Oregon - The Not So Good Part

What was I thinking. I keep asking myself that over and over and over again, and all I can tell you is that signing up for Cycle Oregon was clearly a lapse in judgment. Clearly, I should have done more research beforehand.

It sounded like it would be so much fun! Who wouldn't want to ride their bike 400 miles around Oregon for a week? I did realize that it would be camping every night, but was assured by my partner in crime Theresa that camping was a piece of cake, and besides, not like this was real camping! We were signing up for the "Tent and Porter" service so that somebody else set up and took down our tent each day! And moved our bags. And cooked our meals. And there was yoga, massages, live music, bike mechanics, etc. In fact, before departing Boulder, my friend Janeen dubbed this "glamour camping" or "glamping" for short. So after purchasing a queen size air mattress for our tent, I was feeling optimistic that I could handle this camping thing.

Ha ha ha ha ha.


This was hell. For some reason when I signed up, I didn't quite process exactly what riding and camping with 2,000 other people would entail. "Tent City" quickly became referred to as the "Tent Slums." The tents were literally 2 inches apart from one another (see picture). You could hear people snoring, puking, farting, talking, etc. Got to love the neighbors who felt compelled to get up before 5am each and every morning and hold conversation at full volume, often about their recent visit to the porta potty. It was nothing but porta potties for a week. A week!!!!! Ugh. I can't believe that didn't dawn on me before day 1. Every where we went, we stood in line. For porta potties (see picture), for food (see picture) for bike mechanics, etc.


The biking was ok. Despite some chafing issues on day 1-2, I managed to survive the rest of the week. The scenery was beautiful at times, punctuated by multi-mile stretches on the shoulder of the interstate getting passed by semi-trucks going over 70 mph and stretches of unpaved road.


On day 1, I really was trying to figure out how to get a taxi 68 miles back from Yreka, CA to the start in Medford. I figured I could get the rental car and come pick my bike and bag up, and maybe even figure out how to get home in time to race at Savageman the following weekend. But no, I thought, maybe day 2 will be better. Mentally, I bottomed out day 2-3. I suppose after that I had resigned myself to it, and started to feel like I was making progress toward the end of the ride.


By day 5, we finally arrived in the town of Grants Pass. The first town with restaurants. Woo hoo! The stomach flu had broken out in camp by then so Theresa and I decided to eat every meal from then on in restaurants. And also so that we could use the bathrooms. I've never been so happy for restaurant bathrooms in my life!


Day 6 was an optional riding day (no thank you!) and Theresa and opted for rafting on the Rogue River instead. Definitely the better choice!


There were some highlights throughout the week, good scenery and exceptionally nice local people and volunteers in each town. The purpose of the ride is to raise money for community development projects in rural towns in OR (and on this trip in CA) and it was nice to feel part of a positive mission.
The week finally ended, and we were never so happy to first - hit a hotel, with real beds and real bathrooms, and next to make it home. I have never been so glad for a trip to be over in my entire life.

Oregon - The Good Part

From Colorado, Theresa and I headed to Oregon for a little sight seeing and catching up with friends before Cycle Oregon started. We had 5 days to see as much of Oregon as we could, and did we ever! I don't particularly like whirlwind sightseeing, but there was so much we wanted to do and 5 days was all we had before the riding started.

We actually started off in Washington. Family friends Dave and Liz Lincoln recently moved from VA to White Salmon, WA (or at least took up a secondary residence you might say). White Salmon is just across the Columbia River from Hood River, OR and is located in "The Gorge." It is an outdoor person's playground. Tired from a plane ride, time change, and a flat tire incident with the rental car in Portland, we arrived at the Lincoln's around 9:15pm on a Tuesday night. Liz started pouring the wine and she and Dave got out the maps of the area and brochures on every fun thing you could possibly want to do. Liz asked if we had any reservations or plans for the the next day, to which we said "No." Before we knew it, she was on the phone to the white water rafting outfitter, Zollers, and we were booked on a 9am rafting trip down the White Salmon river - class 3 and 4 rapids.

What a trip! It was awesome! Excellent guides, a couple of raft-mates who were vacationing from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and live right next to my old high school, and a just an all around fun time rafting down the river that included a 14 ft. drop over a waterfall. I wish I'd been able to take my camera a long, but it's safe to say it would not have survived the deluge of water in the raft.

After refueling, Theresa and I drove out to Mt. Hood for some up close pictures and hit a few wineries. Then Dave took us for a sail out on the Columbia River that evening as the sun was setting. It was fantastic! It was great to get a view of the area from the water and it was so relaxing to just sit on the boat and sail.

The next day we did a brief hike up Dog Mountain - a straight up climb - and then started the drive toward the coast, stopping briefly at the Bonneville Dam along the way to see the fish ladder.

Next up was Lincoln City, OR - the home of Theresa's friend Sandy. She too was an awesome hostess, taking us out to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, setting us up in her sister's incredible beach house for the night, and then navigating us down the central coast of Oregon to catch some spectacular scenery as we made our way south toward Medford for Cycle Oregon.

Along our drive, we stopped at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area for a dune buggy ride. It was so much fun! The dunes stretch 62 miles along the coast and are 7 miles wide. It is an immense area of sand, like nothing I'd ever seen before. Theresa, the adrenaline junkie, informed our driver that she wanted him to drive it like a roller coaster and that he did. Top speeds, on the side of dunes, quick turns, I was sure we were going to flip over, but thankfully we remained upright. I am still trying to rid myself of all the sand though!

Before the riding began, Theresa and I made a quick trip out to Crater Lake, determined not to miss it when we were so close! I wish I could have spent an entire day there, hiking and swimming but we just didn't have the time, so we settled for a couple hours driving the rim. It was indeed spectacular.

Amy's Wedding

My good friend Amy Smith got married in Steamboat, CO on Sept. 6. Best excuse for another trip that I could think of! As luck had it, I was participating in Cycle Oregon a week later and ended up planning 2+ weeks out West.

This was my second trip to CO but first to Steamboat. With all the events planned throughout the weekend, I was on the go from the instant the plane landed. Tom came with me and several of my VA/DC friends were in attendance which made the weekend all that much more fun.

First up, about an hour after arriving in Steamboat, was Girl's Night Out. The next morning there was a group hike, followed by a trip to the Hot Springs in the evening. Saturday was the group mountain bike ride, followed by a barbeque complete with slide show of pictures of Amy and Matt throughout their lives. I've now traveled enough with Amy (and her mom) that I even made a few of the pictures. Amidst all the activities, Tom even managed to squeeze in some fishing.

Amy's husband Matt is from England. I'd never met him until this weekend, but had heard all about him, starting shortly after they had first started dating. I was traveling with Amy in Australia and New Zealand and we spent many hours trying to find pay phones so that she could call England.

Wedding day started off (in true Amy fashion) with a 5k or 10k run, and oh yeah, it was at 10,000 ft. of altitude. For some unknown reason, the fact that I hadn't really run since Ironman Switzerland, July 2008 and that I live at sea level didn't dissuade me. Spurred on by Tom, also not dissuaded even after a summer of kidney surgery, we both signed up for the 5k. We may be crazy, but not crazy enough to do the 10k. Much to our astonishment, we both ran more of the race than we thought, and despite getting beaten soundly by a couple of kids who couldn't have been over 10 yrs. old, we finished in a respectable 27 minutes. Not bad for a couple of sea-bees who hadn't trained. Our lungs were ready to explode, but that was just a minor annoyance. :-)

Later that afternoon the wedding ceremony and reception took place. It was a gorgeous outdoor setting, we got a few brief sprinkles, but that just meant a pretty rainbow at the end of the ceremony. My favorite part, aside from the singing of John Denver's "Annie's Song" (I love John Denver), was when Amy & Matt's cycling friends formed an arch of bike wheels (similar to what service men do with swords at military weddings) for Amy and Matt to walk under at the end of the ceremony. This is apparently an old English cycling tradition.

Amy, my friend who makes it her personal mission to test out the Mexican food in every country she visits (she has quite a long list) arranged for a buffet Mexican food at the reception. Easily the best food I've ever had at a wedding. You just can't go wrong with guacamole!!

The highlight of the evening was when Matt gave a 40+ minute speech. In addition to thanking every one who had traveled from near and far, often at great expense, and thanking his family and friends in England for understanding his move the U.S., he offered endless jokes, often at his new brother-in-law's expense and had the whole room laughing. It was priceless.

After the festivities were over, we drove to Boulder to see my good friend Janeen, taking the scenic route through Rocky Mountain National Park. The scenery was stunning, and I got my first ever glimpse of elk.