The adventures of Ken and Russ 01SEPT11 to 05SEPT11

01 SEPT11 Finished call that went overnight, with few calls. I was able to sign out to Sneller Moreller and then take off.  I met Russ at his house and we took off at 8:15am. When we got to Whitefish, we had dinner and then stayed in a total dive of a motel. Drive was 570 miles, taking 9 hours.

Heading toward West Glacier

On the road to Essex

Izaac Walton Inn

02 SEPT11 Parked car at Columbia Falls Airport, and took off. Stayed at the Isaac Walton Inn in Essex, MT. 3297 Cal, 719 meters of ascent. 4:24 time 85.5 km. This hotel is a historic building that housed railway workers in yesteryear who maintained the tracks in winter. It is now an elegant hotel, where one could watch the trains go by, just west of Marias Pass.

03SEPT11 Essex to  St. Mary via Looking Glass Hill Time 6:35, Distance 96.7 km, Ascent 1534 meters, cal 3883.

Marias Pass

View from Looking Glass Hill

Marias Pass went quite smooth, about 400 meters of climbing, and we arrived in East Glacier Park at about 11:30, so had lunch there. The route immediately started climbing up Looking Glass Hill. The views were stupendous, but the road had no shoulder, was busy, and persistent 6-7% grade, another 400 meters of climbing. The rest of the trip to St. Mary was three subsequent climbs, finally exhausting me, but Russ was handling all okay. The final 8 km descent was glorious. We stayed in a small budget hotel in town.

04SEPT11 St Mary to West Glacier via Going to the Sun Road across Glacier National Park. 873 meters ascent, 3143 Calories, 4:44 time, 73.5 km. Seven miles of this trip (not counted) was via a mandatory shuttle bus along Lake McDonald. This was moderately strenuous after a very strenuous day. Russ handled it well, but he was performing the first Touring time trial up Logan Pass.

Peak seen from Going to the Sun Road

Near the top of Logan Pass

Logan Pass

Descent from Logan Pass

Western Going to the Sun Road

West end of Going to the Sun Road

05SEPT11 West Glacier back to Airport, and then drive home.  37 km, 1:43 time, 1222 Calories, 169 meters ascent.

We returned by way of route 2, which left a mile of tight canyon road, very suited for photography, except that there was no shoulder on the road so it was impossible to comfortably stop. After returning to the car, we were able to drive home in reasonable time.

Russ A. and I had been planning this loop for quite a while. We had other loops in mind, such as going to Glacier National Park, but realized that the snow conditions were not permissive of a ride anywhere we wished. There is a website that promotes this loop (www.selkirkloop.org), so we decided that this would be  perfect choice. We drove to the start of the loop in Newport, Washington in a driving rain, hoping that the weather would clear. We stayed in a cheap motel and took off the next morning. Here is a map of the loop, and then our Garmin statistics…

03JUNE – Newport, WA to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, riding time 4:21, 101 km, 295 m ascent, 3755 calories – mostly cloudy weather, no rain; stayed in a hotel in Bonners Ferry

04JUNE- Bonners Ferry to Gray Creek, B.C., riding time 6:29, 125.5 km, 949 m ascent, 4872 calories – perfect weather, stayed in our tent at an RV park at Gray Creek, on Lake Kootenay

05JUNE- Gray Creek to Salmo, B.C., riding time 4:56, 88.54 km, 848 m ascent, 4098 calories  - again, perfect weather. Hard climb noted out of Nelson.

06JUNE- Salmo, B.C., to Newport, WA, riding time 7:33, 147 km, 623 m ascent, 5864 calories, we took the LeClerc Road variant, which was very flat, along the Pend Oreille River. The weather was perfect, but we drove back to Tacoma that evening, noting a very hard rain on the drive from Newport to Spokane, WA.

Total stats: 23:19 hours riding time, 462 km (287 miles), 2715 meters elevation gain (8907 ft), 18,689 calories burned off. We essentially accomplished the loop we wished, though it took us a little less time than anticipated. The only significant plan alteration was that we hoped to go to Kaslo and New Denver on the extended upper loop, but the weather did not look like it was going to stay perfect long enough for us to enjoy an entirely dry trip, and thus gave reason for doing the standard Selkirk Loop rather than a variant. Besides, we needed an excuse to return. Also, Russ had an injury to his thigh on the second day of riding, which suggested that it be best that we not push matters too hard.

In all, it was a delightful ride, and I had a wonderful time with Russ, and am already planning our next touring trip. It would be helpful if we knew what to expect in towns, and maps like the Adventure Cycle Association would be nice to have for all towns. Some towns on the map were essentially ghost towns, others had stores and motels and other provisions, and it was impossible to know what to expect along the route. This made it harder to plan for stops. Here are some photos of the trip…

Russ with the Selkirks in the background

Me on my loaded Co-Motion bicycle

Lake Kooteney in British Columbia

Lake Kooteney scene

The Glass House - built out of embalmers bottles

Lake Kooteney

On the Ferry crossing Lake Kooteney

West Arm of Lake Kooteney looking at the town of Nelson

Our hotel in Salmo, B.C.

Russ humping up a long steep hill out of Salmo

Russ and I in Metaline Falls

Last day - along the Pend D'Oreille River

So, we’re back. Tired, but, it was a wonderful trip.

The itch to ride continues, but the rains continue unabated. Our Spring started out with a delightful visit by Scott & Lee Pyles, who direct the mission and hospital that we visited in Cameroon.

My first adventure was with Russ. I needed to pick up some furniture at Lew’s house, so decided to take the Amtrak down to Portland, ride the Touring bikes from the Amtrak Station to Oregon City, rent a U-Haul there, pick up the furniture, and ride up the Clackamas the next day. We had a moderate amount of rain on the trip, but our equipment held up quite well.

Russ in front of the Hawthorne Bridge, Portland, Oregon

Attention Walmart Shoppers - here comes Peter. This rig gets him just about everywhere!

The family plot on the farm - completely rebuilt by Peter.

An old flour mill, still in operation, powered by a water mill

Early green wheatfields, stretching beyond the horizon

Wheat fields as far as you could see

It was time to go to Germany, and discover the world of bicycle riding in Europe. Dr. Peter Tate was to meet me in Berlin with his bicycle, and I was bringing my Novara Element with the intention of leaving the bicycle with Onkel Herbert. Daughter Diane was able to get away from work and go with us, and she seemed content to take care of herself when Peter and I were out riding. Our plan was for a Blitzreise, spending three days in Berlin, three days in Leipzig with Herr Doktor Kretschmar, and three days in Krefeld with der berühmte Herr Doktor Feucht. Diane left us after Berlin to go see a friend in Frankfurt, and we met again in Krefeld. The trip included much learning about how to survive with a bicycle. It was especially the case with learning how to travel on public transportation with a bicycle, like riding the Bahn. Once arriving in Berlin, the first order of attention was to assembling the bicycle, and then to going out to get some Döner. We were able to take Peter on a walk around Berlin in order to show him the main sites, like the Bandenburger Tor.

21 AUG 20 km ride around Berlin– riding a bicycle around Berlin was easier than expected. Bicycles need to observe the same rules as cars, though they usually have special bicycle paths for bicycles. The rest of the day was spent taking a long walk with all three of us together and Diane as Stadtführerin.

22 AUG 108 km ride to Potsdam from Berlin, with bypass to see Sans Soucci and to loop around several lakes in the Potsdam area. This was a long ride, and the weather was perfect. On this trip, we learned how confusing it could be to try to find your way around, and we often went in circles. Streets are not often clearly marked, and they frequently change name for no good reason. To make matters worse, I was depending on a gps card for my Garmin Edge that would give me streets in Europe. The gps unit refused to accept the card, and so was left without a reasonable means of orientation and poor maps. I couldn’t have been more upset. Needless to say, the ride was awesome, and the palaces around Sans Soucci were overwhelming in their size and grandeur.

24 AUG Dresden. 4:30, 81 km3500 cal, 120 m– Peter and I arrived in Leipzig on 23AUG, and was picked up at the Hauptbahnhof by Dr. Kretschmar, whom I met last year while in Cameroon. He arranged for us to stay at a Ferienwohnhausrun by one of his friends. We were able to meet his parents and to have supper with them. The home-made sauerkraut was awesome. They also took us on a quick tour of Leipzig. On 24 AUG, Karsten, Peter and I were able to take off on our bicycles to the Elberadweg. We drove about 1 hour to our planned start, and off we went. The route was unbelieveably well cared for, and many people were on the road. It was fascinating to see a very large number of quite elderly people out riding their bicycles. We passed through the towns of Meißen, where the famous porcelain comes from, Dresden, and on. As we rode up stream, the canyon walls got steeper, and more impressive. There were multiple castles and elegant palaces along the way…. Nothing like one would ever see in the US. We then stayed in a very large Herberge, which looked like an old castle with a Turm, and nestled on the side of the canyon wall.

Peter and Carsten

Meißen

Peter in Dresden

Frauenkirche

Semper Oper

Our hostel was the upper right white “castle”

25 AUG. Konigstein to Neuhirschstein 90.6 km 5:17  3593 cal, 215 m ascent– the next day, we first rode 10 km up the Elbe to Konigstein, making a fairly steep climb up to the largest fortress (Festungen) in all of Europe. It was overwhelming. The trip back along the Elbe attempted further variations in order to see different things. At the end of the trip, it was very sad for me to have to say goodbye to Carsten, as I really appreciated seeing him and family again. I’ll definitely want to see him again in Cameroon, as well as spend time with him again in Deutschland.

Königstein

Königstein

Summer palace in Dresden

End of the ride in Hirschstein

26-27 AUG — we took the Bahn from Leipzig to Krefeld, and then rode our bicycles from the Krefeld Hauptbahnhof to Herbert’s Haus. The next day, Diane, Peter and I rode the regional transport to Düsseldof. We also spent much time looking for a bicycle box in order to sent Peter’s bibcyle back to the US on the airplane with him. We finally found a box for him at the Rückenwind bicycle shop.

28 AUG Krefeld to Ossenberg and back.   5:42,  100.7 km     3673 cal, 127 m ascent. Today, Peter and I took off on our bicycles to ride up the Rhein. The bicycle path was reasonably well marked, but the road was not in nearly as good of shape as the route along the Elbe. Also, since we were in the  Ruhrgebiet, we saw a huge number of very large factories. At the end, the weather got us, and we were caught in a squall. Peter wanted to stop for a beer, but I just wanted a warm shower and dry clothes.

It’s been hard saying goodbye again to so many friends. Carsten, Herbert, Katja and Hannes and Peter. Having left a bicycle with panniers at Herberts Haus, I now have no excuse not to return to Deutschland for another ride. I’ll either do the upper Rhein, the Schwarzwald, or perhaps something over in the Franken/Spessart area, heading to Prague. Hopefully, the next trip might be a little longer, and focused on just one region, to prevent spending a lot of time just getting from one place to another.

26JUL2010   Total travel time 2:49, 68 km, 120 m ascent, 2958 cal.
I finally have been able to break away for a week to do some cycle touring. Russ A and I were dropped off in Darrington by Lucas, who rode about 40 miles with us. We spent the first night in the park lawn of Newhalem, having grabbed dinner at the country store, which closes about 5 pm. We were able to order some cold sandwiches, and even a beer. I was then able to finish Pat Buchanan’s book, and finish writing a review for this book on Betsy’s iPad, which she so graciously let me borrow. I’m beginning to love these little devices, as they are perfect for travel, since all I need is some word processing, and occasional Internet connection on WiFi. It is awesome at holding a charge. I thought that I’d never like the bugger, but I now prefer this over my laptop for travel, which is heavy, an energy monster, and not as versatile in many ways. I especially liked the iBooks option, which is a color improvement over the Kindle. The General (Pat C) had a Kindle on our ACA trip last year, and I was quite interested in it’s ability to provide availability to multiple books.

27JUL2010   Time 8:40 distance 120.3 km 1594 m total ascent, 6680 cal
Today was a most challenging day. We started from Newhalem, WA and rode to Winthrop. In the process, we needed to cross the North Cascades, and the pass is not an easy one. Actually, there are two passes, Rainy and then Washington Pass. After completing Rainy Pass on fully loaded touring bicycles, we were getting pretty beat. By the time we arrived in Winthrop, we were exhausted. It didn’t help that the last ten miles was greeted with a very strong head wind. Russ and I survived, especially owing to the spectacular scenery on the Passes. We might be invalids tomorrow!

28JUL2010   Time 3:11, distance 67 km, ascent 166 m, cal 2259
As one could see, today was an easy day. We needed it after yesterday, and today was also quite hot, especially in the afternoon. So, we rode from Winthrop tp Pateros. I am now looking out on the Columbia River. We went swimming in the hotel pool to cool off, and am able to relax. We’ve encountered a number of foreign cyclists on the route who are hitting the North Cascades, and it is interesting how much this part of the world attracts everybody else, yet this is only the second time I’ve ever been across the North Cascades highway. The cycle ride itself was reasonably flat, but the heat was still oppressive, as we followed the course of the Methow River before it flows into the Columbia River at Pateros.

29JUL2010  Riding time 4:40 distance 93 km, ascent 381 m, 3250 cal.
Travel today was between Pateros and Wenatchee, WA. The route followed the Columbia River all the way, though it was rolling hills, some as much as a persistent (2-3km) 5% grade. We started at 6 am in the morning, but by 10 am the heat was already quite sweltering. I couldn’t have ridden too much longer today because of the heat. The morning was absolutely gorgeous with sun glowing on the sides of the cliffs beside the Columbia River. We passed multiple fruit stands, affording us an opportunity to purchase fruit for the road. Peaches never tasted so good! Finally, in Wenatchee, we were able to catch the Trailway bus back to Tacoma. We wanted to take the train, but they would not allow us to check on our bicycles in Wenatchee, so, we took the bus. At first, Mr. Sourpuss at the checkout counter told us that we could not take our bicycles, but a very nice bus driver let us stick the bicycles In the luggage compartment anyway. So, it was a fantastic cycle trip with a fantastic friend.

I again did not take nearly enough photos. There isn’t much diffent that I’ll need to do for further road trips except to get in better shape. I hope that the issue is simply that of being a novice in cycle touring, and the more I do cycle touring with friends, I’ll be able to plan better, and utilize the time to not force mileage, but to enjoy each mile ridden. This will take time and experience. Further mid-summer trips should be planned for the coast, and not in eastern/central Washington. Maybe we could do part of the Pacific Coast route next summer.

Russ, Luke, and I as well as Peter decided to head off to eastern Washington to do some cycle riding.

The above photo includes Pete, Howie, Jake, Lucas, and Russ standing in the Blue Mountains after visiting an old family hunting site.

We stayed with a relative of Russ, Howie, who has a cabin in the Blue Mountains of eastern Washington, next to his charming bruder Jake.

Howie is on the left, Jake on the right. We did short and long rides each day. The weather was gorgeous, though a bit hot for my liking, being up to 33?. The Palouse contains not only the Blue Mountains, but wheat fields as far as the eye could see. You can see our motley crew resting by a wheat field.

Each evening, we cooked up a meal, and Lucas would retreat to study. Study? My goodness, he has forgotten that he graduated from college!

Reality hit, and he had to pack off back home…

Total mileage was

15JUL 24.5 km, 414 m elevation gain

16JUL 120 km, 1173 m elevation gain

17JUL 95 km, 576 m elevation gain

18JUL 38 km, 325 m elevation gain

So, here is a quick catchup, mostly with photos…

1. Deutsch Unterricht– I restarted Saturday AM German class. Between reading the Magazine Deutsch Perfekt and going to German class at the Tacoma German Language School, I’ve been able to keep from totally loosing my language skills. Here are some photos of the class, as well as the teacher, Yvonne. She is from Dresden, Germany, and is unbelievably patient with us old farts.

2. Oregon Coast– in early February, Betsy and I took a trip to the Oregon Coast. The lead photo was from Cannon Beach. The Oregon Coast is one of the most beautiful coasts in the world.

3. Cycling & trainer– Betsky now has a new bicycle, named Meggie II, after her first bicycle. We took a brief 10 mile ride recently…

Betsy also let me get a Tacx Virtual Reality Trainer. These are quite nice at being able to cycle train in bad weather or when you only have an hour to spend on a bicycle and need a hard workout. It works by connecting a computer to a gizmo that your back bicycle wheel sets in. When you are going “uphill”, the wheel offers resistance in proportion to the steepness of the hill, and when going downhill, it may actually spin your tire for you. It is close to reality.

You can see that it really chews up your training tire. Meanwhile, you watch a video screen, which you set to a number of rides that you may wish to experience, throughout Europe. As you pedal faster, the scene moves faster, quite comparable to reality.

The screen will also show your power output (in watts), cadence (how fast you’re pedaling), heartrate, bicycle speed, time, and distance. This allows you to monitor closely how well you are improving on your endurance. Here is Jonathan on the bicycle trainer…

4. Bicycle Tour 15-18APRIL2010. This trip was to celebrate tax day, April 15. Russ A. and I drove to Chelan, WA, and took off from there. Our first stop was 52 miles later in Twisp, WA. The road either followed the Columbia River, or tributaries, leaving us at a resort town just east of the North Cascades pass.

The next day went from Twisp to Coulee Dam, a 85+ mile ride, with fully loaded touring bikes, and about 7000 feet elevation gain. Here was our first challenge, that of crossing Loup Loup Pass. We were concerned about the weather since it had snowed on the pass just a week before. It was quite cold, but we were working so hard to cross the pass that we were over-heated anyway.

We then ended up in Omak. We met a kindly elderly gentleman on the street to enquire about our options, and he suggested that we NOT go the way we had planned, but instead take an alternative route that was marked on the map as gravel road, yet in reality was fully paved. He also suggested that there were minimal hills. The route indeed was far less hilly than our planned route, but was persistent in multiple sections of 6-7% grade uphill, and a lengthy 8-9% grade section at the beginning and end of the new route. We were quite pleased to have done this alternative route, since it took us by some absolutely spectacular scenery, like Omak Lake.

We eventually ended up at nightfall quite exhausted but looking at the Grand Coulee Dam. We stayed in a motel that faced the dam.

The next day was 61 miles and another 5000 feet of climbing. From the photo below, the intuition would remark at how flat the terrain was, yet, on a bicycle, it was quite rolling hills, with lots of 6% grade climbing. We were still moderately tired from the previous day, which made it harder to do even simple hills.

Our last memorable scene was from the Columbia plateau, getting ready to descend down to the Columbia River. In the distance, you could see Lake Chelan and the town of Chelan. It was a 8-12% grade descent for about 5 miles. Awesome! I’d sure hate to come up that hill on a loaded touring bike!

5. Future– so much has gone by. A niece, Laura, won a beauty pageant.

Laura, we are so proud of you. It takes not only beauty but true talent and skill to get to Teen Colleyville.  Thankfully, you didn’t have to have uncles dying in the car and brothers spazzing out on you to get into your contest, like in Little Miss Sunshine. We had old friends from many moons ago, Aaron and Anita visit us. They remain quite special. I especially appreciate being able to do outdoor things with Aaron. We plan on seeing Jonny off to Belize for the summer, and perhaps longer, to visit and study with Uncle Dennis. Dennis has been doing well, as is attested by this recent photograph…

Once he gets out of jail and quits playing with poisonwood, he’ll be back to his old self, I’m sure. Dennis is not really in jail; he is just showing us the miracles of Photoshop. I’d really like to visit Dennis some day. Belize is looking increasingly appealing, especially with our Destroyer-in-Chief Obaminator as el Presidente ruining all that we count as precious in our country. He will go down with Woodrow Wilson and FDR as the worst presidents ever of the USA.

I hope to do a few more cycle tours this summer. I also plan on spending the month of June in Bangladesh, and will be in Germany for the last 2 weeks of August, if all works well. More blogs will follow. I haven’t had many book or movie reviews since I’m listening to 2 lengthy Brahms compendiums, which I wish to review together, watching a lengthy tv series with Betsky, and reading a very large and ponderous book. So, more blogs will be in the works in the future. Meanwhile, please stay in touch.

The big event of the last few weeks has been the class I took in bicycle touring. It was sponsored by the Adventure Cycling Association (http://www.adventurecycling.org/ ) and lasted for 5-½ days, including a day of instruction, and four days on the road. The riding was really very simple, with very short days, and lots of eating, but the camaraderie was delightful, getting to know a number of very interesting people.  It was also instructive to be with other people to learn in a safe environment how to really do distance cycle touring. It is like driving a Freightliner truck as compared to the Ferrari of Gelbvögel (yellow bird). I find that I can easily mix photography with riding, and will be using the handlebar bag mostly as a camera bag. I need to figure out how to bring along my tripod in order to obtain crisper photographs, plus photographs that include everybody including the photographer in the group. My panniers were always half empty, so, I think I can devise a way to get a tripod on board. I’ve become addicted to my Canon XSi camera. I use  18-55 mm and 55-250 mm lenses, as well as an accessory flash. It is tough lugging that stuff along, but it is worth it. While I learn more about digital photography, I’ve realized the importance of taking primarily RAW photos. I did that on this trip in the RAW+jpeg format, and neither iPhoto, Photoshop, nor Aperture were able to properly handle this format. While experimenting all possible variants, I learned that I need to photograph in the Adobe RGB colorspace, and should only take RAW photos without the jpeg, as all three of the above programs will immediately convert the RAW files to .tif files once I edit them, saving the original .cr2 (raw) file. So, I get the best of all worlds, except that I need to edit all of my photos. All three programs will convert the photo to any size jpeg file that I wish for publishing on the internet or sending to friends and fiends.

Someday, I’d like to be the first person to do “The Box” in one setting, assuming it has not been done already, which is both the Pacific and Atlantic coast, combined with the Southern and Northern Tier routes. It can be done, probably starting from home on the Pacific coast in February, hitting the Southern Tier in March/April, the Atlantic Coast in May/June, and the Northern Tier in July/August/Sept. My guess is that by traveling light (except for my camera), I could average 80-100 miles/day, and still include 1 day/week for rest.

Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come,

and my deliverance be revealed.

Blessed is the man who … keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,

and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” Isa. 56:1,2

That assumes that Betsy will start riding, or that I can talk some looney tune into coming with me. I’d do it alone, but Betsy would throw a fit. But, I need to think short-term first, perhaps doing the Rainier loop next week, and the Washington Parks loop in mid-September. I’m running out of time. My most formidable task that remains is in getting my dear wife to take up cycling, as it would do her much good, and get her away from the house, doing useful activities. I also need to do some bicycle modifications, including revising my front racks, since I cannot remove my front wheel because of the racks. It would make fixing a front flat very difficult.

On another note, I have included the ability to make comments on my other blog pages, including the book, movie, and music blogs. If you have read any of those books, heard any of that music, or saw those movies, please feel free to comment. Also, I welcome comments on the other blogs, including if you have done any of the bike trips that I have done, or hikes, or adventures. And, if you say something really stupid or offensive, I will hold nothing against you that I don’t already hold against you. Also, if you are new to this site, don’t panic! The German that I use is for my Deutsche Freunden. The title means “Bicycling in Heaven”. If anybody receives blog announcements and doesn’t wish to, please e-mail me and I’ll take you off the list.

On yet another note, the countdown until 14DEC at 0700 when I formally restart work…

Adventure Cycling Intro to Cycle Touring  09-14AUG2009 ?????

The rating is not intended to rank this ride with the other rides that I have done, but simply to make note that as a course, it deserved five stars. We met in a park just outside of Eugene, and then have 1.5 days of instruction in how to do cycle touring. On 11AUG, we all drove to the Eugene airport, hopped on our cycles, and headed in one giant loop, down to the beach, and back and forth across the Coast range. All in all, it was very negotiable, with quite easy riding, save for a bit of sweat making it up the hill on the first day.

Here we are getting together on the first day. Much of the event was centered around eating, and one of the first chores was to eat. It was fajitas the first day…

Then, there were hours of instruction by our fearless professorin, Joyce, with eager students paying close attention…

We learned how to pack our bicycles, with Joyce showing us her personal inventory.

Here’s our route

Finally, we’re all together and ready to ride…

Not even an hour into the ride, we were already stopping for something to eat…

I didn’t take any photographs of the hill on the first day. It was the hardest. Here are the first troopers, arriving on the other side of the hill….

Ben  takes a firm command of the road

The General eager for a  break after Heartbreak Hill

Instructor Pete in good form

The Doc not sure where the hill was

At the end of the day, our tents went up, and we ate again. The camp host was a little grouchy, so we had to be real nice… Here is Q, happy to be camping, and ready to prepare his garbanzo bean salad…

The next day, we hit the beach…

The Doc

The General

Sabrina rolls in a bit later, followed by Nancy and Joyce…

We learned how to wash our stinky clothes…

and had a chance to watch the sunset…

The General is off for another day of riding. The ride along the coast through the Cape Perpetua Recreational area from Waldport to Florence was most stunning, and far better appreciated on a bicycle than in a car.

We stopped at Mo’s in Florence to eat. You might notice that the only photos are of Pat (the General) and myself. That is because we were a touch ahead of everybody else for most of the trip. The last day, we let Ben lead, and he took off like a jackrabbit.

Heil Hitler??????

Here is tent city, the last day. We went out to eat at Franks.

Frank

You might notice that last photo shows some poor soul we found who was starving, so decided to feed him. He was quite happy afterwards! After a misty breakfast and Lisa getting her obligatory coffee, we were off again, today, re-crossing the coast range to back home…

Ben and Ken

Even instructors get happy on summits

Ben and Pat trying to hold up a logging truck

Happy climbers

The ending… here are the four dudes, responsible for setting the pace, and making sure the road was clear for the rest of the cyclists.

What did I learn? Joyce would ask if we learned anything. Ja wohl! I learned that I really like bicycle touring. I’m ready to do it again, asap! I learned a lot of do’s and don’ts. It nicer to learn in a group, than out totally on your own. And, Adventure Cycle Association does an awesome job of putting things together for such a venture. My only complaint about the trip is that there is too much emphasis on food. When I am out camping, I like to leave the food as a minimal activity, and not as a major center of activity. Thus, it would have been nice to not have to have somebody preoccupied with the next day’s meals.

Get on their website and sign up for a tour. Loose a little blubber. See the world in a fashion much nicer than in an automobile. Have the time of your life.

Total stats for this ride…

10AUG 10 miles, 500 cal, 200 ft ascent, 40 minutes

11AUG 49.4 miles, 3427 cal, 1432 ft ascent 4:10 minutes

12AUG 37.2 miles, 2602 cal, 787 ft ascent, 3:10 minutes

13AUG 46.4 miles 2940 cal, 1288 ft ascent, 3:50 minutes

14AUG 53.6 miles 3500 cal, 1420 ft. ascent, 4:40 minutes

Total  196.6 miles 12969 cal, 5127 ft ascent  15:50 minutes pedaling

I reported on this ride last year, so will save on lengthy details. This time, Jonathan Kamke rode with me, and that was a pleasure.

He was the entertainment committee. The photo shows him at the summit of Snoqualmie Pass. This year, the weather was considerably hotter than last year, and so really worked on pushing it a little harder. All of the passes seemed to be a bit easier this year, with no need to stop and rest, save for the scheduled rest stops, which tended to overfeed us. We made sure we had early starts in order to beat the heat each day. Yet, it was rough even hanging around the campsite doing nothing in 90 degree plus weather. We were among the first ten each day to finish, and so were able to pick nice campsites, but still could not beat the heat.

Here I am on top of Blewett and Steven’s Pass. I don’t look tired, do I? Well, I could have kept going both times. The little Yellow Bird was totally delightful to be riding on.

The Seattle Century is put on by the same group that does the Portland Century, Oregon Bike. This is a ride through Seattle and around the east suburbs. It was actually only a total of 94 miles, but that still counts as a century. The weather was hot, in the 80’s, but we even got a touch of welcome rain. The ride was done with Jamin King, as well as Russ & Luc Andersen. Unfortunately, there were no photographs taken, even though I brought my camera. I need to slow down at times, and flash some pictures, since we did some nice views.

This century was a little bit problematic because 1) Seattle & Washington streets were in much worse shape than Oregon streets. Even the Burke-Gilman trail was quite awful, with lots of tree root bumps on the trail. I’m a little bit disappointed with the city of Seattle.  2) The route was not well marked, and we made frequent wrong turns, only to discover the error of our ways. It was not unusual to see riders re-tracing their route, to get back on the designated pathway.  3) The published route and the actual route were a touch different. The actual route was really better, with less futile looping around like was done in previous years.  Still, there were multiple turns all the way through the ride, making it a bit confusing. This century was nice because 1) You were very well fed at the rest stops, including the final stop on the route, and 2) It had a moderate amount of hilliness, giving you a good workout at the end of 94 miles. We did the entire trip in well under 6 hours, and at an energy expenditure of roughly 5600 calories, only 1.4 lbs. of fat. Yikes! You need to ride a lot to loose 10 lbs. of fat!

The only problem that I had on this ride was that I was a bit sore from a backpack trip, the first of the season, done the last two days before the Seattle Century. It didn’t help that the weather was hot. Still it was an enjoyable ride. In comparison with the Portland Century, the roads were better, there were better hills, the stops were better, and the route was very clearly marked with no obscure turns. I would have no problem repeating the Portland Century, but probably not the Seattle Century.

This was my second STP, and we decided to do it in one day. It is a double century, with a distance of 202.5 miles. Fourteen hours after a start at 5 am, Luc and I crossed the finish line, still going rather strong.

Here are beginning and ending photos….

I rode my yellow bird, which held up wonderfully. I got no back pain nor neck pain, and the pain in my butt was more a chafing than pain from sitting on the saddle for 13 hours with only short breaks. The STP was sunny but cooler this year than last. It also seemed to have less hills. I didn’t understand that, except that I might have gotten a bit stronger on the hills. Luc was still awesome, setting the pace the entire distance. He is really a strong cyclist. Russ did well, but 160 miles into our venture, was having some crampy abdominal pain which made it miserable for him. All of this means that we will have to do it again next year, because I want to see Russ cross the finish line in style. He has better cycle strength than me, so it should not be a problem for him.

26JUN2009, Starting from Mather Parkway, 62 miles, 5600 feet elevation gain, 4 hours, with Russ and Luc Andersen. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and visibility of the mountain 100%. We couldn’t have picked a better day. It was the debut of my Steelman bicycle, and it was everything I expected; it handled well, the gearing was superb, and the ride comfortable. The only problem that I had was a terrible seat. Fortunately, the seat was on trial, so I am trying out another seat for my next ride. We are getting ready for a one-day STP, and getting as much riding in as possible. Stay in touch.

My intention was to do the loop around Crater Lake. I was with son-in-law Andrew Flanagan and a long-standing friend from church in Portland, Aaron Hughes.

Andrew is enjoying a cup of tea, and Aaron showing off his fine selection of Odwalla bars.

Later, Aaron helped me make our favorite camping food, sauerkraut (Weinkraut aus Deutschland) with Polska Kielbasa. It’s easy to make, and tastes great when out camping. So, on to the bicycle ride. At first, we were all going to drive up to the crater rim, and then cycle the 33 odd miles around the lake, thinking that it would be a fairly flat, even ride that we could complete by noon. I met several touring cyclists, a man and wife who appeared in their late 50’s, and informed me that the ride from Diamond Lake where we were camped up to the crater rim was about 18 miles, but fairly easy to do. So, Andrew and I started out first, expecting Aaron to follow 1.5 hours later by car, cleaning up the stragglers. I made it to the rim, 19 miles and 2500 ft elevation gain just when Aaron arrived with Andrew. We then parked our car, and headed off counter-clockwise around the mountain.

We soon realized that most people did the trek, either by car or bicycle (and there were many bicyclists that we encountered), in a clockwise fashion.  About 8 miles in, Andrew was slowing down a little, so he encouraged Aaron and I to keep going, and then to pick him up in the car later once we finished. Later, Aaron was beginning to feel the hills, and decided on a slower pace. I was to also pick him up after reaching the car.

I wish that I could say that everything went well afterwards, but not quite. When I pulled away from Aaron, I noticed a large slash and bulge in my back tire. I knew that my tire was in serious trouble, and that I had about 12 more miles to go. I made it about 6 more miles, and then heard the tire blow out. There was a large rent in the tire, so that I knew that it was completely unfixable. Unfortunately, I was going the opposite direction of most the traffic. So, I started walking with the bike. I was a bit horrible in my bike shoes, and I completely destroyed the cleats, but I made it about 2-3 miles, where I was able to get a pick-up haul me the last 3-4 miles back to the car. I was then able to load my bicycle and go retrieve Aaron and Andrew, both who continued to make significant progress. So, it was bittersweet. The weather was beautiful, and I was feeling great, in spite of the 5000 ft + elevation gain. But, I didn’t formally complete the loop. That means that I must return some day to formally do the whole loop. It also taught me to consider carrying a complete tire with me of such trips like these, since you can fold the actual tire up into a small space to carry it.

30 AUG, 01 SEPT 2008 Mt Rainier Hill Rides; Eatonville Cut-off to Paradise 73 miles approx 4000 ft elevation gain; Ranger Station to Sunrise 29 miles 3000 ft elevation gain

These were very cold rides, and definitely 8-10% grade or more for greater than 10 miles, but the beauty of the rides excel that of any other in the world, especially the ride to Sunrise. The first ride, to Paradise, was a fairly steady climb for 18 miles up to the park entrance, then a gradually increasing grade, soon holding steady at 8-10% grade for the remaining 18 miles up to Paradise. The scene was most dramatic, though on Sat 20AUG the mountain was mostly covered in clouds.

Two days later, I did the Sunrise climb with Jonathan and Jon Kamke. The 14 miles to the top took me 1 hr 45 minutes, Jon Kamke arriving about 5-10 minutes before me, and Jonathan about 1/2 hour later. There were only scant clouds over Rainier, and so it was absolutely spectacular. It had snowed the day before, and you could find snow on the ground.

On both rides, the coldest part of the ride was the descent, which was done at a fairly fast clip, making matters all the colder. These two rides will remain among my favorites, and will be useful for short training rides before longer events.

15, 18, 20AUG2008 Training Rides; Eatonville-Comet Falls (Mt. Rainier) 72 miles, Enumclaw-White River Ranger Station turnoff 75 miles, Puyallup to South Prairie to Bonney Lake to Orting to Home 46 miles

04,05JULY2008 Training Rides for STP 120 mile Auburn-Tenino Loop, 50 mile Ride to Carbonado

I should be ready for the STP. Friday, I went with Jonathan Kamke on a long loop that included the most difficult stretch of the STP up the hill in Puyallup. During that trip, my bicycle hit the 1000 mile mark…

and Jonathan hit his first Century ride.

The next day, I did a solo very hilly ride up to Carbonado. I started out slightly aching, but those pains soon went away, and I felt about as strong as the day before. I’ll do one more short ride before doing the 203 mile STP next weekend. The lead photo is a photo of the entry into Wilkeson…

More lessons learned. 1) Oblique rail road tracks are quite dangerous in wet weather. Both days were wet, overcast and drizzly, which is ideal riding weather, though the bike becomes messy, and railroad tracks threaten. Just outside of Roy, I flew off the bike after hitting an oblique track. I quickly learned my lesson. 2) Know how to repair your bike yourself. I’ve been reading the Park Manual of Bicycle Repair more frequently. Nobody can tune a bike up like yourself for the best settings of derailleurs and brakes. 3) Ride steady, fuel yourself often. Constant eating on the bike keeps you from bonking early.

The news noted a severe warning of a heat wave all weekend, with the temperature possibly as hot as 90F (32 C). So, I headed out with my newly tuned bicycle out to gates of Rainier. I immediately ended up with a flat. On changing the intertube, I made a minor mistake, and generated a pinch flat. Fortunately, I had brought two intertubes along. Off I went, on a very hilly venture. The weather was quite hot, and I consumed a grand total of 9 liters of fluid. On the way, you pass a number of lakes, one being a large reservoir.

In Elbe, there is a cute little Lutheran church which was built around the turn of the last century.

Finally, you reach the gates of Rainier National Park (above) where you could observe a veritable traffic jamb of people trying to get into the park. Fortunately, bicyclists aren’t quite so affected by traffic jambs. The way home was very hot, and yet another flat, for reasons I’m not sure of. My biggest problem this trip was a malfunctioning front derailleur. That evening, I took my bike into the shop and the bicycle repairman took me through tuning up a front derailleur, very useful skills for when one is on the road.

12APRIL2008  Auburn to Flaming Geyser State Park via Black Diamond, then Green River-Interurban Trail loop, 64 miles, 4 hours.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, so it made sense to head out on my bike. Road directions from the bicycle route guides needed a little to be desired, and the route occasionally was not clear, but, I managed to find my way around all the same. The ride up to Black Diamond from Auburn was a long steady climb, and I was able to maintain an 18-20 mph speed. Past Black Diamond, the road dropped precipitously down to Flaming Geyser State Park. The park was just off the road, so I turned off to see the fantastic flaming geyser. Here it is…

If you don’t see it too clearly, don’t worry. That’s all it is! Can you believe that? Apparently, some dude was trying to drill a well, and after going down 360 feet, hit liquid that tended to burn when ignited. Cool. Actually, though the stream running through the park was beautiful, about the only real attraction of the park was the bridge into the park.

The rest of the way back to Auburn was flat farmland. The total loop was only 35 miles, and though very hilly, I decided I needed a little more time on the Fahrrad. So, 30 more miles up the Green River and back. The Green River is named because it is green, kind of like the Chicago River every St. Patrick’s day. But this green is not from food coloring. It is from green Schleim.

There were lots of apartment complexes and industry feeding Boeing on the other side, but also a golf course. It occurred to me why I hate golf. The lawn was covered with fat ugly slobs slowly meandering after their golf balls, calling it exercise. My eye.

By the way, you all may be wondering what my bike looks like. It is a Novara Trionfo, purchased last year from REI. (see lead photo) I had to lean it up against our car in order to get a photo of it. Real bikes do NOT have kickstands.

I tried a map bag on the handlebars on this trip, as you can see, but didn’t really like it. I usually wear a Camelback hydrator, where I can carry my keys, extra food, camera, and repair pump, extra tube, etc. The little gadget under the seat also carries repair tools. I find that the way to survive a long trip is constant hydration, and constant sugar. Today, I learned not to bring chocolate, which melted. Gummibären and GU (Schleim in a small aluminum package, that you can carry in your jersey pocket, and slurp down about once an hour, that really charges your energy quickly). Last year, my outings were occasionally passed by more experienced riders. This ride, I passed a lot of experienced riders, maintaining a 18-20 mph pace even at the end, and was passed by nobody. So, I think I’m getting in better shape.

14JUNE2008 Flying Wheels Century, 6hrs 50minutes. My first flats!

The day was scheduled to be sunny, so I was quite content to show up at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA with overcast skies. One is able to keep pace without overheating when it is not too hot outside. Most of the way on this trip, I actually wore a light cycling jacket, because it was cold and windy. There must have been at least 3000 people doing the Flying Wheels, and the road was dense with people wherever one rode. That was helpful in offering a secondary assurance that I was on the correct path. I was also able to pace behind many riders, getting the so-called advantage of pacelining. This century was sold as very hilly (3840 feet total elevation gain – 1170 meters), three main hills, including Ingallwood Hill Rd, Stillwater Rd, and then Issaquah Falls City Rd. at the very end. The first two hills occurred close to the start of the ride, and the very first hill was a total killer. Somehow, the other two did not seem too bad. About 30 some miles into the ride, my back tire went flat. Fortunately, it was close to a rest station, and I carried a spare tube, so simply swapped out tubes, checking the tire quite carefully for shards of glass possibly imbedded in the rubber. Well, I didn’t check well enough, and so ended up with another flat about 2 miles later. Now, I had to patch one of the tubes, and was able to locate the shard of glass that I missed previously. At least now I know that I could handle tire emergencies on the road. Continuing on, the route went through farm land, followed several rivers and a large lake, and hit several villages en-route. All in all, a delightful Century. I was not too sore at the end of it, and so am feeling more comfortable about the prospects of the STP, coming up in one month.

One of the FWC rest stops

Typical weather at the end of the ride.

Another beautiful day, so I decided to do a variation on the 12APRIL trip. Riding my bicycle from home, I went through Sumner to Auburn, the first 14 miles. I then went directly to Flaming Geyser State Park, though not stopping at the park. Immediately past the park, I hit the first of many hills that were to define this trip. Those hills were mostly avoided, or encountered on the downhill, in the last trip, going the other way. I then did a slight out of the way loop, going by Hanging Gardens State Park. The Green River runs through this park, which is how it appeared from the road.

After I arrived at the town of Black Diamond, I turned north to Kent, then riding to Kanaskat-Palmer State Park. Riding into the park, I watched some rafters go down the Green River.

The trip then headed straight south, going through Enumclaw and Buckley. There was the Mountain (Rainier) and cows.

Finally, I headed down to the Orting Valley, doing a slight duplicate of myself to achieve exactly 100 miles on the ride. Here is the trail, going by the Puyallup River.

At the end, I was doing 18-20 mph (29-32 kph), but was a little ragged. The hills were moderately steep, and the temperature rose as high as 32 Celsius, making it too hot for me. You could tell that by the end of the trip. I decided not to do the last hill to get me up to South Hill, but called Betsy, and she came to get me.  Meanwhile, some may wonder what a person eats on a long trip like this. You certainly don’t need a balanced diet, and don’t need fats. I mostly GU it, which comes in small packages that you can rip open with your teeth and easily slurp down while riding. It is almost pure carbohydrate. Most bicycle jerseys have three little pockets in back where you can keep your stash of GU. I also consume large quantities of gummi-bears, and wear a hydration kit on my back.

I hope to do a few more centuries (100 mile rides) this year, and am already signed up for two centuries and a double-century. So, I’ll lug my camera along, and expect more adventures in the chronicles of the Feuchtster.