Carmel

Another ride is in the books. The ride was very enjoyable. We traveled about 960 miles over 14 days of riding. My totals were 612 miles during the trip, somewhat more than I had anticipated riding. We are quite tired today. Attention to the road was absolutely required today. It took us 10 miles plus to leave Santa Cruz and we probably had to stop at 20 traffic lights on the way out of town. We were headed into the rising sun as well, so had to be on the wary side for holes in the road. When we approached Monterey and rode to Pacific Grove, many other cyclists and pedestrians shared the bike path. We weaved our way through it slowly. Traffic on the 17 mile drive was heavy and again our full attention was required for vehicles pulling in and out for the scenery. One driver almost clipped me thinking he could squeeze in before I got there. Or his attention span was short and he forgot already that I was there.

Thanks for following along on another edition of "Life in the slow lane." At this time, there are no plans for another chapter any time soon. My body definitely needs a rest with two trips this year and approximately 6,300 cycling miles for the year. Once again, thanks to Robin for allowing me to express my passion and for driving the SAG vehicle for the past two years. I am glad that she got to witness it for a couple of days.

Thanks to my fellow riders Doc, Jim H., Ron, and Tracy. I really enjoyed your company on and off the bicycle. You helped make it a successful trip. This is my third time down the West Coast and I am grateful that we shared it together. You helped me see things in a different way. May we log many more miles together over the upcoming years!

Today's riders: Dana, Doc, Tom, Tracy, Paula, Ron, Jim H. Dana and Paula joined us on the ride from the hotel to the first SAG. A club ride of perhaps 40 cyclists passed us on the route like we were all standing still, although I am sure that Dana could have stayed with them.

An ocean view from 17 mile drive. Lots of traffic on the road, but there is a bike lane for most of the drive. One could spend several hours along this road, especially on the nice day that we had today.

The Lone Cypress tree. It is approximately 250 years old and is the official symbol of the Pebble Beach Company. It is one of the most famous trees in the world.

Getting some food at the end of the trip.

Cruising to Santa Cruz

Robin and I on Twin Peaks overlooking San Francisco.

A view from Pigeon Point.

Paula and her husband Dana met us on route today. They joined us for dinner and will ride out of Santa Cruz with us. Paula did the XC in 2008, staffed it this year, and has done a lot of work for CrossRoads since then.

Dedicated to all surfers--a bronze monument in Santa Cruz.

Just a few notes as it is getting late. We had a nice day in San Francisco. Robin and I and Doc and his wife Sandy went on a city tour via bus. A quick way to see the highlights. Robin and I then had lunch with our daughter Lauri's boyfriend Jeremy who is studying for his masters in fine arts in SF. We had a great dinner at Absinthe. We spent $225 on restaurant meals on Thursday.

The ride out of San Francisco was uneventful. There are some tough hills. The climbing was over 2000 feet by mile 28, with some real gear busters and heart-stopping descents. Tracy rode the entire day today--86 miles. Yeah, Tracy! Robin drove the SAG vehicle today and got the flavor for what I have been up to for the past six years on all my tours. We finish on Saturday in Carmel.

San Francisco

There is not much to report today. Our ride was 50 miles from Petaluma to San Francisco. We had a great deal of climbing out of Petaluma to the initial suburbs of San Francisco. Most of it was on roads that once were likely quiet roads in the country but are now moderately busy thoroughfares though still in the country.

Traffic was heavy thereafter and made us quite attentive. When I arrived in San Francisco on a coast bike trip in 1974, I could not tolerate the big city. I made a decision to move from the Los Angeles area. It is a decision that I have never regretted. Yes, Denver is big 36 years later, but nowhere the size of San Francisco or Los Angeles.

Doc said "I cheated death once again" on his arrival at the hotel. We are staying at a Holiday Inn just a couple of blocks from Fisherman's Wharf. The city's hotels are completely booked as an Oracle convention is in town.

We have a day off here tomorrow before resuming our last two days of riding to Carmel, CA. Robin is flying here tonight to celebrate my big 6-0 birthday on Thursday. It is great to be healthy and still feel young. Thanks be to God! Our group will go to dinner tomorrow night. Robin will accompany us for the last two days of riding and get a primer in SAG driving.

Sorry, no pictures for today.

Pedaling to Petaluma

Today was another day of contrasts. We started off in wine country, entered another redwood forest, and spent the last 18 miles going through dairy country. It is amazing that such variety can be seen in just a relatively short distance. The land for the vineyards and forest looks so fertile while the dairy pastures look so brown that you wonder how the cows survive.

This was the first day that I was on the bike for the full day. It has been since early June that I last rode 72 miles. I handled it great, though. We had a couple of good climbs. The first was on the way up to Occidental, while the other was short but on a 14 percent grade for much of the hill. I think that Tracy will find another route around the latter hill as the road was in terrible condition. I talked to a local cyclist before we turned this road. He does not ride it because the hill gives his knees trouble. He continued straight and we met him on the other side. He traveled an additional mile or so, but was on a better road surface than we were.

Want wine? These signs pointed the way to many vineyards. We saw another one like this along the road.

These grapes look nearly ready to be crushed.

Having lunch at the Bohemian Market in Occidental. If you saw some of the people hanging around here, you would understand why it is called Bohemian (with apologies to my fellow Bohemian brothers at church).

Cloverdale

One of many vineyards in the Anderson Valley. Note the large building over the crest of the hill where the vineyard's operations take place.

View of a Mendocino coast headland. I love these and could look at them all day. It really creates a sense of peace.

Jim H. cresting another hill on the coast. He said that people would wonder why he is the always the last one to the top. He must have had Wheaties for breakfast this morning as he was the first one to the top of the first hill.

Ron on a descent in the oak-covered hills.

Cloverdale was named the second coolest small town in America for 2010. Robin and I were here on a Friday night in June. There was a town gathering at the central plaza. It seemed as if half the town was there and everyone knew each other. Food and vendor booths were set up and there was wine tasting. They do this each Friday night of the summer. Many people were walking through the town. It was nice to observe this going on.

As alive as the town may be on Friday nights, it was dead on this Monday night. We went to three restaurants that were closed before finding one that was open. In defense of its cool town image however, the proprietor of one closed restaurant invited us in for dinner anyway. I do not think that would happen in Denver. We wanted them to enjoy their day off so we respectfully declined the gracious offer.

Today was a day of great contrasts. We rode along the coastline for 18 miles, marveling at the spectacular headlands of the Mendocino coast. We turned inland and went through a redwood forest for 15 miles. As soon as we left the forest, we came into miles of vineyards. After this, it was up and down oak-covered hillsides for the final 26 miles of the day.

Another day of rain

While we were able to escape the rain for the most part on the past two days, we were not so lucky today. We had rain and mist until we got a couple of miles outside of Fort Bragg. Doc took a bump a few miles down the road and started his ride from there. Ron, Jim H., and I started from the hotel. Jim was ready to call it a day after about ten miles. I echoed his sentiments at about 20 miles. Our SAG was at 23 miles. The rain/mist seemed to have stopped for a minute or two. We had climbed 1600 feet by then and averaged only 12.4 mph. I had intended to do the Leggett Hill climb, adding another 1100 feet by mile 29. I have had problems shifting into the granny ring while under pressure and I would have needed it on grades that got up to 16 percent. Maybe I could have toughed it out in the middle chain ring, but the rain took out any desire to do it.

After the summit, Ron and Doc had a nice 9 mile descent. This descent has over 100 turns to the bottom. They had to hold back because of the wet road and pine needles on the road. It seems to rain harder when you descend, but it is just the speed that makes it seem so. They get another chance at a great descent tomorrow going into Cloverdale. The second SAG was on the ocean. I was tempted for awhile to get back on the road but know that I would have regretted it within a couple of miles as I would have been quite chilled. We could finally see blue sky as we entered Fort Bragg and the skies cleared quite nicely within one hour of our arrival.

Thanks to Rosy and Jordan, Ira, and Bob for your comments.

Ron and Doc at the second SAG. Notice the sign "Sunny days ahead". We hope that the rest of the trip is sunny!

Cypress (?) tree with misty ocean background.

We traveled 77 miles from Eureka to Garberville today. The initial 5 miles were on Highway 101 before we got off onto side roads that took us through lots of dairy country. Or, as Doc said "That is a lot of milk out there."

We went through the nice town of Ferndale at 18 miles. It had many fine Victorian homes and businesses. My wife Robin really liked the town when we traveled through it in June. After leaving Ferndale, we were back out into dairy country. You could tell where the cows are moved from pasture to pasture across the road by the amount of deposits they make on the road. We had several climbs and descents from mile 26 through 29. On one wicked descent, the carcass of a animal was spread across the road. I should have said several body parts. My concentration was on the road, but I did see a fresh rib cage in front of me and several other remnants in my peripheral vision. It did not give me a lot of immediate confidence for the upcoming sharp bend near the bottom. Jim H. reminded me later that the animal was killed crossing the road, not descending it. I managed to negotiate it safely as well as two more steep but short descents.

We then went through the lumber towns of Rio Dell and Scotia. Four miles later we entered the Avenue of the Giants, a 32 mile stretch that travels through the coastal redwood forest. The road surface was nice. Perhaps as many cyclists were on the road as cars. At times the tree canopy arched over the road while tall redwoods stood as sentinels to the side. Magnificent!

After leaving the Avenue of the Giants, the road was gradually uphill to the hotel, adding insult to injury. At least it was on the cool side.

Nice view of the Eel River and surrounding dairy pasture. We were near the top of a 14 percent grade and the steep descent mentioned above.

Clowning around in a tree.

Some of the big trees on the Avenue of the Giants. Actually, these are small ones by comparison.

Eureka

Battery Point lighthouse in Crescent City. It looked fabulous at night when it was lit up by floodlights.

One of the coastal redwoods we saw on our day off in Crescent City.

Tracy decorated the car at the second SAG for Doc's birthday. Ron is posing with him. I hope that I am still as strong as Doc at age 69!

Fancy Victorian home in Eureka, now a private club. Ron has dined here with clients he has in Eureka.

We were supposed to receive our first rain of the trip and Mother Nature did not disappoint. We were lucky in that the first rain was at about mile 55. It rained hard for just a short period of time but it did spit on us for most of the rest of the ride. This was our longest day of the trip at 87 miles.

We rode into giant coastal redwood forests today. They are quite spectacular. They are the tallest redwoods in the US, but not the largest in terms of weight or diameter. There ares 178 trees that are taller than 350 feet, or nearly the length of a football field, including the end zones. The largest diameter on a coastal redwood tree is 26 feet. By contrast, the diameter of the largest giant sequoia, also a redwood tree, is 56 feet. Such large trees are relatively rare as there are only 7 sequoias that exceed the 26 feet diameter of the largest coastal redwood. We stopped at the Big Tree Wayside for our first SAG stop. The nearby tree is 304 feet tall and 21 feet in diameter, practically a baby.

Crescent City

The temperature at departure was the warmest thus far. However, once we headed into a steady headwind, it felt cold enough. Tracy finally fixed her electronic shifting and rode without any problems today. The tough hills were before the first SAG at 28 miles and totaled 2000 feet of climbing. There was only 800 feet climbing in the last 31 miles, just the gentle rolling kind. We have a layover day in Crescent Day on Thursday. Two days of rain are to follow and we are not anxious to ride in the rain.

Last night's destination, Gold Beach, was a three mile climb and three mile descent on the other side of this point of land.

Arch Rock

Natural Bridge, another scenic spot on the Oregon coastline.

Doc and Ron attacking another hill.

In my COBRAS kit ready to ride from the first SAG.

Our one and only stateline crossing.

Gold Beach

Our ride from Bandon to Gold Beach was only 55 miles so we did not leave the hotel until 9. Within 200 meters, I had drops of mist on my glasses. The local light fog and mist would eventually lift, but heavy fog set in a couple of miles outside Port Orford. A headwind came with the fog and made the rest of the day more difficult than we have experienced to date. I did not take any pictures while riding because of the fog. It was just too gray. I did snap a few photos in Gold Beach that show some fog and a pile of driftwood on the beach.

Tracy was in the vehicle today to the first SAG and she worked on the shifting problems at bumps and the SAG. She felt that they were resolved so left on her bike from the SAG. Unfortunately, the problems returned and Jim H. picked her up. The current plan is to ship her other bike to Eureka so she can ride more.

After the SAG, Ron was a little bit ahead of Jim and me and was able to get through the construction work before we were stopped. We never saw him again until we got to the hotel. The fog was heavy at times. It was particularly a problem on descents when it would condense quickly on my glasses. I had to wipe the lens with my gloved fingers every couple of hundred meters so that I could see. I really do not like having only one hand on the bars at 30mph.

Vehicle traffic is getting lighter the further we get on the Oregon Coast. We left Hwy 101 a few miles outside Gold Beach and enjoyed no cars on the road.

Bandon

We had some fog this morning leaving Florence. It was eerie at times. As we headed up the hill out of Florence, the fog would come and go. I waited at the vehicle for riders to come up the hill. The fog condensed on the trees and then would drip to the ground. The sound of the drops reminded me of a gentle rain and it was very pleasant to listen to.

I wrote yesterday of Tracy's full tuck position at 40mph on the downhill. I smiled to myself and thought "You go, girl." I had the same thought today after hearing that her electronic shifters were not working and she was essentially riding a fixed gear bike in the big chainring and a middle cog on the cassette. To muscle up these hills in that gear is a testament to her fortitude.

Our first SAG was near the Umpqua River lighthouse. It was completed in 1894 and stands 100 feet above sea level. The lighthouse is the most distant from the ocean of any that I have seen. Its light can be seen from 25 miles to sea.

We rode near miles of sand dunes today. These sand dunes have been formed over eons by wind, sun, and erosion. They reach up to 150 meters in height and is the largest coastal expanse of sand dunes in North America, stretching 40 miles from Florence to Coos Bay. They were partially the inspiration for Frank Hebert's sci-fi novel Dune. The area is a population recreation attraction for dune buggies. I could not believe some of the slopes that are used by these riders. The photo makes them look like mini ski slopes.

The area of Bandon is quite beautiful. It has become known in recent years for its four golf courses, which are ranked in the top 50 courses built in the past 50 years. Too windy for my mediocre golf game and too expensive for my pocketbook too.

We had construction projects on three bridges today. I had to wait at the first one in the vehicle and the last one on the bike. The sound of construction on the third one was absolutely deafening, the loudest sound I have ever heard, at least until I got to the hotel. A man was using a riding mower without a muffler. Even from 75 yards away, it was the loudest sound. Our waitress told us that he nearly deaf. I wonder why?

The middle construction was on the bridge over Coos Bay. This bridge is one mile long and we were required to walk over it on a previous trip. We decided to shuttle everyone over this bridge in our vehicle. Doc wanted to ride it initially, but I would have none of it.

After the second SAG, we went up a road named Seven Devils Road. This road is another one that did not live up to its reputation from my memory. The initial hill was the most difficult of the ride thus far, but the remaining devils were tame by comparison. The views along the highest ridge line were great. We could see the ocean and much higher hills in the distance. There was little traffic which contributed to a fun ride for Ron and me.

Jim H. and I went for a walk on the beach after the ride. It was quite windy on the beach and was nearly deserted. We saw only 2 other hearty souls walking. I loved listening to the waves and wind.

Another perfect day

We had bright sunshine all day today and a very good tailwind to finish the ride. It was cool at the start with temperatures in the upper 40s. We are enjoying the cool weather as it seems like we have all been riding in 80 and 90 degree weather for months. We left Lincoln City at 8 this morning. Traffic was quiet for most of the morning, though it began to pick up after our second SAG. Tracy was in the van to start so the four guys rode together to the first SAG. It is nice to have such an evenly matched group. We took turns with one mile at the front before rotating to the back. The picture shows Ron in the lead, Doc in the middle, and Jim H., while I take up the rear and taking a picture. As you can see, we had a nice wide shoulder and did so for most of the day.
We took a small old man's relief break at Boiler Bay. I have seen whales here in the past as the area of Depoe Bay one mile away has a year-round pod of whales. Not today, but we did see a whale 40 miles down the road in Yachats. Still, the scenery at Boiler Bay was quite nice as always. It was low tide so we did not see the blowhole in action. The wave action was sufficient enough to have produced another awesome act of nature. There was a light residual fog which filtered the sunlight as you can see in the picture below.

We took another scenery break at Otter Rock. At least that is what some would say. We had ascended a few hundred feet so others would say it was a rest break, well deserved I would say. Another scenery observer took our picture. From L to R below -- Doc, Ron, me, Jim H., and Tracy. The view was spectacular. We had a nice descent afterward and returned to Hwy 101. We continued on to the first SAG where Jim H. joined Tracy in the vehicle and bumped her a few miles down the road. Doc, Ron, and I hustled over the bridge in Newport with a break in traffic. We were at 38 mph on the descent so the drivers behind us at that point could not complain too much about us holding them up. At the SAG, a busload of elderly tourists got off to see the sights. Doc said "Look at that. They are our age and being helped onto the bus while we cycle down the coast." It reminded me of the quote from The Shawshank Redemption--"Get busy living or get busy dying." That is why we cycle.

After Jim dropped Tracy, he came back to meet me at our designated spot and I took over the driving duties. I drove forward to check on Tracy, who has fixed her electronic shifting problems, to make sure she was OK. It was a number of miles before I caught sight of her and what a sight it was. She was on a slightly curving, two mile descent in a full tuck position taking the middle of the lane and doing 40 mph. The RV behind her gave a respectful distance. I went down the road and waited for her and gave some liquids for the remaining 6 miles. I then went back to the top of the hill and waited for the others. As they approached, I waved them on and told them I would trail them and prevent cars from passing them. They loved the freedom to let it loose without worrying about traffic. It was a great day.

My brother John drove from Eugene to visit over dinner. It was great to see him and catch up with the family news.

Three Capes Scenic Route

One of the nice things about our small group is the ability to pick a restaurant and drive to it. Last night we went nine miles back on your route to the Pirates Cove. The restaurant was right on Tillamook Bay. The tide was ebbing rapidly and the group was marveling at how quickly sand bars were appearing. I have been in this area six times now and still marvel at it. The first picture looks across the bay to the end of Cape Meares. We traveled along the water's edge before taking a hard two mile climb with grades up to 13 percent.

We had entered the Three Capes Scenic Route, one of my favorite rides. It is the third time I have done it. There is little traffic on the route and scenery abounds. There are two challenging climbs and two nice descents on the route. Cape Meares is the first of the Three Capes. After completing the climb, we went on a slight detour to the lighthouse. One of the highlights can be seen in the second photo. Three sea stack rocks have arches in them. They are protected from boats coming near them as they are home to nesting birds and seals. I have seen peregrine falcons, bald eagles, and more than 20,000 common murres in the water when visiting in June and July. Parts of the climb back to the designated route were an 18 percent grade.

After rolling for five miles after this descent, we came to Cape Lookout, the second of the three capes. We had a nice SAG next to the beach there. I love walking this beach when visiting at other times. I started riding after this point. In my 22 miles of riding yesterday, I had 730 feet of climbing. The 2.6 mile climb after leaving the SAG covered 750 feet of climbing. We were rewarded by the view seen in the third picture after one mile of climbing. It looks back toward Cape Meares and shows the beach I love to walk on.

The third cape is Cape Kiwanda. It is not as scenic nor as hilly as the first two. As we approached the cape, we saw a competition for personal watercraft (think jet skis). We rejoined Hwy 101 for nearly seven miles to the second SAG. The shoulder was very wide and traffic was much less in this area. Shortly after the SAG, we turned onto Slab Creek Road. My perceptions of this road have changed over the years. I remember the 1997 ride as being very difficult. The climb on this road is 5.8 miles and rises 800 feet through old growth forest of birch and pine trees. My 2007 recollection of the climb was that it was quite easy. Thr truth of it is a mixture of the two. The first 4 miles were quite easy, but the grade increases after that. There was a nice descent after. My descending skills have gotten better over the years and I was not fearful at all today after being very nervous in the two previous attempts. One of the nice things about this 10 mile road is that there were only 3 cars on it in either direction and one of them was Tracy in the SAG vehicle.

We had good weather today although it was 45 degrees at departure. Today's ride was 62 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing. Everyone is having a great time.

Seaside to Tillamook

Seaside was sponsoring a old-time street rod convention this weekend. There were a great many beautiful cars around town. The picture shows just one of them. Jim said that I could paint flames on the SAG vehicle if I paid him $20,000. I left my checkbook at home so you missed out Jim.

It looked like we would have a rain-free day when we departed Seaside at 9 this morning. I was in the SAG vehicle to start. I filled up with gas before I left town. It was raining slightly before I got out of town, but the roads showed that it had rained quite hard. The roads were dry after 6 miles. Tracy had left the hotel earlier and got the worst of it. She just got a new bike and it has electronic shifting. The water must have interfered with the electronics as she rode with just two gears the rest of her time on the bike. And she had 3 major climbs to do. There was 2,000 feet of climbing in the first 25 miles, but only 700 in the remaining 22. We had occasional wet roads during the remainder of the day, but nothing on us.

Everyone enjoyed the ride today. The scenery is spectacular. The riders stopped in Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock, a large rock formation just a few feet off the shore. It is supposed to be the most photographed spot in Oregon. The last climb traversed the side of Neahkahnie Mountain, the highest point along the Oregon coastline. The construction of Highway 101 along its flanks is an engineering marvel with rock walls dozens of feet high and absolutely completely vertical to prevent the roadway from slipping into the ocean. The view from the many pullouts before the summit afford great scenery of the coastline to the south. Today was a little grey so the blue of the water did not show up as on a sunny day.

We went to the Blue Heron French Cheese Company for lunch. For $8.50, you receive a cup of soup and two salads. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory for a tour and cheese samples and some of the best ice cream. It was a great way to begin a bike tour today!

Ready to go

Jim O. and I arrived in Portland on Wednesday after driving nearly 1300 miles over two days. Tracy arrived by air that afternoon and Jim H. and Ron got in today. Our hotel was under the flight paths into the airport and we watched their Frontier flight go directly over our heads. We waited for their call after Jim's bike was assembled and we picked them up five minutes later. We stopped for lunch on the way to Seaside and had a mini-orientation.

We unloaded the car on arrival and Doc, Ron, and I went for a 32 mile ride. We took a hilly back road up to Astoria and then headed down 101 back to Seaside. Before we got to 101, a large bull elk crossed the road some 40 meters in front of us. It was awesome! It had to jump a guardrail on the side of the road and did so with grace.

Hwy 101 was packed with traffic in each direction. The others were worried if this volume would continue down the coast. I had to tell them that I saw the same volume on my scouting trip in June and it diminished after Seaside. Apparently many of these cars head back to Portland after leaving Seaside. Hopefully, that will be the case when we leave tomorrow on our coastal adventure. We will likely not have any sunshine but should avoid rain. Fine by me and the others. In fact, we are all looking forward to cooler temperatures after the hot summer.

Symmetry

As I was riding my bike on Labor Day morning, I started to think about symmetry. It was not in a cyclist's way of thinking though. No, it was not about equal leg length which is apparently not too common or about whether my right and left legs have equal power. It was about my upcoming bike tour.

We are starting this ride in Seaside, Oregon and will finish in Seaside, California. Well, at least the last hotel is in Seaside. We actually finish in Carmel, a few miles south and will shuttle back to the hotel. There are other examples of symmetry. I have started a previous West Coast ride in Portland. I started an East Coast ride in Portland, Maine.

More about the next tour. We start the 950 mile ride on September 10. This ride was conceived last winter when three of us were riding and taking a break on the top of Chatfield Dam to look at the snow covered foothills and catch a breath from the climb up the dam road. Jim Olsson asked about a West Coast ride. I said I would do it again (I have done it twice, self supported in 1974 fresh out of college and again in 2007 on an organized tour). Tracy, owner of CrossRoads Cycling, said that she would go.

We put out feelers to several former CrossRoads riders to see if they would join us on this adventure. Jim Heller from 2005 who was my main riding partner thought it over and said he was in. Other invitees could not come for various reasons. Ron Allum, a fellow Denverite and COBRAS club member and great training partner with Jim O., said that he would join us.

I drove the route in June with my wife and took copious notes to form cue sheets. Tracy did all the hotel planning and saved us $500 in hotel costs from the advertised Internet rates. Jim O. is contributing the use of his SUV for the trip. I will drive half of each day to give the others the maximum ride time because I have done the trip twice before.

I think that the scenery on this ride is unsurpassed for a long bike tour in the US. I am looking forward to it again and will blog about our adventure as we proceed. Stay tuned.

John's retrospective on our trip

I asked John to provide his thoughts about our ride from New Orleans to Minneapolis. We shared our thoughts each evening as we wrote our blog or journal, so I am somewhat freely adding my thoughts in this wrapup as highlighted in blue.

Post Mortem.

Why I thought the Mississippi Ride would be a push over I will never know. Perhaps because I read the average daily ride distance was under 80 miles. What I didn't consider was the possibility of the temperatures soaring into the 90s F and ultra high humidity. (The daily high temperatures were above average for each day until the last three days.) After all it was still spring in the Deep South. In any event, the conditions were a real test for even the strongest riders. Probably the toughest and and most experienced rider, Jerry Griswold from California who has clocked up 60,000 miles worldwide, collapsed in a shop on the first day from dehydration. Two others had to be treated for dehydration and heat exhaustion. A last minute decision to take along my 2 litre Camelbak paid off. As with Tom these water bags for the back proved invaluable. Some days we gulped our way through six litres of water and a couple of litres of Gatorade. (I amaze at those who got by with 2 bottles. I often drank most of a Camelbak plus a bottle of Gatorade between SAG stops. Still, I was borderline dehydrated after the ride into St. Louis which was my highest fluid intake. I was shivering and weak-kneed that afternoon. Fortunately it was a rest day the next day and I was feeling much better by noon on that day.) Cycling with these H's (heat and humidity) would have been almost unbearable with a few other Hs such as Headwinds and Hills! Few 'civilians' understand why we cyclists inflict so much pain on ourselves. But I have to confess the pain/pleasure sorely tests the old adage "the worst day in the saddle is better than the best day in the office".

The Hounds of Hell. That's something the cycle company brochures don't boast about. But ironically the dog attacks through Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee sparked off the funniest stories. We all devised different strategies to tackle the hound hazzard. Tom's was the quirkiest. "Get off the couch" he yelled as the high speed dogs tore along him behind baring their yellow fangs inches from his butt. I am not sure it really worked. I reckoned few of these feral fiends came from homes with such comfy furniture. (John is a master of alliteration.) My thought was to think DOG and turn into a cycling Hound of the Baskervilles- barking and howling back at the snarling beasts (I referred to John as a big dog in one post). To be honest only a couple of dogs aborted their attacks leaving me with the only alternative...hammer the pedals like hell with the resultant heart rate shooting through the roof and a sore throat. (A few loud AARGHS also left me with a sore throat. Fortunately, the dogs disappeared after St. Louis as Jeff had promised.)

One of the big plus sides of the ride was the friendliness of all the riders- slow, moderate or quick. Getting to know the wide variety of characters who throw thenmselves into the long distance cycling melting pot for a month is a large part of the enjoyment. (I have called this the brotherhood of the road.) Naturally we all had more time to chat to cyclists of the same pace but everyone took time out to chat to all the riders. Also the warm generous personalties of the lead staff Jeff and Sondra, helper Pam and mechanic Gerard put everyone at their ease. I counted myself the luckiest rider sharing a room and most of the 1,800 miles from New Orleans to Minneapolis with Tom Dunn, His easy going nature, good humour and tolerance made the journey a joy. And his navigational skills (I clung to his rear wheel like a clam though all areas where the route map indicated more than one turning) were phenomenal. I became embarrassed at the number of times I congratulated him. His mastery of the back streets of Memphis and St Louis were a complete mystery to me! If I had been left to my own devices I would have ended up in a swampy cul-de-sac somewhere in the beyond. (Or alligator meat in other words. Getting to Memphis and St. Louis were easy. The last ten miles into Memphis had only two turns as I recall and we were on the same road into St. Louis and our hotel for over 20 miles. I missed 3 turns during the ride and 2 of them were favorable. I realized that we missed one turn almost immediately but still pressed on for 1/2 mile before finally admitting it to myself.)

As Tom knows, this was my final trip across the pond from Ireland for a long distance ride in the USA. After two US coast-to-coast rides and the West Coast Ride, the only one of interest was the East Coast ride from Maine to Florida. But reports of the heavy traffic have put me off. What next? (America will miss you John!) After mooching around at home in Northern Ireland for the past month, a few vague ideas are beginning to form. After all, there's a cliche to live up to: You don't stop moving when you get old.....you get old when you stop moving. (Amen to that and thanks John for your friendship the past five years. Let's keep in touch.)

One week later

Could a week already have passed since ending the latest tour? Hard to believe. Barbie asked me "How do we get back to the real world?" after ending her latest bike adventure. We just take it a step at a time and treasure the special moments that we shared on the road or experienced alone. I know that she and our fellow riders from 2009 have done that over the past year. I hope that this group of riders will do so as well. I hope that our friends and loved ones can understand our feelings and passion for what we do. As always after these trips, I thank my wife Robin for allowing me to follow my passion and putting up with me when I get home. So after I finish this chapter of the blog, I had better get busy in the real world and accomplish some things on the honey-do list.

Some retrospective:

Who were we?

Fourteen men, six women. Economist (2), lawyer (3), doctor (2), nurse practitioner, journalist, college professor, student, taxidermist (one rider heard tax attorney instead of taxidermist), program director, police lieutenant, company executive, software engineer transitioning to teacher, barber, air traffic controller, CPA, financial advisor. Many of us are retired or will be soon. All of us are avid cyclists who enjoy the fellowship of being on the road.

Favorite part of the ride:

The last few days with high bluffs over the Mississippi River.

Least favorite part of the ride:

Humid days which was most of them. Being dripping wet within a few miles is not my cup of tea. I could ride for hours here in Colorado and not have visible perspiration on my jersey. Buffet dinners. Most of the food looked awful so I limited my selections. I choose wrongly a couple of times and could not eat those choices beyond a single bite. Someone must like these buffets, though, as there were many overweight people in these restaurants. Actually, I mean everyone there except the cyclists.

Body changes:

I lost 7 pounds and continue to lose weight. It seems that the metabolism is still burning high. I hope to keep the weight off.

Would I live anywhere on the route?

No. I firmly believe that there is no better place than Colorado. It does get cold in the winter but there are nice days mixed in to be able to ride. I was able to ride outside at least one day each week since the first of January. The scenery here is spectacular. The wide open prairie affords the views. Many places on the Mississippi River ride are hemmed in by trees and long-range views cannot be seen. From my house, I can see flat-topped mesas 30 miles away. The quality of Denver's bike trail system is superior to what I saw along the route.

My roommate:

John Hicks and I have known each other since 2005 when we cycled across America with Crossroads Cycling Adventures (http://www.crossroadscycling.com/). We did another trip with ABB in 2007 from Portland to Newport Beach. We have kept in contact with each other since 2007 and each made the commitment to do the Mississippi ride. John has extensive cycling experience and has cycled in 42 countries if memory serves me correctly. He is a much stronger cyclist than I am but we rode together for most of this ride. As John told others, we have known each other for five years, but this is the first time that we rode together. (I remember sticking together for an entire day from Seaside to Tillamook OR and a good portion of another day into Gold Beach Oregon.) I very much enjoyed his company on and off the bike. He is full of stories and kept me light-hearted and entertained. Hopefully, I did the same for him. I have asked John to provide his perspective of this ride and will post it to this blog. Many of the followers were his friends and family. Thank you for reading about some of our adventures and misadventures together. I hope to meet you someday.

Future plans:

A day at a time. I have already been on the bike 4 times since returning home. I rode with Larry this morning and we had a good chat. Robin and I are traveling to Oregon next week and will start confirming a route that friends and I will take this fall from Astoria to Carmel. I am bringing the bike and will ride some of the route. Perhaps a visit to Europe next year. If not, then New Zealand in early 2012. Maybe both. Whatever happens, I will continue to cycle.

Miscellaneous:

I wrote earlier in this blog about one of the other riders who has taken over 100 cycling trips abroad. For some of my fellow cycling nuts, here is the link to several of his trips over the past few years. It will take you a few weeks to read about a few of his exploits. May we all be a fraction as adventurous as Jerry has been.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/directory/?o=RrzKj&user=TouringbyBike&v=Eq


Cheers,

Tom

Ride finished

We had the final banquet on Thursday night. We shuttled to dinner in downtown Red Wing. We had a choice of several menu items. I got lasagna for the umpteenth time on this trip. Once again I could not finish it, partly due to average taste, partly due to being full. If it was good lasagna I would have eaten all of it. We received the traditional finishing certificate and had a chance to say a few words. I thought that the staff was terrific, particularly the trip leaders Jeff and Sondra. They met cycling in the Twin Cities area and got married on a cross-country bike trip. Their honeymoon cruise was a boat trip across Lake Michigan! Debbie, a current member of this trip, was on that 2007 trip. Jeff is off to staff another ride leaving in about 2 weeks while Sondra holds down the fort here in the Twin Cities. Gerard, our mechanic, and Pam will staff another cross country trip leaving next week from San Francisco.

I woke at various times during the night hearing rain outside the motel. A look out the window at 6 revealed a clearing sky. The road was wet at departure and I think that my bike accumulated more dirt and grime in a single day today than it had during the previous 22 days of riding. Although the sky looked as if it could open up on a couple of occasions, the day stayed rain free. So we had about 10 minutes of very light drizzle during 23 days of riding. Pretty amazing considering that a check of all the major cities showed an average of 4.5 to 5 inches of rain in May.

Most of us took it easy today. I think that is pretty typical for the last day of riding. You want it to end and you do not want it to end. One of our riders, John W., stayed in Red Wing today. He is going to continue his ride to Lake Itasca in N. Minnesota over the next week as a self-supported rider. Nathan left early and was planning to meet his wife and then drive immediately to Madison, WI. John, Fred, and I smelled some good burgers about 4 miles from the finish and stopped for lunch. They had a beer, but I abstained until later tonight. I did see an interesting painting on the road at mile 11 and took a picture (displayed, although the arrow is in the wrong direction). We left Red Wing and re-entered Wisconsin for about 22 more miles. It gave me a chance at a second sna (sorry, my key for the letter after o just quit working; sell check cannot correct all of them).

The last few miles were on bike trails. We had to really ay attention. Sondra laid down markers for us to follow.

I enjoyed the ride especially the last few days as the juxtaposition of bluffs and the river was stunning. I really enjoy the friendships made on the ride and renewing a friendship with John Hicks. He said that this may be his last US ride so I will have to get over to Northern Ireland to visit.

John, Jordan, Rosy, Kathleen and I will be going out for a real dinner tonight.

What are my lnext ride ans? Several riders from previous CR XC rides and I will be doing a ride from Astoria to Carmel in September. I am the ride leader and will be doing as much driving as riding. I have done this twice before. I consider it to be the preeminent ride in the US for scenery and we are all excited about it. Stay tuned in September for more blogging.

Thanks for following along with me for another chater in "Life in the slow lane."

Day's statistics: 60.3 miles, 14.3 average, 2540 feet climbing.

Highlight of the day: Finishing another ride.

Do not pre-judge

Yes, I spent most of the day on state highways but the situation was much better than yesterday. The only difficult part was the last 3 miles when we turned left to go to the bridge over the Mississippi River and the crossing into Minnesota, the final state of this trip.

Everything was better about the highway today. Less traffic, more room on the shoulder, and a better road surface. It does not pay to be negative in advance. You would think after a lifetime of experience I would have remembered that life lesson.

Today's ride was 101.6 miles. I felt great until 88 miles, then had a minor energy crash. I stopped for a bathroom break, had a gel, drank half a bottle of Gatorade and Electro Endurance mix and felt better. We had a 2 mile or so hill climb immediately after and after failing to keep up with another rider, I decided to soft pedal it to the top and conserve some energy. I had a V-8 juice after the descent and then felt good for the rest of the day.

The luggage was not here when we arrived so four of us found a wonderful cafe 2 blocks from tonight's lodging. I had a fabulous black bean burrito which surpassed a Chipotle burrito. I bought a dessert for the room and immediately devoured it when arriving back at the motel. I keep telling myself to start cutting back on the caloric intake but after a 102 mile day, it is impossible to restrain oneself!

It may finally rain on our parade tomorrow as thunderstorms and rain are forecast for the morning. But I will wait to see what happens and not worry about it. It will be our last day of riding.

We have the final group dinner tonight and we get to recount our thoughts about the ride. More on that tomorrow.

Day's stats: 101.6 miles; 16.4 mph; 2050 feet climbing.

Highlight of the day: Being surprised by the road today; lunch; speaking in advance for the wonderful feelings of the final banquet tonight.