Monday, July 28, 2014
Day 18
It was kinda awkward packing up while a bunch of traffic went by. I hastily packed. The goal for today was to get at least 80 miles, because I hoped to make it to Winnemucca tomorrow, which was 160 miles away. I quickly saw a Fernley county sign and mistook it for the city sign. I was really confused for a bit but after a few hours I was in the city itself- two days late, but at least I arrived. Towards the end of the day, I found another rest stop. It was pretty neat that it had a water pump, but the best part was that there was a snake! Finally, an alive snake! A woman was trying to get it away from the bathrooms with a stick. I offered to help. I just picked it up by the tail and moved it over to my bike so that I could take a few pictures. Then I took it about 30 feet away to a fence and it slithered away. I wish I could have had more time to check it out, but it was pretty dark and I needed to get water, use the bathroom, and find camp soon. I ended up going less than a quarter mile away before I just decided to move off the highway and make camp. I couldn't really hide myself but it was so dark out that no one would be able to see me until morning.
Disclaimer
So before I start adding days again, I wanted to mention that the reason why I haven't posted in so long is because I have not been able to get the miles I've been hoping for. By the time I set up camp, I've been too tired to type out what happened that day. I've done a lot of stuff to try to save time and what not, which you will read about in future posts, but it hasn't been enough. I've forgotten what happened on several days and gotten some days mixed up. I really don't want to have to just skip over days, but it's probably gonna have to happen.
On a happier note, I still feel like I am in the running for completing this in 100 total days, but worst case scenario, I will be done November 1st. Many aspects of this can be frustrating and tough to figure out, but I enjoy the challenge and it feels so amazing to be doing something so completely different from what I have been doing my entire life.
On a happier note, I still feel like I am in the running for completing this in 100 total days, but worst case scenario, I will be done November 1st. Many aspects of this can be frustrating and tough to figure out, but I enjoy the challenge and it feels so amazing to be doing something so completely different from what I have been doing my entire life.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Day 17
Jim had warned me about the horses. I'm pretty sure I heard them last night. I was camped near an apple tree. I wish I could have gotten out and looked, but I didn't want to spook them.
While I was packing up, Glenn invited me over for breakfast. I mostly finished and then headed over- I need 6000 calories a day, so I never turn down food. While chowing down cereal and toast, I learned about Glenn and his buddy, Norman. They are from Australia, but they vist the United States a lot in a camper van. Dispite being 90 years old, Norman was still in great shape and enjoyed hiking up mountains and stuff. After thanking them, I finished packing and looked around for the office. I found the little store there. I bought a few things and asked the cashier where I was supposed to pay for the night. Right here. It was 25 bucks, probably because I camped in an rv spot, but it's kinda understandable. The city is practically in the clouds, and it has a lot of historical stuff in it- it was an honor to be there. After almost going down a dead end, I found the road out of this place. It was all down hill- a welcome change of pace from yesterday. No rainbows today, but I did see wild horses. I wanted a picture, but I would have had to slam on the brakes. The road finally leveled out. I wanted to look at a solar panel array, but it was behind a fence. Then finally, after two days, I was on the highway again. I had no miles in mind, just that I wanted to get as close to Fernley as possible. Close to the end of the day, I luckily found a rest stop that had a water pump. Once I was done filling up, it was pretty darn dark. So I just picked a spot beside the highway that was kinda hidden by a small lump. Despite the cars and trucks zooming past, I slept easily.
While I was packing up, Glenn invited me over for breakfast. I mostly finished and then headed over- I need 6000 calories a day, so I never turn down food. While chowing down cereal and toast, I learned about Glenn and his buddy, Norman. They are from Australia, but they vist the United States a lot in a camper van. Dispite being 90 years old, Norman was still in great shape and enjoyed hiking up mountains and stuff. After thanking them, I finished packing and looked around for the office. I found the little store there. I bought a few things and asked the cashier where I was supposed to pay for the night. Right here. It was 25 bucks, probably because I camped in an rv spot, but it's kinda understandable. The city is practically in the clouds, and it has a lot of historical stuff in it- it was an honor to be there. After almost going down a dead end, I found the road out of this place. It was all down hill- a welcome change of pace from yesterday. No rainbows today, but I did see wild horses. I wanted a picture, but I would have had to slam on the brakes. The road finally leveled out. I wanted to look at a solar panel array, but it was behind a fence. Then finally, after two days, I was on the highway again. I had no miles in mind, just that I wanted to get as close to Fernley as possible. Close to the end of the day, I luckily found a rest stop that had a water pump. Once I was done filling up, it was pretty darn dark. So I just picked a spot beside the highway that was kinda hidden by a small lump. Despite the cars and trucks zooming past, I slept easily.
Day 16
I woke up to the sound of a dog barking and a man yelling- the latter walking the former, I presume. When I got out of my tent, I found out that I wasn't quite as consealed as I would have liked. Oh well, I'll just pack up and get out of here. The ballpark had an outhouse. The pump guy was waiting for me when I got out- awkward. My plan was to try to get back on the highway at the latest point possible. Unfortunately, no shoulder. After peddling in circles around Spark for a bit, I finally gave in. I would have to take the long way- 60 some miles instead of 30. It showed only a bit of dirt road... I guess I'm stupider than a lot of people think. After some decent dirt road, it turned into the same stuff as yesterday- rocky, sandy and impossible. Plus, it was a constant incline. This time, however, I could see the paved road I would eventually catch up with- high above, but achievable. It took a while, and I thought about how I wish I hadn't asked for the ride back- I'd be a lot closer to my destination now, if I survived the night, that is. Eventually the road got much better and I was able to peddle out to the paved road- with basically no shoulder. Shit. I thought that technically it's ok, but I hate slowing people down and just hoping that people are paying attention. Not too far down the road, two cyclists passed me going the other way- yay! Then I saw a sign that said "Share the Road" and it had a picture of a bicycle. Awesome. I relaxed a bit after that. It took forever because it was so steep but I eventually reached my highest summit yet. This is part of what really made the past sucky day fly out of my mind. From the summit, you could see part of a double rainbow and beautiful mountains. As I sped down the other side, the rainbow really seemed like it was right there, touching the ground. They always seem like they are so far away- not this time. As soon as I rounded some curves and lost elevation, I saw another rainbow behind a mountain. That image is almost getting old- I've seen so many so far. I eventually pulled into Virginia city and realized I had actually missed the turn. But that ended up being a good thing. For one, I didn't have much food left. For two, I would completely avoid dirt roads by going this way. I found the rv park, but there were no signs or anything telling you how to reserve a spot after hours- I left with the intention of grabbing something to eat and then finding a place to camp while heading down the mountain. The pizza took forever- but it tasted amazing. The place was called the Red Dog Saloon- which is funny because there is a boat named the Red Dog at Offshore Systems Kenai, where I worked for several summer and winter breaks. By the time I finished gobbling down the pizza, it was dark enough that I didn't want to risk it. I headed back to the rv park and was greeted by two small yapping dogs. I decided to camp in an rv spot, since I couldn't find the tent spots and I needed to charge my stuff anyways. I asked a guy if there was a place to sign up after hours. There wasn't, but the guy, Glenn, ended up being the nicest person in the world. He assured me that I could just talk to the owners in the morning to get things worked out. Then another guy came over. He knew the owners personally, and told me to tell them that I talked with Jim and Jess. Jim was certainly a talker. I had to set up my tent in semi-dark. I wanted to do laundry, but the laundry room was closed from 7pm to 8am. I didn't want to stay that late. I also wanted to shower, but both Glenn and Jim had told me the difficult to remember passcode (just open the door). Something just didn't feel right. Glenn brought me a ziplock full of peaches, plums and poppy seed bread. I know he was just being nice, but it was late and I didn't want to risk anything being stollen, so I just used the bathroom. It was rediculously nice for an rv park- there were about 6 rooms, all with their own sink, toilet and shower. Oh well. I wanted to charge my phone and batteries all night, but I didn't want to risk leaving it out. I kept my eye on it for a bit, then retrieved it and quickly crashed afterwards.
Day 15
Day 15
While I was packing up, a lizard scurried into a nearby rock. I tried to catch it, but it was very aware of its surroundings, so I couldn't even get close enough for a good picture. Not long into my ride, I got into Nevada. Being able to consistently check off states has been nice. Once I get near Reno, things got crazy. I constantly had to be vigilant when crossing over the many on ramps and off ramps. It was stressful, but I was doing okay. Then some guy yelled out of his window, "What the hell are you doing!" This was the first negative comment I've had this whole trip. I just wanted to get out of there are soon as possible. Unfortunately, the shoulder suddenly disappeared as it went up to a bridge. I had to reroute. I went down the nearest off ramp. The city part was also scary because of how many cars there were, but at least I had a sidewalk here. The new route was longer, but it completely avoided the highway until I got to he next city. Unfortunately, after I got a bit used to the bike lanes that occasionally pins you between two cars, both the bike lane and the shoulder disappeared. Normally this wouldn't be muh of a problem, I'm pretty sure I can still ride on roads like this, I just have to stay as close as I can to the side and have cars pass me when they can. Or I could use the dirt path next to the road. However, there was sand on either side and the road was pretty busy. Lots of people would not be happy with me, and having angry cars drive by me is the last thing I want. I find out the whole road pretty much is like this, so I reroute again. This path is shorter, but there are some dirt trails. You would think that I would have learned from past experiences with dirt roads are the worst idea ever when biking, but for some reason I continued anyways. After one of the craziest hills in the world, the road turned to dirt/ gravel- not too bad. But eventually, the road got worse and worse. I had to get out and push and one point, and I almost decided to turn back. But I figured it was only a few more miles, and thought that the road would get better. It didn't. Before a rather large hill, I decided to turn back again. But then I calculated it, and even if I walked and pushed my bike the whole way, it would still be faster than turning back. So I pressed on. A lizard crossed my path. This one was much slower than other one I had seen- I easily caught it. It puffed up to try to scare me off, but that didn't work. It was fun to finally catch a reptile again. I kept going, finding an even crazier hill, that took all of my strength to get up. The rest of the path followed the power line. I could finally see what I was getting into- there was a huge mountain range in front of me. I also noticed a fence that crossed the path. I decided to turn back again. Going down all of those crazy hills and stuff would suck, but at least I wouldn't be stuck in the middle of nowhere all night. But I went to see the fence anyways and found that it stopped at the road. I don't know where I got the determination from, but somehow I just decided to keep going. There was a ton of animal dung along this path, so that was freaking me out a bit. Then I heard the coyotes. I wasn't too worried about the coyotes themselves, but if they are out here, then what else is? I decided I just needed to hurry up. Even if I had to push through a bit of darkness, I thought I could get close enough to a paved road that I would be safe. Finally, the road turned completely impossible. I had to go slower than ever before. The road also was going down at a very steep angle. I could see that once I got down, it was all uphill from then on. This is where I really started to freak out. That was when I saw the very last thing in the world that I expected to see out here- a truck. It stopped, probably seeing me. I think we kinda just eyed each other for a while. I finally decided that even though I was only a few miles from where I was trying to go, seeing the truck, combined with seeing what I had to do for those miles, made me finally decide to actually head back. I had to carry my bike up half the hill I just came down. The truck was working it's way around, possibly to me. A waited a bit. I really wanted to go the whole time without ever using a car for assistance, but the circumstances were making that potentially unsafe. I waved at the truck as it went by, and they waved back, and kept on going. I paused for a moment, unsure, and then waved again, trying to get them to stop. The driver got out and asked me if I wanted a ride. Out in the middle of nowhere. How I got this lucky (or unlucky, since I was only a few miles from Fernley) I have no idea. Right after we loaded up my bike, the mountains I used to be heading towards lit up to reveal a rainbow behind it. The sun must have just peeked below the clouds enough to do this just before sunset. The folks we named Matt and Kristina. They were out here just enjoying the view. It was a long way back, and Matt was definitely a talker- our conversation drifted from hiking to biking to mudding to insurance to Obama care. It was interesting to have such a long conversation after being alone for so long. We finally reached Sparks. He dropped me off near a baseball park, off the road where a small sand hill would partially hide my tent. I hugely thankfully for the reset, even if it meant more miles in the end.
While I was packing up, a lizard scurried into a nearby rock. I tried to catch it, but it was very aware of its surroundings, so I couldn't even get close enough for a good picture. Not long into my ride, I got into Nevada. Being able to consistently check off states has been nice. Once I get near Reno, things got crazy. I constantly had to be vigilant when crossing over the many on ramps and off ramps. It was stressful, but I was doing okay. Then some guy yelled out of his window, "What the hell are you doing!" This was the first negative comment I've had this whole trip. I just wanted to get out of there are soon as possible. Unfortunately, the shoulder suddenly disappeared as it went up to a bridge. I had to reroute. I went down the nearest off ramp. The city part was also scary because of how many cars there were, but at least I had a sidewalk here. The new route was longer, but it completely avoided the highway until I got to he next city. Unfortunately, after I got a bit used to the bike lanes that occasionally pins you between two cars, both the bike lane and the shoulder disappeared. Normally this wouldn't be muh of a problem, I'm pretty sure I can still ride on roads like this, I just have to stay as close as I can to the side and have cars pass me when they can. Or I could use the dirt path next to the road. However, there was sand on either side and the road was pretty busy. Lots of people would not be happy with me, and having angry cars drive by me is the last thing I want. I find out the whole road pretty much is like this, so I reroute again. This path is shorter, but there are some dirt trails. You would think that I would have learned from past experiences with dirt roads are the worst idea ever when biking, but for some reason I continued anyways. After one of the craziest hills in the world, the road turned to dirt/ gravel- not too bad. But eventually, the road got worse and worse. I had to get out and push and one point, and I almost decided to turn back. But I figured it was only a few more miles, and thought that the road would get better. It didn't. Before a rather large hill, I decided to turn back again. But then I calculated it, and even if I walked and pushed my bike the whole way, it would still be faster than turning back. So I pressed on. A lizard crossed my path. This one was much slower than other one I had seen- I easily caught it. It puffed up to try to scare me off, but that didn't work. It was fun to finally catch a reptile again. I kept going, finding an even crazier hill, that took all of my strength to get up. The rest of the path followed the power line. I could finally see what I was getting into- there was a huge mountain range in front of me. I also noticed a fence that crossed the path. I decided to turn back again. Going down all of those crazy hills and stuff would suck, but at least I wouldn't be stuck in the middle of nowhere all night. But I went to see the fence anyways and found that it stopped at the road. I don't know where I got the determination from, but somehow I just decided to keep going. There was a ton of animal dung along this path, so that was freaking me out a bit. Then I heard the coyotes. I wasn't too worried about the coyotes themselves, but if they are out here, then what else is? I decided I just needed to hurry up. Even if I had to push through a bit of darkness, I thought I could get close enough to a paved road that I would be safe. Finally, the road turned completely impossible. I had to go slower than ever before. The road also was going down at a very steep angle. I could see that once I got down, it was all uphill from then on. This is where I really started to freak out. That was when I saw the very last thing in the world that I expected to see out here- a truck. It stopped, probably seeing me. I think we kinda just eyed each other for a while. I finally decided that even though I was only a few miles from where I was trying to go, seeing the truck, combined with seeing what I had to do for those miles, made me finally decide to actually head back. I had to carry my bike up half the hill I just came down. The truck was working it's way around, possibly to me. A waited a bit. I really wanted to go the whole time without ever using a car for assistance, but the circumstances were making that potentially unsafe. I waved at the truck as it went by, and they waved back, and kept on going. I paused for a moment, unsure, and then waved again, trying to get them to stop. The driver got out and asked me if I wanted a ride. Out in the middle of nowhere. How I got this lucky (or unlucky, since I was only a few miles from Fernley) I have no idea. Right after we loaded up my bike, the mountains I used to be heading towards lit up to reveal a rainbow behind it. The sun must have just peeked below the clouds enough to do this just before sunset. The folks we named Matt and Kristina. They were out here just enjoying the view. It was a long way back, and Matt was definitely a talker- our conversation drifted from hiking to biking to mudding to insurance to Obama care. It was interesting to have such a long conversation after being alone for so long. We finally reached Sparks. He dropped me off near a baseball park, off the road where a small sand hill would partially hide my tent. I hugely thankfully for the reset, even if it meant more miles in the end.
Day 14
Day 14
There were coyotes again last night. Even though I could hear them in front of and behind me, I wasn't too worried. Reading about them had eased my mind. I have had a few night where I have been pretty sure animals have been outside my tent. As my number of nights grow in number, I begin to doubt all of them. The wind, both when it is soft or fast, can always sound like an animal pawing at my tent. However, I know for a fact I was visited last night. I heard a bunch of strange noises I was unsure about, but this one shot me awake. It was the sound of hooves hitting the ground and loud puffs of breath being exhaled. It was too dark to check what it was, but from living in Alaska, I know that moose trample people all the time. All these nights I was expecting to get eaten, and here I was going to get trampled to death. It sounded like when A bull or horse is ready to charge- hooves pawing the ground, followed by snorts. I got on my nees, ready to dodge, but nothing happened. I waited for a while, until I finally couldn't hear the animal anymore. I was exhausted, since it was three in the morning. I was able to fall back asleep pretty easily.
I slept in late- I tried catching up with this blog until about midnight, plus I lost some sleep because of the visitor. But I eventually got going. It was sunny, but not too warm yet. I was running low on water when I finally found a little store. I filled up my jugs and also bought a delicious sandwich. I didn't buy icecream this time- it wasn't too crazy hot out. The worker there was very interested when I told her about my trip, so she dicided to take my picture to put on the wall. I didn't get a good look at it, but I believe it was just a "cool people who have visited this store" wall. A few miles later, I passed by a shell gas station and decided to buy another water bottle just in case. I took somewhat of a shortcut, but unfortunately there wasn't a shoulder, so I had to be über careful for like 8 miles. The cars seemed to be very used to bicyclists though, none of them cursed me out or anything. I finally got to the highway again. The shoulders were great. I passed by two rv parks, and seriously considered calling it a day so that I could get caught up and have an early start tomorrow, but I decided to keep going for an hour and a half. I'm already way behind what my average needs to be. A bit after sundown, I found a spot that can only barely be seen from the highway from one direction, and it overlooks a small creek. Skip the following sentence if you are a female. Despite having pooped two other times today, I ended up leaving a pile so big down by the rocks that even a bear would have been proud- it must have been the entire package of cookies that I ate. Once I had my tent set up, I calculated out how I was doing so far. If I average 80 miles per day, I will finish in under 100 days. I'm hoping to have a few nice flat catchup days where I get over 100 miles, but I'm pretty satisfied so far. I also determined what my plan was for the next few days. I will need to charge my batteries soon, so I'm hoping to get to a warm showers host. In 200 miles, there is one. I know I can go 66 miles 3 days in a row, but I'm hoping to stretch myself and go 100 miles a day. I will need to wake up early and really peddle without stopping for long. Apparently there are train tracks nearby, because I could hear and see two small trains wizzing by in the distance at about 5 miles per hour.
There were coyotes again last night. Even though I could hear them in front of and behind me, I wasn't too worried. Reading about them had eased my mind. I have had a few night where I have been pretty sure animals have been outside my tent. As my number of nights grow in number, I begin to doubt all of them. The wind, both when it is soft or fast, can always sound like an animal pawing at my tent. However, I know for a fact I was visited last night. I heard a bunch of strange noises I was unsure about, but this one shot me awake. It was the sound of hooves hitting the ground and loud puffs of breath being exhaled. It was too dark to check what it was, but from living in Alaska, I know that moose trample people all the time. All these nights I was expecting to get eaten, and here I was going to get trampled to death. It sounded like when A bull or horse is ready to charge- hooves pawing the ground, followed by snorts. I got on my nees, ready to dodge, but nothing happened. I waited for a while, until I finally couldn't hear the animal anymore. I was exhausted, since it was three in the morning. I was able to fall back asleep pretty easily.
I slept in late- I tried catching up with this blog until about midnight, plus I lost some sleep because of the visitor. But I eventually got going. It was sunny, but not too warm yet. I was running low on water when I finally found a little store. I filled up my jugs and also bought a delicious sandwich. I didn't buy icecream this time- it wasn't too crazy hot out. The worker there was very interested when I told her about my trip, so she dicided to take my picture to put on the wall. I didn't get a good look at it, but I believe it was just a "cool people who have visited this store" wall. A few miles later, I passed by a shell gas station and decided to buy another water bottle just in case. I took somewhat of a shortcut, but unfortunately there wasn't a shoulder, so I had to be über careful for like 8 miles. The cars seemed to be very used to bicyclists though, none of them cursed me out or anything. I finally got to the highway again. The shoulders were great. I passed by two rv parks, and seriously considered calling it a day so that I could get caught up and have an early start tomorrow, but I decided to keep going for an hour and a half. I'm already way behind what my average needs to be. A bit after sundown, I found a spot that can only barely be seen from the highway from one direction, and it overlooks a small creek. Skip the following sentence if you are a female. Despite having pooped two other times today, I ended up leaving a pile so big down by the rocks that even a bear would have been proud- it must have been the entire package of cookies that I ate. Once I had my tent set up, I calculated out how I was doing so far. If I average 80 miles per day, I will finish in under 100 days. I'm hoping to have a few nice flat catchup days where I get over 100 miles, but I'm pretty satisfied so far. I also determined what my plan was for the next few days. I will need to charge my batteries soon, so I'm hoping to get to a warm showers host. In 200 miles, there is one. I know I can go 66 miles 3 days in a row, but I'm hoping to stretch myself and go 100 miles a day. I will need to wake up early and really peddle without stopping for long. Apparently there are train tracks nearby, because I could hear and see two small trains wizzing by in the distance at about 5 miles per hour.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Day 13
In the morning, luckily there were no more mosquitoes. I peddled back to the radioshack that I had passed. Right when I got there, I reached to take my helmet off, but it wasn't there. Crap. I realized I had left it at my camp spot. That was probably the best place to forget it though, because I had to go back that way anyways to continue on. In radio shack, I discovered that my problem was just the charging cord- everything else still worked. On my way out for the second time, I saw that they had a camping sign just outside of town. Oh well. I peddled back and easily found my helmet. The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur. I remember that there were lots of mountains and gorgeous sights. I found a rest stop near the end of the day. The bathrooms there were outrageously sketch- the only light came from a hole in the ceiling that had plexiglass over it. The hole led to an attic. Someone lived up there... Anyways, a couple arrived around the same time I did. They were interested in my journey and asked a bunch of questions. After this, I knew I had to find a camp quickly before it got too dark. Since it was all down hill, I covered a lot of area in a short amount of time and soon found a big tree to hide behind.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Day 12
I woke up early, which was lucky, because again, I had a lot to do. I started with laundry. An older lady there told me how this rv park used to be much better, but now it was under new management. I found out how true that was when I tried out the showers- no hot water. I was in desperate need of one though, so I at least rinsed. Unsatisfied, I checked the shower that was in the bathroom. It had a sign that said not to use it unless the others were full. But this one had hot water! Once I was done, packing my tent was a pain, since it was so windy out, but eventually I was back on the road. I refilled my water at the same gas station as the night before. If I remember correctly, this day was pretty uneventful until just a few hours before sunset. I found a burger place, and I used their bathroom, so I figured the least I could do was buy a burger from them to go. An eternity later, I got my burger and tried to make up some of the time I had lost by just sitting there. Unfortunely, stopping there caused me to forget my turn. I should have realized it, because the sun was In my eyes. It was bad enough that I stopped for a bit to eat my burger. It really wasn't that great. I kept going. My dad was watching me again, and fortunately called me. I turned back around, right as the sun was setting. I added about 2 miles to my trip- no big deal, except that now I wasn't sure if if find a good camping spot. I checked out an animal viewing cite, but I decided against camping there for three reasons. One: there were tons of mosquitoes. Two: I didn't want to be disturbed by people coming and going. Three: I didn't want to flatten the ground of a nice viewing spot. So I kept on going, even though it was only about a half hour from being pitch black. I tried going far enough to avoid the mosquitoes, but I realized I just needed to find a place that was hidden enough. I found such a spot, and sprinted to get my tent set up. In my rush, my sunglasses fell out of my backpack. Luckily, I found them in the morning. After throwing everything in the tent and zipping up the door, I assessed the damage. There was literally a flock of mosquitoes in my tent- I was doomed. I swung a shirt around, hitting them against the tent wall, trying to get as many at once as I could. It took quite a while, but I finally get all but one or two. I relaxed. Not the best day, but not the worst. This was when I tried to charge my phone. I hadn't been able to get it to charge before. It was really hot all day, so I figured the batteries were just acting up. But I couldn't get any of my chargers to work on my phone at all. I was pretty panicked at this point- I only had 3 percent batty life. If anything happened, I wouldn't have even been able to call 911. I didn't know if it was the batteries, the charging cord, or the phone. I decided that I had to go back into the town I was just in to visit the radio shack that I had passed by on the way out. Fearfully, I slowly drifted off to sleep.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Day 11
This night was by far the worst. I heard I few coyotes off in the distance the first time- no big deal. The second time, I was surrounded. Those eerily high pitched yelps and howls came from behind, in front, and to the right side. I grabbed my phone, thinking about what to say to the 911 operator. No service. I had my knife, but I didn't think that would be too effective against a pack. It was 2:30 in the morning, so two and a half hours until sunrise. The coyotes had plenty of time to move in. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I guess I figured that if they came, I would hear them before they could rip open my tent. So I just clutched my knife, listened, and tried to fall asleep. (Spoiler alert: I didn't get eaten! A few days later, I looked up coyotes and apparently in the United States, there is only one reported case of a coyote killing a human- a three year old girl. Coyotes just want to get away- even when cornered, some will not attack, they will just shy away. Dispite knowing this, there is nothing I've experienced yet that is as unsettling as hearing coyotes yelp and howl while I'm in my tent.)
I wanted to get an early start today, but I didn't get much sleep. I think I ended up being all packed up around 11. I knew I had to make today count- I only had a bit more than I gallon of water to last me. I finally found a rest stop- 2 pumps and a water fountain! Unfortunately, they were completely dry. I wasn't too worried though. The next town was still less than a day away. Plus, I was going by a giant lake, so if something crazy happened, I'd have that. Along the lake, the view was great. To the left, I had a giant cliff. To the right, the lake turned out to be not full of water, but of salt instead. Oops... Well no matter. Once I got down a ways, there were smal patches of water. It finally got hot enough that I tried to go down to it to cool off, but the mud surrounding it made the journey impossible. I wouldn't want muddy water all over me either. I tested in the shade for a while. The wind has been enough to keep me cool so far. It would especially well when going downhill- the speed keeps air moving past you. However, the humidity here made downhills almost unbearable. It was like riding through a sauna. Because of the heat, my water was running out fast. Worst comes to worst, I can always flag down I car and ask for water, but I'd rather not. I kept on going. I finally made it to the real part of the lake- stock full of water. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by houses and fences. There were a few streams that crossed the road, but I knew I was close to the next town. I finally found a store. I bought 4 icecream bars and asked to refill my water. However, they couldn't give me water because they didn't have it tested yet or something. Again, I wasn't worried, even though I was down to just Gatorade, because I knew the next town was really close. Once I finally arrived, I found an rv park that had showers, laundry, and they rented tent spaces. Perfect. Unfortunately, no change machine. So I biked down to the shell station. I refilled my water, bought 35 dollars worth of food, and got 5 bucks in quarters. By the time I left, it was almost dark. But I didn't want to dig around in my pack for my lights, so I quickly peddled back the quarter mile or so to the rv park. I intended on showering and doing laundry that night, but setting up my tent was a challenge. It was crazy windy. My tent actually blew away once- I had to go chasing after it. Once I finally had everything in my tent, I was so tired that I decided I would just do everything in the morning. I fell asleep quickly to the sound of the wind whipping my tent.
I wanted to get an early start today, but I didn't get much sleep. I think I ended up being all packed up around 11. I knew I had to make today count- I only had a bit more than I gallon of water to last me. I finally found a rest stop- 2 pumps and a water fountain! Unfortunately, they were completely dry. I wasn't too worried though. The next town was still less than a day away. Plus, I was going by a giant lake, so if something crazy happened, I'd have that. Along the lake, the view was great. To the left, I had a giant cliff. To the right, the lake turned out to be not full of water, but of salt instead. Oops... Well no matter. Once I got down a ways, there were smal patches of water. It finally got hot enough that I tried to go down to it to cool off, but the mud surrounding it made the journey impossible. I wouldn't want muddy water all over me either. I tested in the shade for a while. The wind has been enough to keep me cool so far. It would especially well when going downhill- the speed keeps air moving past you. However, the humidity here made downhills almost unbearable. It was like riding through a sauna. Because of the heat, my water was running out fast. Worst comes to worst, I can always flag down I car and ask for water, but I'd rather not. I kept on going. I finally made it to the real part of the lake- stock full of water. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by houses and fences. There were a few streams that crossed the road, but I knew I was close to the next town. I finally found a store. I bought 4 icecream bars and asked to refill my water. However, they couldn't give me water because they didn't have it tested yet or something. Again, I wasn't worried, even though I was down to just Gatorade, because I knew the next town was really close. Once I finally arrived, I found an rv park that had showers, laundry, and they rented tent spaces. Perfect. Unfortunately, no change machine. So I biked down to the shell station. I refilled my water, bought 35 dollars worth of food, and got 5 bucks in quarters. By the time I left, it was almost dark. But I didn't want to dig around in my pack for my lights, so I quickly peddled back the quarter mile or so to the rv park. I intended on showering and doing laundry that night, but setting up my tent was a challenge. It was crazy windy. My tent actually blew away once- I had to go chasing after it. Once I finally had everything in my tent, I was so tired that I decided I would just do everything in the morning. I fell asleep quickly to the sound of the wind whipping my tent.
Day 10
The suns warmth woke me up today. It was 8 something, so I thought great, I can get a bunch of stuff done this morning and still have time to get some miles in. However, by the time I was up and packed and I had called places for a new tent, it was almost 11. I was heading to a sporting goods store, but I saw a Safeway along the way, so I bought one of those gigantic sandwiches that only cost 6 bucks. Then I saw a department store on the way, so I stopped there. They didn't have small tents with a full rain fly, so I had to go with an 8 pound monster. At least this one would be better quality. I also bought a knife, just in case, and a gel seat cover- sitting down all day for a week can make your butt pretty sore. Repacking everything took a while- I had to undo everything so that I could throw away the old, broken tent and tarp. The new tent strapped to the front of my bike easily.
By now, it was after 12, so the temperature was around 80 degrees. I was a bit worried because I knew it was supposed to get above 90 that day, and I wouldn't be in the mountains, where it is cooler. But I pressed on.
I saw a rest stop sign, and the sign below it said "next rest stop: 75 miles." Well, then I'm definitely taking advantage of this one. It was nice to get out of the shade for a bit. I finished all of the sandwich except for a small bit there, and refilled one water bottle. I also dunked my head under the sink to get my hair wet- anything extra to cool me down is a good idea.
After a bunch more miles, I finally found a store, so I went in and bought a pint of icecream. The clerk noticed my bike and asked where I was headed. She mentioned that there are no towns south of the store for about 120 miles- so no place to fill up water. So I also bought a gallon of water. I hated the fact that I was adding about 5 pounds to my pack because of the tent and 8 pounds because of the water, but I would much rather be safe than sorry. I actually didn't even notice the extra weight, but I'm pretty sure this is because I didn't have any crazy mountains to climb- only small rolling hills. After finishing the icecream in under 10 minutes, I wanted to find another way to cool off during the ride. There was a sprinkler not too far way, so I took off my shirt and got it soked. It ended up being a lot colder than I thought it would be, but that's all for the better. Putting it back on was difficult- I hate the cold. However, it was very effective at cooling me down.
Once I was a less than a mile down the road, I got a phone call. My dad noticed that I missed a turn before I did. He had just checked the Find My iPhone app and knew where I was going. I'm glad, because that probably would have been a lot of extra miles.
I got really excited when I checked how far I had gone- about 70 miles. Even with the late start and the heat, I knew that I would still manage to get 80 miles in. Which means only 80 miles to go. After the sun went down and I was losing light quickly, I found a tiny town, with apparent a population of 3. It had a motel, a cafe, and an rv park. The motel didn't look like anyone had stayed there in years, so I went the 30 feet over to the rv park. There was one rv there, and no signs or anything anywhere to tell you what to do. I figured it was probably too late anyways, so I decided to set up camp and pay up in the morning. I found out that my tent was waaaay too big- it seems like a 5 or 6 person tent to me. Hopefully I can trade it or something for a smaller and lighter one later. On the plus side, I can probably fit my whole bike inside and still have room to sleep.
When I started to take the second to last item off my bike, a guy came out and yelled, "Well what in the hell is this?" Shit.
"Isn't this an rv park?" I asked.
"No, we don't do that."
"Then you should probably take down the rv park sign."
"Yeah."
The conversation was a bit longer than that, and included the guy telling me to get my head out of my ass for some reason, but long story short, I had to completely pack up everything again, while it was really starting to get dark, and find a place down the road to camp. Now that the tent was packed in differently, the spokes were hitting it. I wasn't going very far though, so I didn't worry about it too much. My main concerns now were to get as far away from that place as reasonable, to find cell service (because for the last hour or so, I had none), and to find a decent place to camp before there was only moonlight. Luckily, I only had to go for about a half mile or so before I finally found service again. Only 1 bar, but it would do. I texted home to let them know I was fine. Since felt weird after this whole experience, I decided that I didn't want anyone to see me setting up camp. When cars came, I would cover my lights and duck down. It didn't take long (I had done it about 30 mins before).
As I lay here in my tent, I realize that I am actually pretty lucky, all things considered. I didn't have service back at that rv park. I didn't intend on getting water at that store, but I wouldn't have enough for tomorrow if I hadn't bought it. (I'm sure I could have found water somewhere, there are cows here and there, they have to drink too, right?) I went plenty of miles (at least I hope so. My iPhone indicated that I had gone more than 70 miles, but there was a sign outside the rv park that said Burns was only 56 miles away). I dont hear any coyotes, and the wind isn't too crazy. Hopefully I can leave earlier tomorrow and get to a city quickly- I haven't done laundry in a while.
By now, it was after 12, so the temperature was around 80 degrees. I was a bit worried because I knew it was supposed to get above 90 that day, and I wouldn't be in the mountains, where it is cooler. But I pressed on.
I saw a rest stop sign, and the sign below it said "next rest stop: 75 miles." Well, then I'm definitely taking advantage of this one. It was nice to get out of the shade for a bit. I finished all of the sandwich except for a small bit there, and refilled one water bottle. I also dunked my head under the sink to get my hair wet- anything extra to cool me down is a good idea.
After a bunch more miles, I finally found a store, so I went in and bought a pint of icecream. The clerk noticed my bike and asked where I was headed. She mentioned that there are no towns south of the store for about 120 miles- so no place to fill up water. So I also bought a gallon of water. I hated the fact that I was adding about 5 pounds to my pack because of the tent and 8 pounds because of the water, but I would much rather be safe than sorry. I actually didn't even notice the extra weight, but I'm pretty sure this is because I didn't have any crazy mountains to climb- only small rolling hills. After finishing the icecream in under 10 minutes, I wanted to find another way to cool off during the ride. There was a sprinkler not too far way, so I took off my shirt and got it soked. It ended up being a lot colder than I thought it would be, but that's all for the better. Putting it back on was difficult- I hate the cold. However, it was very effective at cooling me down.
Once I was a less than a mile down the road, I got a phone call. My dad noticed that I missed a turn before I did. He had just checked the Find My iPhone app and knew where I was going. I'm glad, because that probably would have been a lot of extra miles.
I got really excited when I checked how far I had gone- about 70 miles. Even with the late start and the heat, I knew that I would still manage to get 80 miles in. Which means only 80 miles to go. After the sun went down and I was losing light quickly, I found a tiny town, with apparent a population of 3. It had a motel, a cafe, and an rv park. The motel didn't look like anyone had stayed there in years, so I went the 30 feet over to the rv park. There was one rv there, and no signs or anything anywhere to tell you what to do. I figured it was probably too late anyways, so I decided to set up camp and pay up in the morning. I found out that my tent was waaaay too big- it seems like a 5 or 6 person tent to me. Hopefully I can trade it or something for a smaller and lighter one later. On the plus side, I can probably fit my whole bike inside and still have room to sleep.
When I started to take the second to last item off my bike, a guy came out and yelled, "Well what in the hell is this?" Shit.
"Isn't this an rv park?" I asked.
"No, we don't do that."
"Then you should probably take down the rv park sign."
"Yeah."
The conversation was a bit longer than that, and included the guy telling me to get my head out of my ass for some reason, but long story short, I had to completely pack up everything again, while it was really starting to get dark, and find a place down the road to camp. Now that the tent was packed in differently, the spokes were hitting it. I wasn't going very far though, so I didn't worry about it too much. My main concerns now were to get as far away from that place as reasonable, to find cell service (because for the last hour or so, I had none), and to find a decent place to camp before there was only moonlight. Luckily, I only had to go for about a half mile or so before I finally found service again. Only 1 bar, but it would do. I texted home to let them know I was fine. Since felt weird after this whole experience, I decided that I didn't want anyone to see me setting up camp. When cars came, I would cover my lights and duck down. It didn't take long (I had done it about 30 mins before).
As I lay here in my tent, I realize that I am actually pretty lucky, all things considered. I didn't have service back at that rv park. I didn't intend on getting water at that store, but I wouldn't have enough for tomorrow if I hadn't bought it. (I'm sure I could have found water somewhere, there are cows here and there, they have to drink too, right?) I went plenty of miles (at least I hope so. My iPhone indicated that I had gone more than 70 miles, but there was a sign outside the rv park that said Burns was only 56 miles away). I dont hear any coyotes, and the wind isn't too crazy. Hopefully I can leave earlier tomorrow and get to a city quickly- I haven't done laundry in a while.
Day 9
Happy Fourth of July! I can't think of any better way to celebrate freedom than to be homeless for a few months and bike around the United States. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking about what day it was so I stopped by the post office because I wanted to send home a few things I wasn't using- my jacket, beats headphones, and sandals. They all added a bit of extra weight that I didn't need. But of course, it was closed for the holiday. And it's a Friday. So the next time I will be able to send stuff is on Monday. I thought about throwing them away or donating but I guess I would just have to carry some extra weight for a while. I stopped by a mini mart and bought some food, including a chocolate protein bar that melted in about 10 minutes and a 6 pack of donuts that were gone in 10 minutes.
The riding on this day was similar to the previous- a got two pictures of summits. I didn't have service most of the day, but I knew there were two warm showers folks in Burns, so I wasn't too worried. Once I was 3 miles outside Burns, I finally got service again, and I called the people. One was an out of service number, and the other went straight to voicemail. Awesome. I could see fireworks by now, so I kept peddling into town, hoping to find a cheap motel or something. Everything was at least 50 bucks though. Not happening. I luckily stumbled upon an rv park that accepts tent campers- only 10 bucks. You get wifi, electricity, and showers. Perfect. I sent up my broken tent and then took a nice long shower. I could hear the fireworks from inside my tent, but I was too exhausted to go outside and find a good place to watch them from. Dogs were barking at the loud bangs. Somehow I still managed to fall asleep.
The riding on this day was similar to the previous- a got two pictures of summits. I didn't have service most of the day, but I knew there were two warm showers folks in Burns, so I wasn't too worried. Once I was 3 miles outside Burns, I finally got service again, and I called the people. One was an out of service number, and the other went straight to voicemail. Awesome. I could see fireworks by now, so I kept peddling into town, hoping to find a cheap motel or something. Everything was at least 50 bucks though. Not happening. I luckily stumbled upon an rv park that accepts tent campers- only 10 bucks. You get wifi, electricity, and showers. Perfect. I sent up my broken tent and then took a nice long shower. I could hear the fireworks from inside my tent, but I was too exhausted to go outside and find a good place to watch them from. Dogs were barking at the loud bangs. Somehow I still managed to fall asleep.
Day 8- Cows
I started day 8 on a nice decline- I didn't even have to peddle for a bit. Soon I did however, and I quickly reached the summit, the highest yet. After that, it was all gloriously downhill. I must have averaged a really great pace. There were several more summits, but I started early and I had a place to be that night- the Bicycle Inn, in Mount Vernon. It was another node in the warmshowers.org system. I was so happy to find along the way a small store that sold a bunch of random stuff, but most importantly, they had hand scooped ice cream. The day was probably the hottest yet, so the ice cream put me in heaven. I was a bit stressed all day because I kept calculating when I was expecting to get to the Bicycle Inn, and it was putting me past 10, long after sundown. My legs were finally sore for once, after peddling uphill for so many summits. If I had to go uphill to get to the inn, I would likely have to camp instead. Luckily, it was downhill for several miles, and I reached my destination around 9:30. While I was soaring downhill, the sky lit up red as the sun was setting.
I was only a few minutes later than another bicyclist, Nick. He started from Portland and is headed to New York. He had his entire trip planned out much better than mine. Several of his gadgets made me jealous- a Garmin that kept track of how many miles he had traveled and gave him turn by turn directions. His bag didn't even require a rack to mount- it strapped on to the seat post and became stiff enough to stay put. He was traveling with considerably less weight than I was. This just made me think even more about how inconvenient my setup was. If I stop by a bicycle shop and they happen to have saddlebags and a front rack, I will likely get them. But to save some weight now, I left the Ramen noodles here. They aren't very appetizing when dry, and I can't cook them anymore since my solar thermos broke. I also planned on taking a few things to the post office in the morning. With my devices charging, a fell asleep with the intention of regaining back the strength that so many summits stole from me.
I was only a few minutes later than another bicyclist, Nick. He started from Portland and is headed to New York. He had his entire trip planned out much better than mine. Several of his gadgets made me jealous- a Garmin that kept track of how many miles he had traveled and gave him turn by turn directions. His bag didn't even require a rack to mount- it strapped on to the seat post and became stiff enough to stay put. He was traveling with considerably less weight than I was. This just made me think even more about how inconvenient my setup was. If I stop by a bicycle shop and they happen to have saddlebags and a front rack, I will likely get them. But to save some weight now, I left the Ramen noodles here. They aren't very appetizing when dry, and I can't cook them anymore since my solar thermos broke. I also planned on taking a few things to the post office in the morning. With my devices charging, a fell asleep with the intention of regaining back the strength that so many summits stole from me.
Summit #1
Kinda neat!
Summit #2
Summit #3
Summit #4
Summit #5
The Bicycle Inn.
Day 7- First Host
This day was insane...
I got somewhat of a late start. After breakfast, chatting and repacking, I rolled down the driveway with my brakes fully engaged- it was really steep. Google was telling me there was a road following the highway pretty well. If it ever got too bad, I could just pop on over. On the way, there were no curbs, so I had to be really careful. But as soon as there was space, I got out my headphones. This must have distracted me, because I missed my turn- I added a mile or two to my route. Oh well, no big deal. When I got to the turn, I found out why I really missed it- it was a dirt road. But it supposedly met up with a different road, hopefully paved. There were a bunch of dead snakes on this road. The first one I checked out, and I'm guessing a bird got it and then dropped it, because it wasn't smashed anywhere like a car would do. It was in perfect shape except for a ring around its body.
I eventually reached where I was supposed to turn again, but it was a locked gate, and there were motorhomes and stuff around- I definitely didn't want to mess around here. Google said there was another road up ahead that met up with it. When I got there, there was no such road- perhaps there was a path forever ago, but it was overgrown and fenced off now. This is the point where I most definitely should have turned around, taken the extra miles as a crappy loss, and gone to the fastest way to the highway. But oh no- I decided to push my bike up the crazy incline, battling cacti, in the hopes that I would meet up with the road on the other side. It was tough, but I got to the top, only to find that on the other side was a valley with a fence blocking my path. I don't know how I was able to muster up so much determination, but I figured I could unpack my stuff, get it over the fence, and then finally be on the right road again. When I got to the fence, I found out it was a gate, so I was able to open it by pushing and pulling the barb wire. Okay, I am definitely trespassing now. I couldn't see any houses though. From here, I found that I had several options- I could go to the left, which would possibly save some time, because there were two more closed gates that I would have to get through if I went right. If I went right, I could clearly see a path to the road. I decided to go right. The gates were easy- I just opened and closed them behind me. There was no going back now. Quite a ways down the road, I was greeted by a bull, standing just before a cattle guard. I wasn't sure if it would be friendly or not, so I slowly approached it. I scratched the top of its head (which was pretty gross. His head wasn't covered in bugs, but the rest of his body was). He seemed to like it. I slowly moved past him. There were several other cows as well- they were kinda afraid of me. I just kept on moving. By now, the road was nothing more than a four wheeler trail. I vowed to take the first road connecting back up to the highway. The day was pretty hot. I didn't worry about water, because I was traveling beside a small stream the whole time. It got hot enough that I decided to go down to it to cool off. The cool water felt amazing. Once I finally got to the connecting road, surprise surprise, it was even more overgrown than the current one. And it also went basically straight uphill. I knew my legs were going to hate me for this, so I decided to take a break for a bit. There were neat looking houses nearby- obviously abandoned. One appeared to have collapsed, but when I went around to the other side of it, I discovered that it was built into the hill that way. I wanted to check it out more, but it was too dark inside.
The other houses were too far, so I went back to my bike and ate a Pop-tart. I decided to take this one slowly- I would take 25 steps, at which point my legs would scream at me, then break (and brake) and try to remember every place I had slept on the trip so far. My memory isn't what I wish it was, so thinking about the trip and especially blogging about it is incredibly helpful.
After what seemed like forever, I finally reached the highway. Of course, I was surrounded by fencing that had private property signs all over it. Awesome. There was another place in the fence that once had the ability to open- but it had since been wrapped in even more barbed wire. I really did not want to have to unpack my bike to get everything over the fence- that would have taken forever. I walked along the fence and found a part that I could open. It took some strength to do it, but after a few minutes, I was finally back on the highway. After a few miles, the view was gorgeous- I was in the mountains, so I could see very far. Before sunset, I found a place to camp.
I stopped there because it was right before a nice downhill, and right before I got into the forest. I figured I wanted to be in plain sight- I was sure that wild animals flourished down there. If I'm gonna be eaten, I at least want the search to be quick and easy. I had a fence on one side and the highway on the other- I felt pretty safe. The sun was setting beautifully as I set up my tent. The night wasn't so great.There were ridiculous gusts of wind, and during a calm I heard coyotes.
I got somewhat of a late start. After breakfast, chatting and repacking, I rolled down the driveway with my brakes fully engaged- it was really steep. Google was telling me there was a road following the highway pretty well. If it ever got too bad, I could just pop on over. On the way, there were no curbs, so I had to be really careful. But as soon as there was space, I got out my headphones. This must have distracted me, because I missed my turn- I added a mile or two to my route. Oh well, no big deal. When I got to the turn, I found out why I really missed it- it was a dirt road. But it supposedly met up with a different road, hopefully paved. There were a bunch of dead snakes on this road. The first one I checked out, and I'm guessing a bird got it and then dropped it, because it wasn't smashed anywhere like a car would do. It was in perfect shape except for a ring around its body.
I eventually reached where I was supposed to turn again, but it was a locked gate, and there were motorhomes and stuff around- I definitely didn't want to mess around here. Google said there was another road up ahead that met up with it. When I got there, there was no such road- perhaps there was a path forever ago, but it was overgrown and fenced off now. This is the point where I most definitely should have turned around, taken the extra miles as a crappy loss, and gone to the fastest way to the highway. But oh no- I decided to push my bike up the crazy incline, battling cacti, in the hopes that I would meet up with the road on the other side. It was tough, but I got to the top, only to find that on the other side was a valley with a fence blocking my path. I don't know how I was able to muster up so much determination, but I figured I could unpack my stuff, get it over the fence, and then finally be on the right road again. When I got to the fence, I found out it was a gate, so I was able to open it by pushing and pulling the barb wire. Okay, I am definitely trespassing now. I couldn't see any houses though. From here, I found that I had several options- I could go to the left, which would possibly save some time, because there were two more closed gates that I would have to get through if I went right. If I went right, I could clearly see a path to the road. I decided to go right. The gates were easy- I just opened and closed them behind me. There was no going back now. Quite a ways down the road, I was greeted by a bull, standing just before a cattle guard. I wasn't sure if it would be friendly or not, so I slowly approached it. I scratched the top of its head (which was pretty gross. His head wasn't covered in bugs, but the rest of his body was). He seemed to like it. I slowly moved past him. There were several other cows as well- they were kinda afraid of me. I just kept on moving. By now, the road was nothing more than a four wheeler trail. I vowed to take the first road connecting back up to the highway. The day was pretty hot. I didn't worry about water, because I was traveling beside a small stream the whole time. It got hot enough that I decided to go down to it to cool off. The cool water felt amazing. Once I finally got to the connecting road, surprise surprise, it was even more overgrown than the current one. And it also went basically straight uphill. I knew my legs were going to hate me for this, so I decided to take a break for a bit. There were neat looking houses nearby- obviously abandoned. One appeared to have collapsed, but when I went around to the other side of it, I discovered that it was built into the hill that way. I wanted to check it out more, but it was too dark inside.
The other houses were too far, so I went back to my bike and ate a Pop-tart. I decided to take this one slowly- I would take 25 steps, at which point my legs would scream at me, then break (and brake) and try to remember every place I had slept on the trip so far. My memory isn't what I wish it was, so thinking about the trip and especially blogging about it is incredibly helpful.
I stopped there because it was right before a nice downhill, and right before I got into the forest. I figured I wanted to be in plain sight- I was sure that wild animals flourished down there. If I'm gonna be eaten, I at least want the search to be quick and easy. I had a fence on one side and the highway on the other- I felt pretty safe. The sun was setting beautifully as I set up my tent. The night wasn't so great.There were ridiculous gusts of wind, and during a calm I heard coyotes.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Tired Tyler
I'm still alive, I promise! I haven't had the chance to blog because biking all day really takes it out of you. I will try to catch up soon. I need a new tent.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Day 6- City View
I started the day by going from Kennewick to a bike shop in Hermiston to get more spare tires. After I left, I had basically no battery life left. So I hung out in a Subway restaurant and slowly ate a footlong while I charged my stuff. While I was sitting there, almost done with my sandwich, I realized I had another flat tire. This one was a slow leak, and I couldn't find the source. Both of my other flats were obvious. So I went back to the bike shop, and they offered me what I should have started out with- thorn resistant tubes and tire liner. Hopefully, this should make flat tires next to impossible- they are about 10 times thicker than the ones I had been using. While changing out the flat, I did find the source- a small staple that couldn't be felt from the outside. Anyways, I was finally able to continue on to Pendleton, which is almost straight down for the longest time- I'm not excited about all that elevation that I will inevitably have to gain again. Once there, I got to stay at the house of an amazingly hospitable couple, Athena and Tony. They are a warmshowers.org host, so they welcome bikers into their homes for a shower and a place to sleep for the night. There were two others staying as well- they were headed to Colorado and then Minnesota.
I am hugely thankful for the shower, dinner, comfortable bed, advice about what to do the next day, and breakfast.
I am hugely thankful for the shower, dinner, comfortable bed, advice about what to do the next day, and breakfast.
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