Back to the tour

Ok...I've gotten a bit off track so I'm going to bring it back in and get back to the tour. For those of you now reading that may not have read my blog from the beginning, I'm journaling my bicycle tour from Alaska to Utah. This tour happened way back in 1993 and really shaped who I am today.

I left off in Washington, just over the river from Astoria. A few things to recall, one of which was that in a previous post, I said that we both decided to go back to Minneapolis and end the tour. Before I cross over the river and hit Oregon, I'd like to take a closer look at what led up to this event.

We were staying at Cape Disappointment State Park. That isn't a joke. We were camping and could hear the ocean waves from our tent. I loved it. I already mentioned how much I love the sound of the ocean. I know some folks commented that that sound does little for them. All I can say is I'm sorry for you. It is a beautiful and melodic sound. It is peaceful and relaxing.

John was a bit edgy. I had mentioned that he struggled in parts of Alaska. Looking back, I think he had two things in him. First, he had too much mid-western guilt. John and I were essentially living a big long vacation and that is a hard thing for mid west people to do. Second, I think John had too much to offer the world. I'll go into his future at a later time, but John had a calling to be outdoors. We were in the outdoors, but this wasn't it.

Our final morning at Cape Disappointment started like most others. John was up hiking, journaling, etc and I was in my sleeping bag listening to the ocean. Then I heard it. "I hate $(*^ing sand in my peanut butter!" I quickly got up and saw John throwing what was likely our last piece of bread into the fire pit. I knew it was over for John.

That day, we rode into Astoria and bought him a train ticket home. I did manage to convince him to ride to Eugene and catch the train from there. I also decided that day that after John left me in Eugene, I was going to press on alone to meet my friends in Utah.

I still remember this day clearly. To me, it signifies the day I said good bye to my friend and the day I chose to press on.

I'll leave you with this peaceful picture. I could not find in my notes the exact location of this picture but in my mind it is Cape Disappointment.



Goodbye friend.

Fire!

Oct 10 - Day 47

Ft. Canby State Park. Still in Washington. However, Oregon is right over the Columbia River. Once again, the weather is spectacular. Tonight I sit at Ft. Canby with a blazing fire! I'll go into that later. The Milky Way is high above and the ocean waves are crashing behind us. Yes, this is a spectacular day.

John and I are in high spirits. Both of us have decided to take the train home from Eugene, OR. We will be back in MPLS on October 26th at 6:50AM. Once there, we are headed straight for Al's Breakfast for a short stack of Blacks! Yumm! Also, can't wait to see the gang. Once back in MPLS, I'm off to Moab with the guys. I think I am anyway. Money may tell me otherwise. Then I'm back in MPLS for good. Oh boy, that's going to be fun looking for a job.

Lot's of interesting stuff has happened in the last 3 days. 2 out of 3 nights, we have camped by the ocean. The last of the 3 was spent near/on the highway near a gun club. I felt like we were back in Alaska! While on the beach, I was intrigued once again by the patterns in the sand that are formed when the water rolls across the shore, back into the ocean. While browsing at the patterns along the beach, John & I came across one image that amazed us. It looked like a head, more like a Native American face with feathers in his hair. I can only remember a vague shape so here goes (I sketched it in my book). I also took a few pictures of it. Maybe they will turn out.

Today, we stopped at the Nemah Cafe for biscuits and gravy. While there, we signed & wrote in their cyclist guest book. It was really interesting to read about other cyclist's adventures. I didn't feel so lonely after seeing that many other cyclists partake in similar activities. We have only seen ONE other cycle tourist on our Washington leg of our journey. Also, after reading the guest book, I didn't feel so bad about our trials and tribulations. As mot of the cyclists wrote about their bad experiences. Many complained of numerous bike repairs. Once again, I'm thankful that I am a very good bike mechanic and that John & I are over prepared. I could not believe the number of cyclists that ride from either Vancouver, BC or Seattle to San Francisco or San Diego. It really made me think about what I want to do with my life. I really hope I can get a job leading bicycle tours. I know I'd be good at it.

Now to the fire. Tonight for the first time on this trip, I made a fire. We had one fire in Alaska, but we built it together. This gave me much delight since never before have I been responsible nor very good at it. It made me feel masculine. Also, I could not help but think & realize why our ancestors and early beings found fire so intriguing and powerful. The power of a fire's heat is overwhelming. Being able to build & control a fire has made me feel successful. I set out to do something I had never done and I accomplished it. I know it sounds funny and quite humorous if you think about it, but hey I did it.

As I sit here enjoying this blazing fire, I listen to the ocean waves crashing down on the shore. They are very loud and close. It seems that ocean is mad at this particular place because the waves pound the shores with much greater ferocity than at the other shore campsites. I'm sure there is a story behind this place. Maybe I can find it tomorrow during our rest day. ( I must send postcard to Dad and Grandma.)

Green is for the rain forest

Oct 7 - Day 44

Green is for the rain forest. Bright, vibrant green is everywhere. Today when we left, the sun was out. The forest was alive with life. All the chlorophyll in the trees & plants were sucking up the sun while they had a chance. Slugs everywhere were feeding of the wet & soft ground. Truly a spectacular sight. I didn't take many pictures. That's O.K. since no picture could actually ever capture the beauty of the rain forest. I'm glad I got to see it because it may not be there forever. The loggers are getting close.

Well, anyway, today we rode from a very wet rain forest to the pacific coast. Finally! We are on the ocean front with nothing but miles and miles of water. John & I walked for hours today. We took our boots & socks off and walked in the cold water & sand. The waves kept rolling in and crashing on the sandy beach. The waves echoed power as they hit the hard wet sand. Small ripple pools would come and go. The firm sand underneath our toes was cold, but not so cold as to bother. Its supportive qualities felt like Birkenstocks worn for the very fist time.

As we looked down into the sand many forms of life were undoubtedly below us. What we could see were various forms of sea weed broken, torn and washed ashore by the powerful waves. Broken sand dollars all over, probably caused by the hoarding sea gulls. In all our time spent walking, we only found 1 fully intact sand dollar. We admired it and left it for the sea gulls. The other interesting sign of life was a large barnacle shell (skeleton) found embedded in the sand. If I were an in insect or other small microscopic creature, it would have looked like a volcano.

However, even with all the signs of life, the most fascinating thing was the sound of the ocean. It is by far the most therapeutic sound I have ever heard....Even greater than the call of a MN loon. I could have walked for hours, even all night, listening to this sound. I look forward to falling asleep listening to the waves crashing onto the shore.

The other intriguing thing to me was the patterns of the sand and the battle between the water flowing in vs flowing out. The sand looked stratified. The patterns resembled ripples, layer upon layer. Some layers looked like fans & feathers with mixtures of dark and light sand. The actual sand was so fine, not the large grain sand I'm used to in the mid west lakes. This is likely due to the continual and powerful flow of the pacific ocean. I guess our little shrimpy lakes in MN can't generate enough power to grind rock into dust.

God I love the ocean, sand & water. I really could sit out on the sand for days and not care.

Hoh Rain Forest

October 6 - Hoh Rain Forest

I'm sitting here in the Hoh Rainforest thinking about what I am going to do after I leave Oregon and eventually head back to Mpls. I just don't know what I really want. All I know is that I love to be in the outdoors & love working outdoors. I also love people. Some how I need to work all of those things together. I really think I should call Brandon when I get home to see if he could line me up with anything. That would be fun to try.

Otherwise, I need to go to Mpls & do anything until something positive comes around. These are the ideas I have.
- Take 6 credits to defer my loan & work full time (possibly two jobs) to pay for school, rent and bills.
- I need to talk to Bloomenfield & Jose for recommendations.
- Pursue photography a little more & see if maybe I have and eye for that area. I would like to take a directed study from L. Rossi & learn about fiber based paper and work on my Alaska pictures. I hope ANYTHING turns out.
- I could continue to work on my industrial project.
- Write a book. I have a name for my book on bicycle touring in Alaska, "Cat's eat grass in Juneau too - A guide to bicycle touring in Alaska".

As I sit here in the Hoh Rainforest (imagine, it is raining), I constantly think about going back to school & doing directed studies, doing research, and making ties with faculty. I know that if I put my mind to it, I can support myself in Mpls. The question is, "How can I satisfy my curiosity for the outdoors?"

Possibly, I could volunteer for the park service or some how pursue a job with them. I really need to start volunteering & buying less so that I'm happier. I need the volunteer work to aid me in other areas (Peace Corps or Med School). All these may be things I'd like to do.

However, first I need to pay off my CC bills. Right now they have me sunk. Also when I get back to Mpls, I want to be without a car. I want to be able to commute to work on my bike. I don't need insurance & I don't need the expense of owning a car until I can afford it. Someday I want to have a car, but I sure don't need one right now. I can rent a room & have only a few possessions until I can afford something else.

I NEED TO BE SELF SUFFICIENT!!!

I'm pretty blown away by some of the things I wrote in this journal entry. It is hard not to compare what I wrote as a young man and compare it to my current values and to where & who I am today. I'll leave it at that.

More Bike Lust

Oct 3
- Approximately 50 miles
- Food galore! More than we should have. I just keep eating.

Beautiful sun today. Thank God! We deserve it after Alaska. Staying on Crescent Lake, a 600ft+ foot deep glacial carved lake. Once again beautiful. We have been pretty lucky. The lake is very clear and the turquoise water is cold & breathtaking.

I keep dreaming about my Yamaguchi. I have to seriously consider buying one when I get home. Also keep dreaming about a bike shop & tour company. I know I could do it.



Image taken from here: This is the first photo on this blog that was not taken by John or I.

So....I find it kind of funny that the Yamaguchi thing has come up. In my mind, Yamaguchi frames represent a specific period of my life. I call them by "Bike Shop" days. These were the days when a few of my friends got up, went to class, went to work, rode together almost every day, went to races on weekends and trained together when we weren't racing. I did many 100+ mile road rides sitting behind my boss and good friend on his white Yamaguchi. Man that was a beautiful bike.

Why am I talking about old friends today? Just before writing this blog entry, I got an email from one of those friends from that period of my life. He is the one that started the Yamaguchi bike lust at the shop. I haven't spoken to him in over 6 months.

Can bikes keep friends connected? I sure think so.

Dreaming of Road Bikes!

October 2

- roughly 62 miles

Stayed at Sequim Bay State Park. Glorious 2 days in the sun. Kept thinking about road bikes...Rather a scary thought. I keep dreaming about a black Yamaguchi (with yellow Yamaguchi stickers) with full Dura Ace 8speed.

I guess two days in the sun along with good roads makes me think road bikes. I never thought about road bikes in Alaska. Now that we were riding in shorts and putting miles in again, I wanted smooth and fast. For those of you readers that know me now, you know that I rarely ever long for road bikes. Kind of funny.

Not sure who remembers Yamaguchi bikes. They were, and still are, awesome. The summer before leaving on this tour, my friend and old boss finally received his custom Yamaguchi. It was white and beautiful and he put a ZAP groupo on it. It was his sunny day or Sunday bike.

Shorts and New Treads

October 1st Finally back on my bike again and for the first time in almost 2 weeks, I feel self sufficient.
Route taken out of Bellingham, WA should be noted due to it's splendor.
- Bellingham
- Chuckanut Drive
- Through Edison
- Down to 20
- Anacortes
- Ferry
- Deception Pass

The huge trees & sunset set this place & time apart from just about all others. Once again, I think (know) we made the right decision to leave Alaska .

No Regrets!! Just Awesome! Olympic Peninsula tomorrow.



I took this photo at Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island. We are looking straight west and I still remember sitting on the rocks looking west. It was a turning point in our morale. As I mentioned in prior posts, it had been a long two weeks. We didn't know what to do. John was pretty worked up much of the time. I was worked up because we weren't doing what we had planned. That all changed today.

Not only did we get to ride in a beautiful place. It was also the first day in about month and half that we got wear shorts again! That's right. I got to remove my dura-wool tights and ride in shorts. On top of that, I went into a great bike shop called Kulshan Cycles in Bellingham and bought two new tires. I had blown my rear somewhere on the Alcan and was riding my back up fold-able tire. The back up was light to fit in my bags and it was just not durable enough to get me to Utah. I ended up buying some great Avocet 1.25" 26" tires. Felt like I was flying today....Shorts and new treads for my bike. Aaaaahhhhhh