Coasting UpHill

I’ve been riding for 11 days now and gone 600 miles.  I’m well behind what I thought I would cover in 11 days.  Originally my plan was to average 70 miles per day.  I’ve had 3 of my days over 75 miles but most closer to 50.  And i’m seriously good with this.  No, really…

Day 9 started with a little breakfast we grabbed from a local store. Well I should explain “little”…. I’m eating a lot on this ride. So the night before I had a huge chicken fried steak, big pile of mashed potatoes, corn and a big salad – went to bed hungry. So when morning came…

It’s not always tailwinds, sunny, and downhill Besides the riding adventure, much of my trip was to provide the opportunity to spend time with the Lord in prayer and in scripture. Using Psalm 1:1-3 as a guide I wanted to meditate on and memorize some verses.  One of those is James 1:2-4 (ESV)  “Count it…

Yep, it was a long day…  82 miles,  3 mountain passes climbed, hours grinding uphill, awesome downhill coasting, great scenery, another flat tire and the last 10 miles in cold rain… But here was the cool part… at the top of the first mountain pass I was taking a break and getting warm clothes back on…

Day 6 started early eating 3 breakfasts…. Oatmeal, bowl of cereal, and then toast with jelly and another bit of cereal.  Also lots of coffee…. Had a big day of riding ahead of me including a long climb out of Mitchell.  The climbs over mountain passes here aren’t easy because they are long but that…

What a difference some sunshine can make! A day full of promise now that we were on the east side of the Cascade mountains and no rain. We had sunny but cool conditions. I say “we” as my two new friends from Belgium were riding with. At about lunch we diverted a couple miles to…

 So, here’s how day three went down. Got up early, had some oatmeal and loaded up the bike. About 10 minutes before I headed out, it started to rain.  It was a cold rain.  It was a lot of rain. It was not a fun rain. By 2 miles in my feet and hands were…

The past two days have already been filled with so many memories. One thing that’s been constant is the rain and wind and cold. Every person I meet says “sorry for the weather it’s not normally like this”. The first person I met who said this was outside of a small town post office where…

Woke up this morning early with the realization that the ride starts in 24 hours. That immediately set me to mentally reviewing all my “to do” lists, packing lists and injected a bit of “what am I thinking” into my head. The weather looks…challenging for the first few days… all rain and not too warm.…

After a long day of travel my send off crew (8 of us total) and I arrived in Florence Oregon. Travel was mundane and uneventful but the sites we visited after arriving were anything but. We saw Multnomah Falls, beautiful beaches during our drive and amazing overlooks above the Pacific Ocean. everything is green and…