Day 02 - St. Helens, OR to Welches, OR
The weather report was full of ominous warnings about rain, showers, thunderstorms, and a
thesaurus full of ways to say the same thing. I think that I felt 2 or 3 drops and am not
sure about that. Otherwise, a cool, dry day in Oregon. So I didn't make any use of the
rain and cold weather clothing in my light, nylon backpack. It appears that I'll be
wearing those clothes when we start tomorrow.
I didn't take a camera today. I know that my phone has a camera but it's just too hard to
see outside. I just guess and shoot in the general direction. Maybe I'll post those
pictures later but now it's too late.
The first half was an easy cruise mostly along the Columbia River. After that, the 3000
feet of climbing began in earnest. Yesterday was over 3000, today was over 3000, and
tomorrow will be over 5000. Given yesterday's effort, I thought that today would be much
harder than it was.
Tomorrow begins early with loading the luggage at 6:15. Time to tend to that.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Day 01 - Astoria, OR to St. Helens, OR
There was not a drop of rain today as we pedaled 69 miles on Route 30 with no turns. Arrived at the hotel at 1:00 and checked in. By that time, the luggage truck had been unloaded and I took my bags to the room. How's that for efficiency? The day was cool and the terrain was hilly. We see good reason to believe that 25% of the climbing on this trip is in Oregon. Tomorrow is 75 miles more of the same at the base of Mt. Hood.
There was not a drop of rain today as we pedaled 69 miles on Route 30 with no turns. Arrived at the hotel at 1:00 and checked in. By that time, the luggage truck had been unloaded and I took my bags to the room. How's that for efficiency? The day was cool and the terrain was hilly. We see good reason to believe that 25% of the climbing on this trip is in Oregon. Tomorrow is 75 miles more of the same at the base of Mt. Hood.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Across America North - day 00
The trip to Astoria started at 5:30 Wednesday morning to the train station for an 8:05
train. All went well despite a construction project at the train station that had the
ticket desk and waiting room moved a block away and across the street. The train left the
station on time. So far, so good.
The trip to Sacramento went as expected. After all, a train schedule is synonymous with running on time. On time in this case meant a 10-hour layover in Sacramento. At hour 8, however, there was trouble. A freight train on the Oregon border had derailed, blocking north-south train traffic. Amtrak had decided to ferry the passengers by bus around the blocked track. Amtrak told us that we would still be there on time because going by bus in that area was faster than the train. Ok, that's not a show-stopping problem.
Apparently, someone at Amtrak found a way to route a train around the derailment. It involved a freight line that hadn't seen passenger traffic since 1912. It also went through hundreds of miles of northern California that was practically untouched by development. Ok, this could be worse.
Along the way was some rolling stock on the track that had to be moved. The crew used a convenient sidetrack for that and we were on our way an hour later. I thought that the terrain was surprisingly rough for a train. Building this line must have been a stupendous amount of work. This means that the average speed was often 10-20 mph --- it took a long time. It took such a long time that the crew was pushing an apparently iron-clad, rock- solid, inviolable rule: No crew can work more than a 12-hour shift. When the clock said 12 hours, the train stopped and we waited for a new crew to arrive. But, out in the middle of nowhere, that took some time. So, near one of the very few towns, we waited for 4.5 hours until the crew arrived by train.
There were numerous other waits but I've forgotten where and how long now. Maybe I could have taken notes but I didn't and the details are lost forever now. The delay was becoming long enough to be a problem. The train ran out of water. Most of the toilets didn't work anymore. There was talk of supplies running low for some babies and drugs running low for some people. A new conductor came on with the new shift and he must have been compelled to walk down the train of irate passengers inviting questions. I can only imagine the heat that he must have taken.
Eventually, we arrived in Portland. A couple of hours before, Amtrak had decided to cancel the train and put all of the passengers heading north onto buses.
My bus left on time and arrived on time. That was the turning of the tide. After checking into the hotel, I got my bike, took it to my room, and set about assembling it. The headset was not as I expected so I took it to the ABB mechanic who simply pushed harder than I did to make everything fit as it should. All's well now.
Today we went to the beach at Fort Stevens State Park. It was an easy ride of 15 miles. There we dipped a rear wheel into the ocean, took a few pictures, and rode back to the hotel.
On the way back, about two miles from the hotel, I heard a ka-boom and suddenly I was riding on my rear rim. Uh, oh. It sounded like a blow-out and it was. While waiting for the glue to dry to patch the tire, I ate a Clif bar. The wrapper was going to reinforce the damaged sidewall. I pumped the tire up to about 50 pounds and rode the last couple of miles. After getting a second opinion about the tire, the mechanic kindly took my spare tire and mounted it. Now I have a mismatched set of tires: one blackwall and one whitewall. But it's good now.
We had a long orientation meeting and went to dinner. Tomorrow starts early at 5:00.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105028088691793142510/June162013?authuser=0&feat=directlink
The trip to Sacramento went as expected. After all, a train schedule is synonymous with running on time. On time in this case meant a 10-hour layover in Sacramento. At hour 8, however, there was trouble. A freight train on the Oregon border had derailed, blocking north-south train traffic. Amtrak had decided to ferry the passengers by bus around the blocked track. Amtrak told us that we would still be there on time because going by bus in that area was faster than the train. Ok, that's not a show-stopping problem.
Apparently, someone at Amtrak found a way to route a train around the derailment. It involved a freight line that hadn't seen passenger traffic since 1912. It also went through hundreds of miles of northern California that was practically untouched by development. Ok, this could be worse.
Along the way was some rolling stock on the track that had to be moved. The crew used a convenient sidetrack for that and we were on our way an hour later. I thought that the terrain was surprisingly rough for a train. Building this line must have been a stupendous amount of work. This means that the average speed was often 10-20 mph --- it took a long time. It took such a long time that the crew was pushing an apparently iron-clad, rock- solid, inviolable rule: No crew can work more than a 12-hour shift. When the clock said 12 hours, the train stopped and we waited for a new crew to arrive. But, out in the middle of nowhere, that took some time. So, near one of the very few towns, we waited for 4.5 hours until the crew arrived by train.
There were numerous other waits but I've forgotten where and how long now. Maybe I could have taken notes but I didn't and the details are lost forever now. The delay was becoming long enough to be a problem. The train ran out of water. Most of the toilets didn't work anymore. There was talk of supplies running low for some babies and drugs running low for some people. A new conductor came on with the new shift and he must have been compelled to walk down the train of irate passengers inviting questions. I can only imagine the heat that he must have taken.
Eventually, we arrived in Portland. A couple of hours before, Amtrak had decided to cancel the train and put all of the passengers heading north onto buses.
My bus left on time and arrived on time. That was the turning of the tide. After checking into the hotel, I got my bike, took it to my room, and set about assembling it. The headset was not as I expected so I took it to the ABB mechanic who simply pushed harder than I did to make everything fit as it should. All's well now.
Today we went to the beach at Fort Stevens State Park. It was an easy ride of 15 miles. There we dipped a rear wheel into the ocean, took a few pictures, and rode back to the hotel.
On the way back, about two miles from the hotel, I heard a ka-boom and suddenly I was riding on my rear rim. Uh, oh. It sounded like a blow-out and it was. While waiting for the glue to dry to patch the tire, I ate a Clif bar. The wrapper was going to reinforce the damaged sidewall. I pumped the tire up to about 50 pounds and rode the last couple of miles. After getting a second opinion about the tire, the mechanic kindly took my spare tire and mounted it. Now I have a mismatched set of tires: one blackwall and one whitewall. But it's good now.
We had a long orientation meeting and went to dinner. Tomorrow starts early at 5:00.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105028088691793142510/June162013?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Sending my bike to Oregon
To ship my bike to Oregon in June, I bought a BikND travel case back in January. Tuesday afternoon, I bought a FedEx shipping label from ShipBikes.com. I called ShipBikes to ask something about the label and heard that my case is unacceptable to FedEx because the straps, buckles, wheels, and handle may be torn off by FedEx's sorting machinery. All this was happening very close to the time at which I have to ship the bike in order to be reasonably certain that it will arrive by Saturday, June 15.
The guy at ShipBikes seemed to me to be the voice of experience so I believed him and started working on other arrangements. One idea was to find a bike box big enough to hold the bike + case. I left a message at BikND's Facebook page, too, and saw a reply very soon. BikND doesn't know of any problems with FedEx. With these contradictory assertions in mind, I packed the bike in the case and took it to FedEx on Wednesday to hear the verdict from the source and expecting the worst.
After hours of worrying about this, I heard in about 30 seconds that
for a trivial $8 more, this package could be flagged as "unpackaged" so
that it will never run the gauntlet of the sorting machinery. No problem. Much anxiety
for nothing. FedEx says that my bike will be at the hotel in Astoria
on Monday, June 10, four days before I arrive.
It's
remarkably easy to put a bike in the BikND case. Remove pedals, wheels,
rear derailleur, stem + handlebar, seat + seatpost. Secure the fork
and bottom bracket. Install rear dropout protector, chainstay and
chainring cover, fork covers, stem cover. Install hub protectors while
packing wheels. Zip it up halfway, stow the parts, pump up the air
bladders, finish zipping. Buckle the straps. Ship it.
All that's left now is to find it in Oregon as I shipped it west and to put it back together. Then I can ride off into the sunrise and ship it west again in New Hampshire.
The guy at ShipBikes seemed to me to be the voice of experience so I believed him and started working on other arrangements. One idea was to find a bike box big enough to hold the bike + case. I left a message at BikND's Facebook page, too, and saw a reply very soon. BikND doesn't know of any problems with FedEx. With these contradictory assertions in mind, I packed the bike in the case and took it to FedEx on Wednesday to hear the verdict from the source and expecting the worst.
 |
| Going down the hall and out the door. |
 |
| Committed to the tender mercies of FedEx and Ross |
All that's left now is to find it in Oregon as I shipped it west and to put it back together. Then I can ride off into the sunrise and ship it west again in New Hampshire.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Today's ride was intended to be a long one. Out of the sheltered areas where the city is and south of Denver on any of several high ridges, the west wind, about 15 mph gusting to at least 25 mph, made riding straight impossible. Even staying on the bike required a lot of concentration. Hess hill is 15 miles from home and about two miles of 4% grade followed by two more miles at 6%--8%. The road over Hess hill goes mainly west so it was a tough one today. Then, after earning a joyride going down on the far side, I dared to go only about 12 mph because the wind tried to steer for me. This is a hill that calls for at least 35 mph.
After only 2.5 hours and only 35 miles, I bailed out to ride another day. This is not a luxury that I'll have this summer but that's another day, too. Going up Hess hill was a test of will so maybe it counts as a mental workout of which there will be more this summer. Two weeks to go.
After only 2.5 hours and only 35 miles, I bailed out to ride another day. This is not a luxury that I'll have this summer but that's another day, too. Going up Hess hill was a test of will so maybe it counts as a mental workout of which there will be more this summer. Two weeks to go.
Friday, May 17, 2013
May 17, 2013 --- Today's ride was a little longer and a sign that I might be ok this summer. The cumulative effect of consecutive days and miles remains uncertain. If I'd been doing consecutive long days, I would know but I haven't. Hess hill was easier this time although I'm not any faster. I had good legs all the way to the end and that's the encouraging bit.
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