San Juan Island Bicycle Trip - Day 1

We get out of Seattle to our take off point (Campanno Island) at about 10 AM. As we pakced up and donned our tight fitting bike clothes, the neighbor lady chatted us up. Even offering to give us a ride to where we needed to catch the ferry. This token offer happened quite a bit on the trek across county, which is funny because it is the last thing we want. Although, it would have been nice. I was feeling the affects of what a body feels like that has done little training for this type of ride. I could feel it on those first five miles. Doesn't help that we didn't eat right. Always, always eat a good meal before riding. I guess I was so eager to get going that I thought a granola bar in 90+ heat would get me by.




Our adventure started and was halted in the first block. Only took a few pedals to realize something is wrong. This being Carey's panniers, hooked a little close to his seat, causing him to hit them on each pump of the legs. Quick fix and were were on our way.



Another good advice is to bring a map of where you are going. Just because it looks easy when you are in Google Maps doesn't mean all those roads are going to be marked. So, we did what most gujys don't like...asked directions. More than once. "Which way to Anacortes?" "Where can we camp?" It is nice that we asked because one guy led us to a nice bike path that led us clear into Anacortes. NOt a direct route, but it was cool over an old railroad bridge that has been converted into a bicycle path.



Once nice thing about walking bikes onto the San Juan Ferries is that you pay one price (~$15) and than the inter island cost is free. We could just hop back and forth on the ferries to our hearts content. Makes a trip like this affordable.



Our first island, Shaw, is jacked. Hardly anyone lives here, so as we left the ferry terminal not a single car passed us. We did cross a cat. There are people at the campground, but you get the sense that you have most of this island to yourself. We cooked up some dinner (old fav I cooked across country) and took our food out to the gorgeous beach to eat. No one else around. Nice island. Tomorrow it is probably Lopez, but we might just play it by ear depending on what time we make it to the ferry terminal.

Day 1:
47.96 Miles
12.25 AVS
3:55:14 STP
34.9 Max Speed
Total: 48 Miles

Crater Lake

This was a trip to Crater Lake that Sarah and I took the last weekend in June. We had first planned to camp in the National Park, but a week before the trip I got a call from the campsite and they weren't going to be open yet. Still a heavy snow pack into late June! And as you can tell from the pictures below, there was still a lot of snow.

One of the reasons I had never been to Crater Lake before is that it is just far enough away to make a weekend trip a bit of a pain. But, I was able to get off work early on Friday, as was Sarah. We hit I-5 south and missed most of the traffic that plagues Portland on Friday evenings. With Crater Lake being so far away, we stayed the first night in Grants Pass. I had zipped through this area on a California bound trip, but had never stopped. It looks like a pretty nice town. We had dinner at a burger joint that has some 40 variety of burgers and 80+ variety of milk shakes. The next morning we had time to hit up the local farmers market and unfortunately bought bread for lunch that can with a surprise hair.

Even though Crater Lake was the focus of this trip, we actually didn't spend that much time in the National Park. It was cold, rainy, and I would have liked to have gone on a hike, but the snow pack was really high. Kind of a bummer with it being listed in the 1,000 places to see before you die. I've seen it, but I'm not quite sure I can check it off the bucket list yet. We did drive around a bit, took some pictures, and headed north to find a place to camp for the night.

On the way into Crater Lake we passed about 5 campground we could have stayed at, on the way out...none! We figured we would come across one as we headed north towards Bend, but none were on the roadside. Actually this isn't true...at one point when we were closer to Bend we passed one commercial looking campground, but Sarah and I were so wrapped up in playing a car game (A to Z) that we decided to skip it. She won by the way...we both got to Z and she spotted a zipper before I could spot a kid with a zit! This was despite me making up rules along the way to keep her from winning!

Once we hit Bend we did find a little city park that had camping, but as soon as we pulled in a large sign said they were full. This left us with no options, so after driving around a bit we came across a Barnes & Nobles that allowed us to do some quick research on campground. What I came up with was the Crooked River State Park area, that was within an hours drive. Just east of Bend, the Crooked River has numerous rustic campgrounds that are spread along the river. It is actually a nice place to camp, with the river down in a small canyon. And with it raining most of the day, we lucked out with finding a spot that seemed to be missing all the rain clouds. Thankful for this as that last time Sarah and I went camping we got dumped on.

This is the only picture that I have from our camping area. Not sure if Sarah is approving of this photo, but considering she deleted all the other photos on my camera that I took of her, this must have passed the filter. Very cute if you ask me!!

The third day of our weekend trip was spent driving north to the Dalles. We hadn't done any hiking on the trip, so we did a quick hike at one of the many Colubmia River Gorge hiking locations. It was windy as all heck, so it wasn't much of a hike. For any of you planning a trip to Crater Lake, highly recommend late summer. Make sure all the snow is gone. I'll be back someday...maybe after I tackle the other 999 things to see before I die.

Armin gets hit by a Hummer

Armin gets hit by a Hummer! My riding partner Armin has continued his bicycling adventure by heading down to San Francisco. His second day in Lincoln City an H2 Hummer hit him. Read his account at the link below. I'm so jealous!

http://dirteatersanonymous.blogspot.com/

Video's from the 2nd half of trip

Video of me passing Armin on the road:




Julie biking past me:




Armin biking past a sunflower farm in North Dakota:




Armin singing while biking:



Dancers at a bar in Missoula. (Note to self -- learn to dance so I can twirl girls around at bars and weddings):




Friend Dan playing "Question" by Rhett Miller and welcome back BBQ.

Cost of the Trip

A common question I would get and would often wonder myself before I started is how much a trip like this would cost. So, from the very start I've kept very detailed records of how much I spent. As a general warning, I went about this very cheaply. From buying major items on Ebay to not paying for places to sleep along the way. If that isn't your style, these figures won't apply to you.

Initial Costs (Before Trip Started)

• Bike - $405.00
• BOB Trailer - $234.31
• Camera - $210.00
• Bicycle Repair Class - $231.00
• Other - $1,201.84
• SUBTOTAL = $2,282.15

On the Road Costs

• Cash (used mainly for food) - $414.00
• Chicago - $62.76
• Food - $266.75
• Mail - $46.77
• Misc - $33.52
• Repair - $204.04
• SUBTOTAL = $1,027.84

TOTAL COST = $3,309.99

Day 45 - 57 Miles

Stevenson, WA to Portland, OR
Total = 3,485 Miles

FINISHED!!! Three thousand, four hundred, and eighty-five miles. Lincoln Park, NJ to Portland, OR. July 10th to September 1st. 45 days of biking, 9 days off. 54 days on the road. In total we average 75 miles per biking day. To start off with I was hoping that we would at least average 60, so 75 is fantastic!


Our last day of riding wasn't too bad. We were more inland along the gorge, so wind wasn't a big factor. We had a decent hill to climb, but nothing we hadn't been through before. At the start of the trip my official weight was 180. Final weight - 161. I lost 19 pounds!! Wow. I could feel that I had lost weight, but not that much. Crazy. It will be interesting to see if I put it back on right away, because there is no way I can keep up that much exercise. Who has time to workout 6 to 7 hours a day?

We finally made to an OCB like place. My brother Ryan was kind enough to come with us and watch us pig out. I seriously did not feel well after my 5th plate. Binge eating is not for everyone, but it felt good after 3400+ miles. HomeTown Buffet isn't the OCB, but is owned by the same company.

Mmmmmm, plate #3.



The blog is coming to an end. In the next few days I'm going to have a few more posts. Let you know what my fellow bike riders are up to. Give a break down in the costs involved with the trip. Maybe give some advice on what you should do if you are planning on biking across country yourself. It really isn't that hard if you put your mind to it. If you can get the mental part down, the physical side of things will either come around eventually or you'll just have to deal with it. Either way, I would encourage everyone to make time for an adventure of this magnitude. It really changes you and it's one heck of a weight loss program.

Day 44 - 63 Miles

Maryhill State Park to Stevenson
Total = 3,428

We met back up Armin this morning. He toughed it out up on the ridge last night. Not the best conditions to sleep in, but he made it out just fine. We had tough winds again today, but it wasn't as hot as yesterday thankfully. One exciting and dangerous thing we had to do today was pass through seven tunnels. At the start of each tunnel is a button bicylists push, warning drivers behind us with a flashing light to slow down. The tunnels are pretty short, but the difficult part is they create a tremendous amount of wind or a "wind tunnel." One was so strong it knocked you down to almost a stand still. I had fun with them, but it sure would have been nice to be going the other way and get pushed through by the wind.

The first person I asked about a place to stay in Stevenson, Sarah, offered to let us stay on her families property a mile or two away. This is our last night on the road and it was nice to once again find a kind person who was so willing to lend a hand. We got to meet her family up at the property and they all were very nice.

Tomorrow is it. About 45 miles into Vancouver and than the short trip into North Portland where my brother and sister-in-law live. I can't wait to become normal again. Listen to music, get frustrated by the Mariners losing, and showering more than once a week!