I survived yesterday’s ride and woke up feeling better than I had a right to. It didn’t take long before Checkers and I were on our way. 50 cents worth of gas for him and a quick stop to the grocery store for me. I wanted to pick up some vitamin C tablets as a precaution. While I was there I got 5 numbers for each of us in the big lottery drawing tomorrow. Hey, if you don’t play you can’t win!
We said our goodbyes at the bridge dividing Hwy 12 in north and south. Checkers is a damn good kid and I’m indebted to him for a multitude of things. Suffice to say it was a bittersweet parting. I know our paths will cross again.
As I rode away I had the good fortune to hear Bill Withers singing “Lovely Day”;
“Then I look at you
And the world’s alright with me
Just one look at you
And I know it’s gonna be
A lovely day
Lovely day, lovely day, lovely day”
I’m not too proud to say that I rode with misty eyes and a big smile. I thought of all the people I’m fortunate enough to call family, friends and all points in between. Everyone who has made life worth living and a little easier for me.
The ride back to Lewiston was the opposite of the previous day. I rode mainly in my higher gears, no headwind, damn little rain and a great voice in the background saying it was a “lovely day” (Tommy picking me up at the bottom of the Lewiston grade was not to be overlooked either).
04-01-12…as a side note, I seemed to have done something to my left kneecap as it’s bugging the hell outta me. Stay tuned…
The plan was for Wojciech (Checkers) and I to ride to Orofino, ID today. When I woke up the day was miserable looking outside, but still rideable. That all changed the moment I heard Checkers footsteps on the stairs. The wind picked up considerably and it started to spit out hail. By the time he got to the top of the stairs it was in full blown foul weather mode.
No riding in this...
We decided to wait it out a while and was glad we did. I can’t say that the sun began to shine, but the rain let up and we pulled out around 10:30. We rode the two miles to Greg’s work and Greg introduced Checkers to everyone. A short time later we were back on the road and before I knew it were at the top of the Lewiston grade. We were going to take the old highway since it is rarely traveled and would probably be a bit slower going down than the new route.
The road down into Lewiston
The following 40 miles were a combination of thunder, lightning, rain and headwinds…you know, all the things that make a bike ride so fun! Checkers was truly surprised at how well I started and how woefully out of shape I ended up being. The last four miles into the center of the city took me almost an hour to complete….whoever the hell thought it was a good idea to place the sign “Welcome to Orofino” four miles out of the center of town should come ride with me for a day. OMG was my ass, shoulders, heart, hair etc…hurting by the time we got to the Best Western. I should mention kudos to this hotel. This was by far the best Best Western I’d stayed in.
We made use of the spa prior to heading out in search of something to eat which turned out to be a tactical mistake. Everything except the rather bad pizza parlor was closed…ah well.
Checkers asked me throughout the ride if i was having a good time. It was painfully obvious that I was in distress, but I truthfully told him that I hadn’t felt this alive in quite some time.
Well, it turns out you work on your bike! When Brett and I replaced the front fork of the Schwinn with a threadless unit there wasn’t a whole lot of fork tube sticking out the top of the head tube. We were able to install the stem, but only one of the two bolts was catching any of the fork. I needed a longer fork.
Welcome to the wonderful folks at McGregor’s. Greg has worked for the company for quite a few years and was confident they would be able to assist in fabbing up a solution to the problem. Greg introduced me to Jeremy, Chance, and Bart. Once they got over the initial shock of what I had planned, they got down to the business of figuring the best way to solve the problem. Greg and I went to Lewiston, ID to pick up a few things while Jeremy worked his metal magic.
One of the items we picked up was some Fat Tire Ale. Greg thought it was only fitting since work was being done on a bicycle. I had to agree.
Upon our return I found a fork that was longer by about four inches. Jeremy had decided to cut the fork near the center and weld in a new section. His logic seemed pretty sound. The fix was kept within the head tube and we didn’t have to modify anything else to make it work. I need to mention that big brother did some metal work on my bike as well. I needed a brace for my rear rack and he put together one which should work quite well.
Some spacers from B&L bicycles in Pullman (what an incredible shop) pulled the whole thing together. I took it for a test spin and everything seemed to be in order. I took the time to mount the GoPro HD camcorder on the front fork so when we go down the Lewiston grade tomorrow we should get some pretty good video.
Wojciech and I said our good-byes to Bob & Deanna and headed off to Colton, but first we had stops to make. REI (once again) was on the agenda. I wanted to return my Garmin Oregon 450. It works well, but devours batteries (I went through a four pack of new AAs yesterday while in downtown Seattle). I fiddled with it quite a bit, but still I don’t think it should consume that much. Wojciech said I should consider the Garmin 800 model (the one he lost at my place in Vegas). Unfortunately they didn’t have it in stock.
We went to the grocery store next door and were surprised to see Bob as we hit the checkout counter. Too funny….I mean really, what’s the chances of that?
While driving through the mountains I commented that the scenery would be vastly different on the eastern side of the Cascades. Honestly I had forgotten just how drastic the change is. As we dropped out of the heavily forested mountains we saw laid out in front of us rolling hills barren of trees. Just like that…gone. As always I am amazed at the varied scenery Washington state has to offer.
Our next stop was in Dayton. Prior to us knowing we would be meeting up, Wojciech had ordered up a rain cover for his handlebar bag and had it shipped to the post office in Dayton. He chose Dayton since there was a WS host listed. Anyway…we made it to the post office in time. There was the Arkel package sitting right there on the counter. The nice lady told us she was just getting ready to ship it back. Turns out Arkel didn’t put ‘general delivery’ on the package. Once again, timing is everything.
We got to Greg & Jeannie’s and I was surprised to see Tommy’s pickup parked out front. Turns out the truck was there, but not Tommy. He and his girlfriend “whatshername” (Taylor) were down in Vegas for a few days. I guess timing works both ways…
It was a wonderful night with Wojciech sharing tales of his travels, along with a couple glasses of vino.
After a great breakfast of biscuits and gravy Wojciech and I rode to the bus station a couple miles away where we caught the express bus to downtown. Gotta say that the bus system in the area seems pretty impressive.
We rode down to Pike Street Market and then I realized I had left the bike lock back at the house. Hello REI! It turned out to be a good thing as it gave me a chance to pick up a new Big Agnes Cross Mtn sleeping bag. My current BA bag is the Lost Ranger…rated for 15 degrees. Far too warm of a bag for heading S.O.B.. After spending a good hour in the store we finally departed and kicked around downtown Seattle for the rest of the day.
Pike Street Market...too damn busy for us
Had lunch at a gyro/falafel place and got to watch the antics of a local homeless shyster practicing his craft on the unsuspecting…you probably had to be there to appreciate the situation, but the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished” comes to mind. Wojciech admitted that the food was pretty good but the gyro still didn’t stand up to a typical NYC street vendor. The search continues.
Who turned it sideways?
We got back to the house just in time since once we arrived at the bus stop it began to rain. Timing is everything.
Prior to us crashing for the night Wojciech got a phone call from Tom at Renovo. Tom originally wanted us to bring the wood to the bike show and drop it off. Thankfully he gave it some more thought and said it made more sense to have us meet him in the morning at the shop since he and Ken would need to pick up some things prior to the show.
Ken didn’t really realize why I was so anxious to drop it off until he saw that I’d been carrying it in the backseat of my BMW convertible. I asked Ken about the terms of payment for a bike and he said perhaps we could work something out involving the BMW! Funny how things work out. He said we’d talk further at the show.
Tom told us there was a place called Junior’s around the corner which served up a pretty good breakfast. He was right. It was a quaint little spot with a really good crew. If you’re ever in downtown Portland I highly recommend it.
Junior's for breakfast...good food, great service
We checked out of the motel and went to the bike show. It was a great time. We saw a ton of cool items and Wojciech was able to meet up with one of his NYC bicycle teammates who was visiting Portland…not to mention he had a chance to practice his Polish with a real cutie working one of the booths! Lucky Bastard!
Marta & Wojciech (aka; Checkers)
Checkers & teammate Norm
While walking around the show I spoke to my Uncle Bob about us coming up to Seattle to visit. He just wanted to know what time we’d be getting in.
Bob and Deanna made phone calls to Angel and Kass (my cousins) to join us for dinner. Shortly thereafter Kass showed up followed by Angel, her husband Charles and their son Grant. Off we went to eat at El Toreador…a familiar stomping ground for the family. It was a great meal with damn fine company…and we all enjoyed Angel’s comment about her definition of what a denominator is for me (inside joke!).
and don't forget Aunt DeannaCheckers & Uncle Bob...
After a great nights sleep and a very healthy breakfast with Glee, it was time to push onward to Eugene, OR.
I was going to Eugene in order to drop off my Co-Motion tandem. I picked this tandem up with the intention of the boys using it if they ever wanted to join me in my travels (somewhat debatable at this point). The bike looks to be made in the early 90’s although I couldn’t find a serial number anywhere on the frame. I was hoping to have the factory do some updates to the bike (more on that later on).
I took the 395 to the 139 to the 58. Well that’s pretty damn descriptive huh? I had never driven the 395 out of Reno and was somewhat surprised by the climb into the mountains (I had put the top up btw…it had gotten pretty nasty looking out and I didn’t want to mess around with the top in the rain). The drive to Susanville, CA was pleasant, but unremarkable. The 139 was a really fun road to drive even though it would have been more fun on a motorcycle. It started to get really fun as I was nearing the turnoff to the 58 up near the area of Crater Lake, OR. It started to snow….and snow.
Just love driving in the snow...
It had been a loooooong time since I’d driven in the snow. Thankfully the roads were clear as snowplows were running back and forth. The car ran through it all without a fuss, but the heater wasn’t keeping up with the chill as it got down to 30 degrees.
It wasn’t too long before I got to my second time staying with a WS host. I had the pleasure of spending the night with Kirby & Rebecca. I had brought in my suitcases and we were off to eat dinner. Pizza was on the menu and they took me out for the best pie I’ve had in a long time…maybe the best pizza I’ve ever had.
Rebecca & Kirby...and their marvelous trikes!
Once home I was going to work on the blog only to find that my brand new Apple MacBook Air wouldn’t load. Arrrghhh! This is my first foray into Apple computers and it wasn’t off to a good start.
The next morning it was time to go to Co-Motion. They were a great group and I had a chance to meet Brian (in sales) and Dwan (the owner). I had contacted the both previously over emails and phone calls so it was nice to put a face to a name. Dwan confirmed that my bike had been built in the early 90’s but he didn’t find a serial number either. We spoke about what needed to be updated and the associated cost. After much discussion it seems that it might be more cost-effective to buy a new bike rather than have mine updated. They’ve got a 2010 Mocha model in my size with the S&S couplers at an attractive price. I could sell my existing tandem to help offset the cost…we’ll see.
My next stop was at REI. I had previously bought a Garmin Oregon 450 and decided to get the CityNavigator maps. The Garmin without it wasn’t too useful for this trip without it, so this will give me an opportunity to use it and get some much needed experience.
The last stop in Eugene was at the local Apple store to get my laptop squared away. Well it sounded good in theory anyway…he couldn’t fix it and told me I should stop at the main Apple store in Portland. The Apple store was in a mall and I happened to see a photo shop right before I walked out the door. I stopped in and asked about the Sony NEX7. He turned around to the back counter and grabbed a box…there it was the long lusted after camera. The store had a great price on it and I snatched it up.
Then it was back on the road with Portland being the next stop. Not only was I going to be visiting the Apple store, I was planning on going to Renovo. Renovo is a custom bicycle builder who builds his frames from various hardwoods. The are functional works of art. I had spoken with him prior to leaving Vegas and had discussed the possibility of incorporating some Black Walnut salvaged last year from Mom and Gene’s farm in Washington. The tree had been planted not too long after we moved to Tonasket back in ’65. It had been cut down for a few years and I had asked Gene to salvage the stump for me. I got some very useable slabs and had them packed in the backseat for Renovo to use.
I had been in contact with my former WS guest Wojciech Plata. Wojciech was waiting for me in Portland and we would be travelling companions for a bit. Wojciech had been the one to introduce me to Renovo and was there at the factory. He said the shop was closing early since they were getting ready for the Portland bike show the next day. I told him to meet me at the REI in Portland and we’d go to Apple afterwards.
We met streetside in front of REI and after much shuffling of items we were able to load his bike on the rack (thank God my tandem was still with Co-Motion). We ended up placing his BOB trailer across the trunk/bike rack and went to a nearby Motel 6. Thankfully it wasn’t too far away and the trailer never budged. I wish I had gotten a couple of pics of it cause it was a sight to see.
I was set to leave Tuesday morning for my first leg to Reno…well perhaps I wasn’t too set. I had stayed the night at Rosa’s condo and went to the house early with the idea of getting out no later than 10am. Ahh, the best laid plans…
It wasn’t long before I was moving ‘stuff’ all around the house, now mind you, none of this had anything to do with my trip that morning, but it was doings that needed done. Don’t mention the fact that it should have been done much earlier in the week/month…but I digress. Needless to say I didn’t get packed and on the road till 11am.
My little BMW convertible was packed to the gills with two suitcases of clothes. Don’t forget, I’m living out of them for the next three weeks and am hoping to leave them with family so I can not bother with bringing clothes in the future (it remains to see how practical this will work out, but I prefer doing this to just giving away more ‘stuff’ to donations). Along with the suitcases are; a semi-full case of wine for my big brother Greg, a travel bag overflowing with things I might bring on the bicycle trip, racks/bags for the tandem (I’m still wondering why the hell I brought them), the Co-Motion tandem, and the Schwinn I’ll use while I’m at home.
So finally I’m on the road…top down, sun out……glorious.
Beats workin' for a livin'
A short nap, by the roadside, a cigar and several gas stops finally gets me to my destination in Reno.
I’m staying with Glee, my very first Warmshowers host. I’ve hosted several people through WS, but this is my first opportunity to try it out as a guest. Glee is everything I could ask for; patient (didn’t get there till 8pm), a good cook (freshly baked Naan bread and vegetarian Chili Verde green chili) and extremely well traveled. Glee has been all over the world and had a knowledge base to match. I look forward to getting to that point as well. She had invited friends over for dinner as well; Bruce & his wife Leonie. They are from Australia and are quite well traveled too. All three are avid bicyclists.
Bruce, Leonie & Glee
It wasn’t too long before everyone said their goodbyes and I was off to bed.
So perhaps not quite what you first thought. Back in May of ’06 I had a motorcycle accident where I managed to give my left hand a good whack (among other things). Over the course of the last year its become more and more bothersome. Typical of many of us, I procrastinated till the very end to get it checked. I didn’t want to hear bad news, but finally decided I’d rather know what the problem was in case I needed to address it once we are south of the border.
At this point I need to give a shout out to Dr. Mike Lee. Mike is a hand surgeon at Desert Orthopaedic Center here in Las Vegas. I first met Mike at our good friend Terry Leavitt’s birthday party last year. Mike was able to get me in to see him on very little notice. Turns out it’s just another fun aspect of old age. It appears to be the onset of arthritis…who would have guessed it. A shot of good ‘ol cortisone will hopefully see me through (btw……ouch!).
The problem with my hand is exactly why I got the SRAM Attack grip shifters instead of going the traditional MTB (mountain bike) method of thumb shifting.
Two steps forward, one step back…that pretty well sums up how I feel about my progress. And it seems to apply to almost every aspect of this. Consider the following…
I was planning on leaving for Washington state right after my last Warmshowers guest departed on March 17th. However, Rosa needs me to stick around until the 19th which delays my departure till the 20th.
I still plan on getting back to Vegas around the 11th of April. That gives me time to sell off a few remaining large items in the house, and get ready for the community garage sale on the 14th. There’s always a large turnout for this and I hope to sell off lots of the smaller items. Whatever doesn’t sell will be donated, cause it’s time to go damnit!
My bike/gear is still a work in progress. I made a rather large couple of orders via Amazon, along with other various suppliers and most things have worked out fairly well…except for one of Amazon’s vendors…Bikesomewhere.com. I ordered the Schwalbe Mondails (tires) from them. They were supposed to have been shipped and arrive by the 6th. Unfortunately I get an email on the 6th telling me they just shipped! From Florida! Using standard mail! WTF? I call…left a message. I email and the following day get a reply that the order has shipped. I respond that I was expecting them to have already arrived and again…they say “they shipped”…..aghhhh! Their last reply was, “will an explanation make them arrive any sooner?” My response? “No, but it might have made a difference regarding the negative feedback I’ll be leaving regarding your lack of customer service”. In this day of internet commerce I find bad customer service to be completely unacceptable. I get the fact that things happen, but show some understanding. I believe I did, but didn’t get it in return…..ah well. I’m sure I’d better get used to this type of frustration when we begin trekking south of the border.The reason the tires are important….I still have to mount fenders and really don’t want to commit to a set until how I see they behave with my tires.
Good news though…my bike mechanic/teacher/friend Brett Marshall came over the other day and helped me install my ESI silicon grips. I custom ordered these from ESI last week. They were curious to see how we would handle getting these 20″ long babies to slide along the various curves of my trekking handlebars….well, it took us over 15 minutes of serious twisting and pulling to get them on, but we did it. They look and feel pretty good, but I still need to take it for a spin before I’ll know for sure.
I installed a Minoura Spacegrip 3. This is a ‘T’ shaped bar that clamps to my handlebar. It gives a bit of extra space to hang a couple gadgets from…namely my Garmin and Spokegrenade headlight. Speaking of which….damn that thing is bright!
At this point I should probably mention that I’m still torn between bikes. The Soma frame is clearly a superior frame, but the Schwinn is a bit taller…perhaps more comfortable? We’ll see.
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BrokenSpoken 