Idaho! part 3

i am currently taking a rest day in boise. put some things together to mail home to try to make the rockies as easy as humanly possible (which really is not humanly possible). as i probably should have realized, 6 weeks is not much time for this trip. while it is thoretically possible, it doesnt account for the fact that i would like to enjoy myself on this trip too. i have decided to not worry so much about my final destination, and concentrate on where i am and what im experiencing. i am meeting a couple of friends in a few days in jackson, wyoming and they are riding with me to chicago. if that is as far as i make it, great! i will hang out for a few days, take the train to new york, hang out for a few more days and fly home. if i make it to new york, also great! i have spent too much time worring about the final destination and not enough time focusing on the reason i set off on this trip in the first place; a love of bike riding, and a desire to see the country.

idaho! continued...

sorry for the disjointed format. i am trying to post from my finicky phone. anyhow, people so far have been pretty fantastic when i come across them, which hasnt been as frequently as i would like, especially since all the other cyclists ive met have been going the other direction finishing their cross country treks. aparently i have chosen the wrong time of year for this. the people in the towns along the way have also been amazing. the town of dayville, oregon puts cyclists up for the night in their church, letting them use the showers, kitchen and laundary for free. it was quite welcome after a long hard day of riding in 100 degree weather in the desert. another lady in ironside, oregon let me sleep in her motor home next to her house during a rather ominous thunderstorm. in general people have been enthusiasti and totally helpful.

Idaho!

so, i have made it to idaho! oregon was rough at times. much of it is having record highs just like the rest of the country. there is so much distance between towns at times that i was starting to be afraid that i would run out of water. i did in fact after coming down from the cascades in the middle of the warm springs reservation, which is at least a good 30 miles long with

Solo time...

Today is the first day I will be traveling solo. I'm a little nervous, but I think once I get on the road I will feel a lot better. Things always seem more daunting before actually setting out, and it will certainly be nice to have quiet time and clear my head. As much as I love portland and friends, half the point of the trip was to get away from everything.

I will be traveling along highway 26 through oregon and should be near the base of mount Hood tonight. First day of climbing mountains! We shall see how this goes. My next major stop is Boise, Idaho!

-katy-

Tracking map

It has been brought to my attention that the map in the upper right corner of my blog doesn't always show my position. If this is the case, its most likely because my cellphone is out of tower range and cant transmit to the website. Don't worry. Its not broken, just temporarily unavailable.

-katy-

Portland!

Hey all! I am finally able to update this from a real computer! Apparently my phone doesn't work so well for updating blogs.

So to continue from the last post...after getting a flat and spending an hour and a half patching the tube in several different places, some really nice man pulled into the gas station and offered to go buy some tubes for us and bring them back! (people never cease to amaze me some times)

We ended up in Milton that night in this horrible motel in which you could smell the mold growing in the carpet. Gross.

The next day, we rode through Tacoma, which is one of the least bike friendly places I have ever been in the north west, and pushed through to Centralia after not finding any camping (apparently there is very little along the I-5 corridor) and ended up in a motel there after riding around 70 miles. We ate dinner at a place called Burgerville which is fast food, but is, as much as possible, local and organic (walla walla sweet onion rings!)

The next day we started our ride with the one day riders of the STP, since we were following their route. It was nice to be cheered on after such a long day of riding the day before. Some of the older men on the STP were really interested in my trip and had a lot of good pointers since many of them had done similar tours 20-25 years earlier. It was nice to have the encouragement. 50 miles, and the best 50 for me so far, later we rolled into kelso and ended up in yet another motel :( .

The forth day, we tried to get an early start and failed miserably as I was having tire trouble again. I pumped my front tire and when I tried to remove the pump nozzle from the valve and the inner piece pulled out!! I changed the tube (with the brand new one that the guy brought us at the gas station) and we were off. Five minutes down the road I checked the pressure of the tire, AND IT WAS FLAT AGAIN!!!! I couldn't find the hole in the new tube and it was a slow enough leak that I could fill it every 45min to an hour and it would be ok, but it certainly didn't make slogging up hills very easy.

We started off towards the lewis and clark bridge and got in the line of two day STP riders who were crossing, and ended up getting a sweet escort across an otherwise not terribly appealing bridge. (for anyone who hasn't crossed one of the washington-oregon bridges over the columbia on a bike, between the wind, the tiny bike lane, the traffic and the steep grades they are often the scariest parts of bike tours in the north west. ) We biked into portland with all of the two day people finishing the STP and got to share a bit in their glory of making it to the finish line. Along the course that day I ran into my friend Remmington, who rode the STP pulling a trailer shaped like a covered wagon!! He gave me another new tube and gave me some recommendations for different tires that would make touring a hell of a lot smoother. My tire held air the rest of the way to portland, where we split off from the STP and road to Ian's friends house, where we spent the night last night.

I am spending the day today gathering more supplies and recuperating a little, and tomorrow I set off for the base of mount hood.

I am hoping to be in Idaho in 7 days, and then off to wyoming to meet up with the next set of friends for probably the easiest, as well as most difficult leg of the trip. The mid west and ...THE ROCKIES!!! (dun dun duuunnnnnn)

-Katy-

and we begin!

we set off thursday 7/15 into the wild blue yonder otherwise known as the clusterfuck that is west marginal and white center and promptly got ourselves slightly lost. twenty twenty minutes later after finally getting on the right path, i, of course, got a flat tire after neglecting to buy extra tubes before we left (oops!)

And the countdown begins...

Who would have thought that the last 6 months would go by so quickly. I leave a week from tomorrow and no matter how much I have planned in the last 6 months, I still feel as if I have no idea what to really expect. I have decided to try and keep a blog, as I guess this is quite a bit easier than sending mass emails. I will try and keep it updated as much as possible, but I make no promises. :)

I have posted a map that I will update from my phone that will allow people to see where I am in the country.

Thank you all for your support, encouragement and interest. I look forward to seeing you all and telling stories when I get back.