, at the top of the first summit of the day.

Second summit of the day.

I thought going on the tour along the norther part of the country, I would not be in any deserts; I honestly thought it was be all lush greens and lots of farm land.  I was not expecting desert, cold in the morning, HOT and dry in the afternoon.  

During the first two descents, I was so cold, I was shivering.

There was a covered wagon exhibit on the highway, a couple of clips:

On top of all the climbing, we had a good 10 miles at the end of the day fighting a strong head wind.

Day 05 - Prineville to John Day

ABB Signature Ride (code for hard ride, hehe), 115 miles and 6,000 feet elevation gain.

Before we get started on the ride, it is official, I am in a special needs group.  While I am able to complete the rides, I go at my own pace, SLOW.  As a result, the earlier I get started, the earlier I get done.  The ride leaders have determined that since I am better off leaving early, I should be in a group that loads their bags earlier than most of the folks on the ride.  So I am in a group called the., Earlier Rollers Group, i.e. Special Needs Group.

I was riding all day long on this one, we started at about 6:30 AM and we got into the hotel about 6:15 PM.  The directions were easy, left out of the hotel's parking lot and 115 miles down the road, left into the next hotel.  There were also three SAG (support and gear) stops.  

A SAG stop is where you are provided beverages, and snacks and a bunch of rules:

• Don't lean your bikes on their trucks.
• Make sure to wash your hands with two different things, a baby wipe and then sanatizer gel.
• Don't mix your Gatorade on:
• Their trucks, or
• Their folding tables.

First 1,000 feet of climbing:

Man made lake:

Not sure the name of this, but coming down the road, you see this magnificent mountain, I thought it looked like a birthday cake, someone mentioned it looked like a castle:\

Although I do not have a picture, we saw the Nike Tree.  I was told the Nike Tree is indigenous to the State of Oregon.  I was really excited about this.  I was told it was at about mile marker 88 on the route.  Well, we come across a tree where about a million folks have strung their Nikes up in the branches.  

Pics from the Day by ABB

Day 04 - Kah-Nee-Tah to Prineville

About 60 miles and 3,300 feet of climbing. 

Today started out from the resort and the first thing we saw were some wild horses.

The first 15 or so miles were climbing; however, all the climbing were pretty gentle hills.

Deschutes River Canyon:

We rode down into a canyon on our way to Madras.  From Madras, the road was kind of rough, new chipseal and very narrow shoulders into Prinville.

Saying of the day:

Day 03 - Welches to Kah-Nee-Tah

Sixty seven miles, about 4,900 feet of climbing.  Again lots of climbing and the downhills were a lot of fun.

Mount Hood:

We went from the seeing Mount Hood to the high desert.

We stayed on Indian Land at the Kah-Nee-Tah resort.  It looked beautiful from the outside, the inside it was a bit run down; probably the nicest place in the area.

Mt. Hood in Background

On the Bike

Day 02 - St. Helens to Welches

Seventy six miles and 2,600 feet of climbing.

We traveled from St. Helens into Portland and over the St. Johns bridge.  One of my favorite bridges in Portland, very Gothic.  Quick steep climb up to the bridge and then directly over to the Marine Drive path to travel from the west to the east of Portland.  Once we reached Troutdale, we started climbing and have not stopped. 

The ride took most of the day, we left kind of late and the informal group I was with had two mechanicals.  One slashed tire (I carry an extra tire) and one flat (everyone typically carries extra tubes). 

Hotel in Welches was a very nice lodge.  We had a beautiful view from our room.

Day 01 Load (load the bags on the truck)

The Gang (Day 01)

In Orientation (Day 00) 

Day 01 - Astoria to St. Helens

First real ride, 80 miles and over 4,000 feet of climbing.

The climbing is a challenge, no other way to say it; but we just keep peddling.  Climbing is just so different from riding at home, in Florida.

The morning started kind of cloudy.

We had breakfast, typical Holiday Inn Express fare, then we loaded up the luggage and we were off at 7:30 AM.

There were a couple of really long climbs today.  The really steep, long climb was at the end of the ride.  Along with the long climbs were some great down hills; my max speed on the down hill was over 35 miles per hour. 

A couple of videos from today.  Starting off this morning.

Going downhill.  We were going through the forests most of the day, pretty nice scenery.

Enough wood to choke a horse, or at least for the winter.

We had pizza, salad, lasagna with bread sticks for dinner.  Desert was chocolate chip cookies.

Tomorrow a bit shorter ride, but more climbing.  Tomorrow, the climbing is all during the last 30 or so miles of the day.

Day Zero-Lots Going On

Day zero was very busy.

Up early, or course, then get everything ready.  Out the house at 7:30 and on our way to Astoria.  Arrived around 9:30.  

Satish and I built our bikes, and we had to:

-  Finish up some paperwork.

-  Have the staff get the Garmins all set up.

-  Wwait for the mechanics to check out the bikes.  

Well, we finally got on the bikes about 12:30 in the afternoon.  Had a nice ride over to the beach, we dipped the wheel in the Pacific and had a nice ride back.  About 26 miles.

Link for today's video is:  

https://www.dropbox.com/preview/Cross%20Country%20Trip/Day%20Zero%20-%20Dip%20Rear%20Wheel%20in%20Pacific.mp4?role=personal

Then we had about three hours of orientation, some of it was a real yawner.  They took us to the Silver Salmon Grill for dinner.  Yelp had it rated at 3.5 stars; I concur.

Eighty miles tomorrow with a lot of climbing.  They said the first 10 days would be the toughest; then it was easy sailing.

Time for bed.

In and Around Portland

We arrived a week ago.  On Saturday morning we then picked up and put together the bikes that will remain in the Beaverton area. We also ran a bunch of errands.

Sunday, we did a short ride just to get Satish a bit acclimated to climbing some hills. We threw the bikes in the car and drove out to Hood River; this is a beautiful drive through the Columbia River Gorge. We also took a short bike ride on the Hood River to Mosier Scenic Historic Highway Trail. The trail was the old highway converted to the trail. The old tunnels are very cool. Take a look at the video  On the way back, we stopped at the Skamania Lodge for drinks.

On Monday, we did a challenging ride. I made this ride up when I first got the condo out here. That is when I realized a road is called “Mountain” Home Road for a reason. Lots of climbing.

Tuesday, we did an urban century. This is not really a century, but that is what the map calls it; we did something like 98 miles. We rode our bikes to the light rial and took the light rail over to Northeast Portland.  The ride starts out in Northeast Portland, heads west to North Portland, then South to see how the bertter half lives, down to the Springwater Corridor Trail; then out to Gresham and then over to Troutdale.  We had lunch in the quaint town of Troutdale.  Then we headed up the I-205 bike path for the final third of the ride in Vancouver, WA.

The next day, we did the two bridge ride; we rode from the condo, up into Vancouver, WA on the I-5 Bridge for coffee, then we rode across Vancouver to the I-205 Bridge back into Portland. From the bridge, we rode over to Podnah's for BBQ for lunch. After lunch we rode home.

Yesterday, we rode the Banks to Vernonia Trail. The trail is a 21 mile trail that is a “Rails to Trails” project. The trail includes about an eight mile gradual climb. And since it was an old railroad bed, there were some short, but steep switchbacks. We had lunch in Vernonia.

For those of you wondering and not following me on Strava, I have ridden about 600 miles so far this month.  No riding the next two days; the trip begins on Sunday.

The Sun is Out and I Have Been Riding Again

Well, the sun has finally come out and I have been back on the bike.  I have almost 280 miles in this month.  I have another two days of riding before I leave for Oregon. 

As you may or may not know, I have a condo near Portland, OR.  And I have a bike, the Airborne, I typically leave out there.  However, at the end of last summer, I brought it home to Florida thinking I might want to ride that bike X-Country and I should train on that bike.  Well, I finally decided, I will take the Florida Road bike (Lynskey) on the X-Country trip.

Last Tuesday, I sent the Portland bike back to the condo.  It arrived yesterday.  And, more importantly, I sent the Lynskey out to Astoria, OR yesterday. 

That leaves me with a bike that is a spare to ride the rest of the week.  It is a Trek 520.  It was a hard ride today, 60 miles on the spare bike and it was HOT out there today.