Sept. 12, 1998
CYCLE OREGON XI


I became interested in Cycle Oregon from a brochure I received from the Seattle to Portland ride I did in 1997 and 1998. I was looking for something new, but a week on a bike? Well, I don’t know. I mentioned it to Ilene and she knew someone who did it the year before. She obtained the phone number for me and got us on the mailing list. They sent us the meeting date for the information on the 1998 Cycle Oregon.


The meeting was last February something, if I remember right. It sounded like a lot of fun. Never having been on a bike trip like this and not knowing what to expect, it was a lot cheaper than the one in the brochure -- $1800 for the Hawaiian trip (not counting getting there). This one was cheap and we could drive to it. Ilene could follow me on the trip and not have to cook. I had to have the money to them within two weeks to make sure I had a spot. (They limit the ride to 2,000 riders) So, we wrote a check for $579 and I was set. Ha Ha!

A little more practice and a new 24-speed lightweight Klein was all that I needed. My workouts consisted of the Seattle to Portland, and riding to and from work about 3 days a week (10 miles each way). I also rode from Milwaukie to the 205 freeway to Columbia Blvd and over to REI, across to the St John’s Bridge and back to Milwaukie. Another trip I made was Milwaukie out to I-84 to the Sandy River and back. I am not a hard-core rider, but I do get there and I do not walk when I am biking – Not true. I walk up the steep dirt trails when I am mountain biking. I also went to the Coast on an over-nighter, camping along the road, sleeping in the bush and going 140 miles. Ilene gave my two sons and me a ride back. It was over the Labor Day weekend and it was fun.

The summer went so fast -- blink and it was gone! It was time to go clean the bike and oil the chain and some other moving parts; put in spare tubes, bike and helmet. Leave everything else for Ilene to put in the van.

At first I did not talk to anyone in depth about the trip, just a little here and there, so I did not know what to expect. That added to the adventure.

Down the road we went trying to think of something I might need or should have brought. Too late now – we reached the point of no return.

We pulled into a rest area where a sign on a van read: Sag 2. What is that for I asked and the driver said, “if you can’t make it, I will pick you up.” I said, “I ride no matter how much pain I am in.” Luckily I didn’t have to ride in his van or any other one.

Vellen was driving and we drove right to Myrtle Creek. There were a lot of cars, just like home, but we found a place to park with all these people. Boy, was it crowded. Our parking space was in a spot with about 6 inches of dust and you found yourself wading in it. It was good for a laugh!

I forgot to mention that we were pulling Vellen’s sport car. He was going our way so we had him drive the van some of the way. You don’t even know that his Mazda is there. He walked around with us. It was very warm. In the back of my mind I was thinking about riding in it, but I had trained in the heat, so I wasn’t too worried.

We found out where to register me without any problem. Ilene was another story as a guest rider. We kept asking and found out we had walked past the place for Guest Riders.

It was getting late enough to go for dinner. The food on the whole trip was good, taking into consideration that there were so many people. You could have all you wanted to eat. There were snacks and all you could drink with a good variety of things.

I went up and listened to the talk regarding what we were going to do the next day. I was getting more excited as the time drew nearer and nearer.

6:00 a.m. comes early, but I was up after Ilene woke me. Off to breakfast – a good one, then back to the van get my things on, pump up the tires and all the other things and out of there by 7:00 or so. Easy day. Right! The rest spots are in good spots. Lunch was good, but I was still too full from breakfast so I put what I didn’t eat, which was most of it, in my pocket.

There was this van and a sign “alternate route 28 miles – 10% up -- about 5.5 miles.” This is early in the day. 15.2 miles to camp. 37.6 with the optional route. I would be there before noon so I took the alternate route. I did not walk, but I did stop about 15 or 20 times on the way up. It was worth the effort to get to the top. I love to go down and there was a lot of that after the top. I even stopped on the way down to rest. My hands, gripping the brakes so hard, didn’t want to get hurt the first day. My old bike would have never slowed down. New brakes are good, very good. While I was stopped, it was different listening to the different bikes going by. Yes, around the corner was the bottom and all the food and water. I stopped too soon, or did I. When I arrived at camp in the town of Glendale, I was thinking this is going to be a very long week, but fun.

Semi’s with showers, what a neat thing. I tried one. Was able to get in right away. Hot water, soap – this is great! I didn’t have to carry a bar of slimy soap with me. Back to the van and off to dinner. I am liking this. After dinner we went to the meeting and then listened to the entertainment. The entertainment was good all week. There were two or three bands every night, some not my favorite, but good. They had a lot of variety.

Day 2: We are off to Butte Falls. It is up hill a little, but not a lot. It is very warm. I carry three things to drink and two are big. I never run out of something to drink and on occasion gave water away and still had plenty. I came to a river and saw people all wet. Smart people. I walked to the river and thought about taking off my shoes. They are all sweaty, so I get in with everything on. It is very cold. I got my head wet. I was very comfortable for the next ten miles. Where is another river to swim?

I stopped and helped two young ladies with a flat. All I did was give advice. They did all the work and a good job if I do say so myself. I found out later that the tire did hold air, which made me feel good.

I had two flat tires. One was from a thorn and one a pinched tube. There was always some one offering to help me. I have never seen so many good neighbor people in one place before. Lots of fun to be around. When I got to camp, Ilene gave me $300 for a new light for my bike that she had won at Seven Feathers Casino.

Diamond Lake

When we were at Diamond Lake, the State patrol was there getting breakfast with us. I asked if I could take one of the patrolmen’s’ picture with his motorcycle. He said yes and I took the picture. He then asked if I wanted to sit on one. They are so big, not like my dirt bike. He gave me a paper badge, so I guess I am a paper badge deputy now.

The patrolmen are very nice and pleasant to be around with a good sense of humor. I was glad to see them on the ride. The other vehicles see them and it makes them think about what they are doing and slow down a little. It would be a hard job for me to do that. They are very good at it.

When you ride along there is so much to see – turkeys and vultures. The vultures look at you and lick their chops. There are so many things you can only put it this way. You had to be there.

Crater Lake was the high light. I don’t think there are better days up there. That was the only day that took a toll on me, but I would do it all again. Like they say, “no pain, no gain,” and the beauty from a bike is worth it.

I did get lost one time at Diamond Lake in the campground. I left the flashlight with Ilene as I went to take a shower. She found D-12. I forgot to look at what spot we were at. It was really dark and after about ½ hour of looking for the van I went up to the restroom where I last saw her. After another 1/2 hour there, she met me with the van. This is just another happy ending.

Diamond Lake to Glide was a good time coasting at 30 miles per hour for 10 miles. It was fun stopping at the six water falls on the way down and well worth the walk of a mile or less. Sixty-seven miles of riding and 10 miles of walking make a fun day. (There was a poker walk to the falls.) I won a $10 gift certificate for a pizza in Glide. I have relatives there. I hope they liked my pizza. After eating the Cycle Oregon meal, there was no room for pizza. If I eat the same amount when I get home, we will have to get a bigger door.

As I rode along I would get a captive person or persons and would tell them a joke. There were these two people that came from overseas and heard that Americans ate dogs. Well in the U.S., do as the Americans do. So, they went to a hotdog stand and ordered a hotdog. The first person opened it slowly and looked in. He then turned slowly to the other person and asked, “What part of the dog did you get?” So now you are part of my captive audience.

The next stop after Glide was Elkton (only 82 miles this time). We stayed in a cow pasture with very few cow pies. They train their cows well. They gave out clothes bags with literature in them. The next day on our way out, I met this lady. She said that if I gave her my address she would send me some poems. This page is not long enough to put down what I was thinking, mostly negative. She really did send me a lot of really good poems.

As we were approaching Myrtle Creek, the two patrolmen were starting to escort some important people down the steep hill into the town and across the finish line. With sirens blaring and lights flashing, they asked if we wanted to come. They were going to light it up and they did in a big way. What an entrance!

In a way you wish it would go on and on, but the end has come. They passed out T-shirts and pins that looked great. Another pin to go on my hat!



The planning of this ride was the best I have ever seen. Things were on time and in the right places. The people that put this together and made it happen are very dedicated to having things right. It was a pleasure to go on the ride and know that some one had and was working very hard to make me happy.

Forever grateful,

Byran

Sept. 5, 1998 LABORDAY

Going to the Coast over the Labor Day weekend on a bike sounds a little dumb, but it was a good trip with only a few glitches.

The weather was in the high 80’s and didn’t cool down much at night. I was working 10-hour days, starting at 04:00 a.m. On Friday I went in at 6:00 a.m. It was the usual day at work and when I got home I started to pack. Myran and I were going to make it an over-nighter just to see how hard it was to carry the gear. My 24-pound bike got a lot heavier when I got through.

New pack bags and sleeping bag all add up with water and food. The bike handled different. You couldn’t move it side to side as fast. Going up the hills was not noticeable with more weight on it.

We left at 4:45 p.m. and went on the bike path through Portland. The usual funny people were there on this section of Front Avenue. We went under the Broadway Bridge where this couple had an old fashion hanging a few weeks ago.

On down Front Avenue and then over a street and into McDonald’s to eat. This made it about 6:00 p.m. The road was full of glass and junk. Yes, I got a staple in my tire and didn’t stop fast enough to pull it out so I got a flat tire. It didn’t take long to change it and we were off again. Through Scapoose and St. Helens where we stopped to get water and juice to drink. It was dark so new batteries for my light (as if it did any good). It is for being seen, not seeing.

There is this light for only $309.00 that would work really well. That is only 1/3 the price of the bike. Ilene doesn’t think biking is a very cheap way to go. I think I should have bought a more expensive bike; then the light wouldn’t seem so high.

By now it is dark and we have no place to sleep. There was a railroad trestle around, so we decided to stop. It smelled like everyone was using it as an out-house. Oh, did I forget the “no trespassing” signs and “no over-night” staying. I spotted something that looked kind of like a road on the other side. The traffic finally let up so I could get over there to take a look. It was the end of a bike path and what turned out to be a good place to stay for the night. Some kids had beat down the brush and made a tree house. Myran put up his new tent and I let my mattress inflate itself. We put in our new bags. It was late so off to bed we went. Yes, hard as a rock. You laid on one side, then your back, then your other side. When they started to hurt enough to wake me up, I moved. What a slow night. I didn’t get a lot of sleep.

Breakfast was my part of camping. Myran took down the tent. I went out to the bike path and put two sterno cans on it with Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup on them. The sterno was old. After 15 minutes we ate our warm soup (well, partly warm). At around 7:00 a.m. we were on the road again. We went about 30 feet and another flat. This time it was a thorn.

As we were riding and making 14 miles per hour average, it seems this trailer with roofing shingles in it was passing us when it broke away from the trailer ball. It started to whip back and forth throwing 90 pound bundles of shingles all over the street. If we had been 50 feet farther he would have had two bikes and us to add to his list of bad things that happened to him that day. Some people drove over the bundles rather than stopping or going around them. We stopped and helped them get them off the road. We are “nice” people.

The next town was Rainier. It was coffee time and time to talk the waitress into doing the Seattle to Portland ride. I think she wanted to do it, but needs some one to push her over the edge. Back to the Park to do our thing and back on the bikes and under the Longview Bridge overpass to see our support van go bye-bye up the hill. They were supposed to take our gear so we didn’t have to take it up the hill. They did wait at the top for us and Vellen joined us there.

Ten miles later we stopped in Clatskanie and our support van brought us lunch. By the way our support team was Ilene, Marci, and 4-month old grandson, Noah.

A few more up and downs (36 miles) and we were in Astoria eating dinner at Burger King. Ilene pulled up and we left our support there. (Before they left they handed me two new tire tubes should I need them.)

We had the dreaded Astoria Bridge (5 miles across) to go over and it looked scary –high, windy, and lots of traffic. The ride up was not too bad and it is wider than I thought. The wind didn’t blow you away and as a whole it was a lot of fun. I would do it again just for the view.

Going through the tunnel on the other side was fast and loud. The flashing light means 35 miles an hour. Ilene was going as fast as the rest of them – 55 miles an hour. (right – and what flashing light?) Payback time was coming. The KOA campground was the junction and about 3 miles to Long Beach. We passed them because they were standing still. It was the beginning of a 15-mile traffic jam because of a 15-mile parade of old cars. Cars from the 40’s, 50’s, & 60’s – some even older – were in it. The road was closed from 3:30 to 7:00 p.m.

It was about 30 miles from where we left Marci, Ilene, and Noah in Astoria to our beach lot. Ilene just shut the motor off and we drove up, almost beating them.

It was a good ride – 138 miles from our house to the lot. Omar and Lori met us at the lot. They got there earlier and missed some of the fun, but they didn’t seem to mind.

Well, time to eat all the oysters and clams you would ever want and sleep. Now it’s lots of food and drink. Even the water out of the well’s pitcher pump is the only way to go.
Sunday we went over to my cousins’, the Wieses, and ate and drank over there too. After that it was down to the beach where it was warm and no wind – can’t fly a kite without wind. We went back to our lot and the Wieses came over and we ate and drank again. (What’s your favorite sport?)

Monday we packed up and slowly started back. We went for a mile hike in the woods, even Noah. On the way I bought two 24-pound tuna fish for a $1.00 a pound. We then drove home. It was around 6:00 p.m. and the traffic was good, making it a good 3 days!

Stay tuned for the next chapter: Cycle Oregon, September 12 – 19, 1998