This is the story of my epic, four month, 4100 mile, bicycle trip during the summer  of 
1999. It is mostly excerpted from my journals, with occasional additions and editing from 
my vast memory banks. 
Unfortunately I didn't keep a journal during the days and weeks preceding the trip, and at 
this point, over a year later, I don't remember what I was feeling. On the other hand, I 
would probably end up boring you with the little details of last minute panic and chaos.
Enjoy.

April 27th, 1999 AD.
Start bike trip to the West Coast.

April 28th  
Menomonie, WI, at the Erdman's house.
Yesterday I left home.
The Numbers: 
(I recorded this information every day. I won't give it to you all the  time but I'll stick it 
in here as an example, and occasionally throughout I may put in parts of it.) 
Tot:  3:55  (Total riding time, hours and minutes, for entire trip)
Dst: 40  (Total distance, in miles, for entire trip)
Trp: 40.43  (Distance, in miles, covered today)
Avg: 10.30  (Average speed, in mph, for today)
Stp: 3:55:27  (Stopwatch. Riding time, hr:mn:sec, for today. Note that if my wheel 
wasn't moving, my computer assumed I was stopped. Therefore, small delays (e.g. 
waiting at stoplights, breathers at the top of the hill) do not figure in the total but can add up 
considerably. Generally I spent at least two hours more than this between leaving one 
campsite and arriving at the next, with lunch and rest stops added in.)
Max: 28.9 (Top speed in mph, for today)
I left home about 9:30 AM, 2 1/2 hours behind schedule, on a bike weighing 122 lbs. I 
arrived In Menomonie, at the Leisure center where Mom and Christopher were for the 
home school group classes, at about 1:15. After I pulled out a few things to send home, I 
rode over to the Erdman's and ditched the rest while I went to run a few last minute 
errands.
I'm not even on the Adventure Cycling route yet, and I'm already meeting other cyclists 
who know what I'm talking about! Yesterday in Riverside Bike and Skate someone saw 
my load and asked the already annoying question "where you headed?" Turns out he's 
ridden the Northern Tier form Glacier National Park west.
Adventure Cycling, formerly known as Bikecentenial, is a Missoula, MT -based 
organization whose mission is to promote bicycle touring. To that end they have close to a 
dozen routes mapped for touring cyclists, crossing the country  in several directions and 
places. I followed the western half of their Northern Tier route, which runs from 
Anacortes, WA to Bar Harbor, ME.)
Ryland and I spent several hours last night looking at maps and USGS photos on the 
web. I think I found West Glacier and Going to the Sun Highway, which I was hoping to 
ride over.
Quote of the day: " Oh my God. I didn't even see you coming." - Dave Klein, on being 
surprised by me as he crossed the road to his mail box.
Question of the Day: Is battling an east wind the first day a good or a bad omen for a 
cyclist who's overall plan is to head west?

April 28th 
At the Lofgren's house, near Clayton, WI.
I spent most of the morning repacking and left a couple more pounds of stuff to be sent 
home. I left Erdman's about 11, and made it less than half a mile before turning around 
because my steering was shimmying all over the place. It turned out that my front hub 
bearings where loose, so we adjusted them and it rode better for the rest of the day.
Bad omen of the day?- two days out and I've already encountered a detour. Oh well. The 
detour was nice too.
I stopped for lunch in Boyceville... Must remember that instant Tabouli is NOT 5 minute 
instant ( It takes closer to half an hour. That was also the first and last time on the trip I ate 
it. The remainder traveled all the way with me.)
On the bright side, I got here without directions! (I'd never been there before. I just 
looked at a map and knew the address)
Quote: " At least you've got a good motor on that bike." - An older man walking down 
the street in Connorsville
Question: What is causing my bike to shimmy? (The answer apparently was inexperience 
handling a loaded bike, and a poorly balanced load.)

April 29th 
Wild River State Park, Taylors Falls, MN
The Numbers:
Tot: 12:20
Dst: 134
Trp: 56.76
Avg: 11.18
Stp: 5:04:35
Max: 35.8
I encountered my first cow in the road, second detour, and first irresistible urge to 
splurge- Ice cream in Taylors Falls.
I saw another cyclist today. Not a distance tourer, but she(?) rode several miles out of 
Amery and turned in at a driveway. She also stayed about the same distance ahead of me all 
the time. I was hoping she would at least stop and say hi when she left the road. but she 
didn't.
When I got slightly lost on the detour I stopped an asked an older man out tilling his 
garden for directions. He told me about his son who had ridden his bike from Montana 
back to Wisconsin, or should I say Minnesota since he quit in Montevideo when his spokes 
were loose and he'd lost his spoke wrench.

April 30th
Northwind Nursery, Cambridge, MN
Today I discovered the only fun part of a flat tire. It's only going to work in town 
though. But let's tell the whole story.
I went to the post office to buy stamps, and pulled my bike up on some sharp granite 
landscaping rock next to the wall. Mistake. When I came out the rear tire was flat and the 
front one was low. The only good part is that people stop to talk...
I also discovered that my front wheel bearings where loose again, so I had to tighten 
them up. All in all not a good day for wheels...
 I'm staying with friends of my parents who run a small fruit nursery. Dave, the 
apprentice here, is planning to ride a ways with me tomorrow. Possibly all the way...
Quote: "You've got as much stuff on there as I carry in my big truck." - Man entering the 
post office as I fixed my flat tire.
Question: How can I have been on the road for four days and not be sunburned?

May 1st
Chuck Schwab's, Royalton, MN
I left Northwind Nurseries about 9:30 with Dave. We rode about 17 miles before he had 
a flat and decided to turn around because the chances of another one were pretty good.
I joined the Northern Tier in Dalbo, MN.
Once Dave left I had a fairly uneventful day until Chuck met me a few miles from here. 
Good thing he did since the wind had blown away my directions and I couldn't remember 
the road numbers.
This evening I hiked across the swamp to a little duck pond. While not an impressive 
pond it was a nice peaceful place to sit and listen to wildlife. I heard geese, cranes, 
woodcocks, frogs, etc. The geese were in the field next to the pond and let me walk less 
than a hundred feet from them without flying away...
Quote " You're the first biker we've seen through this year."- Clerk, Ramy Store and 
Bar.

May 2nd
Tim and Jan King's, Clotho MN
I rode into Little Falls, about four miles off route, in the hopes that the bike shop would 
be open (on a Sunday). No such luck. I spent an hour or so eating lunch and visiting the 
zoo. It's a small zoo with only eight or ten different kinds of animals, and at the moment 
most are in small cages. They are trying to raise money to improve that though. Buddy the 
Black Bear is the star attraction. He was taking a shower while I was there. There was a 
sprinkler on the roof of his cage that sprayed water down, and he seemed to enjoy sitting 
under it.
As I rode back to the main route I discovered that I shouldn't have left it in the first place 
because I was battling a head wind for two or three miles to get back where I wanted to be. 
Made it feel like ten...
Quote: " Does that bike have asthma or what?"- John King, Tim's brother, quoting 
someone in a race he was once in on a clunky ten speed.
Question: Why do people around here call them tar roads? They are exactly the same as 
what we call blacktop or asphalt at home.

May 3rd
Dittberner's home, Parkers Prairie, MN
The Numbers:
Trp: 30:29
Dst: 343
I should have learned my lesson yesterday about wind and going off route... I got here 
about 11 AM. After Lunch Selena and I hiked out to the lake about a mile away at the back 
of the farm. I think it was even windier than this morning!..
Question: I wonder why I always seem to ride faster on wet roads?
Quote: " You keeping out of trouble?" - A (possibly) mentally challenged young man 
outside the drug store in Parkers Prairie.

May 4th
Dittberner's
Rest Day.
Forest and I spent the afternoon tagging trees and loading Birch trees on a flatbed trailer. 
We're talking 12 or 15 foot tall trees here. (The Dittberners run a wholesale landscape 
nursery.)
I'm still kind of not really believing that I'm doing this trip. I've never done anything 
exactly like this, so I have no experience to draw on as to what to expect, or even to know 
that I can do it.
I'm really enjoying being around people again. I think that this will be the hardest 
departure of the whole trip, since it will be a month before I see any one I know again...

May 7th
Dittberner's
I'm still here, on Friday, and I'll probably stay till tomorrow, since the sky looks wet and 
I bruised my hip yesterday.
Yesterday I helped out over at the tree farm again... we went out about six PM to dig 
trees. I bruised my hip trying to jump onto the trailer while it was moving. I learned my 
lesson...
After we got done digging and loading trees in the field we had to move them to the semi 
flatbed. In the dark. I felt on slightly more familiar ground once we had them loaded and a 
tarp over the load, when I was balancing on the edge trying to tie a rope onto the tarp, in 
the dark and rain. Just like old times on the LoTec crew.
Anyway, it was 11:00 by the time we got back for supper.

May 7th
Dittberner's
Quote: It's for your protection."- The bank teller explaining why I needed to put my 
thumb print on my check before she would cash it.

May 8th
Jan and Everett Gilbertson's, Battle Lake, MN
...The leave taking at Dittberner's wasn't as bad as it could have been. I was kind of torn 
apart for a few miles though...
When the noon siren rang just as I entered Parkers Prairie, I somehow felt that there was 
some symbolic meaning there. Still don't know what, though.
This afternoon I hiked up Inspiration Peak, third highest point in Minnesota. The view 
helped me take my mind off my loneliness, after I looked back the way I came at the 
Parkers Prairie water tower and Urbank, and the distance beyond, and then off to the west 
and north where I'll be riding in the days to come. Now I'm kicking myself because I 
carried my camera all the way up and didn't take any pictures.

May 9th
Grace Kuball's  home, Hawley, MN
It was 32 degrees when I got up this morning and remained cool all day.
...Much of the day was spent in lake country going up and down hills. Also watching the 
sky to see what the storm clouds were doing. I managed to sit out the first round of rain 
while I ate lunch in Pelican Rapids, but it rained and hailed on me for a few minutes south 
of Cormorant. I lucked out and made it here about an hour before the real storm hit. (Lights 
just blinked)...
I was chased by the most annoying dog yet today. He lives right at the point where I was 
supposed to stop and turn my map over, which made it seem worse. He was a very 
friendly, playful Yellow Lab who thought I should stop and play... Of course I was 
battling a side wind and only managing about eight MPH, so he was actually getting ahead 
of me, and stopping and waiting for me. I never got close enough to squirt him with my 
water bottle (one of my usual techniques, if telling them to go home and calling them bad 
dog doesn't work), so I finally resorted to the get off the bike and stare technique, which 
worked this time... I can see he might be a problem to other cyclists, but I don't know 
what I can do about it.
Question: What am I doing in a trailer park, when there are severe thunderstorm warnings 
out?

May 10th
Zenas and Julia Baer's , Moorhead, MN
The Numbers: 
Trp: 24.87
Avg: 14.42
Stp: 1:43:29
Max: 25.5
FAST DAY.
I left Hawley about 9 am and arrived in Moorhead about 11. I had a fast tail wind, which 
pushed me into Moorhead, about  20 miles at an average speed of 17 MPH! ( I then rode 
around in town quite a bit, which dropped my average to the numbers shown above)
I went to the Heritage Hjemkomst Center first and spent 2 1/2 hours looking at the  
Hjemkomst,  a replica Viking ship built in Hawley and sailed from Duluth to Norway, the 
Stav Kirk, a replica of a church in Hopperstad, Norway, which is under construction, and 
other related exhibits.
The church impressed me more than the ship, partly because it's still a work in progress, 
and partly because of all the fine detail work...
Zenas and Julia have three boys, ages six, seven, and nine, who I baby-sat for a couple 
hours this evening, while the parents took Anna, the German foreign exchange student 
living with them, to a school awards banquet...
Anna, Zenas and I stayed up quite late discussing European geography, and world 
politics. Then Zenas went to bed and Anna and I stayed up for another hour talking.
I'm not sure why, but I think that our conversation was the best I've had on this trip... 
we didn't talk about much other than my trip, and life in general. ( Um.. I guess that covers 
a lot of ground.) I guess she has a desire to know what other people think about things like 
Kosovo, and war in general, and what my fears and hopes are...
Quote: "Dark."- Zenas, on what the Chunnel was like. Boy did we think that was funny.
Question: Could I continue to work on a dream I knew I might not live to see completed?
(The man who's dream the Hjemkomst was, died before it left Lake Superior.) 

May 11th 
Hope, ND
The Numbers:
Tot: 50:28
Dst: 561
Trp: 75.03
Avs: 9.7
Stp: 7:44:05
Max: 20.2
I entered North Dakota today- twice. The ACA route goes into Fargo, turns north, 
crosses back into Minnesota for a mile or less, and then reenters ND.
I now know what true boredom means. The area I rode through today was flat as a 
pancake, and very empty. I kept the part of my brain that watches for cars and potholes sort 
of busy, although it managed to wander off to the wrong area a few times, and the part of 
my mind that marvels at how much water was running down the road ditch quickly bored 
of that, leaving me with very few options of how to keep my mind occupied. The alphabet 
game doesn't work very well when there are hardly any road signs, and very little litter on 
the roadside, and very little traffic either. Trying to guess how far away objects on the 
horizon are also has a limited useful life expectancy.
We really have had a lot of rain in this area in recent days. In many places the road 
ditches were a river on either side of the road, and on some of the few "hills" there were 
actual waterfalls where the water had cut itself a deeper channel in one place than in 
another. I must be the bike riding Dakota rain curse. (When I rode across SD in '95 they 
were in a wet spell.)
I stopped in Page for supper. I was planning to camp there, but the vibes were a bit 
weird, so I rode another 14 miles to Hope. I don't know if I'll get much sleep since the 
parking lot seems to be the do donuts and burn rubber end of the cruise here, but I've 
found a nice tent spot next to the swimming pool, under the trees, and sort of hidden, so 
we'll see how it works out.
Quote: "She gets a little tippy when I start doing that shit." - Voice outside my tent after 
several minutes of spraying gravel and squealing tires.

May 13th
Cooperstown, ND
I spent the night in a motel, and stayed glued to the tube way too late last night.
When I woke up in Hope yesterday my knees were killing me, so I decided to just ride 
30 miles to here, and get a motel room, to help out my knees. They don't like cold.
When I did laundry I left my bag of paper, pens, addresses etc. behind. About  8:00 
someone knocked on my door and handed it to me! It was just amazing that anyone would 
bother to find out where I was staying. What a great feeling to know that people are nice 
enough to do that.
Quote: "Have you got rained on?"- Everybody.

May 13th
Devils Lake, ND
The Numbers:
Tot: 60:15
Trp: 89.24 (Longest day of the trip.)
I take back every thing I said (or thought) about ND in the last couple days. The area I 
rode through today has to be some of the most beautiful I've seen yet. For the first part of 
the day, every time I crested a hill (yes, they help liven things up) and looked off into the 
distance, I'd see more hills, the sort that make me think "There should be huge herds of 
buffalo out there, and Indian scouts standing on the ridge, or Cavalry, or something". The 
sort of hills that make me think of Dances With Wolves.
Then once I entered the Spirit Lake Nation (reservation) the landscape changed again. 
Now it is much flatter, although there is some elevation change, and there has been so 
much rain lately, that, in many places, the roads are running through the middle of the lake- 
literally. I guess the people who designed them knew that the lake occasionally overflows, 
and built the roads high enough to stay above water- barely. I hope it doesn't rain too much 
tonight or I'll be trapped here! I guess I can always take US 2, but it won't be much fun.
I decided to get a motel room again, 'cause it looks like rain and I have a feeling all the 
campsites around are under water!
The guy at the front desk says the lake is twice it's normal size! I think that it might 
actually be higher than the city, 'cause I saw a big levee, and then came down a hill into 
town.
(I later found out that this is a problem that has been going on for several years, as ND 
goes through a wet cycle, and the lake is three times its usual size. It's an enclosed system- 
no outlet other than evaporation. My guess is that they have been going around making the 
roads higher, rather than the advance planning I thought at the time, since there was a lot of 
road construction going on. Apparently the Corps Of Engineers wants to build a short canal 
to drain it into the Red River, which the Canadians are not too happy about.)
I saw the first pelican of my trip today...also a bird with a long tail, which looked like it 
belonged near the ocean- not in the center of the continent.
The other neat thing about the lake was the foam blowing across the road.
I stopped in Binford for lunch, and as I was starting out of town again someone told me 
that the Cafe keeps a notebook for cyclists to write in, so I stopped down there and had a 
cup of hot chocolate, and signed the book, and read through the last few folks through last 
fall. I'm glad I did, as it reminded me that I'm not the first to experience these trials, and I 
won't be the last either.
Quote: "Stayed in Devils Lake last night, Hoping to get to Fargo tonight "- from the 
Binford Cafe's Cyclists Log.- Were those guys nuts or what? (it's almost 200 miles!)
Question: Why are ducks more scared of me than of cars? I keep scaring ducks in the 
flooded road ditches , and they do this really stupid fly a couple hundred yards, land, and 
repeat thing. No Brains?

May 14th
Rugby, ND- Geographical center of North America.
After five hours in the rain, I decided to go the motel route again. I'm sure the cleaning 
staff will LOVE me- the bottom layer of all my bags was soaked, and I had to spread all my 
stuff out to dry. When I checked in I realized how cold I actually was. I could barely write 
my name...
The only food that was damaged were a few noodles at the bottom of the bag. I'll try to 
stop and cook them tomorrow for lunch.
I rode highway 19 west out of Devils Lake, instead of backtracking 10 miles to follow 
the detour. I still got to ride through the middle of the lake. I finally figured out what it 
reminds me of- Lake Superior. So much water, and when I saw the waves today it hit me. 
I also saw several new water birds I'll have to try to look up somewhere. One of them 
should be easy- a duck type bird with a bright blue beak.
Quote: "Having any trouble finding water out there?"- Beer delivery man in grocery store 
at Minnewauken, west end of Devils Lake.
Question: Why is it that I actually sort of enjoy riding in the rain?..

May 15th
Granville, ND
The numbers:
Max: 15.1 (outrunning dog)
Not everything was dry yet when I left the motel this morning, but checkout time was 
approaching, so I packed up anyway. I did manage to get my shoes dry though. Hooray!
I was hoping to get to Minot today, but there was a headwind and it took me plenty long 
to get here. I probably could have made it, but not by 5:30 when the natural food store 
closes, so I would have had to wait all day tomorrow. I suppose a rest day wouldn't hurt, 
but I get bored pretty quick when I'm not riding.
I'm sort of glad of the headwind, 'cause now that it's flat and boring again, I get bored 
easier, and with the headwind I have to pay attention to my riding more or I coast to a stop 
because I'm not pedaling hard enough.
BUT  I still hope the wind shifts again soon.
Of courseŠThe day after I talk to Granddad on the phone and give the all's well report, I 
start to have problems. The wind is one. My bike is also not acting right. It sounds as 
though I might have a tight link in my chain, or problems with my bottom bracket. I hope 
it's the former so I don't have to pay someone to fix it.
I was not happy to discover that I had my camera set for 400 speed film for the entire (I 
think) first roll of film, which was 200 speed. I hope I can find a good photo lab that might 
be able to compensate.
Quote: "You've got a long way to go, mister." - Kid in the park in Towner, when I told 
him where I was going.
I haven't stooped to dumpster diving yet, but I've started picking up things from the side 
of the road. I found a ratcheting box wrench, and couldn't resist. It probably won't fit any 
bolts on my bike, but it's a useful tool. I'm starting to wonder why I didn't pick up the 
pliers I ran over a few days ago, or the chain hooks I saw today. Ok, the hooks would 
serve me no use, and add extra weight, but you never know when I might want extra 
pliers.
Question: Why is it that the dogs who are hardest to get rid of always chase me when I'm 
battling a head wind?

May 17th
Minot, ND
Another west wind day. I made it to Minot, though, but I couldn't find the campground I 
was looking for, and the others are all miles away. Not a problem if I was just heading 
through, but I need to run errands downtown on a weekday, so I got a motel room again. 
Hating myself for it now, but the financial damage is done. I'll survive somehow.
Between Surry and Minot, the scenery became a little more interesting, because I was 
riding next to the railyards and some other city's edge sort of huge wastelands.
Quote: "Are you like a traveler or somthin'?"- Kid outside gas station, Minot.

May 17th
Makoti, ND
I left the motel around nine o'clock this morn, and spent about three hours running 
errands in Minot. The guy at the bike shop agreed that my bike problem must be a tight 
link. The photos came out fine, although the photographer's merits are lacking when 
combined with the (cheap) camera.
Today was my first eat in the road ditch day. There are truly NO services between Minot 
and Makoti. Not even a  picnic table.
The landscape is getting hillier again... For the most part I'm climbing more than I come 
down.- I guess that's what I'm supposed to be doing from here to Glacier.
I'm kind of annoyed because I bought a paper, and then walked out without it. I wanted 
to read about Devils Lake, which was one of the cover stories.
As I was finishing supper two little six year-olds came over to talk. They asked a lot of 
questions, but not the usual ones, so I was quite happy to talk to them. They are twins, one 
boy, one girl. and make quite a chatterbox.
Question: If I went home now, how would I be different from the person who left home 
three weeks ago?

May 18th
New Town, ND
The wind was from the south, so it wasn't in my face, but it was trying to blow me off 
the road.
On the bad side, I hit another pothole and destroyed my new tire- boy, I can't wait to see 
Ryland's face when I roll into Eugene with the same rear tire, and my fourth or fifth front 
one. (The rear tire was on the bike when I bought it from him last winter.)
On the bright side, James, a kid hanging around in the park listed on my maps, suggested 
that this park by the high school might be better. He said that people hang out and play 
basketball all night at the first place. The police OK'd that so I maybe have more traffic, but 
less yelling, basketball, etc. There are a lot of kids hanging around here too, but it seems to 
be a younger crowd, and more of a walk by on the way from the Tastee Freeze to 
somewhere else kind of presence.
I also had two good meals today, an improvement on the last couple. I ate out at 
breakfast, and cooked a big supper- I bought a bag of salad (too much, but I finished it 
anyway) and a small jar of spaghetti sauce. Wow am I full. I might have to go find a way 
to burn some of it off.
I got my first views of Lake Sakakawea today. I don't know but I bet New Town got it's 
name when an older town was flooded by the damming of the Missouri and the people had 
to move to here. Very few of the buildings seem to be more than 50 years old, if that.
Question: Why to the Native Americans seem to be more "big city" than the whites 
around, even though they live in a town smaller than 2,000 people? I mean besides the fact 
that they are a minority, and tend to maybe follow the black community's dress and music 
styles. (New Town is on a reservation.)
Quote: "Everyone has known intimidation. One mosquito in a dark room."- Sign on the 
side of a building.




May 19th
North of Williston, ND
The Numbers:
Dst: 1015 (yeah!)
Trp: 83.2
Stp: 8:48:39 (!)
Max: 33.3
I got off to possibly my earliest start yet when I left New Town about 9:00.
The day got off to a lousy start when I kept packing rather than going to the bathroom a 
block away, and got terrible cramps. Luckily they went away a few minutes after I peed.
The first part of the day was great, with no wind (OK, very little) and nice warm sun. I 
had to shed my long sleeves and tights within 10 miles! By noon or so, however, the wind 
was back, and blowing from the west, right in my face.
I rediscovered hills today. I'm riding near, but not next to the Missouri River, so it's like 
riding a couple miles inland form the Mississippi, parallel to it.I had one climb that was 
over three miles long! I think one of the reasons ND is  such a hard place to ride, is that 
you feel like you're making no progress, except when going up and down hills. Down, 
obviously, cause you're really moving, and up, cause you can't see the distant horizon that 
becomes visible eight  to ten miles away if it's high enough and seems not to move no 
matter how may smaller hills you go over. But, eventually you get there and discover 
another big downhill, with another climb at the far side.
Lake Sakakawea is very beautiful, especially from the blufftops where I get most of my 
views...
Quote: "Sing derailleur, sing derailleur, sing derailleur to the end of the road."- Me, to the 
tune of Give Me Oil In My Lamp.
Question: How come I always think of lots of things to write in here while I'm riding, 
and then can't think of them when I'm writing?

May 20th
Williston, ND
I spent the morning riding to town to get mail and groceries... I bought some French 
bread, a small bottle of Italian dressing, and lettuce and radishes, among other things. Boy, 
is real green salad Good. I know it was real lettuce, 'cause the inside was rotten! I still got 
enough for two meals though. I should have taken it back and complained, cause they 
charged me for it twice- Grr. Oh well, real salad was probably worth the price. (Come to 
think of it, I don't think the pepper was on the receipt.)
I just talked to the guy who runs the camper repair place next door, who grew up in Rice 
Lake, WI. He says when he heads back east he always leaves at night, so when the sun is 
coming up there is something to see.
Quote: "What, sex makes you deaf?"- Delivery person, in very soft voice, to Kum and 
Go clerk after she told him not to tell so many sex jokes next time.
Question: When was the last time I had this many freckles? (That's right. My face looks 
really bad, between all the freckles, the scraggly beard, the sunburnt nose, and the 
Raycoon/ bike helmet tan lines.) 

May 21st,
Culbertson, MT
The Numbers:
Tot: 99:46
Dst: 1078
Trp: 51.68
Avg: 12.47
Stp: 4:08:49
Max: 31.3
Whoopee for Tail Winds!!! 
I'm in Montana, Big Sky State! A great day that started on a sour note. I woke up to 
thunder and rain. I decided it was a good day to patronize a cafe. I chose one which seemed 
to be the hangout of the local Italians. The most amusing table was one with three guys, 
two in their 60's or 70's and one in his 40's or 50's, who appeared to still be a little drunk 
at ten in the morning, and who were arguing about people I believe are long dead. Famous 
Mobsters, etc.
That was the start of the brightening of my day, which was fully realized when I realized 
I would have another tailwind, and the rain stopped before I left town, so I didn't have to 
ride in my rain gear.
The lowest point of my riding day was the six miles of road construction just before the 
state line. The road bed was just packed oil and dirt. Luckily US highway 2 is a well 
traveled highway, so it was WELL packed. 
I did have my first drop the bike wipeout in that stretch though, when I got too close to 
the shoulder and it wasn't as packed as it looked. Luckily I got off the bike before it went 
over, so I just dropped the bike, not me.
Then the state line came. Three-mile down hill was far from the truth, but it was several 
miles of more down than up. Then I got down to the bottom of the valley, and the road is 
now nearly flat! Feels like the Red River Valley, looks like... Montana!
My first observation about Montana. They know how to build roads so they don't go 
over the top of every hill in their path. It's nice to have curves again. I have to admit that a 
tail wind always helps the impression that the road is flatter than it was yesterday.
The final low of the day came when I pulled into the museum/ tourism info center here in 
Culbertson, and forgot the lesson I learned back in Minnesota about seats as handles. I 
pulled the seat the rest of the way apart. Luckily one of the volunteers came up with the 
solution. We used a big screwdriver to force the rails to bend back enough to go back in 
place. It should be good as new now!
Quote: "Al Capone is like 120 and he's still alive. Did you know that?" - One of the 
drunk Italians in the cafe this morning to another one. Repeatedly.
Question: Is "Girl Quest" a ride for girls, or a ride for guys in quest of girls?  (There is a 
sticker on the picnic shelter here for Girl Quest '98, a cross country bicycle ride. Only the 
second or third sign that others actually use the route other than local talk that I've seen.)

May 22
Wolf Point, MT
God is playing with me.
The Numbers:
Tot: 107 hrs.
Trp: 61.65
Avg: 8.53
Stp: 7:13:41
Wind! Wind! and more Wind!!!  Does it ever cease?
Of course it was a headwind. Would I be complaining if it wasn't? Actually, I think it 
was a side wind, but I still haven't exactly figured out what direction it's coming from.
I couldn't even make it 15 miles without an energy bar this morning. Luckily I bettered 
that record later in the day.
I'm on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Two things I've noticed.
Number one: this is a country of "Light" addictions- Lite beer cans litter the road side, as 
well as Marlboro Light cigarette packages and Diet Pepsi cans. The beer of choice seems to 
be Bud, but there are also lots of shattered bottles that I can't always read the label on.
Number two: Looking at my maps, it seems that out here all the paved roads that are 
governed by a lesser body than the state, are on reservations. Do they have more money, or 
just spend it to improve roads, rather than on something else?
Other offbeat items in the road ditch today included a flat basketball, several cassette 
tapes, and a bicycle. I was going to go back and check out the last item, but there was a lot 
of traffic, and I didn't want to do a U turn right there, so I left it. Hopefully there wasn't 
someone laying there hurt or something. (It was on the far side of the road, so all I saw 
were a wheel and handlebar.)
I guess the Rancho RV park here must not be very popular for some reason. It's cheaper 
than most of the others I've stayed at, but several campers have pulled in, and then left after 
looking at the prices. Good. I guess maybe I'll have the place to my self.
Wolf Point appears to be a pretty booming place, for a town less than half again as big as 
Durand, WI [pop. 2,000], but this is Montana, and an Indian reservation. Lots of bars and 
casinos.
The biggest adventure of the day was putting up my tent. I now know why they tell you 
to stake it down first. It tried to fold up on me. Then of course pitching the fly nearly gave 
Me a flying lesson. But it's up and secure now.
The water in the showers smells really bad so I've decided to just live on the two bottles 
of water left from Culbertson. No cooking. I suppose I could boil the water from here, but 
I doubt that would help with the sulfur, or whatever is in the water here.
That meant supper was kind of lame, and used up more Almond butter and Tahini, But 
I'm getting tired of noodles anyway and I don't know if I could have gotten my stove 
going in this wind anyway...
It's days like today that make me wonder why I'm doing this.
But even when that happens, sometimes, just when I'm the most down and ready to give 
up at the next sign of civilization, something around the next bend or over the next hill will 
remind me why I'm here. Whether it is the short stretch of badlands I rode through today, 
or the river winding along, or the store clerk who can't stop laughing over one halfway 
funny joke.
However, I knew it was a really lousy day when the little kid on his bicycle asking all the 
usual stupid questions really got on my nerves. Normally I like talking to kids, even when 
grownups asking the same questions would annoy me. I guess in this case I just needed to 
find a place to eat lunch, and stop thinking about riding. The amount this kid seemed to 
know about his community was depressing though. I don't think he really understood 
where I'm going, and I'm not sure he'd ever been to Culbertson, 35 miles down the road, 
since he asked "Is that a long ways?" Of course maybe he was trying to ask "is that a long 
ways to go on a bike?"
I got my first offer of a ride from a stranger today, when I was in the gas station buying 
post cards. He was going the wrong way though.
Quotes: "You'd better take it. You might need it for a raincoat"- The halfway funny joke 
of the convenience store clerk when I said I didn't need a bag.
"Lewis and Clark slept here. Why don't you?"- sign for Wolf Point.
Question: Are the Indians on this reservation really so far behind educationally that they 
need an "Even Start " program, instead of "Head Start"?

May 23
Glasgow, MT
LOUSY DAY. Let's try to out bad this one.
Four flats, and the worst headwind yet. 
Started with the expected flat upon arising, from a leaky tube. Easy enough- replace with 
new tube.
Then less than two miles down the road- broken glass- didn't find the piece lodged in the 
tire, half a mile later- Hisss...
An hour or so later the tire was low again- pump pump pump- Hisss! 
The rim had been wearing funny on the stem, and my pumping moved it back and fourth 
enough to cut it through. I ended up replacing it with the leaky but still holds air tube I took 
out in the morning, 'cuz my other one was also cut part way through.
After 50 miles and four flats in a nasty head wind, I decided to get a motel for the night. 
The weather channel says east wind tomorrow. YEAH.
 I also went from 7:30 to 4:00 with very little to eat or drink, due to forgetting to go back 
into Wolf Point for supplies in the morning. FOOD HELPS. My speed picked up several 
MPH after I ate. I stopped at a little restaurant/ ice cream parlor place. While I was eating an 
older couple stopped and talked my ear off for a while. They told me about a 60ish guy 
who walked through several years ago- planned to walk from Wisconsin, to the west coast, 
to southern CA., to Texas, and back to Badgerland.
They also said Logan Pass isn't open yet, but they usually try to have it open by 
Memorial Day.
Only good thing about wind- blows off the sweat.
Quote: "You be careful. This is Sunday and this is the Indian Highway. Sometimes guys 
go through here are really speeding."- One of the guys who stopped to see if I needed help.
Question: Do I have enough tubes to get to Havre?

May 24th
Malta, MT
The forcasted East wind never materialized today, but there was very little wind from any 
other direction, so I could keep up an 11 to 13 MPH speed over good distances. However 
it was 80 degrees or warmer, so by the end of the day I was beat anyway.
Then just a mile or less out of town, I hit a rock and there goes my rear tire. I patched it 
up but once again; pump pump pump Hissss... Cut the stem again. I managed to stick a 
couple patches around it and limp into town, but that tube is pretty dead, I think .
After supper I patched the last tube and replaced the tire. So much for Ryland's face. I 
probably could have gotten another 2 or 3 hundred out of it, but I think the new one will 
give more protection from sharp objects on the road, so I might be able to make it to Havre 
without another flat.
I lost my rubber cement when I had the flat before town, so I bought a tube of Krazy 
glue, 'cuz that's what I could find at 8:30 at night.
I put  a patch on the stem where it is cut part way through, so hopefully it'll last a little 
longer. I also went to the gas station to fill the tire, so I didn't do the pump action thing. It 
took several tries before I found the actual leak, so the tire was on and off the rim several 
times over the evening, but it seems to hold. I put 90 PSI in, and  the tires only rated for 
70, so if it's still hard in the morning I hopefully won't have to take the train to Havre. 
I might try Krazy gluing a patch on the blown tube tomorrow, and see if it'll hold or not, 
so I have a spare to get me to Havre. I'll buy all new tubes there, and see if they have any 
advice on how to prevent this problem in the future. (Don't lay the tire flat and use the 
pump vertically?
I stopped in Saco for a drink and sat under a classic western grocery store front porch. 
Nice and wide and shady. It was a refreshing change from the road. Both Saco and 
Hinsdale, the towns I rode through between Glasgow and here are pretty basic dusty one 
horse towns in the middle of Montana.
Time for a list of all the questions I'm getting tired of.
"Where you going?"
"Where you from?"
"Which direction you headed?"
"Is that fun?"
"How long will it take?"
etc. etc. etc.
The other thing I've heard a few more times than I'd like is "You're  going the wrong 
way".
Still no other cyclists, but it sure feels like there ought to be a few other early birds pretty 
soon. Which direction though? I guess the only ones I might see would be ones who 
started east of Glacier and are heading east, since Logan ain't open yet.
Quote: "God is in control."- Sign.
Question: Are those high hills on the western horizon the mountains? I didn't think I was 
close enough yet.

May 25th
Chinook, MT
I patched up the blown tube this morning and it held! I don't know how it'll do on a rim, 
but I'm impressed by Krazy glue.
Then I stopped at the hardware store on the off chance that they would have tubes and 
they did! So now I have a new spare and a patched one...
I had a south wind today, which,while still not a tail wind, kept me a little cool and 
pushed the few stretches where I was headed north.
The route took another jog off Highway 2 today. This one was a very pleasant 12 miles 
on a very quiet back road closer to the river. (I'm near the Milk River now.) I only saw two 
cars the whole 12 miles. The best part was that it had real curves! Also a lot more trees, 
although I think there are more trees in general...
 I encountered the first major stretch of the mythical "shoulders absent" parts of Highway 
2 today. It was kind of weird riding on a road the looks like it ought to be a county road 
somewhere in a very rural part of WI, and knowing it was a US highway, and having the 
occasional semi zoom by. Kind of scary too, especially since I've ridden smoother county 
roads in Wisconsin.
I'm camping at the water plant. There's a nice little park here and showers, etc., so once I 
found it I kind of fell in love. I got several sets of unsatisfactory directions before I found it 
though.
There have been quite a few vehicles in here this evening, but I think most of them were 
ranchers filling water tanks, since most of them where trucks with big tanks on the back. 
Hopefully they'll taper off after dark...
The sound of the waterfall is nice and soothing, if I don't look over and see all the chain 
link fence and concrete.
Just saw lightning and a big cloud off to the southwest. The lady at the store at noon said 
most rain comes from the east. I hope so, 'cuz I don't really want to get wet.
It's not as warm as last night. I wore shorts 'till well after dark then, but the sun just set 
here and I'm already starting to get chilly. I guess there's a breeze to cool me off too. Also 
I'm not coated in sun block and sweat.

May 26th
Hingham, MT
The best day in a long time!
Yes- This was a great day, despite broken sunglasses and the Big Bangs.
I MET OTHER CYCLISTS. WITH LOADS. FOUR OF THEM.
First, as I was pulling out of the grocery store in Havre, I almost missed the first cyclists 
of the year to cross Washington Pass, 'cuz loaded cyclists was the last thing I was looking 
for. We stopped and chatted for a few minutes, and as I was pulling out they said I might 
see a couple more.
Jeff and Chris were about three miles out. Both pulling Bob Trailers, Chris on a 
recumbent. They've been camping with the other folks for several nights, but they're 
separate groups. J & C left Anacortes May 9th. Chris was having bike problems, and 
needed to get to the bike shop before five, so we didn't chat long, but I'm really riding high 
to have met others so early. I wasn't expecting them for a couple more weeks. As I 
expected, they say Logan isn't open yet, so I should be in Bigfork in less than a week!
Earlier in the day I stopped at a rest stop and talked to a guy who'd been driving for 40 
hours, from Kentucky, heading to Alberta. Great conversation, brightened my day 
considerably. He gave me some fishing line and hooks. I probably won't use 'em for fish, 
but the line might come in handy. (Sewing the button back on my pants?)
Then in Havre I stopped at a bookstore while I waited for my photos. Had another great 
conversation with the owner about life, school, etc. He's an "Import". Considered weird 
by the locals, nine kids born at home, sounds kind of like us medical philosophy wise, but 
certainly has some sides I disagree with. Didn't feel like arguing those points though. (Son 
two time NRA shooting champ, I think he was saying 'Nam was OK, etc.)
So I've covered the high points of the day. 
Lows: about two miles after Jeff and Chris I was riding through a graveled construction 
area. BANG. Out goes my front tire. Really out . As in non repairable, tire or tube. So 
much for my brand new spare tire. Keep the "make Ryland's jaw drop" tire as a spare for a 
while more I guess. Then as I was pumping up the new one, BANG. I had the tube 
pinched. I think I might be able to patch the tube this time. On the second try I bent the 
Presta valve (all they had in Havre), but it seems to hold air.
(There are two kinds of valve stems available on bicycle tubes. Schrader, which is the 
standard  car tire type, and Presta, or  the "European" style, which consist sof a skinny 
metal stem with the little rod that operates the valve sticking out of the top of it. It then has a 
little nut thing that screws down tight to keep it from accidentally being bumped and letting 
all the air out. This type of valve may have prevented some of my woes with the stems 
wearing through, but I have bad luck with them bending.) 
This morning I saw a weasel, or something like that (cute little long skinny creature).
I remembered some of the things from previous days that I wanted to write down but 
didn't, like the day I saw the tumble weeds that had gotten trapped on a little piece of 
mason's twine, which had gotten caught around a reflector. The weeds were out on the 
pavement, but couldn't move. Lets see. What else. Did I mention the dead duck in the 
barbed wire fence?
Today I climbed 250 feet in the last 20 miles or so. That's just overall gain. There was 
quite a bit of up and down in there.
I don't feel as much like I'm high up as I did earlier, maybe 'cuz  can see higher peaks 
off in the distance. (Also I'm not so near a river gorge?)
Quote: "This is the Real Montana. Sports greats and movie stars don't come here."- The 
book store owner
"There is no 'real Montana' anymore." His partner/ employee. 

MAY 27th
Shelby, MT
Not a real exciting day. Late Start. Headwind. Uphill.
OK- I am psyched, 'cuz I'm almost to Cut Bank, and I can finally see real mountains in 
the distance- Like a horizon to horizon chain.
I've climbed over 500 feet in the last two days, and I'm now over 3250 feet. Water takes 
noticeably longer to boil...
I better get in all the complaining about the wind here, 'cuz I've told myself that once I 
get to the mountains I won't complain about it any more (HA HA). So, here goes. Does it 
ever cease? Why do I always lay around till the wind starts? Can't it push me the way I 
want to go for once? Make it go away...
Today I saw a westbound train with two engines at each end. Were the rear ones 
pushing, or just along for the ride?
Quote: " This town kind of dies at night."- Postmistress, Hingham, when I mentioned 
some of the noisier parks I've been in.
Question: Can I go from East Glacier to West Glacier in one day? It's 55 miles, but also 
over the divide. Only ten miles up... but I still don't know what the terrain is beyond there.

May 28th 
Cut Bank, MT
The Numbers:
Dst: 1509
I'm sitting on top of a cool rock formation on the edge of a canyon, right next to the 
Riverview Campground. I can't see the river from my tent, But from here it's sure visible, 
and the wind and water carved rocks are amazing.
I can see two horses grazing on the opposite side of the river.
Despite the trash at the bottom of the gullies and the homes built on the edge of the 
canyon this is one of the most scenic natural areas I've come across yet...I haven't spent 
much time pursuing natural spots to sit and reflect, so I'm glad I stopped here.
I've been kind of setting my sights on a town for a stopping place at night, but I'll have 
to try to remember to stay at parks between towns more often. Especially as I get further 
into the mountains and there are more. I like free camping in city parks, but they usually 
don't have much in the way of nature.
Lake Shell-oole, where I stayed last night was closer to that than I realized last night. As I 
was eating breakfast a prairie dog came within about ten feet of me. I went and got my 
camera and spent about an hour trying to get close enough to take a photo of them. I finally 
got one to come out of his hole while I was close enough long enough to push the button. 
Of course all the cute interactions were taking place 30 or 40 feet away, where it would just 
look like a photo of a dusty campground.
Riverview Campground, where I am tonight, looks kind of dirty right now, 'cuz they're 
still in the process of opening up for the summer. Store is empty, kitchen area has water, 
but no electricity, and sinks are dirty, lawn needs mowing, hot tub isn't on yet (Rats) etc. 
but I'm definitely gonna tell everyone I meet to stop here- Bicyclists $5 a head!... Of 
course a hot tub and camping for $5 should sound good to any bicyclist!
Today the hills got steeper, and the mountains disappeared behind them most of the time, 
but the campground manager says Highway 2 doesn't get much steeper over the divide! He 
said we're at about 3800 feet here and the divide is 5280! Just a gradual climb for the next 
day and a few hours and I'll be at the top!
...I'm gonna try to rise with the sun and take some sunrise photos of these rocks.
Quote: "So, are you just biking?"- Attendant at the laundromat.

May 29th
East Glacier Park, MT
The Numbers:
Max: 40.4 !!!
I think I set myself a new record for speed achieved on my bike. It was just outside Cut 
Bank, going down to the Bridge over Cut Bank Creek. I came close again coming down to 
the Two Medicine river, but I used my brakes there, 'cuz it's cold enough that I thought I 
ought to heed the sign about "watch for ice on bridge."
I'm truly in the mountains now. I'm not sure what the elevation is, and the terrain hasn't 
changed much yet, but as I crossed Two Medicine river all of a sudden there were trees and 
there still are! Wow! Also still snow on protected parts of hills, and lots on the mountain 
slopes. It's cold and rainy today, so now that I can really see the mountains, I can't see the 
tops, 'cuz of the clouds.
I'm staying at the Backpackers Inn- definitely the cheapest place in town- probably 
cheaper than the campgrounds!- ten bucks a night. If any one else comes I could have to 
share a room, (6 beds to a room) but I don't think that's likely this time of year. It's not 
fancy- I'll still be in my sleeping bag- but it's warm (now that I've run the heater) and dry. 
I patronized the sister establishment restaurant for supper. Not nearly as cheap, but good 
Mexican food. The main dish could have been hotter, but the chips and salsa made up for 
it.
I'll be crossing the divide tomorrow! Hopefully I'll make it to West Glacier, 55 miles 
away...
Quote: "Kind of a yucky day for that."- Guy outside Subway in Browning as I was 
donning rain gear.
Question: How come it chose Memorial Day weekend to get yucky? (Don't it always.)
 I forgot the most miserable part of the day! Nine miles of road construction- mostly 
packed gravel/ stones, but a fair bit of dirt and loose gravel scattered throughout. I rode 
straight through. The other part about it that was no fun, was two dogs who ran circles 
around me nearly the whole way. I think they were strays to start with, by the way they 
seemed to have mastered running under fences, and just their general appearance. I 
couldn't scare them off with the usual "Bad Dog, Go home" and they didn't get close 
enough for the water bottle. By the end I was hoping they'd follow me all the way to 
Browning, so I could call the dog catcher and have them locked up. No such luck.

May 30th
West Glacier, MT
HOORAY- I CROSSED THE DIVIDE TODAY!!!
The Numbers:
Tot: 153:02
Trp: 1619 
Avs: 12.5
Stp: 4:56:17
Max: 32.4
Oh, the irony of it. My top speed for the trip is set the day before I cross the continental 
divide. I think It was mostly 'cuz my wheel bearing was loose again (Actually the nut was 
loose, but the cone was tight...) I had to pedal to get down some hills, and uphills were 
killers at times even when they weren't any worse than, say, Fargo.
The weather threw it's worst at me today. Snow near the summit. That was OK, but then 
my gloves were soaked when I started down, which quickly chilled my hands to the point 
of no writing. They could still operate the brakes (barely). Luckily a cafe showed up about 
nine miles down, and I stopped for a huge cup of hot chocolate, after which I was again 
able to appreciate the scenery.
The  climb to the top was not too bad at all. I think Columbia Heights (a hill near us at 
home) is worse! It was mostly little steps of a hundred feet or less, so it was easy. I think 
climbing up this side would be worse. 
It's not all down hill from Marias Pass to here. The first 14 miles or so are, but then we 
reach the river valley and have to climb up and down to find the best ledges for the road. If 
only we could just use the railroad bed.(Oh boy- tunnels)
Speaking of railroads, that was one of the interesting sights today. Besides tunnels there 
are places where there are roofs over the tracks. These are usually when the tracks are well 
up on the sides of the mountain, and look like they are where there is a good chance of 
snow sliding down the mountain. These "Sheds" would keep the snow off the tracks.
However I think my favorite railroad sight was when as the road was climbing a hill the 
tracks entered a tunnel at about road level, and 1/4 mile later reappeared 50 to 100 feet 
below the road on the other side.
Marias Pass is one of those cases where the "pass" and the high point in the road are not 
the same. After I reached the unsigned top I rode about another mile before I saw the sign 
saying "Continental Divide". It was about 64 feet lower too.
I didn't have the room at the Backpackers inn to myself last night. About 2 AM a drunk 
cowboy stumbled in. Luckily he just lay down and went to sleep. Woke up a couple times 
to piss, but wasn't too disturbing...
I stopped for lunch at a river access spot, where a blue green snowmelt stream flowed 
into the muddy gray- yellow Middle Fork Flathead. It was a classic case of two streams 
gradually mingling- very definite line of separation. Beautiful.
Quote: " I'm sure those mountain bikes are an abomination."- British tourist at the 
summit.
Question: How did I manage to get here without using granny gear? I mean I used it the 
first few days, and on some of the worse back roads to people in MN, but I made it over 
the divide without even going into low gear in back! Well, OK, I used it yesterday, and on 
this side when my bearing was acting up. It took me less than an hour to climb those ten 
miles and 500 feet!

May 31st
Green's, Bigfork, MT
I cheated today. It was raining, and about 15 miles from here Stuart came out and found 
me with his car. I hardly thought twice about the ride. It was just the right time. I was sore 
and wet, and had just been yelled at by a motorist, and was generally sick of the road.
This was only the second time I've had someone harass me other than the honk two feet 
behind and squeeze by with minimal space type. These people were going the other 
direction, and hollered "Idiot". They may have been one of the vehicles who passed earlier 
and honked at me. That time it wasn't my fault the traffic was slow, 'cuz a car had slowed 
down and not passed, even though in my opinion they had room. The other time I got 
harassed it was a typical teenage asshole back in Cut Bank who thought I was in his way, 
and gave me the bird as he passed. I've had a few other people yell at me but never heard 
what they said. The first one was a couple of young kids sticking their heads out of the 
window as they passed. I think they were saying something about my underwear strapped 
on the back of my load drying.
I'm at Stuart's now!... His sisters are kind of annoying.
Quote: "Do you stop to sleep?"- Erin, a friend of the Greens who was over for supper.

June 2nd
Green's
Leslie (Stuart's four year old sister) really latched onto me today, when I helped her with 
her Ernie workbook.
After supper Stuart and I went to Kalispell to a class taught by the monk from the local 
Buddhist center.
During the meditation at the beginning I realized how much I really do miss that hour of 
meditation every week that I'm not getting when I'm not going to Quaker Meeting. 10 
minutes was a big relief, but I wanted more. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get to 
Sandpoint, but I'd really like to be there on a Sunday, and go to Meeting.
The rest of the class was interesting, although my mind drifted a couple times.
I wasn't clear on exactly what the topic was supposed to be, but the basic premise was 
the part of Buddhism I'm already familiar with, that true happiness is achieved by not 
thinking bad thoughts, and not just thinking about ourselves.
Quote: I don't have a specific quote, but during Q&A time someone asked the monk how 
we are supposed to deal with the Ego. His answer was that the Ego is the last of a huge 
army to go, and you must approach it the same way you would go about attacking an army. 
Not by rushing down the hill headlong, when they will open before us so we get to the 
middle and are surrounded, but by spying and attacking one at a time, when they are off 
guard.OK, OK, here's a real quote- "You're like a roman soldier, with your little stabbing 
sword, and your opponent is the 15th squadron of the modern army, with tanks and 
Apache helicopters. You'll come up and attack a tank with your little stabby sword. Clink, 
Clink."

June 6th
Green's
I'm leaving tomorrow...
Quote: "Oh no... Poor Lorin"- Jennyrose, during an instant messenger chat, after Stuart 
told her he had had two espressos and two sodas today. He was really wired.

June 7th
Whitefish Lake State Park, Whitefish, MT
On the road again...
I took my leave of the Greens today, although I made my latest start yet- Noon.
A week was too long to be off my bike.- I had to relearn steering with a load, etc. I'm 
still a little nervous around traffic, but I think I'm in control of the bike again. I rode 
Highway 93 up from Kalispel to Whitefish. I think it takes the prize for the busiest road 
I've ridden on yet. Luckily it has good shoulders till it leaves Whitefish. I'll be following it 
again tomorrow, but this side of town doesn't seem as busy.
As soon as I left the Greens driveway I knew I hadn't lost the wind. During the first half 
of the ride, up to Kalispel, it seemed to come from the southwest, not to bad for a cyclist 
heading north-northwest. however I took about two hours for shopping and lunch, and 
when I left town the wind had switched to the northwest. Arrgh. I think the valley must 
funnel it so it goes up or down the valley, not across.
Once I got here I had to ride back to town to get change, 'cuz I didn't have $9 and the 
change was locked up for the night. I left my stuff in a campsite. It was fun riding without 
all that weight, although shaky as usual.
I don't know how much sleep I'll get tonight, since the railroad runs right past the park... 
hopefully I can sleep through all the trains, but the few so far have been pretty loud. I 
chose the one tent site in the middle of a bunch of RV sites, 'cuz all the other tent sites are 
even closer to the tracks.
Despite the fact that it's been a week since I had to deal with them, the usual questions are 
already starting to annoy me again. I put on my nice smiley face and attitude, and answer, 
but I try to get going as quick as I can.
I'm already starting to miss high plains hospitality. Around here there are very few towns 
that let you camp free in their park, so camping is going to start costing me money more 
often.
I think that was the best part of that stretch of the trip- riding into town and just pitching 
my tent wherever in the park, rather than having to pay and being stuck in a little cubby on 
hard ground where every other person who's ever used the site put their tent as well. (What 
am I talking about. Best part?)
I felt slightly put out today when a chick on a mountain bike passed me and quickly left 
me in the dust. I had to remind myself she's probably trying for speed, and she's not 
hauling 80 pounds of stuff.
I also saw a loaded cycle and rider in Kalispel, but didn't stop to talk...he looked like a 
hobo on a bike, and his equipment wasn't all that impressive either...
Quote: "The trains come through here irregularly regularly."- The attendant at the gate 
here.

June 8th
Eureka, MT
Whoops- I just realized I was complaining about the wind yesterday.
I didn't get out of the state park till 11 o'clock - I didn't even wake up till quarter to nine! 
How did I manage that?
The worst thing that happened today was that the bracket for my handle bar bag broke. It 
was maybe partly my fault, 'cuz I pressed kind of hard on the bag to try to squash my hat 
flatter so I could see the map, but I don't think it was any harder than I've pushed on it 
before. I'll try and Krazy glue it back together, but I'm gonna call Jandd (the manufacturer) 
and see about getting a replacement shipped to me somewhere.
I'm in a motel here- I could have checked the one across the street to see if it was 
cheaper, but the clerk here is planning a cross country ride, so I decided to give her my 
business. I like the clerk. She reminds me a lot of Kyla (a Not Back to School Camp staff 
person, who left high school at age 18 to go bicycle around South America) somehow. She 
seems to have about three jobs here. The office is in a convenience store which also has a 
restaurant attached- she appears to be the cook or waitress , and run the cash register in the 
store!
It feels good to be back on the road. I wasn't so sure most of the day, following 
Highway 93, but the last eight miles into town were on a back road. It was beautiful, but 
rough. The best part was riding through the smoke where they were burning the debris 
from a clear-cut. It looked like they were gonna build something there.
Even on the highway it wasn't all wondering why I'm doing this. There was a lot of 
great scenery, and at one point I was realizing that I can't really imagine being at home right 
now. I guess the whole trip is kind of a be here in the present moment thing.
I'm continually amazed by how I can be riding in the sun, and just what looks like five 
miles away I can see rain falling on the mountains- or snow, as appears to be the case out  
in front of me now.
Quote: "That's it. I'm quitting my job and going with you."- The motel clerk.

June 9th
Big Bend Campground, east of Libby, MT
Krazy Glue wouldn't even hold my handle bar bag bracket with no pressure on it, but 
Bungee cords to the rescue! I now I have my maps back in front of me, although I have 
bungees getting in the way of my hands a little bit. Mostly it's annoying when I want to 
remove the bag though.
I spent most of the day riding at least 100 feet and usually more than that, above the 
beautiful green water of Lake Koocanusa. It's a man made lake, which flooded many 
whistle stop towns and the old RR tracks when Libby Dam was built in the '70s.
I wasn't going to stop at the dam, but as I rode past the entrance all of a sudden I heard 
SSSSSS...Flat. I'm not sure what I hit. Something that did minor damage to the tire. The 
tube held enough pressure to keep the rim off the ground into the parking lot. I did a duct 
tape job on the tire (duct tape on the inside) and patched the tube. I've come to the 
conclusion that if you can find the leak easily it's just as quick to patch the tube and put it 
back, as to get out a new one and figure out how to roll up the old one and remember to 
patch it later.- Plus if you can find the leak on the bike its usually 'cuz you've got an 
obvious culprit in the tire and you just line them up. Not so easy once you've removed the 
tube and changed the alignment of the tire.
I'm now much closer to the river (less than 10 feet above?), but below the dam. I'll be 
lulled to sleep by the sound of the rapids, and hopefully the trains won't wake me up. They 
don't seem to blow their whistles around here, so they kind of blend into the water sounds. 
OK- I'm not complaining here. I'm just going to mention the head wind. It was strong 
enough to slow me down considerably. 
I haven't figured out why, but  it seems like I have to work harder to get up shallower 
grades than I did before the divide. I'm not sure if my bearings are tight somewhere or if 
the grades are worse and just look shallow 'cuz everywhere I look I see 75 degree slopes. 
I'm inclined to suspect a bearing of something, "cuz it often seems like I have to work hard 
to go down hill.
I've noticed quite a few things flowering the last couple of days: Wild geraniums, wild 
strawberries, something that sort of looks like lupines, something that has yellow flowers 
like Black-Eyed Susans, but with a yellow center, and last but not least, wild roses.-
Probably my second favorite flower after lilacs. They don't perfume the air quite as much, 
but I got one good whiff of them today.
Quote: "Washington is kind of rough." - An eastbound cyclist I met today.
Question: How long will it take me to get back to my routine? This sleep till 9, don't 
leave till 11 bullshit really sucks. I guess I'll cross the time zone in a couple days.

June 10th
 Bad Medicine Campground, MT
Last night in Montana.
The Numbers:
Tot: 175:53
I guess bike season is in full swing. I've met eastbound cyclists two days in a row!
First I pulled into the grocery store in Libby, and there was a woman sitting there next to 
a couple loaded bikes, wearing the gear. Her companion came out a few minutes later with 
a bag of groceries. 
I'm not clear if they're a couple, a group who have been planning together, or just a 
couple bikers who bumped into each other and are riding together...
Then later this afternoon I passed a solo guy who didn't stop to talk.
The people in Libby said there are about 15 people ahead of me, I think meaning 
westbound ones. A group of 13, and two solos. (I guess they must have passed while I 
was at Stuart's.)
They also gave me some magic chain lube to try to clear up my clicking chain, but if 
anything it's worse now. I'm tempted to remove the master link and see if that helps.
There is a bird outside going nuts over something. I think it's my food bag, 'cuz when I 
shined my flashlight out it glanced off the reflective tape, and the bird sounded even more 
alarmed.
I had my first First Aid Kit call today. I sliced myself opening a package of cheese. 
Dumb. 
Speaking of cheese I've reentered weird cheese country.- Stores large enough to bother 
with things like Provolone, Gruyre etc. Blue cheese is even a common sight, also Feta. 
This is nice because the ones you find in Nowhereville, high plains, are limited to Cheddar, 
Mozzarella, Jack, and Colby, none of which are super hard, and so don't take to traveling 
well.
I rode two miles off route, downhill, to go to Troy, hoping I could stop at the bike shop 
for a new tire and tube. Of course the bike shop  has closed, or moved or something. I 
couldn't find it anyway.
The reason I needed a new tire is that the one I duct taped yesterday went again. Same 
spot. I decided to replace it rather than go through it every day. Once again it blew right at a 
convenient stopping place- the overlook next to Kootenai Falls. I was planning to stop this 
time. I would have liked to hike back the trail to the swinging bridge at least a ways, but 
decided that repairing the tire used up that time.
It's really windy here right now. I was getting nervous at one point watching the trees 
bend, and when I went down by the lake the waves were pretty big for a lake this size. 
Quote: "Don't tell me you're going to Maine too."- Scruffy local on a bike in Troy. (He 
wasn't, but he'd met someone a couple days ago who was...)
Question: Will I meet any other westbound riders?

June 11th
Diamond T Guest Ranch, Clark Fork, ID
Yup- Idaho.
The Numbers:
Tot: 179:42
Dst: 1913
Trp: 41.8
Avg: 10.93
Stp: 3:49:21
Max: 25.9
Late start again. 11 by the time I left camp. I then rode three more miles off route to see 
Ross Creek Cedars. It was a tough three miles too- climbing for the first two, at a fairly 
steep grade. I actually used granny gear for part of it! The road in is one of the narrowest 
roads I've ever seen. If two RVs met on it one of them would probably have to back up to 
the next corner where the road is wider. I think I probably appreciated the old growth cedar 
grove more than someone who drove in would. It sure is an amazing experience to walk 
among those giants eight feet in diameter, 150 or more tall, 500 plus years old...
... I think one of the most awesome views of the whole trip was coming back out, when 
I reached the high point on the road and could see the Cabinet mountains spread out in front 
of me, across the valley. 
Late in the afternoon, just before the Idaho line, I stopped to talk to a guy out riding his 
horse. he was pretty interesting, and knew some about biking... He said he went to school 
at the UW.
I'm now at Diamond T Guest Ranch. It's cheap for it's nameŠ $15 a night, with no 
linens. I've got  a mattress, and a kitchen, and a nice cabin though.  No phone...
There's lots of animals here- horses, geese, ducks, peacocks, dogs, cats, are the ones 
I've seen or been told about. The dogs are hiding, but the peacock was on my porch while 
I ate super, and the most amusing sight I've seen for a while was a goose chasing away a 
cat. The geese seem to think the ducks are their children. When they were swimming one 
goose was in front, then the ducks, then the other goose, all in a nice neat line.
Question: What would it be like if all the forests around here were as old as the Ross 
Creek grove?
 

June 12th
Steve and Elizabeth Willey's, On top of a mountain, near Sandpoint, ID
Hufda! What a day. 
I left Diamond T about 9:00 and rode through Clark Fork, and along Lake Pend Orielle 
(pronounced Pond Oray).
I stopped for lunch at a Corps Of Engineers Recreation site. While I ate I watched a 
family with a retarded, deaf son. His brother was trying to get him to go swimming, but he 
thought the water was too cold, so the dad and the brother were splashing him and 
throwing rocks in near him to splash him. There was one very big rock that they used 
several times. While I felt sorry for the kid, it was amusing to watch.
It seemed a little cool for swimming to me at that time, but about a mile from here I could 
have used a dip. The Willeys truly live on top of a mountain- 1 1/2 miles like our driveway, 
only larger rocks... The fact that I forgot to fill my water bottles this morning didn't help. I 
ran out of water about halfway up, but luckily I had an apple and some juice left from 
lunch, which brought me to the top.
Willeys fly a helicopter a lot, and today Elizabeth was going to go out, but as she was 
hovering, checking gauges, etc., one of the coolant hoses came off, and the thing was on 
fire when she landed.- just antifreeze on the hot engine, but that was the second time it's 
happened. I'm not sure I want to take a ride in it now...
We think the problem is fixed now- the hose clamp is in the right place, and she flew it 
15 feet back to the landing pad. ( They had recently replaced all the coolant hoses, and one 
of the hose clamps had not been put on behind the little lump that is supposed to keep it 
from getting blown off when the pressure increases.)
Quote: "For the first hour I worry about all the little parts that could come apart, and then 
the second hour I usually have decided that everything is all right and can have fun chasing 
cars or whatever."- Steve Willey, while trying to fix the helicopter.
Question: Can I make it down the hill without destroying my bike, or killing myself?

June 13th
Willey's
Sick...
I'm suspecting that the Rum Raisin Ice cream at lunch didn't agree with me, but it could 
have been any of a number of other things.- Eating chips too fast is another possibility, or 
elevation, although I feel like I'm getting enough air.
I first started feeling lousy shortly after lunch, but I went to Friends Meeting this evening 
anyway. I actually threw up once  after meeting, during fellowship time, but I made it to 
the toilet there. 
Then we went out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had a vegetarian burrito, which I 
ate too fast, as usual. Of course the drive up the hill here was not helpful, and I tossed my 
cookies again while we were waiting for Elizabeth to get to the door with the keys. I'm 
hoping that's emptied me out, and I can get a nights sleep without barfing again, but I feel 
rumblings in my tummy again.
I may stay here another day if matters aren't improved in the morning.

June 14th
Willey's
I'm feeling better this evening, although this morning I was still tired and a little queasy. I 
ate and held my food though. Good sign there.
I spent most of the day cat napping, writing postcards, reading, and listening to one end 
of three phone conversations at once. The guest room I'm in is a loft directly over the office 
of Backwoods Solar, so I got to hear Scott, JD, and Elizabeth all talking to customers and 
suppliers at once... 
Lunch was excellent, despite my stomach- a couple of Greek salads, hummus, etc. 
Desert was the best though. Super thick brownie with whipped cream on top, and a mocha 
whipped cream in the middle. I guess if I managed to hold that down I should be healthy 
again.
 This evening Steve took me to visit a couple of neighbors, neither of whom were home. 
One had dug a cave on his property, but since we had no lights we couldn't go in. It has 
collapsed in a couple places, but is apparently still a hundred feet deep or so.
Elizabeth was in town, so we took the motorcycle. It felt totally different from a bicycle, 
probably mostly 'cuz I was on the back and had no control. A real exercise in trust. I had to 
remind myself that every thing was all right a couple of times, especially going down hill. I 
needed brakes to feel secure. 
Quote: "We'll have a regular popcorn meeting"- Steve on the phone to another Friend. 
Elizabeth explained that they used to have Business Meetings at Judith and Jim's house, 
and they always served popcorn, hence...  ( In Quaker slang, a popcorn meeting is one in 
which a lot of people speak and often don't leave much time between messages.)
Question: Which would take more trust from me: The motorcycle, or the helicopter?

June 15th
Newport, WA
The Numbers:
Tot: 188:53 
Dst: 2010 (Newport was 2000 exactly, I'm out of town a ways.)
Trp: 65.07
Avg: 10.74
Stp: 6:03:22
Max: 29.5
HOT. HOT. HOT. That's the main memory I'll have of today.
Also seeing seven eastbounders!
It was really too hot to cycle much of the day- but that didn't stop me. 
I'm not sure why, but even bottled water tasted bad to me today. The campground water 
is OK though. I think it's probably because I needed more nutrients that weren't in the 
water...
I left Willey's at the fairly reasonably hour of nine AM, although I should have sped up a 
bit 'cuz of the heat. It's probably going to be just as hot tomorrow.
I ought to go to the get on the road early and rest from 11 to 3 schedule...
Once again I had to ride back to town to cash a travelers check so I could pay for the 
campground. Of course the cashier didn't have enough 1's to give me five, so I had to try 
to find change for a twenty here...
I calculated the climb up Sherman pass will be roughly twice as steep as Marias was. 
Yipes- it's 23 miles too!
I've got a much shorter, but steeper yet one the day after tomorrow, but I'll try to ignore 
that too.
Quote: "It'll be over a hundred in a couple more hours."- Convenience store clerk in 
Kootenai. I don't think it was quite that hot, but...
Question: How are you supposed to hang your food from a tree to keep the bears out 
when all the branches are either dead, 20 feet up, or slope down.- Or all of the above?

June 16th
Newport, WA, again.
Terrible Day. I'VE OUT BADDED MAY 23RD.
The Numbers:
Trp: 42.77
Avs: 11.05
Stp: 3:52:10
Max: 30.9
OK. I rode 42.77 miles and didn't make one inch of forward progress at any time during 
the day. How?
When I got up this morning I remembered that I wanted to check my rear hub bearings. 
They really needed checking. The axle was broken in two. I'm guessing it broke on the 
way up or down Willey's driveway, but it was probably cracked or bent before that...
...I put it back together and rode the three miles back to town, where I called the Willeys. 
Despite the fact that they are already short handed today, 'cuz JD's in Wisconsin for the 
Energy Fair, Elizabeth came and rescued me, and took me back to Sandpoint. The bike 
shop she took me to is much better than the one I stopped at yesterday. Cheaper anyway (I 
guess). It turned out that buying a whole new wheel cost only $5 more than replacing the 
axle would have, but we couldn't get the freewheel off my old wheel, so I bought a new 
one of those too...
I did most of the work, moving the tire etc., but I was allowed to use their tools. Pretty 
good for a big bike shop like that, but I suppose that Andy, the head mechanic, had lots of 
stuff to do, and letting me use his tools saved him time to do work for people who'd been 
in line for days... He won my award for one of the most helpful people I've met on this 
trip when he called up Jandd and talked them into shipping me a new handle bar bag 
bracket despite the fact that he's not even a Jandd dealer! (I had called them myself when 
the bracket broke, and they said I had to send them the broken one before they would send 
a new one.) I just have to wait 'till Tonasket to find out if they do.
Luckily when I was done with all that, it was only 12:40, so I managed to ride back here. 
I could now almost ride Dufort Road blindfolded, but that means I've effectively only lost 
one day, instead of one and a half or two...
Before I left Sandpoint I stopped at a Mexican food stand that was highly recommended 
by both Elizabeth and Andy.
Luckily it was cooler today. Cloudy this morning, thank God, or I would have roasted 
sitting in the parking lot waiting for Elizabeth.
Quote: "Now were stylin'." - Andy's favorite phrase.
Question: How did I manage to break an axle?

June 17th
Leo Lake Campground, WA
I'm still not convinced that all is right with my rear wheel. When I had a flat  today, I 
spun the wheel while the bike was on it's side and it sure seemed to stop way too fast. I 
thought I had it fixed by loosening up the quick-release a tiny bit, but later it once again 
seemed like I wasn't getting up enough speed on the downhills.
I stopped for lunch at Manressa Grotto. The area by the road looked pretty ugly- 
unmowed grass, graffiti covered, badly painted picnic shelter, trash, seemingly random 
paths around the boulders. The kind of place local kids probably come to get drunk and 
make out. Once I climbed up to the grotto- a cave on the hillside- my opinion changed a bit. 
It's obviously not cared for much- the path is overgrown, and the pedestal which must 
once have held a statue of the Virgin Mary or something, was empty, but I noticed that 
there is still no graffiti in the main cave, while a couple nearby ones are covered in it.
The aforementioned flat tire was caused by running over a piece of aircraft cable. It was a 
slowish leak- lost most of the pressure at first, but still held the rim off the ground...so I 
managed to ride the last half mile of so to the Ione city park, and change it in the shade.
From Ione I climbed the first of the really steep climbs ahead of me. Only 1000 feet 
vertically in less than ten miles doesn't make it a pass, but it was a heavy duty climb. I 
managed to make it all the way without stopping! - even for the guy who offered me a ride 
(at least that's what I think he meant by pulling over and giving me the hitchhiking sign).
This was the steepest climb of the trip, but I lose all the altitude I gained before I begin 
the climb to Sherman Pass...
I passed three more cyclists going east today. A couple from Memphis who thought they 
were going to give me directions for a route around Sherman and Wauconda passes, which 
would still have some passes, but not quite so bad. They couldn't find the directions 
though... The third cyclist just waved as he rode past so I don't know anything about him. 
I might not have stopped had he shown any willingness to anyway, 'cuz I was halfway up 
a hill (not THE hill though).
I saw a second sign specifically warning cyclists of road hazards today. The first one was 
at Libby dam, back in MT, saying watch out for slots in the deck. I didn't ride over the 
dam anyway. Today's sign said "Narrow shoulders and logging trucks- next 38 miles."
Quotes: "Manressa Grotto. A Beautiful Grotto Exists."- Sign at the grotto.
	    "You'll just have to ride over Sherman Pass once so you can say 'those old folks 
from Memphis were right.'"- the old folks from Memphis.
Question: If the climb to Sherman Pass is over twice as long, and twice as steep as 
Marias was, how long does it take to ride it (One hour for Marias) and how much extra 
water do I need to carry?

June 18th
Canyon Creek Campground, WA
The Numbers: 
Tot: 203:18
I was awoken this morning by nature's best alarm clock (if you could set it), the squirrel. 
There was one right outside my tent making a huge racket over something at 4:20 AM- 
Actually about when I ought to be waking up- especially this morning 'cuz I wanted to take 
sunrise over the lake photos. Turned out to be cloudy, but I took some any way. Then I 
went back to sleep, so I still got a late start. OK, Nine AM isn't as late as I have been, but 
the guy I met just at the junction of the highway and the road to the campground must have 
gotten going pretty early in the morning to have made it 30 miles by nine, going up hill. He 
was from La Crosse, WI! He agreed with me and other Wisconsinites I know, that WI has 
tougher hills than these. Everyone talks about how these 6% grades are so tough and 
everything, but it's not really that bad, just really long. I think we've got much steeper 
grades at home- 8-10 %? Of course I still have yet to climb all the way over a pass other 
than Marias, which I still say was a walk in the park.
I had a slightly disturbing dream just before I woke up. It started out with the usual 
jumble of stuff somewhat related to current events that was in my brain- the energy fair, the 
fly on my tent being unstaked, (I was kind of pissed off about that the evening before, 
when I found the stakes pulled out by someone or something.) 4-H conference, etc. The 
end was the disturbing part. Ryland, me, and then a whole bunch of other people crawled 
through this curving Styrofoam tunnel to a room containing a 4-H conference style art 
show. The main theme was the numbers 1-8 all made of Styrofoam. The last thing I 
noticed before I woke up was that on each number there was a picture of a being (Death? A 
Grateful Dead skeleton? the guy from the Scream painting?) falling backward progressively 
further into an open grave. Does that foretell doom in eight days? or is it just saying what 
some quick figuring says could be, that I'll be laying the Northern Tier to rest in about 
eight days? I think I'll be extra careful that day, just the same.
I made it through Colville alive. The fairgrounds is right next to the route, and there 
wasn't much going on down there yet in the middle of the afternoon. I saw several people 
all dressed up in rodeo clown outfits, etc. in the sports shop I stopped in. ( Colville hosts 
the PRCA rodeo every summer, and I happened to ride through town that weekend. I 
believe I saw it claimed somewhere that it's the biggest rodeo in the country.)
I had another flat tire just before Colville. Exact same hole in the tire as yesterday. I just 
put duct tape in the tire and patched the tube this time. If it goes again tomorrow I'll switch 
tires...Then I had to pump it up about four times, 'cuz I had the tube in so the stem got in 
the way of the bead seating properly, and it kept trying to push it's way off the rim...
In Colville, as I was packing up my lunch, another cyclist rolled in. He was another 
pseudo-local rider- Woodstock, IL, this time, but he knows where Pepin is. He seems to 
ride at more my speed- possibly slower! Sounded like he stayed in Kettle Falls last night, 
and was planning to only go another 20 miles or so. I do seem to ride at the slow end of the 
spectrum.
OK. I'm gonna complain about the wind again. This was one fierce wind, from the 
south. In one valley near Kettle Falls it was almost as bad as the worst of Eastern Montana, 
and there was a bare field beside the road with dust blowing off it so thick that at one point 
near the ground it looked black. I'm just glad the field was on the north side of the road.
I walked across the Columbia River, because once again the wind was trying to knock 
my bike off the sidewalk onto the road while I was walking! There's not much between the 
sidewalk and the roadŠ just a guard rail the standard height above the road but only about 
two inches above the sidewalk, and the occasional bridge girder.
OK. Enough complaining.
The campground I'm in is kind of annoying, 'cuz there's no water. Luckily I don't have 
to pay (or if I do I haven't seen the place to do so). Anyway, I bought three quarts of water 
in town to be extras for the climb tomorrow. I haven't used up all the water in my regular 
bottles yet, but I'll probably have two empty before I leave. Hopefully five bottles worth 
will get me to Republic. It's only 30 miles, but the first half is uphill. and I don't think 
there's anything between here and there.
For some reason I neglected to get groceries in Kettle Falls, so I had four tortillas with a 
little bit of cheese, tahini, honey, and dried fruit for supper. Even if I had shopped I 
wouldn't have had much else, since I'm in water saver mode. Hopefully I won't need 
much granola to fill me up in the morning, but I'm still a little hungry now...
I've set my alarm for five again, and hope to actually get moving at that point so I can 
beat the heat and the traffic on the climb. I have such great timing- attacking passes on 
weekends- my God, this is Fathers day weekend too! I guess it's really just trading logging 
trucks for RV's here.
Speaking of logging trucks, as I was approaching the campground here a couple of 
logging trucks came over a rise blowing their horns. I thought "How nice- they know 
bicyclists use this road and try to warn them." Then I topped the rise and saw that they 
were honking at a family walking down the road.
Quote: "Hey- will you give me a ride?"- One of the kids in the family on the road.
My answer-" Heck No".
Question: Was eastern Montana real?

 


June 19th
Republic, WA
The Top of the World!
OK, not quite, but the top of my trip.
The Numbers:
Highest point of the day/ trip: 5575 feet.
Crossed Sherman Pass today- 5575 feet above sea level.
I actually got up at 5 and on the road by 7.
The climb was difficult, but not as bad as I had feared. I managed the 15 miles in about 
three hours, including several stops.
My windbreaker was on and off several times throughout the climb. First I was too hot, 
and drenched with sweat, so when I took it off I quickly got too cold.
 I stopped at the Campground/ overlook near the top and got out my tights, 'cuz I knew 
the ride down would be freezing in shorts.
At the top there was a couple on a motorcycle who I asked to take a photo of me. Hey- 
there's hopefully actually a photo of me now!
On the way down I passed through the site of the White Mountain fire, a forest fire that 
burned two (or was it 20) thousand some acres in 1988.
There was a wayside with little informative signs about the fire, including one about 
salvage logging, over which someone had Written "Propaganda" and then their own 
environmentalist propaganda, which I was somewhat more inclined to agree with, although 
I thought it was a little extreme.
I got to Republic about noon. I could have kept going, but it's not very far to Tonasket, 
and I would have had to wait there all day tomorrow to get my mail on Monday.
So I got a motel room and I'm writing this during commercial breaks.
I spent the afternoon doing laundry, and went out for pizza for supper. It was pretty good 
pizza, but the main attraction was the waitresses. Them and the girls in the next booth.


June 20th
Tonasket, WA
Wauconda Pass day. The climb wasn't too bad, and the descent was not as impressive as 
Sherman, but easier is better going up, and you've got to live with it going down.
I stopped in Wauconda ( a little don't blink town three miles this side of the pass) for 
lunch. There was a couple from Neenah, WI stopped there for lunch when I pulled in. We 
chatted for a while, and just as they were leaving a father and son from Michigan pulled in. 
Now  if only we'd timed it a little better so we could have all eaten together. Both these 
groups were east bound. The Moes (WI) had a friend sagging for them...
I'm camped at Shannon's Ice Cream Parlor and RV park, here in town. Cheapest private 
campground yet, although I had to pay $2 for an eight minute shower across the street at 
the laundromat.
For the first time I have cycling neighbors for the night. Two sisters who started in San 
Francisco, and are basically doing my trip in reverse, only all the way to Maine, are 
camped here as well. We haven't talked much- they went off to shower, and do laundry, 
and eat, and haven't been around much, so I'm not really getting much time to chat 
compared to a road side encounter. Maybe in the morning.
It's been threatening to rain all afternoon. I guess I'd rather it do it during the night, 
rather than tomorrow, but that would mean a wet tent in the morning. But hey, I've got 
people to share the misery with.
The report today is that the west side of Washington pass is not a single climb, but a 
series of thousand foot climbs, and 5-700 foot drops, depending on who's telling it.
I talked to Reanna this evening. She says she got tendonitis from her recumbent. Her 
chiropractor says she can do the trip on an upright, but that means she has to get a good 
upright. She is going to be our slow, weak link during the first few days we're riding 
together I think. Sarabeth and April are meeting up in Astoria on July 14th...
Quote: "The bike is slow but the earth is patient."- The Moes
Question: Should I try to get over Loupe Loupe Pass tomorrow, or just do the mileage to 
the base, or do the climb and camp on top?...

June 21st
Twisp, WA
Mail, Mail, Mail, and More Mail. I think I got as much today as at all my other mail stops 
put together! Best a letter from Sarabeth, worst food from Tim and Karen (only 'cuz I had 
to fit it into my load somehow). Actually the best was my handle bar bag bracket. I can ride 
without bungees getting in my way again! I took about an hour and a half at the post office! 
That's 'cuz I stopped to read all my letters...
Then I rode to Okanogan, which was a fairly easy ride, although there was a nasty head 
wind part of the time. (Whoops.)
After Lunch I tackled Loup Loup Pass. The hardest one yet, primarily because I rode it at 
the end of the day, rather than the beginning. I had to use granny gear for the first time on 
pavement since WI! Also the wind was still a problem at times. There was a short downhill 
part way up where I got going 30 MPH or so, and at one point the wind caught me funny 
and I almost wiped out. Several times during the climb I rode off the pavement, onto the 
sand at the edge, which worked like a runaway truck ramp, and I had to pull my foot out of 
the toe clip quick. I was afraid I was going to do permanent damage to my foot and leg 
doing that a couple times.
The other thing that made it seem so bad was that I kept forgetting to read my odometer at 
known landmarks, so I had no idea how much further it really was. I'd go around a corner 
and say "that has to be this one on the map", and then the next one would curve the wrong 
direction.
The highlight of the ride down was a mile or so of 8% grade.
I got into Twisp about Seven PM, meaning I had barely enough light to finish supper 
cleanup with.
Quote: "Wow. Wow. WOW!"- Me, on coming around a corner and seeing the main 
range of the Cascades spread out in front of me.
Oh yeah.- Yesterday I mentioned the sisters camped next to me. I forgot to mention that 
Marie, the younger one (I think) is extremely obese. (I'm sorry, there's no other way to put 
it.) Her belly flops around, and I don't see how she can stand to be seen in bike shorts, let 
alone have already ridden from San Francisco to Vancouver, and over two passes.

June 22nd
Colonial Campground, Diablo, WA
YA HOOO! There. I forgot to holler when I made it over Washington Pass, so I've 
written it here.
The Numbers:
Trp: 74.66
Avs: 10.29
Max: 41.8
Late start, nine AM, but I still mastered the toughest pass of them all, and rode 75 miles 
today.
The climb. Most of it wasn't that much worse than Sherman, except the last mile or so, 
around a hair pin curve, and climb 500 plus feet. From a distance the climb looked damn 
near impossible, but I made it. I actually stopped less than yesterday, because I went back 
to my set a distance between stops method, instead of ride until you think you'll die if you 
don't stop, which turns into stop every 1/4 mile. At the end my distances between stops 
were quite short (less then 1000 feet?) but lower down they were 1-2 miles.
There was lots of snow along the side of the road. One place (after I used up my film) 
had a snow tunnel carved by a mountain stream where it gully had filled up with it.
Rainy Pass sort of lived up to it's name. I guess technically you can call it  a pass- the 
road goes down on either side and the mountains go up on either side of the road- although 
I'm more inclined to call it a bump on Washington. It wasn't really raining, but it sort of 
spit for a few minutes. I put on my rain gear 'cuz someone at Washington Pass had said it 
was raining further down.
At Washington Pass there was a couple who passed on a tandem. First of those I've 
seen. Then just past the crest at the overlook, there was a couple stopped to get out warm 
clothes, and celebrate having made it even though they had not trained hardly at all before 
leaving three days ago...
I was just doing some calculations and if I'm lucky I could make it to Vancouver in three 
days!
Quotes: "Wheww!!! Cold!"
 And: "You're going the wrong way." - The cyclists going down as I was headed up.

June 24th
Sedro-Wooley, WA
The Numbers:
Trp: 80.21
Yesterday was one of those days where I got a very late startŠ 11 or later. It was mostly 
'cuz I had a flat tire when I woke up. Also broke my pocket pal trying to loosen my 
freewheel. I'll have to try to find a new one in Bellingham today. (A Pocket Pal is a cool 
little device, hard to find nowadays, which enables you to use something like a fence post 
as a lever to remove your freewheel , rather than having to carry a heavy crescent wrench.) 
Bellingham? Today? Yikes- this trip is almost over.
I'm having a hard time adjusting to that thought. In a way it's exciting, but it's also kind 
of scary.
We'll see how far I get today. It's raining out there now, and I'm in a motel ('cuz that's 
what there is in Sedro-Wooley), so I have to got on the road by 11. Yuck.
It was one of those 100% humidity but not raining days yesterday. I suppose I was lucky 
to have it hold off all day.
I had another flat tire yesterday afternoon. Same tire, so I switched tires. The new leak 
was again a hole in the tire- there are now three holes about three to four inches apart in the 
tire. I hope my $30 Kevlar tire holds up better...
I really enjoyed the scenery yesterday. Lots of broadleaf trees, with conifers on the 
hillsides, and mixed here and there. Some places were great examples of temperate 
rainforest- big trees, moss everywhere- then around the next bend would be an area that 
had been logged. 
Quote: "You sure picked a lousy weekend for a bike ride."- Some guy in Concrete.

June 24th
Birch Bay State Park, WA
The Numbers: 
Dst: 2544
My mind still doesn't comprehend that this is the last night I'll spend alone for a couple 
of months- or more. I mean, I'll have my own tent, but I'll have friends to talk to etc.
I'm a little bit nervous about the border crossing. Hopefully it's just a simple show us 
your ID, answer three questions, there you go thing...
I didn't get going till after 10 this morning, partly 'cuz of the rain. It had quit by then, but 
the roads were nice and wet to speed me on my way. The sun was out part of the 
afternoon. Actually lousy weather was good for today, because the wind was southerly, 
instead of the usual northerly, so I didn't have a head wind.
I met the first solo woman of the trip this morning outside of Sedro-Woolly. We stopped 
and talked for a few minutes. I was the first cyclist she'd seen, although that's not too 
unusual, since she can't have been out for more than a couple of days...
She was one of what I call the cheap but usable equipment type riders- She was wearing 
some leather sandal/clog sort of things on her feet, and I don't think she had cycling shorts 
or jersey, although they could have been under warm clothes. Somehow I don't think 
she'll make it very far in those shoes. Her best idea was plastic bag booties!
I moved from the Northern Tier Route to the Pacific Coast route today. Once I got onto 
the Coast route I saw several other cyclists, but all were unloaded- possibly racing...All 
super light bikes, Camelbaks, and calves like the Himalayas. (Camelbaks are  backpack 
hydration systems,- basically a plastic bag of water with a tube coming to near your 
mouth.) 
I actually enjoyed riding through Bellingham. Large town-52,000- but there is a bike lane 
on the busy street they route you on- one of the arterials right through downtown! I didn't 
have time to check out downtown today. Maybe on the way south with other people so we 
can have fun.
I decided to have my three exposed rolls of film developed in Ferndale- so I spent an 
hour riding in circles till it was done. It was a mistake to do it though, 'cuz it meant it was 
8:00 by the time I got hereŠ barely time to pitch my tent and do supper before dark...
I still don't know what to do with my life (part of my dream of what I was going to 
figure out with all that time alone) except that if I could just go on with this trip forever I'd 
be happy. But there are issues with that. Money mostly. I guess either I need a job that is at 
least partly biking, or I'll be working jobs to save for my next trip for a long time to come.
Quote: "You're kidding. Really? My name is Black, too."- Linda Black at the photo lab I 
went to.
Question: How will I respond to riding with others? i.e. Emotionally, mentally, 
physically...  

June 25th
The Alders Home, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Whoo hoo!
The Numbers:
Tot: 242:34
Dst:  2600
Trp: 56.13
Avs: 10.7
Max: 33.5
I'm still not quite believing that I'm done solo touring. But, here I am at Reanna and 
Corey's.
I woke up to rain, so I got a late start again. The ride was enjoyable for the most part, 
although largely on busy roads and streets.
I'm not sure why the ACA doesn't route you onto the Vancouver bike route system. It 
would be much pleasanter. The whole Pacific Coast route seems to be on busier roads...
Border crossing was easy, although I think I took longer than the cars ahead of me. Of 
course they had WA and BC plates, so they probably had the routine down and were 
regulars.
The bad news here is that Reanna won't be leaving with us. Her tendonitis is still 
bothering her too much. She is going to try to meet us in Astoria on the 14th...
Quote: "Do you expect the weather to improve in Canada?"- The border guard's last 
question before wishing me an enjoyable stay.
Question: How will Rick's speed and endurance compare to mine?


June 27th, 12:20 AM
Alder's
This evening we went to Maya's (another friend from NBTSC who lives in Vancouver) 
18th birthday party... We played Essence, a game in which one person leaves the room and 
one subject is selected, and then the one who doesn't know has to figure out who it is by 
asking questions like " If this person were a car, what kind of a car would they be?"
I was described as Pasta with tomato sauce and vegetables; a fresh from the tree apple; an 
apple and an oak tree; a Birkenstock, well broken in; a folding chair that could be carried in 
a backpack; and an Eco- house...Of course I was wearing Cory's clothing which probably 
affected half the answers, since only three people in the room knew me beforehand.
Once most of the people left we stayed another hour or so, along with one other girl- 
Jesse I think her name was. That was my favorite part of the party- just the five of us 
talking. Maya had us help her choose her Prom dress. Jesse is taking her to the prom...
Reanna is planning to go bike shopping tomorrow to get a good upright...I might go 
along and give some non-salesman advice, but then again I could stay and help Cory panic.
Quote: "Are you all right?"- Someone at the party after they heard how long I'd taken to 
get here and that I just got in last night.
Question: Will Reanna be able to join us in ten days instead of 18?

June 27th
Alder's
Good News.. We found Cory's wallet...
Reanna went and bought a new bike today. I'm glad, but also I'm sort of feeling like 
Lydia at the party last night. When Reanna was talking about getting a new bike at some 
point she mentioned keeping her old upright, and Lydia shut her up by saying "I'm having 
class issues here". Same here. I mean I own at least three bikes, but only two of them are 
worth more than $25, and I didn't get either of them new. Just being able to go out and buy 
your second new bike in as many months... would be nice, but it feels good to know I've 
made it this far with less than the very best...
(Later on Reanna was talking about selling her recumbent to pay for the new upright, so I 
came to a modified view of their wealth.) 
Cory and Reanna's grandma came over for dinner and asked all the usual questions. 
When she left she said she feels a lot easier about the trip after talking to me, so I guess I 
did some good.

June 28th
Alder's
Ooh. Ah. Ow.
Cory, Robert, and I went to the Homeschooler's soccer meet today- a bunch of 
Vancouver home schoolers who get together to play soccer once a week. Now I'm really 
sore. Luckily I think its different muscles from what I use to ride.
The only really bad injury while I was playing was stepping in a low spot, and having 
my knee try to bend forward past lock, but that pain only lasted five minutes or less.
Rick will be here at 11 am Tomorrow. Yayyyy!

June 30th
Alder's
Rick is here! I guess now it's really sunk in that the solo trip is over, and we're 
embarking on a different sort of journey.
Rick and Cory have a tendency to slip off into computer related conversations, which 
leave me utterly lost. By the time we reach Astoria I either will have learned to understand 
them or will be very ready for some real conversation...
We went out to run more errands this afternoon. Rick fairly often forgot he was in city 
traffic- riding side by side, etc., but we'll get him retrained pretty quick.
Reanna's new bike came home today. It's really sweet- light as a feather, and of course 
all new.
I'm still really sore from soccer yesterday. It's hard to believe that I can be this sore.
Quote: "Blink Blink Blink"- Rick and Cory. (a semi-inside joke among some NBTSCers 
having to do with geeks and good ideas, which has also been stolen by the rest of us to 
signify when someone's talk is starting to go way over your head).

June 30th 
Alder's
Started the day with computers, and ended with computers. We also compared loads, and 
still aren't sure why we have vastly different amounts. Cory's is similar to mine, only 
lighter, but Rick's is just two bags- and not even totally full! - I'm sure we'll figure out 
what he's missing eventually. (We never did find anything big enough to make up for it.)
Evening was devoted to bike cleaning and maintenance. I was amazed at how much 
grease came off when I used my new chain lube and then wiped it down.
Quote: " Five dollars to whoever can tell me what this tool is for." - Rick, about one of 
the features on his McGiver- the Swiss Army Knife of bike tools. ( It later turned out that it 
was intended as a fork to eat with!)

The Numbers for the solo Trip
Days: 55
Riding days: 42
Tot: 242:34
Dst: 2600
Avg/ day 43.33
Avg/ day without rest days: 55.32
Avg/ Hr: 10.72
Avg hrs/ Day: 4:02
Avg hrs/ Day without rest days: 5:10
Max: 41.8
Highest elevation: 5575 feet- Sherman Pass
Longest day- miles: 89.24 (May 13th)
Longest day- time: 8:48:39 (May 19th)

July 1st
Birch Bay state Park, WA
The Numbers:
Tot: 247:55
Tot, 2nd leg: 5:10
Dst: 2653
Dst, 2nd leg: 52
Trp: 51.5
Avg: 9.96
Stp: 5:09:22
Max: 34.0
I did take off my speedometer once and forgot to put it back on for several miles... Rick 
thinks we rode 60 miles...
The trip was relatively uneventful.- Cory complained about the hills, Rick walked up 
some, I had to rest half way up the quarter mile of 13% grade.
Patuello Bridge seemed tame today- I suppose because I had done it before. It felt like we 
spent less time in the city than I did riding in- maybe because I didn't have to stop and read 
my maps every few blocks, But I think the stop lights were friendlier too...
Border crossing was painless- Cory had to see the Immigration people, while Rick and I 
had to answer the citizenship question, how we knew each other and what we were doing, 
and show ID. Also, we didn't even have to wait in line breathing exhaust- we were told to 
just go on up to the building.
We wandered around Blaine for a while looking for a grocery store, only to find it right 
where we entered town. Rick had even seen it, but not known it was a grocery chain... 
Blaine's not a bad place to explore anyway.
When we got here Rick and Cory remembered they needed white gas for their stoves, so 
Rick volunteered to ride back to the campground convenience store a mile down the road. 
Turns out they had never heard of it, so he had to go all the way back to the town of Birch 
Bay- four miles round trip.
Supper was excellent- Pasta, Mushroom sauce, and some super Tomatilla salsa Rick 
made. A big improvement over my solo cooking.
Today was the first time I've ever heard a dog really howl I think. Riding along Industrial 
Ave. in Surry, there was a Dalmatian tied up in a yard howling a real high mournful howl. 
At first I thought it was a wooden flute.
Rick's training at 7000 feet is kind of negated by his fat tires- as a mater of fact he often 
lagged behind...Cory kept up with me except on hills most of the time.
Quote: "We drive and bike." - Woman getting out of a car with bikes on the back in 
Blaine.

July 3rd
Bay View State Park, WA
Yuck. Rained all day yesterday, raining again this morning.
The Numbers: 
Tot, 2nd leg: 10:21
Dst, 2nd leg: 104
Since it was raining when we got up yesterday we decided to ride into Birch Bay for 
Breakfast. I was lobbying for the break camp first then go to breakfast theory, but we 
ended up riding five miles round trip on unloaded bikes- By the time we got back and 
loaded up it was noon- bad time to start a 47 mile day, especially for inexperienced riders.
Of course it was the day we had reserved a campsite, so we had to do the miles. (It was 
Fourth of July weekend, so we had thought we ought to make sure we had a place to stay.)
I hope Cory can handle 46 miles today...
I wish it would stop raining for a while so we could at least take down our tents sort of 
dry. But I sort of enjoy being in my tent in the rain. Nice sound. I could enjoy it more if 
there wasn't so much condensation inside- especially in my sleeping bag. If Nick and 
Casey don't have a dryer I'll have to take it to a laundromat.
Quote: "Can I rest here a minute. I'm coming down off an adrenaline rush."- Rick, after 
almost sliding off the road down a steep cliff, and swerving back on right in front of a car
Question: Could Rick and Cory (not to mention me) handle riding Hwy. 20 more to cut 
off some miles?

July 4th
Nick Blanchard-Wright and Casey O'Haire's, Port Townsend, WA
Egad- I'm surrounded by computer geeks. Actually not as much, since Nick and Noam 
left this morning. Casey isn't as bad if you can steer the conversation in the right 
direction...
Yesterday we got a much more reasonable start- 10ish. It actually stopped raining about 
the time I got up and cleared up some by noon, making for a pleasant ride. It was still hard 
for Cory. He had to stop for a quick nap about five miles before the ferry.
I think we've had more verbal abuse in the last three days than I had in the first two 
month. According to Rick and Cory, someone hollered at us to get our heads out of our 
asses, and someone screamed a blood-curdling scream at me. Also Rick had someone 
shave his elbow as they passed him.
I'm glad we stayed off 20 as much as possible, because the other roads were much 
pleasanter. Lots of other bikers as well, although possibly worse hills. I enjoyed the view 
of the water a lot too.
Today we crossed Deception Pass bridge, which is a very narrow bridge. We decided to 
walk across the sidewalk, which is separated from the road by a cable, and is also very 
narrow. There are also parking lots at either end of the bridge, and people like to stop and 
walk across the bridge to see the view. This being a holiday weekend, there were scads of 
tourists, and every time someone came along the other direction we had to stop and squeeze 
out bikes against the railing, and squeeze ourselves up against the bikes, and let them 
squeeze past sideways. We also had to watch out for mirrors on vehicles towing trailers on 
the road
Another highlight of the day was a stop at a farm stand, for some of the best ice-cream 
ever, in homemade waffle cones- made right in front of your eyes, although you'd have to 
wait a while to get one you saw being made, since they have to cool down before they put 
the ice-cream in them.
 The last stretch before the ferry reminded me of home a bit -corn and hay fields, rolling 
hills .We lucked out and didn't have to wait too long for the ferry- It arrived a minute or 
two after us, so we just had to wait for it to unload, and load the cars...
Everyone here stayed up really late last night - we didn't even eat dinner till midnight, 
which was strange considering we hadn't had a very big lunch, and hadn't eaten much 
since.
I went to sleep while everyone else was still talking, with all the lights on, in the middle 
of the living room, only to be woken up when every one else came crowding around me to 
take a photo. I wish I'd stayed asleep- It's gonna be a horrible picture of me. I immediately 
went back to sleep when they were done.

July 5th
Nick and Casey's
I think yesterday was one of the most fun days I've had since I left home.
It started with breakfast at noon. Then we went for a long walk on the beach, which 
turned into an exploration of physics. First we found a long plank balanced on a driftwood 
log several feet off the ground, and spent quite some time exploring balance and 
leverage...Then we walked a little further and started throwing rocks. Not just into the 
water, but exploring how they bounced off other rocks. I got hit by ricocheting pebbles a 
few times as did Rick, but we continued anyway. Of course all we could do was throw 
them different ways, but soon we were discussing quantum physics, the theory of 
relativity, etc.... It was a pretty geeky conversation, but not about computers, so it didn't 
leave me out. Also, it was one of the best examples of how unschoolers learn I've seen in 
quite a while, although most of us at least sort of understood what was going on to start 
with. Somewhere along the line we came up with the idea that it would be cool to make a 
video series of physics explorations like that with explanations.
In the evening we went out to watch fireworks. First we went up to North Beach, where 
a bunch of people were setting them off, and then we hiked up into Fort Worden, where 
from the top of a bunker we watched the fireworks across the sound. It was cool because 
there was no sound from the ones we could see across the water, just from the ones on the 
beach. Mostly all we could see were just little explosions of light , but it was fun anyway.
The fort looks like it would be cool to explore during the day, although I doubt we'll get 
up there today. It was built during World Wars One and Two, and has several concrete 
bunkers scattered along the bluff. Being dark we didn't explore the inside of the bunkers- 
just made sure we didn't fall into them. The part of the fort that was housing and barracks 
is now a conference center
Question: How long would it take me to adjust to living on the schedule this house seems 
to run on- Breakfast at noon, lunch at six, dinner at midnight, bed who knows when. 

July 5th
Kitsap Memorial State Park, WA
Today gets the prize for latest start- 4:00 PM. After a late breakfast, Rick and I went to 
the Co-op while Cory fixed a flat tire. Then we made stir fry and had lunch around 2 
o'clock. Casey came home shortly after he had left for work- Day off for the Forth of July.
After lunch we left and rode 32 miles. We were going to camp at Shine Tidelands State 
Park, but when we got there, there was a sign saying "Closed for the Winter". Someone 
else there told us that there had been a landslide, and the drinking water was out. He said 
we probably wouldn't be bothered if we wanted to stay, but boiling water from Hood 
Canal didn't appeal to us, so we rode the extra five miles across the Hood Canal Bridge- 
one and a half miles of floating bridge, with a drawbridge in the middle...
To get to Shine Tidelands, we had to go down a hill that, in Rick's estimation, was 
probably at least a 20% grade. To get out I had to walk up. That's the first hill I've had to 
walk on the whole trip.
Quote: " That's your secret- You just stash your energy bars and eat them when you ride 
ahead. You probably eat as many as Cory."- Rick on finding me eating a Cliff bar at the top 
of a hill.
Question: If Cory were paying for all his energy bars, how much would he spend by the 
time we get to Eugene? He went through eight and a half today. (We were buying our food 
as a group and taking turns paying for it.)

July 7th
The Dapper-Johns', South end of Vashon Island, WA
The Numbers:
Tot, 2nd leg: 21:59
Dst, 2nd leg: 223
Good Early Start today- 9:30ish, I think.
The Wait for the ferry in Bremerton was short but fun. There was a guy on a motorcycle, 
who told us all about his bicycle trip around Europe years ago, and a woman on a bicycle 
who has done a fair bit of touring...
The Ferry from Seattle to Vashon was interesting. First of all it's a passenger only boat. 
They have racks for six unloaded bikes, and hooks for several more on the back. Since 
Loaded bikes take up extra room, and some people had already filled up one rack, Rick had 
to unload and hang his. Luckily they didn't kick us off the boat for having a gallon of 
Coleman fuel- just took it up to some forward locker and returned it at the end. They were 
in a big hurry to turn around at the end. Loaded before we were off and chewed us out for 
taking so long. It wasn't entirely our fault- The crew member at the back was adamant 
about all bikes remaining stowed until the boat stopped and the foot passengers were out of 
the way. Of course we had the bad luck to arrive at rush hour, so the boat was jammed. On 
the other hand we had fun talking to the other passengers, a lot of whom knew each other. 
(It seems like despite a fairly large population, people on Vashon know almost everyone 
else on the island.)
...I had to walk my bike again today. The road Caleb lives on takes a sharp hairpin turn 
off the main road, goes down a short hill, around a curve and immediately back up another 
steep grade. For some reason I didn't let my self get up much speed on the down hill, so if 
I had, and was in Granny gear to start with I might have made it. On the other hand Rick 
said he was doing 35 on the down hill, and he died about 15 feet up...
The ride down Vashon from the north ferry dock to the very south end, where Caleb 
lives, was long, with several bad hills, but for the most part it was nice riding.
Quote: "I'm sort of iffing out on this."- Cory after we'd been bragging about our ability 
to not have any leftovers, while looking at the pasta salad. We didn't manage to do it! 



July 8th
Caleb's
Yesterday we caught the bus up the island and hung out with Caleb in town for a while 
(he had gone up earlier for Drivers Ed.). First he took us to his "Second Home" where we 
hung out with all his friends for a while, and then we went and had lunch at a Mexican 
restaurant. By the time we were done we had missed not only the ferry we had planned to 
take to Seattle, but the next one as well. Luckily Risa wasn't too pissed off about having to 
wait two hours for us. Her mom came and picked us up and took us back to her house, 
because it was almost four, and she had to babysit her little brother while her mom went 
out, so we spent five hours sitting around talking about camp...
Caleb, his mom, and his dance partner/ ex-girlfriend (as of yesterday) from Australia 
were in Seattle in the evening for a swing dance, so we joined them for the ferry ride back. 
The ride down the island was hilarious- four boys squeezed in the back, Nan and Jesse in 
the front, and the dog in the way back.
Quote: "That's weird"- "What sort of weird?" -"5" (or 1,2,3,4,6,7,8)- everyone, the 
whole evening, because in the car we were discussing how there are two kinds of weird, 
and Jesse expressed about five or six more.

July 8th
Caleb's
Today we were planning to ride to Olympia, but we had not planned a place to stay. I 
called Ana about 10:30, and she said she would have to ask her parents, who were out of 
the house at the moment, but she also gave me phone numbers for Brynne and Jade.
Then I told Cory it was his turn to call, and he came down with an irrational fear of 
telephones, so we bugged him about it for almost an hour, before we decided to wait a day 
to leave, and that I would make the call. 
Actually his fear was more about calling up someone he barely remembered and asking 
for a place to stay. I'm not sure why I didn't just make the call. I guess I was trying to 
make Cory do some planning.
Anyway, after we decided to stay... Ana's mom called back to say that tonight wouldn't 
work, but tomorrow would! 
Rick and I went back into town to go shopping, and managed to spend over $70!
After dinner we went out to the studio and played around with recording stuff...(Caleb's 
dad is a drummer, and has a studio out in the garage.) 
Quote: "Hello. I'm an asshole. I'd like to talk to you for a few minutes."- Caleb, when 
Cory was needing inspiration to make the phone call.
Question: Can we avoid riding on the I-5 tomorrow?

July 10th
Synodis', Olympia WA
We missed the 10 AM ferry, so we had to wait around for the 11 O'clock one...Eating 
Strawberry- Rhubarb pie (ummmmmm.). 
Somehow it took us almost two and a half hours to get out of Tacoma. We were all 
feeling kind of lousy and not really into riding. As I think back it's about the way I felt the 
day I left Stuart's, with heat fatigue added. 
We ended up riding the I-5 for a few miles, and were quite happy to get off. We probably 
could have avoided it, but our map didn't show all the roads, and it was through the army 
base. (It was legal.) After that wind tunnel we managed to pick up speed a bit and actually 
got here at a reasonable time.
In the evening Ana, and Rita Moore took us downtown to a punk concert...They were 
mostly going to see their friends play- we left before the second band finished. It was 
entertaining and I was actually kind of enjoying myself. I was also impressed that people 
were following the no smoking inside rule- One person lit up inside and the band yelled at 
them. Apparently there aren't many places in Olympia willing to host punk concerts. 
The Juvenile Delinquents, who were the band we went to see apparently gave their worst 
show ever. The lead singer was half drunk, and couldn't remember half the lyrics...
Quote: "You realize that was the longest stretch where we've simultaneously went over 
15 MPH, over 20 MPH and over 25 MPH?"-Rick, after the I-5

July 10th
Centrallia, WA
Ack! Surrounded by saggees!
The Numbers: 
Max: 42
Yet another speed record! I don't know how I managed to do it today. I do know I was 
speeding- 42 in a 25 Zone! Luckily I didn't get caught.
We didn't leave Ana's till after 1- we didn't even wake up till 10ish, and then we got 
hijacked to help move a massage table out of her parents' office...
Cory apparently left his cycle computer at Synodis'.. But it was an excellent day for stuff 
on the side of the road. I found another wrench... and Cory found a cycle computer! 
Unfortunately it needs modification to work with his mounting bracket.
The ride was excellent once we worked our way out of the city and its steep hills. Rick 
and Cory are definitely stronger riders than they were a week ago. They're managing to 
keep up at 15 MPH over extended distances...
OK- enough suspense. The saggees. Our wonderful sense of scheduling put us here the 
same night as the STP, a huge, two day, sagged ride from Seattle To Portland. Luckily we 
found a quiet corner of the park, and we haven't been bugged too much. Talking to that 
sort of rider is actually kind of hard, because unless they've done our type of touring, they 
don't really have any idea how much more work it is. Several people figured two days 
from Vancouver. (Maybe they were thinking Vancouver, WA?) I'm not sure even an 
average unloaded rider could do that. 100 mile days are dreaming for any of us. Certainly 
some people do long days with loads, but not me. 
(Proving myself wrong, I rode 102 miles with a full load on May 19th, 2000)
My major annoyance of the day- the hook on one of my rear panniers broke. Luckily we 
were still at Ana's and after rummaging through their junk closet I found a small corner 
bracket which I bent to replace it. 
Quote: "Her lawn is like a six inch thick sponge, and I'd be pushing the washing machine 
around..." - Rick, getting his words confused.
Question: Why would anyone want to do something like STP?

July 11th
Seaquest State Park, Castle Rock, WA
The Numbers:
Tot, 2nd leg: 32:28
Dst, 2nd leg: 340
Trp: 51.35
Avs: 11.34
Max: 44.2
Two consecutive days with new speed records!
Once again it was nearly 1 O'clock before we got moving today... Once we were packed 
up we discovered that Rick's tire was flat. It had sprung a leak yesterday, but his Slime had 
done it's job and sealed the hole. Apparently he left it parked with the hole up and all the 
slime drained down overnight...
Then we stopped for groceries after two miles, and then lunch after six more. 
...Lots of climbs and long downhills... It was only the last five miles or so where Rick 
and Cory started lagging...Caleb was right when he told us it was downhill to Portland- It 
seems like we have more, longer downs than ups.
The Hiker-Biker sites here are very nice. A path through the woods leads to four 
scattered sites away from the regular sites. Water is a ways away, and the showers were a 
challenge after dark, but hey- RV's are annoying... 
Rick made rice, and sun-dried tomato-mushroom soup for supper. He managed to screw 
up the rice and burn it, but the unburned part was good.
Quote: "Hey- you're off route."- Several people who though we were with STP.
Question: Can Rick and Cory be trained to keep a cleaner campsite?

July 12th
County Line Park, Cowlitz/ Wahkiakum county line, WA
Late start again, with shopping and lunch after only a few miles. (This is starting to get 
on my nerves.) 
Long climb- about 6%, over a mile long. Easy by pass standards, and not a hard climb, 
but definitely long enough. I stopped halfway up for Cory's sake. 
We stopped in Cole Creek for water and ice-cream, and left our names and addresses. 
Supposedly the owner will send out Christmas cards to all the bikers who stop there- HA 
HA says the cashier. She also told us about the family from Vermont on the bicycle built 
for four that Grammy told me about. She didn't know much 'cuz she'd had to turn off the 
sound on the TV during the report. (Surprisingly, I did get a Christmas card from the Cole 
Creek General Store last Christmas.)
County Line Park is cool- camping on the beach along the Columbia River, ocean going 
ships passing, yet still obviously a river. Cooking on the beach was interesting. There is no 
table in our site, so we used rocks and stumps, and still managed to get sand in everything. 
The only problems with our camp site are being right below the highway, and having to 
push our bikes through sand and another campsite to get to it.
The people in the site next to us parked on the road, and lowered everything down the 
15-20 foot bank with a pulley system- except I think they carried the barbecue grill around. 
They were definitely the bring everything including the kitchen sink type of campers.
Quote: "Totograph. Is that the measure of how much not in Kansas you are?" - Me.
Question: Can I really Get Cory up by 8:30? 

July 14th
Fort Stevens State Park, OR
The Numbers: 
Tot: 283:18
Tot, 2nd leg: 40:33
Dst: 3029
Dst, 2nd leg: 428
Trp: 54.58
Avs: 10.59
Stp: 5:09:11
Max: 30.9
Record early start for the group yesterday. Cory got up by himself at 7:30 and we were 
riding by 9! The downside of County Line Park was that the beach was invaded by fishing 
people at sunrise. They weren't loud, but they were a presence.
The first part of the ride was pleasant- the ferry over the river was a nice small one, and 
while we were fishing around for money, the deck hand told us that a couple of girls had 
come over the day before, headed for San Francisco, and mentioned something about 
Eugene. That sort of got us wondering if Sarabeth and April were for some reason coming 
down from that direction. If so they're not here yet.
We did run into another pair of women, who we played leap frog with all day, and who 
are now camped next to us.
About 15 miles before Astoria, I broke a spoke. Of course I never did get a wrench big 
enough for my freewheel tool, and Rick and Cory had kept on going when I stopped, so I 
was stranded by the side of the road until they came back. Neither one of them had one big 
enough either, so Rick unloaded and rode to the gas station half a mile back. The first time 
he ran into the two women, and came back to see if they had a tool that would work. They 
didn't, so he went back again. There were no tools for sale, but they loaned him a big 
crescent wrench, so he had to go back a third time to return it. 
Then about 10 miles down the road, Cory had a low tire. We stopped and pumped it up, 
but when we reached town, it was flat again. He and Rick stopped at a grocery store to 
shop and fix the tire, while I rode on in search of a bike shop. Both bike shops in town 
were open, but the first one was booked up (real helpful for a touring cyclist...) and the 
mechanic had gone home at the second one, so I'll have to ride ten miles back to town in 
the morning to get my wheel trued.
After I went back to meet Rick and Cory, we got about ten blocks, before Cory's tire 
blew out again. It was discovered that his tire is actually too big for the rim. I can stick two 
fingers between the rim and the tire with ease. I then tried to beat it into shape- literally 
banging on the tire where the bead was trying to escape from the rim. The first try failed 
after a couple of blocks, but we caught it before the tube failed, and I finally managed to 
make it stay! Cory still doesn't want to ride back to town tomorrow to get a new tire, so I 
guess we'll just have to somehow carry the wheel... forget it!
Quote: "Thank you for being the cool one when my tire blew out."-Cory.

July 15th
Fort Stevens St. Park, OR
Sarabeth and April actually got here!!! (No, it was not them on the ferry).
Yesterday we rode back into Astoria, and had my wheel trued and Cory got a new 
(touring) tire for his sub-standard 700c wheel. It's still a little too loose, by touring tire 
standards, but it fits much tighter than the old one. 
We had one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten for lunch. An extra large pesto pizza, with 
mushrooms, jalepenos, feta cheese... If it weren't for Rick I don't think we would have 
finished it.
The last few miles of the ride back into the park were the biggest pun war we've had 
yet... (Rick enjoys swapping puns in a high speed war of wits.)
Also camped next to us tonight is Seth, a weed smoking, dreadlocked, cyclist.
We had been planning to cook a big welcome feast for Sara and April, but they cooked 
there own supper- probably a good thing, since they were starving, and were practically 
done eating before we even started.
April and Cory stayed up well past midnight talking, yet Cory's actually awake now!!!
Question: How in the world did Cory's tire manage to last nearly 500 miles before it 
started causing problems?

July 15
Nehalem Bay State Park, OR
The Numbers:
Dst, 2nd leg: 502
Girls. Hmph. OK OK. I'm exaggerating. We had lots of fun. It's just that Sarabeth was 
extra slow today, due to cramps and PMS. 
The town of Seaside was kind of a zoo. It felt like Coney Island of something- touristy 
stores and restaurants, and midway rides. We rode a few blocks down the promenade to 
get out of the worst crowds and eat lunch.
Then we stopped in Cannon Beach for groceries and had to face similar crowds- only 
with a western feel this time- false fronts instead of neon. 
We made the mistake of going to the third exit for Cannon Beach, and having to ride back 
through town, over a nice big hill with switchbacks to find a fairly mediocre store. Actually 
I'm not sure why it seemed mediocre- it had lots of organic produce, and all sorts of other 
health food type stuff like soy milk and nondairy ice cream.
The tunnel we went through today was 200% better than the one I went through back in 
the Cascades. Longer and uphill, but lighted... I thought it was a little tricky riding- the 
roadway felt a little slick to me- but I haven't asked anyone else's opinion.
This is probably the best hiker biker site yet. Secluded in a thicket of scrub pine, yet right 
near the roads.
Quote:" Oh no. My toothbrush is infested."- April
	"With what?"- Sarabeth
	"Dr. Bronner's" -April

July 17th
Pacific City, OR
The Numbers:
Tot, 2nd leg: 53:11
Yesterday was a bad wheel day.
First about two miles down the road, I lost another spoke. I got the wheel quite a bit truer 
this time. Good thing, since both bike shops between there and Corvallis are closed down. 
After lunch we rode about 15 or 20 miles before I managed to hit a sharp rock and blow 
out my front tire.- Huge gash in the side wall. While I fixed that, every one else was 
picking raspberries and feeding me handfuls while I worked. 
Another 5 or 10 miles down the road, we stopped to go down onto the beach, and when 
we came back to our bikes, Cory's front tire was flat. I stayed to "help" him fix it, while 
every one else rode on into town to shop, because it was nearly dark by then. I actually did 
most of the work, because I figured I was probably faster at it. I did manage to put the tire 
back on before remembering to check for sharp objects embedded in it. It was a good thing 
we took it back off to look, because there was a pin stuck in there really good.
We stayed up not too late talking to the guys camped in there RVs here. They're locals, 
full of stories, and I really enjoyed listening to them spin their yarns. The older one grew 
up in Iowa, and has been in every state except Alaska as a trucker. 
The other guy is a welder/ mechanic. He told us his stupid gas tricks story. Apparently 
not too long ago he managed to hit a full LP(?) tank with an acetylene torch, and blew out 
the side of the building, moved a section of railroad track over several feet, and barely 
escaped with his eye when a piece of metal embedded itself in his cheek...
Quote: "A beautiful forest is one you never saw."- My response to a forest fire prevention 
sign reading "A beautiful forest is matchless," which I saw right next to a recent clear-cut.
Question: Will my wheel last to Corvallis?- I went and named it Pringle wheel, due to the 
fact that my imperfect truing leaves it cupped like a Pringle's potato chip, and April pointed 
out that the Pringle's slogan is "Once you pop you just can't stop".

July 17th
Beverly Beach State Park, OR
The numbers:
Tot: 300:45
Dst, 2nd leg: 608
Today was a little bit exiting. First we climbed over a big mountain- switch backs and all-
. On the way down Cory and April were riding no hands. April quit after Sara told her to, 
But no one ever bugged Cory. I was going to give him a lecture, but I let the opportunity 
slip... 
After lunch we went looking for a restroom, and ended up in a casino. The atmosphere 
was very strange and other worldly- scary to the max. I think it was Rick who called it the 
"stupid people taxation center". It wasn't even very glitzy- just kind of a fancy chain motel 
feel from the carpet and escalators, and all the glass doors and fake plants and fountains.
Cory has hatched a plot to not pay for another Pepsi product for several months- he 
discovered that if you tilt the bottle just right you can see the underside of the lid, and find 
out if it's a winning bottle in the current contest. (Unfortunately he eventually came to a 
store with no winning bottles in stock, or lost his winning cap, or something.
We stopped at a wayside and spent over an hour doing cartwheels, joking, writing, and 
trying to decide where to camp. After we left we climbed about a third of the way up a big 
hill before Cory discovered he'd left his water bottle behind. Surprisingly he caught up 
with us at the bottom of the other side of the hill.
We're planning to hit the road at 7:30 tomorrow, stopping in Newport for Breakfast, and 
then riding to Corvallis. It's gonna be a long, hard day, but I think we can make it. Sara 
may leave us at some point so she can get there by 5 to have dinner with Erica. She actually 
was planning to leave at 8, so I talked the guys into 7:30 so we might be ready to go when 
she is.
Oh yes- Seth showed up again today. We got to know him a little better, but I hope our 
week in Eugene is enough for him to get far ahead of us.
Quote: "You guys have too much energy."
Question: How many mountains between here and Corvallis?

July 19th
Hauck's, Corvallis, OR
The Numbers:
Trp: 60.99
Yesterday was probably the hardest day since the day we left Vancouver. Four big hills 
in 61 miles. I would guess we climbed a total of about 2000 feet, small hills included. 
We didn't quite make it by 5, but Sara rode with us the whole way anyway. 
We actually managed to get on the road by 8 AM! We ate breakfast on a bench outside the 
Safeway in Newport, and were on our way again by 9:45...
We stopped for water in Blogget, and probably stayed over an hour after we discovered 
they had ice-cream.
Shortly after we arrived here Erica arrived with a surprise- The Jakes!!! (Jake Matilsky, 
Sara and April's brother, and Jake O'Haire are both NBTSC veterans, and best buddies.)
Quote: "I'm somewhere outside Salt Lake City."- Jake M, on what we're supposed to 
say if anyone asks where he is. He was not signed up to be at camp until very recently and 
he wants to surprise some people.
Question: Where are we staying tonight, and how long will it take to ride from Eugene to 
Lost Valley?

July 19th
Eugene, OR
I saw Grace, I saw Grace, I saw Grace... (Grace Llewellyn is the director of NBTSC)
HOT HOT HOT. Today was a scorcher.
Sarabeth said she was leaving at 9:30, but then she found the piano, and didn't actually 
leave till about 11, with April and Me. Rick and Cory didn't leave until 2 and got here 
about 9:30, both well burnt.
If you ignore the heat the ride was pleasant. At one point my average was up over 12 
MPH! We took a small road between 99E and 99W, so the traffic was light most of the 
way.
As we were finishing lunch a couple guys pulled in on bikes headed the other direction. 
One had no load, and the other had a frame backpack strapped on behind the seat on his 
Bike-e recumbent...
Once we got into Eugene, I left Sara and April and stopped at the Red Barn natural food 
store to ask for directions to the Youth Hostel. Of course I couldn't resist some ice cream, 
and while I ate it Grace drove in... Surprisingly she isn't totally stressed out yet!
The Hostel is a really cool place. Lots of different kinds of people living together and 
coming and going. Obviously some have been here for a while.
Question: Is two and a half hours long enough to ride to LVEC?

July 20th
Lost Valley Education Center, Dexter, OR
Yeeha!
I left Rick and Cory still asleep in Eugene at 7:30 to ride out here for the NBTSC staff 
meeting. 
It was an excellent ride except for the one and a half miles of freeway, broken spoke and 
road construction delays.
The freeway was not as much fun as Tacoma to Olympia, more trash and gravel to 
dodge...
The broken spoke was no big deal. I didn't even get stressed out about it. I've got it 
down to a ten minute operation now. I intentionally left it a little off true, so I can do a 
wheel truing demo if I do a bike repair workshop...While I was fixing the wheel, Grace 
drove by and stopped. I managed to pawn my tent and sleeping bag off on her, so my load 
was lighter for the rest of the ride.
Road construction delay just meant I had heavy traffic to deal with after a short wait ...
I get to share a room with Forest and Caleb, in an otherwise all girls dorm. That will be 
interesting, what with Caleb's unexplained attractiveness to camp girls.
Mavis and Hannah, the two other jr. staff are bound to make this a great week. They are 
some of my favorite camp people- among those I missed last year when we weren't at the 
same session.
Quote:" If I don't see you again before you leave, ride safely, and god bless you."- The 
old guy sharing my room at the hostel.
Question: How can I be in bed a 11:00 PM at NBTSC?

July 22
LVEC
Camp is underway.
Yesterday morning was fairly quiet and un-stressful, except that Taber got very sick 
(food poisoning?) at about 5 AM, and I woke up to the sound of him erupting in the 
bathroom across the hall. I didn't get much more sleep after that.
I got to spend the afternoon sitting in the airport getting campers organized to get back to 
camp. Using vans instead of busses to transport them was a nightmare. A seven passenger 
van really only holds six, plus the driver, and squeezing in number seven didn't work too 
well because of luggage. The plan to do it in three van loads didn't quite work, which was 
a good thing in a way because the time frame didn't quite work either. Sarabeth had to 
come get the last camper and I, and some extra luggage, saving Nate an extra trip in to get 
me, since it ended up that the car rental place closed before we were done with the vans.

July 23rd
LVEC
I stayed up way too late last night dancing. I guess there was a reasonable balance of 
music struck- A fair amount of swing, mixed with lots of other stuff. The worst was Bugs 
Bunny and friends sing the Beatles.
There are some pretty good swing dancers here...Ruti was impressed with my leading, 
being one of those girls who end up leading 90% of the time.

July 23rd
LVEC
Ryland and I did a bike repair class. A surprising number of people showed up, and we 
didn't get finished, but I do know that I need to get the freewheel side of my wheel 
respoked, and the front hub bearings repacked. I'll probably have a bike shop do that. 
The meeting about the San Francisco trip was good, although I'm actually starting to 
think about backing out. I'm having some pretty intense homesickness. I' really want to go 
on, but I feel like the trip would be complete if I quit here... I think doing the solo trip and 
coming to camp were the important things for me. The rest of the trip would just be for 
fun, and all the trouble it's going to be to make decisions with a large group seems like a lot 
of work, and getting back on my bike doesn't even sound like fun...
I guess I started to realize this during the meeting- I sort of stayed out of the 
conversation, and didn't really care one way or another on most fronts.
Trying to figure out what I'm feeling kind of made for a lousy afternoon. I went to a 
singing workshop, which was fun, but I was kind of out of it for other more intense 
discussions and the staff meeting. 

July 25th
LVEC
Yesterday was one of the hardest days I've had mentally since I left home. I had trouble 
participating in camp fully... Several hugs helped, but holding a real conversation was still 
hard. 
A nap in the afternoon helped some, but Caleb and Stuart came up to have a conversation 
on the stairs, and were soon followed by a bunch of people looking for Caleb, so it wasn't 
very restful for very long...
Talking about my problems in several different groups helped some, and although I'm 
still not sure about the rest of the trip, I'm not as depressed any more.

July 26th
LVEC
Yesterday was Sunday, so we had a sort of spiritual sharing time this morning. It was 
billed as being based on Quaker meeting, but since most of the people who came are not 
Quaker, it kind of got out of hand from a Quaker perspective- very little silence between 
sharings, a few people dominating...
In the afternoon I led a workshop for people to share travel stories. It went much better 
than I expected- people came and shared, and we could have gone on longer.
In the evening the first major disciplinary problem in the four years camp has existed 
came out. Apparently several campers had snuck out and gone to a rave the first night, 
along with several other things like vandalism, and marijuana use. That made for a very 
intense evening, both in the staff meeting, and later when those involved had to get up and 
apologize to the group. There are a lot of hard feelings going around now, and differences 
of opinion about how wrong what they did was...
Quote: "And we drove and drove and drove and drove and..."- Charlie's travel story (in 
part)

July 26th
LVEC
I got a haircut today. Its been a long time since I had hair this short. Lydia's a pretty good 
barber. I might have to start going to Vancouver ever few months just to get a haircut.
...One of the best acts in the talent show tonight was Kate L. who got up and had her 
poetry read by several people who don't have laryngitis. Also about half of camp got up 
and tried to sing Hey Jude...
Quote: "Oh my god. I didn't even recognize you!"- Everyone, after my haircut.

July 28th
LVEC
Yesterday afternoon we had a Community meeting about the Rave/ Vandalism/ etc. issue, 
which was started with the simple question "Who broke the window?" (which we never 
did find out). Somehow in the course of talking to people about it, Grace and Taber 
discovered all the other stuff. I came to the meeting feeling ready to forgive, but that's not 
how it ended up. One of the five "problem" campers didn't see how any of what he had 
done was wrong, and refused to apologize, and called the rest of them liars, and made a lot 
more people mad at him I think. I guess I have to admire him for sticking up for what he 
believes.
Any other camp would have kicked them out as soon as they discovered the problem, and 
not doing so on the one hand makes me proud to know and work with Grace and her 
concern for trying to heal a torn community, and on the other hand makes me wonder what 
kind of message it sends that they didn't get kicked out, and what it would take for her to 
send someone home.

July 29th
Eugene, OR
Yesterday was a good but exhausting day. I was still running around doing my job as 
camp treasurer, collecting money from people when the busses arrived an hour early. We 
made them wait so we could take the group photo. 
The bus ride into town has to be the liveliest post camp bus ride I've ever seen, so sitting 
at Greyhound for five hours was kind of a downer, but I got to hang out with Ryland for a 
while...The last three campers to leave got a bus an hour earlier than planned, so I walked 
up to Maury Jacobs Park and attended a short bit of staff meeting. While walking I passed 
a school bus loaded to the gills with old bikes and bike parts. It was a pretty amazing sight.
The staff meeting wasn't real interesting, and I was more than happy to get on my bike 
and ride down to Monroe Park to tell the people waiting for their ride to the motel to meet 
there later. I also got drafted to stop and order a pizza for the staff meeting.
Everyone staying in Eugene had been planning to go out for supper, but when 20 of us 
showed up on the sidewalk outside the cafe, we decided to go have a picnic in the Rose 
Garden instead.
Quote: "Fort Lauderdale is the Vatican. As a mater of fact I wouldn't be surprised if all of 
Florida is the Vatican..."- Crazy woman in the bus station talking to the invisible person in 
the chair next to her.
Question: When was the last time there were this many people in the Hostel?

July 30th
Eugene, OR
Yesterday we dropped our laundry off at the laundromat and then went out for breakfast. 
After breakfast I had to drop my bike off at a bike shop to have them respoke the rear 
wheel, etc., so Rick picked up my laundry for me. Somewhere between when I put it in the 
wash this morning and when I folded and re packed it back here my $40 cycling jersey 
disappeared. 
Most of the rest of the day was spent saying goodbye to people, as the crowd gradually 
diminished and headed for their far flung homes.
At 11 o'clock last night most of us met up at a theater to see The Matrix. Considering I 
usually don't particularly like movies with lots of guns and helicopters and karate, I 
thought it was a pretty good movie. 11 was too late though- It was 2 when we got back, 
and I got up at 7 to make sure Cory caught his train.
I've now ridden at night. It was actually kind of fun, but it'd be hell with a load. 
My major gripe about movies is that it's not a great way to have quality time with people- 
you just sit in the dark and then go home.
Quote: "Don't gossip about me."- Brianna as she left after we'd been discussing gossip.

July 31st
Eugene, OR
Yesterday about 20 of us (the nine of us biking on, a bunch of Eugene natives, and just 
about everyone else from Camp who's still in Eugene) went out to a pick-your-own 
blueberry farm. We picked about 8 two gallon buckets full, and those of us staying here 
brought back about one and a half buckets full. 30 hours later they're still not quite all 
gone. 
When we got back, we all went out for pizza, and I went and retrieved my bike. $94 later 
my bike is in great shape- the front wheel rolls, the chain doesn't skip, and hopefully I 
won't pop any more spokes
Today we went to Saturday market. We spent basically the whole day hanging out eating 
good food, and a bunch of camp people who are around here but have managed to remain 
hidden for the last few days (e.g. Grace and Taber) showed up,  as well as several people I 
haven't seen in even longer (like almost a year).
My faith in Humanity had a boost when I lost my wallet, and it was there with all the 
money and everything when I went to ask about a lost and found at the Info booth.
Staying at the Hostel has been fun, with both people I know, and an extended stay to get 
to know other guests. There are at least four other cyclists here tonight...
Quote:" Life takes its toll. Bring change."- Bumper sticker on a bike here.

August 1st
Mapleton, OR
The Numbers:
Avs: 11.56
This morning eight of us left the hostel at about 10. For the first part of the day, we were 
kind of split up- I went off to see if my jersey was still at the laundromat (it wasn't) and 
Rick and Justin stopped at Harmony's to leave Justin's backpack for storage, etc. I caught 
up before the main group got out of town, but Rick and Justin didn't catch us till lunch. At 
one point during the morning April's chain came off shortly after we all passed her, and we 
rode almost a mile before we realized she wasn't behind us, so I rode back and showed her 
how to put it back on the derailleur. Later on Melissa's Bob trailer tire needed air, at which 
point I rode ahead to catch Forest and Jason and find a lunch stop. I was doing 16 mph 
uphill to catch them! We stopped in a hayfield only to discover that Rick had two of our 
three loves of bread, and most of the other lunch stuff too. Luckily they caught up before 
we were ready to leave. From then on we mostly did lunches as an on your own thing, or 
in groups of two or three, stopping at the store and getting it as we were ready for lunch, 
rather than trying to all get together. 
While we were stopped for lunch a group of five cyclists going the other direction 
stopped to talk. That was quite a sight- 13 bikes by the side of the road. 
After lunch I started riding in back with the slow people because they also are the ones 
whose mechanical abilities I'm not sure about . I don't plan to do this all the way to SF, but 
for the first day or two... I helped Reanna fix a flat part way through the afternoon. She 
has super tight tires, and it took three tries to get it to hold air. First we pinched the tube 
putting it back, and then that patch didn't hold. All in all it took over half an hour. 
We had another tunnel today. I'm trying to decide whether the people honking were 
doing it to hear it echo, or to harass us.
When Reanna and I caught up with everyone else they had reached Mapleton, and were 
sitting in a parking lot next to a produce stand eating peaches and ice cream. It was the end 
of the day, and the guy at the produce stand gave us a bunch of free sweet corn, along with 
a bunch of other stuff like almost rotting tomatoes which made one of the best pasta sauces 
I've ever had.
Question: Do I want to consider riding on south after San Fran? (Now wasn't that a 
pretty radical about face?)

August 3rd
Jesse M. Honeyman state Park, Florence, OR
For several miles west of Mapleton we had what I would count as one of the top ten 
worst shoulders of my trip- Nice and wide but extremely rough and bumpy.
At one point, I think after crossing the railroad tracks, the bag of peaches and plums I had 
tied onto one of the bungees holding my tent and stuff on slid down and dragged on my 
wheel. It took me a good half mile to realize what the wet stuff spraying my leg was
Rick and I stopped at the grocery store last thing before we left Florence, and bought 
supplies for stir fry for every one, not to mention stuff for lunch. Rick then refused to let 
me carry any of it! Somehow he managed to fit it all on his bike!
Did I mention that Rick bought a Wok before we left Eugene? His bike's official name 
for the rest of the trip was the Wokmobile.

August 3rd
Honeyman State Park, OR
Reanna, Melissa, Jason, Forest, and I hiked across the dunes to the beach...The 
strangest thing we saw was a kid, probably no older than about eight, driving a 4 wheeler 
ATV over the dunes.
We had sandwiches on the beach and then I went up and down the beach collecting sand 
dollars, which I threw back onto the ocean like Frisbees last thing before we left.
I think of all the people on this trip Reanna and I have the most interests in common to  
make conversation on, and we walk and ride at about the same speed if we want to, 
without cramping each other's style.
When we got back we all jumped into the lake. Much warmer than the ocean...
Rick made tacos for dinner, with TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein) filling- Jason even 
admitted that it was edible! 
Sarabeth and Jeff finally got here about seven o'clock. (Sara had stayed behind when we 
left Eugene, because her fiancee, Jeff, was flying in to join us, but couldn't come till the 
2nd. That's why we waited a day here)
Some of us went over to the amphitheater to watch a church youth group perform...Rick 
actually went up to the sound man after the show, and told him how to arrange the speakers  
better. All their songs were really cheesy and we could barely control our laughter from 
over on the side where we were watching. A few snide comments passed between us as 
well. They reminded me very much of my 4-H club, and I realized that I don't want to 
spend the rest of my life living with that type of people as my local community.
Quote: "We're being attacked"- Me as about 15 dune buggies and ATVs came zooming 
down the beach toward us.
Question: How can you take a small child with you on a three wheeler, let alone let a kid 
drive an ATV (especially since he was getting left behind all the time)? 

August 5th
Lakeside, OR
The Numbers:
Dst, 3rd leg: 102
Yesterday was one of the most miserable days I've had yet. It started out good-out of the 
campground by ten, and good speed- but I've come down with the Camp Cold now, and 
by lunchtime I was ready to crash. I might have been OK if I hadn't waited around in the 
cold wind for 20 minutes for the rest of the group. I got out my stove to make lunch for the 
only time on the entire trip today, to make myself some hot pepper, garlic, ginger, lemon 
tea...
The second long climb was pretty hard. I made it, but was glad of a rest at the view point 
at the top. None of us was very impressed with the view.
Everyone was supposed to meet in Lakeside, but apparently Justin and Jason, who were 
way ahead, missed the turn and rode several miles before they realized it, and Melissa did 
the same thing, only turned back when they passed her returning. I missed the whole 
drama because I had a flat just before town and rode in last. Somehow luck was on my side 
this time- it happened right in front of a gas station with an air hose.
We ended up staying in the RV park here because Forest, Jeff, Reanna and I were about 
to bonk. (Official cyclist slang for run out of energy)
Quote: "I see you've got a safety talisman."- April, to a guy who stopped at the view 
point with us who had his helmet hanging from his handlebars.

August 5th
Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, OR
I was the second to last to leave the campground this morning, leaving almost an hour 
before Jason. Somehow I still managed to be the second one here without seeing anyone 
else except Justin who left with me, but quickly got ahead when my chain threw. 
The bridge into North Bend was long and steep. I walked over, but apparently some 
people tried to ride, and were told to walk by the flag lady for the construction crew 
working on the bridge. (They were painting I think.)
Sara and Jeff said that the flag lady said something like "Oh that must have been your 
daughter who rode through a little while ago," so when they got to the end and Jeff said 
"Whew, do I feel like Mr. Tension," Sara said" Yeah, and I'm Mrs. Tension and our 
daughter Tension is up ahead." (Sara and April were constantly being mistaken for mother 
and daughter, or stranger yet, twins!- Sara's a good foot and a half taller.)
While eating lunch in a city park in Newport I saw a Head Start preschool group out for a 
walk. I was kind of shocked at the language the teacher was using- I don't think I heard the 
word Yes used once the entire time they were in earshot- just lots of "No, we don't walk 
on the grass, No, we're not picking up sticks on this walk..." I wanted to go tell the guy 
off, but didn't. 
After lunch I rode towards Charlston. Part way there my chain threw again, and after the 
third try to put it back, broke, which pissed me off, because I just had it replaced in 
Eugene. Luckily I've got the tool to fix the chain, but having never used it before I had to 
learn on the roadside. A guy named Eric stopped to see if I needed any help, and I managed 
to catch up with him a few miles later, so we rode together to here more of less, I dropped 
back a few times, but usually caught up on the hills, 'cuz he hurt his knee back in 
Sandpoint, and has been walking up the worst hills since then. 
I caught him the first time at the top of the first of the Seven Devils- a very high hilly 
stretch of road we took. It's on the mapped route, so I guess most cyclists take it, but 
staying on 101 sounds faster and flatter. Luckily only the first ascent is really really long.
The final descent was interesting. They were laying fiber-optic cable and had the road 
closed down to one lane for a couple miles, with a pilot car leading people through. We had 
to wait ten minutes for the car, and then follow the other vehicles. We didn't manage to 
keep up all the way, but for the first part I had to use my brakes to keep back. The flag 
woman for that stretch was interesting.
After we got down I managed to break another spoke. It was on the non freewheel side, 
but I decided to do what Justin had suggested and just wrap it around another spoke since I 
only had three or four miles to go. It turned out that I had to take the freewheel off anyway 
to get the spoke in, so I'm glad I tried that.
Quote: "Now we look both ways. Do we see any cars coming? No, just a bicycle. Now 
we cross the street."- the Head Start teacher.  
Question: Which has worse traffic, Saturday or Sunday?

August 6th
Gold Beach, OR
Yuck. Rained for several hours. All wet.
The Numbers:
Dst: 3560
Dst, 3rd leg: 213
Trp: 67.18
Stp: 6:07:54
Today started off on the right foot when I got everything but my tent packed before 
breakfast. It quickly went wrong when I opened up the front pocket of my food pannier 
and discovered hazelnut butter spilled all over. I cleaned up as much as I could with 
English muffins, and then a rag, but it's still gross.
Everyone but Jason was out of the campground by 9:00, and enjoying the early morning 
coastal fog. At the point where the route rejoins 101 I stopped to wait for April, who was a 
ways behind. I wasn't sure if she wanted to ride alone, but I thought I should wait because 
she was kind of far behind for so early in the morning. She caught up quickly and passed 
without stopping. However about 100 yards down the road she slipped off the edge of the 
pavement and wiped out. I was glad I had waited at that point. Someone stopped to see if 
we needed help, and then stopped and told Sara, Jeff, and Forest that someone had 
crashed. By the time they came back I had gotten the bike off of her, and she had recovered 
enough to move herself off the shoulder and wipe out her scrapes. I think she was almost 
ready to go when Sara came and made a big big-sisterly fuss over her and delayed getting 
moving. 
Forest and I stopped for lunch in Langlois, which had a darn good store for a town of 
50- organic salad mix, two kinds of tofu...We passed Sara, April and Jeff in Sixes, where 
they stopped for lunch, and rode mostly non-stop to here. We stopped for an occasional 
breather, to don raingear, and to fix a flat. The last 20 miles or so before Gold Beach were 
on a road a couple miles inland from 101, and was very beautiful. There was one long, 
shallow hill, followed by an equally long shallow down hill. I was hoping we could coast 
all the way back to 101, but no such luck.
The rain was a bummer. I didn't mind riding in it, but we were cold and wet when we 
got here. Forest and I went looking for a cheap motel but all the motels in town are either 
full or rather expensive.
We ended up camping at the fair grounds, on a rocky parking lot. 
Only Forest, Melissa, Jason, Reanna, and I made it this far. Apparently Reanna and April 
were riding together, when Sara decided it was too foggy and got someone in a car to give 
her a ride and kidnap April back to Port Orford.
Once I got my tent set up I went to the laundromat to dry my sleeping bag. Everyone else 
came a few minutes later and we went to dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door. My 
sleeping bag took forever to dry, despite the fact that the dryer's low setting was still 
extremely hot. I did wash it first, so it was wringing wet, but...
Question: How long do we wait tomorrow before we call other people's parents to find 
out if they know where they are?

August 8th
Gold Beach, OR
Yesterday was another rainy yucky day. We all sat around in our individual tents till 
about 10, and then went and had a conference in the Women's Room. Apparently Melissa 
had gone to the bathroom at about 5 Am, and when she came back to her tent the zipper got 
stuck, so she lay there with the rain coming in on her for about five hours, till she heard 
some signs of life. I know I'd gotten up to go to the bathroom a couple times in that period, 
so I don't know what the deal was there. Also she and Jason have tents that have to be 
staked down to stand up, which didn't work so well in a rocky parking lot.
Then we went and walked down the street, soaking our pants in the process, to have 
breakfast at the Golden Egg. The food was good and filling for the non-vegans among us.
While we were eating, Eric, who we had met in the hostel in Eugene, walked in. He told 
us that Rick and Justin had stayed with Sarabeth and Co.
Since it was our planned layover day, the weather was lousy, half our group was still in 
Port Orford and probably not going to ride in the lousy weather, and we were all soaked, 
we decided to look for a motel again. The City Center, which had quoted us $38 for two 
people the night before, gave us their two bedroom, kitchen, living room suite for $75 for 
the five of us, which comes to $18 each with tax.
Unfortunately we turned the TV on and didn't get any of the other stuff we'd planned to 
do done. I didn't even get around to finding out what got wet.
Quote: "Oregon's a big state with curvy roads, and I've been taking it slow."- One end of 
Eric's phone conversation that we overheard. (His whole attitude towards biking just 
seemed to me to make that seem like a strange thing to say- he kind of was like the 
Energizer Bunny- liked to keep going and going.)

August 9th
Gold Beach, OR
Yesterday somehow we managed to get out of the motel room by checkout time, and then 
went and did laundry again. Then we had a picnic on the grass in front of some building by 
the highway at about 3:00, and enjoyed basking in the sunshine. The missing troops finally 
showed up at abut 4:30. They said they had stopped at all the overlooks.
We're back at the fairgrounds now, in a more pleasant location on  a grassy bank next to 
the bathrooms. While the sun was still out it was pretty pleasant. After we put our tents up 
Reanna and I went for a long walk on the beach... I found a dead salamander and brought 
it back to put on the picnic table to try to freak people out. Didn't work.
By the time we got back from our walk visibility was at the lowest I've seen it since we 
got here on Friday night. The fog just rolled in and enveloped everything. I hope it burns 
off before long because I'm sick and tired of Gold Beach.
Quote: "Why didn't we go here the other night? You know, the time we went to that 
terrible wet place."- Forest.

August 10th
Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, OR
The fog finally lifted about noon yesterday and we got moving. I stopped at a bank to 
cash my wet, torn, travelers check. Then I caught up with Forest and rode with him for the 
rest of the day. It was still a little foggy and gray all day, so our only major stop was for 
lunch. 
We saw one cyclist carrying only a large backpack. Crazy.
About the most exiting thing all day was going out in search of Melissa at 8 O'clock. 
Luckily she'd just been riding slow and we found her at the park entrance.
Quote: "What happens if you take iron and Viagra both at once? Stand up straight and 
point north."-Justin's awful humor. 

August 11th
Del Norte Coast State Park, Crescent City, CA!!!
Another state! And the first one on this trip I've never been to.
The Numbers:
Tot: 339:43
Tot, 2nd leg: 96:58
Tot, 3rd leg: 26:28
Dst: 3632
Dst, 2nd leg: 1031
Dst, 3rd leg: 285
Trp: 40.79
Avs: 10.6
Stp: 3:50:55
Max: 30.2
Yesterday Rick and I were the 2nd to last people to leave the campground, leaving 
Melissa alone to finish packing. 
We stopped in Brookings for lunch, and Melissa rode in to the grocery store while we 
were eating, but didn't stop to talk. We weren't quite sure whether to wait for her or just go 
on, and opted for the latter, which was probably a mistake, because she didn't get here last 
night.
The ride was a pleasant change from Oregon- mostly off the main road, and through 
agricultural land.
After Crescent City we were back on 101, in a construction zone, which wasn't so 
pleasant, especially in the fog, climbing a big hill, not quite sure where the campground 
was, hoping we hadn't passed it. Luckily we hadn't. It is actually over the top of the hill, 
and two miles off route, back down- meaning we have to climb out of a crater first thing 
tomorrow.
During dinner a woman from the group in the next campsite came over to apologize for 
her dog who is rather antisocial, and ended up having a long discussion about home 
schoolers, and how we're going to save the world. She was somewhat drunk, and got 
annoying really quickly.
By the time she left us it was nearly dark, and we started worrying about Melissa. I'm 
kind of mad at her because she left really late and knows she rides slow. She also strikes 
several of us as the kind of person who would have kept going after dark simply because 
she wouldn't know what else to do. She doesn't seem to have made many of her own 
decisions so far, just goes along with whatever everyone else says. Most of us are a little 
mad at her for coming on the trip at all, because she seems to rely on the rest of us to solve 
most of her problems, which goes against the gist of Sarabeth's original idea for the trip, 
which was to have a bunch of people going on their own trip, taking care of themselves, 
but kind of ending up in the same places at night sort of thing (which was not how some 
other parts turned out- we were mostly doing communal meals with a few people being 
separate about that).
I feel a little bad now for leaving Melissa alone in the back, but I'm not sure what else we 
can do since she chose to be slow leaving.
We were considering trying to find a ride to look for her, but decided that she needs to be 
smart enough to fend for herself, so we'll stick to our original agreement and call her 
parents this morning. I really don't want to be the one to call though.
Quote: "We get the stupidity award for coming down into this hole to camp."- Sarabeth 
(We quickly dubbed it the Pit of Despair.)
Question: How does the Border patrol at the California state line decide who to stop and 
search for fruits and veggies? Everyone here but Justin got waved through. (He was 
probably the only one of us not likely to be carrying them!)

August 12th
Orick, CA
The Numbers:
Tot, 2nd leg: 100:29
Dst, 3rd leg: 324
Yesterday we got a fairly late start because of the fog. It took a while to climb back up to 
the highway, and then, surprise of surprises, we got to go up some more. Finally we came 
to a sign that said 6% grade next two miles.
However, at just that exact point, we entered pea soup fog. Exactly what the ACA maps 
(and Sarabeth's mother) say not to ride in. At this point we started to thank the road 
construction behind us, rather than curse it, because they were stopping traffic for ten to 
fifteen minutes at a time, so we just waited till it looked like the latest flood of traffic had 
passed, and went. At one point I clocked visibility at .03-.05 miles. Justin said 15 feet. For 
those who paid attention (apparently not me) the experience was that of the highway 
floating.
Before entering the fog we passed Redwoods which quite literally (proved by doing so) 
could be touched while standing to the left of the white line!
After we got down the hill and out of the fog, we called Melissa's parents. Apparently 
she called home from Crescent City, where she stayed, at 10 PM. I'm relived that she had 
the sense to stay there, but the fact that it was 10 when she called is worrying.
At the Moment I'm kind of pissed off at both Sara and Melissa- Melissa for putting us in 
this situation, and Sara for deciding that this situation is different enough that we don't 
follow our agreement to have the forward group stay put if we get split up. I'm also mad at 
myself for just going along with that sentiment. I agree that staying in the Pit was not an 
option, since we were out of food, but there was a youth hostel about 16 miles down the 
road from there which may have had food...
We stopped in Klamath, thinking to get lunch. Klamath is one of the most depressing 
towns I've ever seen. It's on an Indian reservation, which probably explains part of it, but 
the only apparent businesses in town are the post office, a motel (questionable as to 
whether it was really open), a bar, and a gas station. (and the Tour Through Tree. Don't 
forget the tour through tree.) We managed to find nourishment in the gas station- but 
barely.
Then we rode onto the Newton B. Drury Parkway- First a big climb, followed by one of 
the top five best descents of the entire trip-miles and miles of coasting. We were riding 
among Redwoods the whole way. These things are amazing. They make one feel tiny. We 
stopped in one grove and walked back off the road. We had fun adding vegetation to our 
heads. Forest and I now have antennae or horns, and Rick a feather, all made from ferns.
Orick is not quite so depressing, but we've been observing that California towns are so 
far kind of depressing in general. A feeling of high taxes and big government...
The RV park here is just falling apart. Paying money to camp felt like we were giving it 
to someone who really needs it, rather than who just thinks they can charge a bundle for 
someone to camp. Also...I really appreciate the owners who have basically let us take over 
their patio as a kitchen and their yard as a bedroom, because they don't have an official tent 
space.
Quote: "You guys be careful."- A woman walking back to her car on the parkway as we 
zoomed by at 15 or 20 mph. 
Question: Will this sunshine last?

August 13th
Arcata, CA
We're one group again. Hooray!!!
The Numbers:
Dst, 2nd leg: 1111
Dst, 3rd leg: 365
Yesterday as we were packing up, Melissa finally caught up with us. Apparently three 
days ago when she disappeared, she was sick with the camp cold, but didn't want to ask 
anyone for help packing up (I think she was starting to realize that she was relying on us a 
lot). I'm a little annoyed at her because before I left I think I even asked her if she needed 
help, and she said no. She apparently made it to Crescent City, stopped at Wal-Mart to use 
the restroom, got lost inside the store, took a wrong turn when she left the parking lot and 
rode almost ten miles before she realized she'd seen this stuff before, and rode back into 
town and stayed at an RV park. Then she rode all day and into the night to catch up with 
us, and spent the night sleeping by the side of the highway when she couldn't go on, with 
trucks waking her up every time they passed. In the morning she stopped in Orick to call 
her mom, and then was wondering where to fill her water bottles, and saw the RV park 
with the faucets at every campsite and stopped to use one of them. At about that moment 
Jeff was returning from the bathroom and found her. 
I had been feeling queasy since breakfast, but was still the only person ready to go at that 
point, so I volunteered to ride with her and be slow- and man is she slow. Early in the day 
there were several big hills, which she climbed at about 3 mph. (Lets just stay I have 
trouble staying upright below 4 mph.) On the way up one I broke a spoke, so I got to give 
Melissa a spoke repair lesson. Getting cocky from all my previous ones I didn't let the air 
out of my tire. Unfortunately the new spokes I got are just a little longer, and it came 
through and ruptured the tube. I patched it, although I'm not sure why, since it had a 
unidentified slow leak to start with, and then at about 265 pump strokes I sawed the stem 
off...
About this time the rest of the group caught up with us. For some reason Reanna decided 
to hang back with us rather than ride with everyone else.
We stopped for lunch in Trinidad and found Justin, Jason, and Rick having already spent 
half an hour in the grocery store and still not knowing what to get. I pointed out good bread 
and that helped them along immensely. 
Yesterday was road construction day. We went through three separate zones!... one of 
them was a place Jeff says half the road had already fallen into the ocean when he did this 
trip two years ago, and they're just now finally getting around to fixing it!
The ride from McKinlyville to Arcata was one of the most pleasant stretches of the whole 
trip. Part of it was on a bike trail, which turned into a farm lane for a while- literally one 
lane. I don't think two cars could have passed at all. Then it went over a bridge with no 
motorized vehicles allowed, and came out on a nice quiet country road. Not all, but some 
of those roads made me feel like I was in England or something. They were very narrow, 
and the fences were only a foot or two off the edge of the pavement.
We had to get back on 101 (now a freeway) for two miles south of Arcata to get here to 
the KOA.
Staying here at the "Komunist Kampgrounds" (our joke) has it's perks. Reanna and I 
went and soaked in the hot tub last night...(Ha- I've found something the KOA can't spell 
with a K.- If anyone can prove how you can spell "Hot Tub" with a K...)
Justin and Jason made the by now mandatory ride into town for ice cream after dark. I'm 
starting to be somewhat annoyed by this riding after dark. Ice-cream is nice, but I don't 
know if the risk is worth it, especially when it's two and a half miles on the freeway. At 
least they're going in twos and this time they borrowed headlights and blinkers.
After they returned we had a rather intense group meeting about the last couple days. I 
hope all the hard feelings are cleared up...
Apparently the main group was riding two by two on the shoulder when a cop told them 
they had to go single file through his loudspeaker. There was some debate as to whether 
they had impressed him with their smooth transition to single file.
Quote: "Pedestrians and motor driven cycles prohibited." -Sign on the on ramp to 101. 
No mention of pedal powered ones. (It is the official route mapped by the ACA for that 
stretch)

August 14th
Arcata, CA
Yesterday we took a rest day. 
Rick has been saying for some time now that he was going to make pizza in his wok 
before the trip is over, and he did it last night. Actually it was more like calzones- sort of 
pizza-pockets, but he made the dough from scratch and the wok actually makes a fairly 
good oven, although it took several hours before they all got cooked, so we ended up 
making pasta too.
Quote: "Put me in a room with at least three other people, and if I'm totally honest and 
share my personal feelings I'm guaranteed to piss someone off."- Justin, in a discussion 
about how the guy/ girl ratio affects the kind of discussions we have

August 15th
Arcata, CA
The Numbers after two days of riding around town:
Tot: 350:10
Yesterday we took another layover day. We went into town and hung out at farmer's 
market for several hours.
In the evening we went to see Shakespeare in the Park. The show was The Taming of the 
Shrew. It was great, but we needed to think a little before we decided to do that. 
Riding back in the dark, with only one headlight for seven of us, was definitely the 
stupidest thing I've done in quite a while. While we were in town a cop saw us and told us 
we couldn't ride without lights, so most of us walked to the on ramp. He was trailing us 
for a ways, and I'm just really glad he didn't see us get on the freeway. I was super jumpy 
from adrenaline for quite a while after we got back.
Question: Are all California cops as grumpy as the ones around here?

August 16th
Humbolt Redwoods State Park, Weott, CA
The Numbers:
Tot, 3rd leg: 42:08
Dst, 3rd leg: 446
Trp: 59.48
Avs: 11.42
Stp: 5:112:35
Max: 40.9
Yesterday I spent the morning riding alone. I took the route which my maps show as an 
alternate, and Justin's show as the main route, only to find a detour in the middle of it. It 
wasn't a well signed one either, so I just got back on 101 to the next exit...The roads were 
nice and flat until I hit the big hills before Rio Dell-a dusty depressed looking town. About 
a mile further down the road was Scotia, a company town for the Pacific Lumber Co., 
which was nice and clean by comparison. I stopped there for lunch and bumped into Jason 
on the way out of town. We rode together for the rest of the day.
We entered the Avenue of the Giants today. I think it took as long to ride the last 15 miles 
as it did to ride the first 45 today, what with stopping to gawk, visit the Eternal Treehouse, 
hike, eat blackberries, etc. The Eternal Treehouse is a twenty foot room in the stump of a 
huge tree. The tree was cut down many years ago, but sprouted several new shoots.
When we got to the hiker biker campground we found a note from Forest saying to go 
another mile down the road to a normal campground with showers. Apparently we were 
the only ones to see the note, because when no one showed up here Jason rode back and 
everyone else was there. Rick and Justin stopped to say hi on there way to the next town 
down the road for food. Reanna and Melissa were supposedly going to move down here, 
but never showed up
Here at the Burlington campground there is a slightly creepy line about eight feet up on all 
the trees. Our guess is it's the flood line from a food in 1964, although that seems like a 
long time for such a thing to last.
Quote: "Next time ask for phone #'s so we can pick up guys."- Entry in the guest book at 
the Eternal Tree House.

August 17th
Standish-Hickey State Park, Leggett, CA
This group is too #@!* big! We're still split up. When the rest of the group didn't show 
up by 11 O'clock yesterday, Jason decided to go see what was up while Forest and I rode 
on ahead. The theory was that he would catch up and tell us what the rest of the group was 
doing. 
Didn't happen
Melissa(!) was the only person who caught up with us- at 8:30 last night here in the 
campground. That was about the last possible minute for her to show up and still have light 
to ride by- It was pitch black under the trees, but she said she could still see on the 
highway. Her making it here was a big surprise, since there was a stiff headwind and 
several killer hills, and she hadn't left by 11.
At one point Forest and I stopped and spent at least half an hour picking blackberries. I'm 
amazed at how many blackberries there are considering the number of tourists around. You 
often don't even have to wade into the patch to get really good ones.
The ACA route's side roads once avoided a large hill, but the next one just made them 
worse- steeper, higher, and lower. The worst hill though was unavoidable- 101 perched 
halfway up the side of a canyon and climbing. By the time we got here we both had 
bonked.
Apparently Sara, Jeff, and April (unhappily) decided to have a short day and stay in 
Benbow. We're assuming the rest of the group decided to stay there as well...
Apparently Justin and Jason are discussing leaving the rest of the group and going on 
ahead to get to SF sooner.
Quotes: "I wonder how young that tree is."- Forest
	"That may be the slow way to go, but at least you don't have to pay two bucks a 
gallon."- Old guy at a gas station.
	"Jesus Loves You."- Hippie looking person as we rode by their house.

August 18th
Standish- Hickey State Park, CA
Yesterday ended up being a layover day for Forest, Melissa, and I. We hung around for a 
while trying to decide what to do, and then I called Reanna's parents to see if they knew 
where the rest of the group was. Doug didn't remember, but she had called home.
Then we were sitting around trying to decide what to do with our day, life, etc. when 
Melissa went to the bathroom, and we started hearing hilarious laughter from there. Finally 
she came out and introduced us to Katie, who was camping with her parents in the site next 
door. She's 16, and one of the coolest schooler, non-Quakers I know. She really ought to 
be a homeschooler, but she says she likes school, mostly because she likes to piss off the 
teachers. 
Rick arrived at the same time as Forest got back from town with groceries. Then I went 
for a walk. I'm not sure why I hiked half a mile down a bluff to a nice swimming area 
without my swim suit, but I did. I chose not to get wet because I need my long pants dry 
for when the mosquitoes come out. This is the first place on the entire trip where they've 
really bothered me!
Reanna and April arrived as I got back from my walk. Justin and Jason had gotten here 
shortly after Rick, and then left to keep moving, as they want to get there sooner. However 
they came back about an hour after they left- apparently they'd gone across the road 
looking for food, and then came back for water. We talked them into staying the night, 
rather than getting to the next place to stay at 10 at night, so we were all together one last 
time. 
Last night most of us had a "Cuddle Puddle"/ massage session till about 12:30. Forest 
and I retired to our tents at that point, and Sara and Jeff had retired hours earlier, but 
everyone else stayed out- They hadn't put up their tents in the first place.
Quote; "You know what's weird, is that you've got a white aura."- Katie to me.
Question: Why, all of a sudden, did we start being weird in public again yesterday?

August 19th
MacKerricher State Park, Cleone, CA
The Numbers:
Tot, 3rd leg: 51:16
Dst, 3rd leg: 545
Yesterday I was the last person to leave, and I still beat six out of nine to the top of 
Leggett Hill (partly 'cuz I didn't stop for groceries).
I was very surprised not to find Justin and Jason sprawled on the ground at the top... 
Forest beat us all here by several hours, as usual. He and I ride about the same speed, but I 
think he just doesn't stop, which is a mixed bag. I like to stop and enjoy the scenery, but I 
would also like to have time to play on the beach at the end of the day.
Leggett Hill was by far the best hill since Washington Pass. A long steep climb to about 
2000 feet (If I recall correctly), followed by an 11 mile descent on mostly steep, winding 
road. Then there was another 1000 foot climb over  a headland, which was much harder 
than the previous climb...I've been thinking how weird it is that in one day I go over a hill 
higher than the highest one in Wisconsin, and end up close to sea level.
Now that we're back out on the coast, we have differing opinions on how much fun 
riding is. Sara hates this road, after Jeff fell and nearly got hit, while I, on the other hand, 
love  all the ups and downs and ins and outs. It does wear me out though. 
After we got here Rick and I rode four miles further on unloaded bikes to get groceries.
Quote: "Is it warmer on the other side?"- a passing northbound cyclist.

August 20th
Manchester Beach State Park, Manchester, CA
Justin and Jason leaving made a big difference in how long it takes to get moving in the 
morning...
The ride was amazing. First off, coming over the bridge out of Fort Bragg we 
encountered a fog band. It was only over the river, but it was rather thick fog. Reanna and 
I walked our bikes and stopped in the middle to admire a fog-bow, and notice that the 
bridge had a shadow even through the fog.
The California coast beats the Oregon coast for amazingness hands down in my opinion. 
We're constantly going up and down, usually within sight of the water, if not the cliffs and 
stuff. Usually the road is about 150 feet above the water (my guess), but every few miles it 
turns inland, goes down to sea-levelish, crosses a stream, and climbs back, usually with a 
very steep grade. Yesterday we encountered whet Jeff says is the steepest climb on the 
whole coast. It goes around about two switch backs, and if the traffic doesn't agree with 
you the second is impossible to ride around- the grade on the very inside of the curve has to 
be about 30%!
Thanks to a tail wind Reanna and I got here by 4:30. That was nice, but she says her 
knee is in tough shape, and probably needs a layover day.
We stopped in the town of Elk for ice cream and ran into the people we've been camped 
with since the KOA having a musical jam session - harmonica, tambourine, beer bottle and 
nose flute. 
Reanna and I went to the beach after we got here and stood in the ocean. My feet went 
numb after about one minute, but we continued to stand there, and even waded out to the 
point where our shorts got wet, in lieu of ice for Reanna's knees. April came and joined us 
and waded out to the point where a wave knocked her down and washed her back onto the 
beach. I was already Brother Tension at that point, so I was quite happy that she was ready 
to go after that. 
After Sara had said several times that she was going to bed, we all sat up singing for 
another hour. That was one of the best evenings we've had yet. I think Justin and Jason 
have taken away a sort of different energy that kept us from fully bonding as a group.
Quote: "Subvert  Eel Scrabes Scrape Robot Asparagus."-  Elk picnic area outhouse 
graffiti.

August 21st
Fort Ross State Historic Park, Fort Ross, CA
Oh my God- This trip is almost over.
The Numbers:
Max: 45.4

Yesterday was a bad day for bikes. Every one's seem to be falling apart.
After a second breakfast by the side of the road with Forest and Rick, I was surprised to 
see Reanna and April only about three miles further on, since they had passed us some time 
before. A little later I was passing them on a hill, and Reanna asked me to stop at the next 
opportunity. It turned out that April's chain had hopped off, and when they tried to put it 
back, they found a link in it that was twisted almost 90 degrees. They replaced that, but it 
had also bent her derailleur into her spokes, and they hadn't gotten it bent back far enough. 
We found some of the best peaches I've ever eaten...
Rick stopped to repack his bike because the load was shifting around. It turned out that 
his bike was a Transformer- it had turned itself into a dump truck!  All that was keeping his 
"dump bed" from dumping the whole load on the road, was a couple of bungees- luckily he 
had hooked them to the bike rather than the rack. Both the screws at the top/front of his 
rack had come out. I "screwed up his dump truck" for him and we continued.
We got to the place where we had planned to camp, and found that there was no longer a 
campground there- we had to ride a mile and a half further to the main campgrounds. About 
half a mile down, on the way up a big hill, Rick broke three spokes. Lesson- letting an out 
of true wheel go too long can be disastrous. Two of them had broken at the outer end (they 
usually break at the hub) and were right next to each other, eliminating the possibility of 
using Justin's trick. I turned out that Rick actually has a cassette hub rather than a 
freewheel as we had assumed, so we didn't have the tools to fix it, and we ended up 
walking the last mile into the campground. Luckily Forest also has a cassette hub, and had 
one of the tools needed, and we managed to improvise a chain whip out of several people's 
spare chain links, a chain tool, and a big crescent wrench (which luckily Forest and I both 
had one of). Rick now knows how to true wheels, and can ride with us tomorrow. 
Sara and Jeff apparently stayed at Salt Point State Park, so April was getting anxious as 
the evening progressed.
As we were about to go to bed a guy named Jared kind of just walked into our site, and 
asked for a light. He stayed and talked for several hours. He's a punk, vegan, home 
schooled through elementary, social activist, BMX riding body piercer... and told us all 
about his adventures trashing an exotic meat warehouse in Seattle, riding his BMX bike 
from the Seattle area to the California border... He is currently walking around on a broken 
ankle because he doesn't believe in doctors.
Quote: "You shouldn't be riding on this road. It's too narrow. But I suppose you've 
already figured that out.- Road crew worker.
Question: Why did we choose this mini "Pit" to camp in?
Sara and Jeff just rode in!!!

August 24th 
Records' home, Petaluma, CA
The Numbers:
Dst: 4038
Lets see if I can encapsulate the last three days here.
We got all exited when Sara and Jeff got there, but things quickly went down hill. There 
had been a misunderstanding about where we were staying, and Sara had spent the night 
worrying, and even called the highway patrol to see if there had been an accident or 
something. She and April were kind of pissed off at each other. Reanna and I in particular, 
as well as everyone else, were uncomfortable and mad about the whole thing. 
The ride was beautiful, but hard, and stressful with all the pissed-offness going on in my 
brain. 
The day started with a big climb, and then a downhill that sucked because an RV got in 
my way. I actually had to use my brakes to keep from rear ending the thing!
After another big climb we had one of the most exciting descents yet- about four 
switchbacks. I couldn't get going very fast on that one either because I was behind Reanna 
and the Wokmobile.
On yet another big hill I stopped to look at a windmill. It's not often you get to be at eye 
level with a fully assembled mill, while standing on solid ground. It was probably less than 
100 feet off the highway!
We hung out in Bodega Bay for a while trying to decide whether to wait for Sara, April 
and Jeff, who we knew would probably stay there and try to mend their differences, but 
we decided to go on. 
The last part of the ride was fun and easy, but much hotter as we got away from the 
coast.
The next day Sara, Jeff and April arrived fairly early in the day, with new tye-dyed t-
shirts. Apparently April did 90 degrees on a dime and wiped out with the words "Tye 
Dye!!!" After they bought her a new shirt, she became much happier.
We put Rick on the bus back to Corvallis for a party. Our group is starting to splinter 
even more.
Yesterday was a lazy day. We played Frisbee and drew shadow pictures on the street 
with sidewalk chalk... 
I wish I had the money to continue south from SF with Reanna, but...The exciting news 
is that her mother is going to come ride with her! 

August 24th
Marin Headlands Hostel, Sausalito, CA
Reanna, Forest, Melissa, and I left Records' about 11 AM. First stop was Melissa's 
house to get her lock, and a bag of peaches.
We rode out through more brown, dry dairy farms. I'm starting to miss green grass.
On the way up one of the biggest hills of the day, we stopped and demolished the 
peaches. They were very ripe, some even slightly fermented.
The second half of the day was mostly city riding. OK, but stressful because of keeping 
track of all the turns. Also we were following a route suggested by a local cyclist, which 
didn't quite match the mapped route, so we had to figure out where to go in those places.
We got to Sausalito at about 6 and stopped for groceries.We left town and climbed a big 
hill and entered the fog. Riding in it was probably stupid, but there were dozens of other 
cyclists out in it, and we basically had to get here.
The fog was really thick and we had about three miles of it- partly through a tunnel. 
Luckily the fog didn't penetrate very far into the half mile, uphill, one lane tunnel...
We got here about 8 PM and by the time we got checked in it was thoroughly dark.
Quote: "On tour. San Francisco or Bust" - Passing cyclists. 
Question: Can we find a place to stay in the city tomorrow?

August 26th
San Francisco, CA
WOO HOO!!! WE MADE IT!!!
The Numbers: 
Tot: 383:33
Tot, 2nd leg: 140;48
Tot, 3rd leg: 70:18
Dst: 4094
Dst, 2nd leg: 1493
Dst, 3rd leg: 747
Trp: 8.42
Avs: 9.55
Stp: 0:58:25
Max: 24.3
We were actually out of the hostel by 9. We sat outside and ate breakfast and talked to 
other cyclists. Then things turned temporarily sour. I discovered that I had a flat tire. As 
usual when I was almost done pumping up the tire- pssst. I cut the stem. Even so we left 
by shortly after 10, by which time the fog had started to lift.
The tunnel was a lot more fun downhill.
We stopped at the view point at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge and got a tourist 
to snap the obligatory photo for us, then rode across. It was just over a mile, foggy with 
lots of pedestrians, but we had fun anyway. 
We got off the bridge, rode through the Presidio and onto Lombard Street (not the steep 
windy part) where we started looking for a motel. We checked half a dozen or so and came 
back to the Economy Inn. Nothing is super cheap, but here it's under $30 each per night 
for the four of us to share a room.
We spent the afternoon at the Exploratorium. I think the main thing that set it apart from 
the other science museums I've been to is the Explainers- people who's job it is just to go 
around answering questions and giving demonstrations, and who are good at that job. We 
watched a Cow's eye dissection. That was cool (and slightly gross).
Actually the best "exhibit" of the day was lock cracking. I went and bought a resettable 
combination cable lock to replace the U-lock I apparently left at NBTSC. While we were 
sitting on the grass outside the museum eating lunch I accidentally reset the combination 
and locked the lock without noticing what I'd set it too. Luckily it was 0148, so I didn't 
have go through nearly all of them. 
For dinner we went to the Lhasa Moon, Tibetan restaurant. We thought the prices were 
reasonable, but it turned out that the portions were tiny.
Quote: "It's a Lady."- Motel Manager when he came to tell us Jason was calling while 
Reanna was on the phone in the room.
Question: Am I alive? (At the Exploratorium there was a machine which was supposed to 
show your heart beat on a screen when you held the handles, but I didn't register.)

August 26th 
San Francisco, CA
Today we went and rode up one of the famous San Francisco hills- about a 40% grade (I 
swear) four blocks up to take my stuff to a Mail Boxes Etc. to ship it home. I had about 
half my load- the stuff I didn't want for the next month of busses and visiting- and 
everyone else had unloaded bikes. Forest and I were the only ones who made it all the 
way- with a stop at every block for breath.
Then I left my bike at a bike shop and paid them to pack it up and ship it home for me.
Then we went and had lunch by the Yacht harbor. There was a cool breeze, but the sun 
was shining and the view of the Alcatraz and the bridge was nice. On the way up there, we 
were walking/ riding through a residential neighborhood and a woman drove up and asked 
Forest and I to help her carry a Lazy Boy recliner up a flight of stairs. We did, and she 
tipped us $7 (for about 3 minutes work!).
This evening Jason and his dad took us out to eat at the Empress of China Restaurant in 
Chinatown. We walked in in our Bike tourist clothing, and they served us, despite photos 
of George Bush, Mick Jagger, and other celebrities who've eaten there...
Quote: "You will get a salary increase."- Fortune Cookie. (Duh.)

August 27th
I arose at 5:30 in the morning, and somehow managed to say my good-byes and be out 
the door in 15 minutes! 
I navigated the SF city busses in the early morning half light to the Greyhound station, 
where I boarded a bus to Fresno, CA, to visit my great aunt, departing within 15 minutes 
of exactly four months after I left home...




The Numbers for  the group trip:
Days: 56
Riding Days: 34
Tot: 140:48
Dst: 1493
Avg/ day: 26.66
Avg/ day w/o rest days: 43.91
Avg/ hr: 10.6
Avg/hrs/ day: 2:31
Avg/ hrs/ day w/o rest days: 4:08
Max: 45.4
Longest day- miles: 67.18 (Aug. 6th)
Longest day- time: 6:07:54 (Aug. 6th)

The Numbers for the entire trip:
Days: 121
Riding Days: 76
Tot 383:33
Dst: 4049
Avg/ day: 33.46
Avg/ day w/o rest days: 53.28
Avg/ hr: 10.56
Avg/ hrs/ day: 3:10
Avg/ hrs day w/o rest days: 5:03
Max: 45.4  
Longest day- miles: 89.24 (May 13th)
Longest day- time: 8:48:39 (May 19th)