Great days with a few hiccups

We have been off the grid for a couple of days, but we are back to the connected world.

The Three Sisters

What an interesting day we had Friday.  It started off fairly normal.  Nicholas went for his training run while we packed up the RV, did dishes, walked the dog, took care of dumping the waste tanks, filling the water tank, unhooking the utilities and getting the bikes ready to go.  It was a scheduled 84 mile ride from Sisters to Mitchell, OR.  Nicholas was going to ride the first 35 miles with me while Beth drove the RV.  Then we would have lunch in Prineville and switch drivers.  Beth and I would ride the tandem over Ochoco Pass to Mitchell to spend the night in the little "city park"... Mitchell has less than 250 residents, but 3 RV hookups in their park for $17/night and it is a long ways to anything else.

Anyway, things went well to start.  It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and only a little chilly for the first part of the ride.  After 27.5 miles, Nicholas decided to get in the RV.  That is his longest personal ride on a bike, so that was pretty good for only his second time out with us.  Beth thought about switching to the tandem there, but I said why not just drive the 8 miles to Prineville and she could get ready while I rode into town, then we would ride from there.

 

I had also asked Beth to keep an eye out for a place to fill the propane tank on the RV.  We have been running the heater every night plus the water heater and refrigerator both use propane when we aren't plugged into land electrical power in an RV park.  She found propane in Prineville at a gas station and took care of filling the tank, but when she tried to park the RV to pay for the propane she accidentally backed into the car wash vacuuming station.  She checked for damage and didn't see any and went ahead to find a place to park for lunch while I rode into town.

I found them and we had a quick bite to eat.  While unloading the tandem I noticed the rear wheel wasn't seated in the chain stays and the rear wheel wouldn't rotate.  Then I saw the problem, the rear wheel was severely bent... in cycling terms, it was "taco'ed".  Somehow the tandem wheel was damaged when she hit the trash can.

Beth felt awful!  The big problem is that tandem bike wheels are pretty unique and you just don't walk into a bike shop and buy one, especially ours since it is a road tandem wheel (700mm) with a disk brake.  Being Friday afternoon we had to move quickly. I got on the phone and called DaVinci Designs in Denver where we bought the tandem several years ago.  Brian and Todd were great.  They had a wheel in stock, found a UPS Store in Boise, ID that they could ship it to for Monday delivery.  (I checked this afternoon and the wheel is already in Boise and we can pick it up while we are there to visit the state capital on our rest day.)

With the wheel issue resolved, or at least we had done all we could do, Beth got on her single bike to finish the ride.  This is only the second time on one of our bike trips where Beth has not ridden the tandem.  She commutes to work on a frequent basis, but riding on the open road in the mountains is quite a bit different.  Anyway she hopped on and we headed out to finish the 48 miles and 2500' of climbing left for the day. 

Then to add “insult to injury” (or maybe that should be the other way around), Beth crashed on her bike trying to get started up a steep section of the road.  She banged up her wrist, bruised her thumb, and hip.  She got up and dusted herself off and got back on her bike after we straightened the left shifter that had been knocked askew in the fall.

As she crested Ochoco Pass at 4700', it was a nice accomplishment to make up for the rough start and the crash.  Then we cruised on into Mitchell down a 12 mile, 2500' decent to find the park and set up camp.... RV style.  We cooked out in the park and had a nice dinner. Here is the track from Friday.

From my point of view it was a fantastic day.  The weather was great.  The views were fantastic and I just thoroughly enjoyed the ride.  The tandem wheel will be replaced and I wasn't going to let that spoil an otherwise great day.  I am proud of Beth for putting the accidents behind her and going on to have a good ride and a nice accomplishment.

Our riding today was much more normal.  We rode the 82 miles from Mitchell to Park City, OR without incident.  It was another great day.  We really enjoyed riding through the winding canyon in John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  Beth rode 31 miles on her single and then Nicolas rode 45 miles with me from lunch to the Depot RV park in Prairie City. Here was the track from today.

We are still on schedule with four days of riding complete for a total of 350 miles and 15700' of climbing done.  Tomorrow we ride 68 miles and 5000' of climbing to Baker City, OR... while it is a shorter day, there are 3 tough climbs back-to-back. Looking forward to our 1st rest day after tomorrow. here is the route.

Thank you Oregon for a dry day!

Our first day in Oregon without rain during some part of the day!!  Woohoo!!

Covered bridge over the McKinzie River

As predicted it was a long day in the saddle, but thankfully with no rain or bad weather it went well.  The route for the day was 96 miles from Eugene to Sisters, OR over McKinzie Pass.  Beth and I rode the tandem the first 60 miles to the turn off to McKinzie Pass and then I finished up solo over the pass, almost 4000' of climbing to get to the summit.  Then a 16 mile decent into Sisters.  (Here is the track)

It was a nice ride along the McKinzie river for the first 60 miles, so not too bad.  We could both definitely feel that ride from yesterday in our legs (and other places) and my climb up to the pass was pretty slow.

What an interesting area when you get close to the pass.  It is a large caldera with miles of lava flow.  At the pass someone had built an "observatory" out of the lava rock.

I'm not sure why they haven't opened the road over McKinzie Pass to cars yet. The road was clear and dry all the way across.  It's too bad that Beth and Nicolas had to drive around and miss the neat scenery.... and I had to ride unsupported.  I carried extra clothes with me and I needed them when I got to the top.

McKinzie Pass caledera

Tomorrow is another challenging day with a big up-hill finish. We only plan to go 70 miles and camp in forest service park since the facilities will be few and far between tomorrow, probably no updates for a couple of days.  Beth and Nicholas took the opportunity to stock up on groceries while I was riding over the pass, so we are set for a couple of days. Here is the route plan for tomorrow.

.... GO!!!... First ride complete!

At the start of our ride in Dunes National Rec Area

The rain let up just before dawn, so there was hope that we might get the ride in without being soaking wet all day.  After getting the RV packed up and Nicolas getting his training run in, we headed 2 miles down the road to our official start point in Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area on the Pacific coast.

The hope of riding without being wet faded after mile 20 and it quickly progressed to a cycle of light mist to a moderately heavy rain for about the next 4 hours / 45 miles.  With the temperature hanging around 50 degrees it was pretty chilly being wet for that long.  Beth road the first 50 miles and was ready for some dry clothes.  I road alone for the next 15 miles.  At mile 65, the sun came out and Nicolas joined me to the finish in Eugene.  A total of 84 miles and 2600' of climbing. (Track and stats of the ride today)

Nicholas is new to riding a road bike with clip-less pedals, but he did great today.  I can see he will be killing me very quickly... Oh to be young and 60 pounds lighter.

The 1st mile leaving Dunes

We considered getting a motel for the night so we could dry everything out, but when we got to the Armitage County Park, our planned finish, we found the park had full RV hook ups (elect., water, sewer, cable TV and WiFi) with paved parking spots and loads of room between sites for $30/night.  There were lots of open spots, and we just pulled in and hooked up. To dry things out we cranked up the heater in the RV and opened the windows.

Only misting at the moment on the road to Eugene

Tomorrow will be a real challenge.  We start with a long gradual climb for the first 60 miles, then the road splits.  The RV will have to take an alternate route since Hwy 242 is only open to bicycles until June 15 when the snow if fully cleared.  Right now the road is only cleared enough for a single lane for bikes.  So the 36 miles over McKenzie pass (~5300') will be unsupported and I'll meet up with Beth and Nicholas in Sisters, OR..  Hopefully it won't snow on me, but it is a distinct possibility.  Here is the route.

Getting ready to ride the last 17 miles

Our camp site at Armitage County Park

Ready..... Set.....

Well the time is near to officially start riding across the country.  We picked up Nicholas Yaeger, our nephew, at the Portland, OR airport on Monday evening.  Nicholas will drive the RV while Beth and I ride the tandem and we have a bike for him to ride when Beth is driving the RV or while he waits for us to catch up to him.  Beth is planning to ride 40-60 miles/ day and we will be averaging just under 80 miles per day, so there will be plenty of opportunities for Nicolas to ride if he wants.

We really want to thank Holly and Don Schoenbeck for inviting us to stay with them on Monday night.  It was a great dinner and nice to spend the night in a real bed.  We met Holly and Don on our trip to Italy 5 years ago and have kept in touch ever since.  They will also be riding across the US this summer as well, starting a couple of week later with a tour run by America by Bicycle.  They'll be taking a northern route ending in New Hampshire.  So we plan to compare notes as we both ride across the country.



It has been a busy day.  After breakfast with Holly and Don, we made a quick run east of Portland to Multnomah Falls, the second tallest waterfall in North America, then back to Portland to pickup some by bike parts and gear.  The front brake caliper broke on the tandem, so we located a replacement and picked up a helmet for Nicholas and some shoe covers for us (it has been raining since we got here... but it's Oregon, so what do you expect).  Then we made a dash to Salem to the State Capital building where Nicholas and Beth took a quick tour and climbed to the statue on top (while I tried to find a place to park the RV).  Then we headed for Florence, OR on the Pacific coast where will start our ride tomorrow.  Nicholas took over the driving duties after we got off the freeway for about 80 miles and did a great job, even on some narrow winding roads going over the coast range.

We are staying in an RV park about a mile from the coast in old growth forest and listening to the rain come down on the RV... tomorrow could be a very wet start.  80 miles and >3000' of climbing to Eugene, OR (see the route here).  We had a beautiful afternoon today after wet morning, so we are hoping for the best.

I bet you have always wondered.... Where is the Grass Seed Capital of the World???? .... You know, I have always wondered that and now I know.  It is Linn County, Oregon.  I am sure we will have a whole bucket of factoids like this by the time we are done with this adventure... and in case you didn't know, Tulelake, CA was the location of the largest Japanese interment camp during WWII, Home of the Perfect Potato... and Home of the Honkers.  (Editorial correction... Beth pointed out that the largest Japanese interment camp was in Newell, 5 miles south, but Tulelake also had an interment camp as well.)

Lots of driving and a little riding...

Dang it I lost Beth again...

So far we have been doing a lot of driving, but getting in a couple of good bike rides along the way.  Just outside of  Las Vegas, NV is a 35 mile paved bike trail loop.  It runs along Lake Meade for about 8 miles and loops around the mountain through Henderson, NV.  We only had time to do about 25 miles, so parked at a trail head and road the section that runs along the lake, out-and-back.  It is a really nice twisting, turning, hilly ride out to the lake.

Lake Meade from the bike trail

After finishing our ride, we headed back to the RV park for a quick shower, a bite to eat and gas, then headed north toward Reno.  It was another long windy drive, but nothing as bad as driving across northern AZ.

With the RV loaded with water, all our gear, the bikes, etc, we are getting 13mpg in the mountains with heavy winds up to 15.5mpg when the wind dies down (which hasn't been too often)

We made it to Fernly, NV, about 35 miles from Reno and spent the night in an a small RV park.

Climbing to Brockway Summit

We decided that we had enough time to take a little break from driving all day and set out to find a really nice ride around the Reno/Lake Tahoe area.  I found a ride on RideWithGPS.com (my current favorite bike ride planning tool at the moment) that would let us drive to Truckee, CA and ride a loop out to Lake Tahoe from Kings Beach to Tahoe City and back.  What a great ride.  The roads were busy, but with good shoulders and a nice bike path next to the Truckee river for a good section.  A big climb to our first mountain pass of the trip, Brockway Summit (7179'), then dropping to Kings Beach on Lake Tahoe.  What a gorgeous lake with the snow capped mountains in the background. 

Lake Tahoe

On our way back to the RV, the front brake on the tandem started making noise.  I have been having some issues getting the brake pads adjusted with a new brake disk on the front wheel.  But when we got to the RV I saw we had a broken spoke on  the wheel.  A quick Google search found a good bike shop in Reno.  The Google reviews were right.  The guys in the bike shop had a big assortment of replacement spokes, replaced our broken spoke and had us going again within half an hour.  Just in case, I bought 3 extra spokes to put in my bag of spare parts.

We are spending the night at a pretty "rustic" RV park near Honey Lake (dry as far as I can tell) about 70 miles northwest of Reno.  We are planning on heading toward Crater Lake National Park tomorrow.

Park at Kings Beach on Lake Tahoe

The Journey Begins

After several days of hard work packing, cleaning and tuning up the bikes, and double checking our lists, we finally set out in the RV toward Oregon.  We had a great "Call Us Crazy" party last Friday night to celebrate the adventure.  Then on Saturday afternoon we road the tandem to the train station  and went to Santa Fe to met up with Stacy Ohlsson  for dinner. We met Stacy on our bike tour of Italy and she joined us on our last trip to Chile.  We rode part of the Santa Fe Century ride with her and then we rode home.... a very windy 85 mile ride.

At the party on Friday night, Jay Stanke, commented on how much play there was in our bike
rack on the back of the RV, so I spent a good part of Monday improving the fit of the hitch couplings and modifying the tie-down system to make the whole thing more stable.  That seems to have worked well.  We spent all afternoon driving in heavy head and cross winds.  And we learned another important lesson with the RV... the last quarter on the gas gauge goes down fast when climbing a mountain into a heavy head wind! We were on fumes when we pulled into a gas station outside Flagstaff, AZ.

We have added a 4th bike to mix, Beth's road bike, so we had to find a place for it since our bike rack only holds 3 bikes.  So we have rigged a spot for it inside the RV that keeps it pretty much out of the way... at least we can get to the essential areas of the RV (fridge and bathroom) without moving it.

We pulled into Las Vegas, NV about 8PM and are staying in an RV park.  We plan to get up early and do a 30 mile bike ride along the Lake Meade Parkway Trail, then head on to the Reno, NV area tomorrow (Thurday, 5/23).

On the Road... Again... the BIG RIDE!

The planning is finally done... the route is done (at least for now)... The Sprinter RV is pretty much ready to go... work is winding down... It's less than a week and we head toward Oregon to meet up with our nephew, Nicholas on May 27th in Portland and on May 29th we will start the Ride Across the USA from Florence, OR.  Just under 4000 miles and what will seem like a zillion feet of climbing (over 207,000 feet per ridewithgps.com).... At least 49 days of riding over 2 months..

This should be quite the adventure.  From the Oregon coast, through the Cascade mountains, the mountains of Idaho and Montana, Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the Colorado Rockies, the Royal Gorge, getting through western Kansas as fast as possible, visiting family in central Missouri, riding 2 ferries on the back roads of Kentucky, visiting Mammoth Cave, crossing the Cumberland Gap, riding the Blue Ridge Highway and finishing on the beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (or at least that is the plan).

Along the way we have planned to visit the capitals in OR, ID, MT, CO, KS, MO (a given), and TN.