Day 76 Rain In Ontario August 26, 2001

! got on the Lake Ontario Parkway this morning. ! was a bit concerned
since it looked like and interstate on the map. It started right by the
campground and was nearly uninhabited. Nice smooth concrete and a bit of a
tailwind. ! was making good time. Not much happening around here. NY is
pretty dull. Today is the day of the Vancouver Ironman Triathlon. It looked
like there was a triathlon or a Time Trial around here this morning. ! saw
several TT bikes on cars out on the road. ! don't think ! ever made it into
Rochester, NY. Just the suburbs. ! was going to look for a hotel in Webster,
NY but the cop ! talked to said ! would have to backtrack 2 or 3 miles. He
also said there was a Super 8 in Ontario, NY just about 8 miles up the road.
! went for Ontario. ! turned @ the sign for the business district. It had
every business in town listed. One hotel. Not a Super 8. And not anywhere to
be found. ! went to the main town then on the road parallel to the highway
and back out to 104. Nothing. ! went on 3 miles to a convenience store. They
told ME there was an hotel 5 miles back. And none anywhere nearby to the East
or south. Of course there was a head wind and it was actually 6 miles. ! got
the last room and just after ! got inside it started raining hard. Just for a
bit though. Now ! can't figure out how to get online here. MY modem can't
hear the dial tone. ! wanted a hotel so ! could get online. Looks like this
is going to get longer before it gets sent. 74 miles.

Day 75 Back To America August 25, 2001

One block downhill. Cross the street and !'m on the bridge to USA. 0.3
miles in Canadia today. Then north through Niagara Falls, NY to take hwy. 18
east along the shore of Lake Ontario. ! was really moving in the morning.
This was the first real ride since ! zip tied the rack onto the B.O.B. W/ the
pannier weight all the way in the back instead of in the center the whole rig
felt really twitchy. After 12 miles ! noticed the rear quick release was
open. After tightening the handling got much better. Today ! saw 2 mountain
bikes and 7 recumbents. 3 of the 'bents were up ahead of ME quite a ways so
of course ! had to chase them down and pass them. 'Bents are aero and really
fast. They don't climb very well though. It was mostly flat there and !'m not
aero. ! have the trailer and wide panniers. And a head wind. It took a few
miles to catch them, but ! did. Of course. They were all unloaded. Just out
riding. ! had to keep going once ! got by so they would realize that ! always
go @ that pace and it would be futile for them to try to keep up. ! sure was
glad when they disappeared. There is almost nothing out here. Just a bunch of
farms and houses. ! got to the campground @ 4pm. ! didn't want to go onto the
next one. They say it was full anyway. $18.75 for a campsite. That's the most
!'ve ever paid. MY hostel last night was only $17.25 and that was Canadian
money. Today was like a miniature version of this 2nd tour. ! started in
Niagara County and ended in Orleans County. The real thing starts in Niagara
Falls and ends in New Orleans. Tomorrow ! plan to pass through Rochester, NY
and get a hotel on the other side. It looks like !'ll need to really hustle
out of NY before !'m bankrupt. First to Boston then NYC then PA, DC, and VA.
55 miles.

Day 74 Run For the Border August 24, 2001

! got up early this morning for breakfast and to bust the Jackal out of
prison in the basement of Union Station. Loaded up ! rode to the pier an hour
early. That gave ME time to true the back wheel and pump up the tyres. Loaded
onto the hydroplane and we're off. The boat taxied out of the harbor then up
onto the foils @ 34 kts. Lake Ontario was all 1 meter swells. It was kind of
bumpy and lots of fun. ! had to wander around onboard some. Once ! took a
step and the boat dropped out from under ME. ! was a few inches off the floor
suddenly. We cruised a little ways down the river and were dispatched. They
told ME there was a "big" hill to climb into town. ! think ! missed it. !
went down to see the falls. It's only a 20 minute walk from the hostel. 41
million showers. That's a lot of water. Then ! rode around town searching for
food. ! went to the market for antihistamines. They don't seem to be working.
The market is a fairly large building. Very little of it is devoted to food.
! wonder how they eat here. ! had to get Chef Boyardee ravioli primavera.
After dinner a dozen hostelers went down to the Falls to see the fireworks.
They were all lit up. ! should have taken MY camera. ! sat there w/ sore legs
until ! decided to put MY feet in the fountain. It just made sense to face
the fireworks and cool off MY calves to keep them from getting sore. We were
supposed to go to the beer garden afterwards. $4 cover. !'m out of toy money
so ! just came back to the hostel. !'m a block from the bridge to America. 20
miles.

Day 73 Lucked Out August 23, 2001

! came downstairs this morning to see if there were any vacancies. There
was one. ! won't have to sleep @ the train station or wander the streets all
night tonight. Good thing too. ! couldn't get to sleep last night 'til late
then ! woke up after 4 hours and spent the next 2 trying to get back to
dozing. ! managed to get a 20 minute nap. ! went on the walking tour today.
We saw all kinds of interesting stuff and learned history. There is a little
park right behind the hostel. It's also right behind one of the old town
halls. They had trials in the building then would bring the convicts out back
to the park to execute them. We crossed the longest street in the world.
Yonge St. was built as an escape route in the event of an American invasion.
It worked. We invaded. They fled. General Pike namesake of Pike's Peak was
killed in that battle. ! saw ornate banks and churches. And the tallest free
standing structure in the world. The CN Tower. 1,800 ft. or so tall. Of
course they measured it in meters. From there it was into Union Station and
then almost all the way back to the hostel underground. It's raining outside
now. ! totally missed the heavy part. Tomorrow morning ! have to rescue the
Jackal from the train station and get on the ferry to Niagara Falls. 0 miles
again today.

Day 72 Uh oh August 22, 2001

! went looking for the ferry that goes across the lake to Niagara Falls.
! found it. A hydroplane. It only runs MWF. ! got a ticket for Friday. !
asked for an extra day here, but the hostel is booked up. They gave ME the
number for another hostel in town, but they are booked up also. !'m on their
waiting list. ! may end up pretending to be waiting for MY train all night. !
called the hostel in Niagara Falls, ON. They are booked up on Friday. The one
is Niagara Falls, NY is closed for another 20 minutes. !'ll have to call them
back to get a space. Hopefully there will be cancellations. ! got to see a
protest today. The government employees are upset because they only got a 2%
raise while Parliament gave themselves a 20% raise and left on their 2 month
vacation. The Toronto Stock Exchange is totally automated. The papers say the
PM or somebody really told W. all aboot free trade. What are they saying down
there? ! can't really tell if the Falls are in Canadia or America. ! guess
!'ll figure it oot when ! get there. They tell ME it's only aboot 8 km from
the ferry to the Falls. 0 miles again today.

Day 71 Rest August 21, 2001

! got to bed about 2 am ! think. ! didn't wake 'til half past 10. About 8
hours. Not bad considering !'m now 3 hours ahead of the time zone !'ve been
in for the last 1.5 months and ! was only sleeping about 6 hours/night on the
train. First thing was to find something for breakfast. that took awhile.
Then ! wandered aboot downtown. ! got down to the harbor. The Toronto Islands
are just offshore here so ! couldn't really see Lake Ontario. ! found the
Hockey Hall of Fame and a little garden park w/ black squirrels. Not much was
accomplished today. ! put in a couple orders to sell options. No telling when
someone will buy them. ! always set the limit a little higher than the
current price to catch an up tick. ! took a nap and now ! probably need to
find a place to feed. ! did find a New York state map. It doesn't show any
national parks and the banks of Lake Ontario are mostly inhabited so ! may be
in a hotel MY first night away from here. It will take 2 days to get to
Niagara Falls. ! did an ETA to Vancouver when ! was in Cimmaron, NM on day 7.
! had estimated 8.28 (today is 8.21) so !'ve still got a week to get there.
!'m in the middle of downtown of the 5th largest city in North America and
guess what ! see on MY way to dinner. A raccoon. What is a raccoon doing
running aboot town? 0 miles, but lots of walking.

Day 70 Late to Toronto August 20, 2001

All day there was speculation as to how late we would be. We were
scheduled for 8pm. They were saying midnight @ the earliest and maybe 1 am.
The train pulled into the station @ 11:20 pm. @ the baggage pickup the bikes
come off last and don't go on the conveyor belt. ! decided to leave the
Jackal and the B.O.B @ the station. The hostel people told ME they had no
bike parking and most people park their bikes in a car garage for $6/day. The
train station will keep them for $7.50/day. The first day is free and ! don't
have to unload anything and haul it upstairs. It was only about 7 blocks to
the hostel. Oddly enough the hot-dog stands were all open outside the train
station. Another day of 0 miles.

Day 69 Delayed August 19, 2001

When ! awoke this morning everything seemed perfectly normal. then !
realized the train wasn't moving. That's not right. ! went to breakfast and
it still wasn't moving. A freight train ahead of us had hit a body and the
RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) were investigating. It happened on an
Indian reservation. It seems there have been a few murders there lately and
they wanted to determine whether this was one or a suicide. After 4-5 hours
we were rolling again. Trying to make up time. We got to Winnipeg late. The
Westbound Canadien was held up because we were late. Union rules. The
Vancouver crew is not allowed past Winnipeg. They had to work the other train
back. 0 miles again.

Day 68 Across Canadia August 18, 2001

In the middle of breakfast they announced that we would soon be passing
Pyramid Falls. The train slowed down and there they were. ! saw a mountain
goat climbing the hill over a tunnel. Lots of cows too. ! think they may have
been wild cows. We left the Rockies early today and now are on the plains.
The train stopped for an hour in Jasper and again in Edmonton. ! asked if we
would get to see where the Oilers practice losing to the Avs. Too bad !
forgot to wear MY Avs cap when ! went into the station. The pit crew in
Edmonton were all wearing Roller Blades. Those Canucks are just so wacky.
More wonderful grub today. The Edmonton station is right between the end of
the runway for one of their little airports and the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police vicious dog training center. There was a helicopter parked in the
obstacle course. Amazing. They are actually teaching police dogs (Canadian
Shepherds no doubt) to fly choppers. We had a wine tasting this afternoon and
saw the Westbound version of Le Canadien. 0 miles of course.

Day 67 Zip Ties August 17, 2001

Today is the day to get on the train. ! either have to fix the rack or
order a new one. After breakfast ! went to the hardware store and got a big
bag of zip ties. They are wonderful things. 21 of them are now holding the
rack on the fender of the B.O.B. It seems to be working ok so far. The
panniers are high enough so they don't drag in turns. It'll be tough getting
the wheel off the trailer if it flats. Oh well. It has only gone flat once
and that was in MY back yard. After laundry ! loaded everything up and headed
out searching for lunch. ! found a garlic and spinach pizza w/ feta cheese. !
decided to wander through town to look around and make sure the zip ties were
going to hold. ! made it to the train station about 2 hours early and boxed
up the jackal. In the lounge they had internet access and juice. Out on the
platform they had a band to play for us. We boarded an hour late and finally
headed out. Dinner as we passed through the outskirts of civilization towards
the Rocky mountains. The food is quite delicious and there are snacks about.
! did have a bit of a fright. While brushing MY teeth ! noticed a little
tupperware container in the bathroom. ! couldn't tell what it was so ! opened
it up. Something in foamy water. ! still didn't know what it was, but ! had
to find out. ! poked it and that's when ! got it. It was someone's teeth.
Ick. 12 miles.

Day 66 Oot and Aboot August 16, 2001

! just wandered aboot today. @ the market ! found after much searching 1
kind of blueberry muffin mix. ! got it to make blueberry bread. This morning
! looked under the counters and found a loaf pan. Good deal. Then ! looked
for the oven. There was none. If ! weren't an American !'d have had no bread.
Damnit! ! bought the mix. ! want the bread. ! made it happen. ! mixed half
the bag w/ water right in the pan. It tasted good. Then ! came up w/ a large
skillet to set the pan in. then ! found another large skillet to cover the
pan and the other skillet w/. Voila, an oven. That's the American way. Later
! went down to the nude beach since it is nearby. It was a lot like hippie
fest on Vashon Island except no clothes. ! think you need the pot to enjoy
neked hippies. You certainly need it if you're going to talk to them. Then to
Jericho Beach. ! called up the guy who opened the very first Domino's Pizza
franchises in Vancouver, BC. He sold everything several years ago and now
just farms. He's way out in the suburbs where the buses don't run w/ bikes.
All ! wanted was a free pizza. Oh, right. ! know him and his wife from when
he was the manager of the store in Murray, KY (that's the Jelly State). ! was
a driver there then. It was MY first real job. ! was damn good @ it of
course. It would take 3 hours to get as close as possible in the bus and that
would leave ME having to walk 2 or 3 miles. ! went to the beach. He said they
still owe him $150,000 and won't even deliver to his house since he's just
out of their area. He's going to have to get on them about the payment. They
are in default now. Tomorrow ! will have to figure out something about MY
rack. ! have an idea. Once again ! am an American. We make things happen. It
broke yesterday w/ no weight on it. ! figured it would so ! took the empty
B.O.B to get groceries. !'m going to try zip tying it onto the trailer wheel
sort of like a regular rack. !'ll be visiting a hardware store in the
morning. While riding yesterday ! managed to do some climbing standing up. !
haven't been able to do that unloaded since ! figured out how to do it w/ all
the gear. It just happened. ! figured the trailer was affecting the handling
and not just the weight. Today ! climbed w/out the trailer and did ok. It
just happened all of a sudden. ! even did a 'cross dismount. ! may be able to
ride an unburdened bike again after all. 17 miles.

Day 65 4,839 Kilometers August 15, 2001

That's 3,000 miles. ! rode into the city to get breakfast and find the
VIARail station. ! leave via train for Toronto Friday evening. The VIARail
website is quite confusing. ! had estimated what it would cost to go several
months ago. It turned out that w/ tax it's only a few dollars more Canadian
than ! had estimated in US dollars. About 75% of what ! expected. And ! think
! get some kind of refund or credit of the GST when ! return to America. GST
is 8% on just about everything. !'ll have to research it. !'ll be calling H&R
Block tomorrow. ! hit 3,000 miles just after leaving the rail station. !
wandered about town for a while then to the grocery. What do Canadians eat? !
wandered all around that store and couldn't find anything ! wanted. Good
thing ! had a can of soup already. After a nap ! found out where a Safeway
was and the kayak rental place. No rentals unless you've got more sea
kayaking experience than ! have. Damn. It seems the only way !'ll be out on
the water is a private lesson. All the tours are booked for the year. The
Safeway didn't have a great selection either. ! wandered the aisles for an
hour before ! found food for the rest of MY stay. This is NOT USA. 23 miles.

Day 64 On to Vancouver, BC August 14, 2001

Shortly after 5 am we woke to Enigma and ate breakfast while the sun came
up. We needed an early start since we had 40 miles to the harbor. Hopefully
we'll actually sail today. Leaving the bay it was foggy and it looked like we
would get some good wind. It didn't happen. More motoring. We didn't use the
auto pilot today. We took turns @ the wheel. Mostly ME of course. About mid
day some breeze. ! kept steering as MY crew hustled about opening the genoa
sail. Finally sailing. The chop was fun too. The bow going up and down
crashing in the surf. Nothing bigger than a 1 meter wave. The wind lasted
over an hour then it was back to motoring. There were giant ferries and
container ships plying the strait w/ us. Many of them once we had the
Vancouver suburbs in sight. We came under the main highway bridge into the
narrows. Lots of traffic. We found a dock to moor @ in North Vancouver and
tied up. It was time for dinner. We went looking for a pub. Everything was
closed. Finally we found a place for fish & chips. ! still had to go across
the inlet to Vancouver then about 10 kilometers to the hostel on Jericho
Beach. We were right next to the Sea Bus. ! got to the hostel about 10
tonight and into bed. 9 miles.

Day 63 By Law ! Am in Great Britain August 13, 2001

MY 5:30 wake up never came. Luckily ! woke @ 5:40 and took off. After
breakfast ! went down to the harbor. SS Columbia is a 41' Robinson design
sailing ship. It's last voyage was from Hawaii to Victoria, BC. The skipper
is a yachting instructor from South Africa. He needed a crew of 4 to sail to
Vancouver. Mostly to help pay for fuel etc. We set sail around 8:30 am. After
motoring out of the harbor we raised the sails to catch the small amount of
wind available. Out the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Harro Straits. We say a
few dolphins and seals. No whales. We stayed just on the Canadian side of the
border By mid afternoon we reached our destination for the night and anchored
in Broward bay on the North side of North Pender Island. The depth finder
said the water was 10 meters deep and 15* C. 3 of us went in for a swim. A
lot of shivering and paddling about in the salty water then a lap around the
boat before climbing back aboard. After "disarming" the dinghy all 5 of us
paddled a very crooked path to the cafe on shore. We walked up the road to
the mall. A very small mall then farther up the road. We found blackberry
bushes thick along the roadside for a snack. A fawn wandered out to the edge
of the road. No fear. The Aussie was nearly run over several times. After a
long bit of walking we decided to turn around. The Aussie mentioned
hitchhiking and stuck out his thumb. Half a second later a van pulled over to
give us a ride. A Canuk talking Canadian eh. How do Canadians spell Canada? C
eh, N eh, D eh. Back @ the cafe ! got a milk shake and we headed to the bar
next door to play pool. Back to the boat to make dinner by sunset. Queen on
the stereo. 1 mile.

Day 62 It's Been Two Months Today August 12, 2001

! started on June 12. Today ! was kind of tired. ! went to checque on the
adventure. ! have to be there @ 7 am tomorrow. It'll take 2 days to get
there. MY new buddy from Vashon Island was really jealous. He had to take the
ferry and busses up to Vancouver, BC. He'll get over it. He gets free stuff
everywhere he goes anyway. ! just rode today to drop off the B.O.B. !'ve
booked 3 days @ the Jericho Beach hostel in Vancouver. !'ll have to get
tickets for the train when ! get up there. The VIARail web site is really
tough to get info from. ! think it leaves @ 5:30 pm on the 17th. It also says
that train only runs 3 times a week and !'ve never had it tell ME ! had
chosen an invalid date. We'll see. Time for bed now. ! have a 5:30 wake up
call. 2 miles.

Day 61 Surrounded by Canadians August 11, 2001

! was up pretty early so ! decided to try to make the 12:45 ferry from
Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC instead of the 4:15. ! made it and even had
time to feed since it was running 15 minutes late. It's a 1.5 hour ride
across the Straight of Juan de Fuca. About 20 miles. In canada we all got
herded into the customs building to answer the standard questions. ! guess !
had some wrong answers.They pulled MY records and discovered MY long string
of burglary arrests from back when ! was a foot shorter and tattooed. !'m
only allowed to stay in the country for 2 weeks now. !'m also not allowed to
work in canada. ! hadn't really planned on job hunting up here in the frozen
waste land, but now ! think ! will. Some of the hostels let you stay free if
you do some cleaning. ! think !'ll checque in Vancouver and Toronto. ! was
going to do it here this morning except that !'ve already paid and they don't
do refunds. There seems to be a lot of canadians around town. Instead of the
normal background noise of cars or crickets it's all "eh, hoser" After
studying the ferry schedule ! discovered that ! have to go 26 km (16 miles)
to catch a ferry to Vancouver, BC. That one doesn't even go all the way
there. It would drop ME about 25 km South and then !'d have to ride the rest
of the way in city traffic. Whilst puzzling over this dilemma ! noticed a
posting on the bulletin board. An excellent opportunity even if ! didn't need
it. It'll cost ME $25 CDN, but those are just like nickels almost. That comes
to about $16 in real money. ! think !'ll wait to reveal the adventure for a
few days. Just to build the suspense. 51 miles.

Day 60 Rest Day August 10, 2001

! had hoped to get some kayaking in today. Alas, they don't like to rent
to anyone alone so ! just wandered around town. They have an Uptown and a
Downtown here. To go from downtown to uptown you climb the stairs. Not much
going on. On to Port Angeles tomorrow to get the ferry to Victoria, BC. 0
miles.

Day 59 Escape From the Island August 9, 2001

Finally. ! had everything ready to go in time to make the ferry. Once
that ferry got to Seattle ! would have 25 minutes to make the next ferry to
Bainbridge Island. ! got on the first ferry and they told us they had
problems w/ a boat so we had to wait for another ferry to get in. !'m not
sure why. ! assume it was so those passengers who were switching boats could
get on ours. After a 20 minute delay off we went. We pulled into Seattle just
in time to see the Bainbridge Island ferry pull out. So it's another hour
'til the next boat. Time to go to Tully's for coffee. Starbucks isn't really
that good. ! came back just a couple minutes too late and missed that boat
too. So another hour waiting. This time ! got on the boat. And ! was off as
soon as they opened the gates. When ! stopped for lunch ! went around to the
bathroom to fill MY bottle. Right outside the back door some guy was washing
his Ferrari 308. Then, just before the bridge off the North end of the island
! saw another 308. ! saw some interesting street signs on the way up here.
Two Crane Lane and Egg and I Rd. The hills can be pretty steep around here. !
made it to the hostel in Port Townsend, WA about 6 pm. !'ll be here for 2
days before heading to Port Angeles, WA to catch another ferry to Victoria,
BC. 60 miles.

Day 58 Road Trip August 8, 2001

Battered AA battery count 23

A few of us took a car and went to the largest building on Earth. The
Boeing assembly line for 747s, 767s and 777s. It's big enough to hold
Disneyland and have 12 acres of indoor parking. Korean Airlines 500th 747 is
just about finished. It had all the parts attached. Just needs interior and
paint. They roll one out every 8 days. From there we went up to Mt. Rainier.
We got up to 6,100'. Then back to the island way after dark. 0 miles

Day 57 Straightening up August 7, 2001

Today ! fixed up the Jackal and put on the new chain. Then took a test
ride to the airport. There was an old Cessna 140 getting ready to go. They
have 2 airports here. The nearest one has a 2,000' grass strip. That and a
short nap is all !'ve done so far today. !'m hearing that the hostels North
of here that ! was planning on going to are booked tomorrow so it may be
another day here. We'll see. 7 miles.

Day 56 Microsoft August 6, 2001

! needed to get out to Performance in Redmond to trade in MY chain. Since
Microsoft is in Redmond ! figured ! could pop by to see it too. Actually
Performance and the MS campus are just a few blocks apart. ! had also heard
of a troll under a bridge and the locks from the lakes to the bay. They have
a fish ladder w/ windows so you can watch them go upstream. Not many
traveling today. Then ! had to figure out how to get to Redmond via bus. The
bus drivers seemed to not know how to get anywhere. It took quite a bit of
effort, but ! managed to make it out there. The bus back to town was full of
Micro Serfs. All geeky and very quiet. It was nearly 9pm when ! got back to
the hostel. Too late to work on the Jackal and get ready to leave on the last
morning ferry. Looks like another day here. Welcome to the hostel California.
There was a couple from Belgium who were making ribs for dinner. They had
wine and invited several of us in to share. ! was up late into the night
discussing politics w/ a poli sci grad from Boulder, CO. 0 miles.

Day 55 Earth Fair August 5, 2001

The big island event this weekend is Earth Fair. Mostly a bunch of
hippies hanging out ranting about genetically modified foods and how we need
more government to protect us. ! visited for a couple hours mostly so ! could
test ride the Jackal. The island has some big hills. It was quite a ride and
! realized ! hadn't put MY levers on symmetrically ! did get a henna tattoo.
They last a couple weeks. When ! got back to the hostel there was a flock of
Girl Scouts who were visiting using their cookie money. 8 of them and 2
leaders. From the night before there was a little family w/ a girl the same
age who had taken a fancy to ME (can you blame her?) so ! took her out and
introduced her to the Girl Scouts. They came up w/ a fun activity and really
bonded. What they decided would be fun was to chase ME and steal MY hat and
shoes and sit on ME. Then one of them got out the makeup. It took 9 Girl
Scouts to hold ME down and make ME glitter. Why didn't stuff like that happen
to ME when ! was a cub scout? 13 miles.

Day 54 Into Seattle August 4, 2001

! took the ferry over again and rode the bus into town. On weekends the
ferry doesn't go to the downtown piers. ! wandered around. ! could hear the
Blue Angels performing, but couldn't get any good shots of them. ! found the
Original Starbucks in the Pike Market just a couple blocks from "the pig".
The pig is a giant bronze piggy bank that people drop their spare change into
and they use it to help homeless people. It has become a landmark. ! actually
heard a guy on his cell phone telling someone to meet him by the pig. Earlier
this summer the lady who cast the original pig made 150 fiberglass casts and
distributed them to local businesses who sponsored them. They, in turn, had
artists alter them and place them all around town. Try www.pigsonparade.org
to see a bunch of them. There are people wandering the town trying to see all
of them. This is the coolest hostel !'ve been to yet. There was a group by
the barn when ! returned square dancing. There's a little airport just down
the road. ! think one more day here and !'ll work MY way to Victoria, BC.
Ride some and take some ferries then to Vancouver, BC. 0 miles.

Day 53 Seattle August 3, 2001

! went into Seattle today. You have to take the ferry across. After
checqueing the schedule it was determined that ! could go @ 8 am or 9:35. If
! missed that one it would be 3 pm before the next one went over. Since !
wanted to ride the Jackal ! skipped the van ride to the dock. ! left right
after it did and went to town (Vashon). Of course going to town was the wrong
way to go. Not too far out of the way thankfully. The only info ! got was
"it's pretty far" Now ! was running late. ! had to time trial an unknown
distance in about 20 minutes. Off ! went. It was 5 miles and ! was really
moving fast. ! wasn't sure ! was on the right track since there were no signs
along the way. Then down a steep hill. ! got to the dock just in time and
onto the ferry. ! got to talk to another 'cross racer & his girl friend who
were a minute later than ! was. 20 minutes later we were in Seattle. First
thing to do was the Underground tour. After 20 minutes of colorful history
that by itself was worth the admission we split up into groups to go out and
tour the first floors of several buildings downtown. The whole thing took 2
hours and was very humorous. It seems the first mayor was a democrat. He
introduced Seattle (then Duwamps) to corruption. He had the streets paved.
Just from his house to his office. He hired a relative to be the county
secretary. She lived in Ohio and didn't do anything except deposit her
paychecque. When he got his tax bill from the city he would sue and as the
mayor he would settle the case for large sums of money. W/ the city on the
brink of bankruptcy he set up a lottery to raise funds. Can you guess who
won? That's right. They reelected him a few times after that. Basically, the
guy who settled the area saw a huge hill covered w/ big trees right above the
bay. Chop the trees, roll them down to the ships and send them to San
Francisco. Bring back a shipload of money. He surveyed for the city on the
mud flats on the shore. Alas, he did his survey @ low tide. They built the
town anyway. There were sewage problems. In 1890 most of the town burned. The
city wanted to use water to sluice the dirt from the hill down to the flats
to raise the ground level. Estimated time for it to dry out and be usable was
10 years. During the wrangling brick buildings started going up fast. The
city decided to raise the street level above sea level and put in sewer
lines. They did this by building walls around all the buildings 8'-32' high
depending on how far up the hill they were. Once the walls were built the
started filling in between them. Mostly w/ dirt (they moved more dirt than
was moved for the Panama Canal), but also trash, dead animals, ship ballast
etc. Then they installed ladders @ each corner so you could cross the street.
After a few years that was a hassle so they put girders between the buildings
and the street walls and installed sidewalks @ street level complete w/
skylights on the corners. Now street level was on the second floor. The first
floors developed a very colorful history. There were several uses through the
years. "Seamstresses", theatres, speakeasies and rats. The city profited
greatly from the Yukon gold rush. After Prohibition was proven to be a
failure the underground fell into disuse. Mostly just old junk that the
building owners didn't want to pay someone to haul away. Then tourists. The
whole city is pretty cool. ! had a mocha before the tour. Then ! went down
the docks across the street and toured the USS John C. Stennis. That's an
aircraft carrier. There are 4 Navy boats in town for Sea Fair this weekend.
The Blue Angels will be performing on Saturday. They were practicing today.
We could hear them underground. ! got to see them fly by once. The line to
the boat was over an hour long. We went in on the hangar level then took the
airplane elevator to the flight deck. They had lots of planes and helicopters
on deck. The Admirals boat was parked in the hangar. That was cool. Then off
to REI before heading back to the ferry. ! saw a few couriers riding around.
About half were on phixies. This town has some steep hills. Back on the
island ! left the ferry lot and looked up a giant hill. ! rode it, but MY
quads burned a terrible burn and MY biceps are sore just from that climb. !
think !'ll take the van and the bus around town tomorrow. 23 miles.

Day 52 Lance was on Regis this morning August 2, 2001

Battered AA battery count 22


! got to see it since ! was in the hotel. He's off to see GW tomorrow.
Today was supposed to be a short day. On the road @ 10:30. ! went North the
way ! came then across on North 21st St. to Pearl St. Down to Point Defiance
Park to catch the ferry to Vashon Island. It was noon and the next ferry
didn't leave 'til 2:45 so ! rode around the park on Five Mile Rd. then up the
hill to get lunch. The Antique Sandwich shoppe looked interesting. After
waiting 10 minutes the line hadn't moved. ! went across the street to the
place that said they had the best food in town. It was OK. The really cool
thing there was the cherry shake. ! had to try it. It was amazing. ! nearly
ordered another one. After waiting around for a while the ferry was underway.
On the other side ! took the road up the West side of the island. There were
some big hills, but it was worth it. This hostel is neat. They have Teepees
and covered wagons for the private rooms. In the morning we get a "cowboy
breakfast". We make our own pancakes. ! went to the market and spent $24 for
dinner and some breakfast stuff. Good bacon and OJ. For dinner ! had spinach
ravioli w/ marinara. ! put some little shrimps in the sauce and cut up a roma
tomato. Broccoli and cheese sauce on the side and molasses cookies for
dessert. !'ll be shaving before ! head into Seattle tomorrow. ! have to have
a goatee to get in ! think. The Blue Angels will be performing this weekend.
There is an aircraft carrier and several other Navy boats on display. After
dinner we played frisbee in the giant camping area. Espresso tomorrow. !'ll
be here 3-4 days. 33 miles.

Day 51 Into the City August 1, 2001

It was mostly flat riding today. Back to Tenino for breakfast then up 507. Just before !
got to why 7 ! did 6 intervals just to remind MYself why ! don't do them all the time. !
was still clearing lactic acid out of MY legs when ! got into Spanaway, WA. ! went
almost to the North side of Tacoma before ! asked where the hotels are. They're all
down South. Back 7 miles to the Motel 6. They say Tom Bodet doesn't come around
to tell us a story before bedtime, but !'ll be watching for him just in case. There's an
Army base SW of here w/ an airport. !'ve seen lots of BIG military planes making sharp
turns down low over town. ! made it to Performance. They had most of what ! needed,
but no rack. The store in Redmond doesn't have one either. !'ll have to order one and
return the busted one for credit. !'ll be going to the IHOP for breakfast tomorrow then
onto the ferry to Vashon Island for a few days. The Seattle hostel is all booked up. !'ll
have to take the ferry over there to get espressos. !'ll probably be staying up late
tonight to install new parts. It actually turned into a high mileage day. Good thing ! left
early. 70 miles

Doug!!

Day 50 Almost Vacation Time July 31, 2001

Another easy day. It turned out that the eggs ! got last night weren't raw like ! thought.
They had been hard boiled. The maple oat muffin was yummy though. ! took back
roads all the way to Millersvania State Park. !'m just South of Olympia, WA. Probably
about 130th St. Halfway ! came into Chehalis, WA and spotted a laundry. It took an
hour to wash. Now MY towel doesn't smell like fresh mildew anymore. By then ! was
hungry. Off to the brew pub to feed. Then up through Centralia, WA and Tenino, WA to
the Park. !'ll have to back track 6 miles to Tenino in the morning for breakfast and to
get onto 507 then 7 into Tacoma, WA. !'ll be looking for Performance and a hotel. It
should be a longer day than today was. Last night ! was excited about getting online
again. The last several times ! was in a place w/ no local aol numbers so ! had to use
the 800# for $6/hour. Not only was it expensive, but ! had some of the slowest
connections !'ve ever had w/ them. Basically, all ! did was send mail which ! had saved
to be sent and downloaded e mail to read offline. Tomorrow !'ll be able to research
stocks and options and read a month's worth of Dilbert. ! have a whole list of stuff !
want to see. Last time ! said ! had gotten away w/ selling the options. Well, while ! was
sending that ! got assigned on the LUcent stock. ! had thought the options expired on
the 3rd Friday of the month. It's actually the Saturday after that. They got ME on the
last day. !'ve got a big loss on those. Less than if ! hadn't used them to make some
money though. The big 12 mile climb to Leggett, CA on day 33 is in a book called the
Pacific Coast by Bicycle or something like that. It shows 101 and 1 and also give an
elevation profile. ! got to see it recently. ! figured ! had climbed up about 1,000'. It was
actually 2,000'. Every page shows the graph only going to 1,000' except that page. !
started down near 50'. Everyone ! talk to about it is glad they get to go down it instead
of up. !'ll be up early tomorrow for a medium length day. 40 miles.

Day 49 17 Miles to Breakfast July 30, 2001

The family that owns the campground also has a restaurant just around the bend. ! had
dinner there last night. They said there might be someone there by 9 in the morning
who could cook breakfast. There is supposed to be food @ the next visitor center up
the hill. ! went the 8 miles up the hill in the fog w/out the B.O.B or the panniers. ! felt
like Lance. ! was climbing fast and easy. ! found the center. The gift shoppe was open,
but the restaurant was closed until 11am. ! had wanted to be on the road by 11 so !
headed back down to the place by the camp. They managed to rustle up some grub for
ME. From there it was a couple miles to the junction w/ 505 to Toledo, WA. ! thought
for sure Toledo would have a laundromat. They don't. Then a few more miles to the
Lewis & Clark State Park campground. ! got here early. Just in time for the
entertainment. The new campground host was moving in. They have a giant Dodge
diesel pickup pulling a 38' trailer. Their spot is barely longer than that and @ the top of
the hill w/ a little kink in the road. It took them 15-20 minutes to get it backed in. Then
out came the sides. It expands. Then up went the satellite dish. Since ! had so much
time ! went to the gas station/grocery and got some stuff for breakfast. They had a
basket of eggs so ! got just 2, some beef jerky and a muffin for breakfast. ! haven't
cooked any eggs on the trip yet because ! could only get 1/2 dozens and didn't want to
carry them around to break or spoil. !'m already planning what to cook once ! get to the
hostels though. Blueberry bread, eggs, bacon, OJ, burritos. Maybe huevos rancheros
too. Mmmmm. And, of course, espresso in Seattle. It's just one of the things you have
to do. ! also had time to true MY wheel and lube MY cables. ! think !'m going to ditch
this back wheel in Tacoma, WA and get a 36 spoke one. The 32 spoke is just not
tough enough. The rim is battered and the spokes don't match. The hub is OK so !'ll
send that home to build up for 'cross season. Sunny and warm today. An occasional
bout w/ the wind. Not too bad. ! was flying most of the time. 46 miles.

Day 48 Mount Saint Helens July 29, 2001

Today ! came up the Columbia river. It was supposed to be warm and sunny inland. It
has been cool and wet. It rained again last night. !'m camping off hwy. 504. The last
campsite before the top of Mt. St. Helens. May 18, 1980 is when it erupted last. ! had
wanted to get as close to the top tonight as possible. Alas, it's 32 more miles and
about 3,600'. That means a 64 mile day tomorrow minimum and it may be cloudy so !
wouldn't even be able to see it. ! looked @ the Mtn. w/ binoculars from the lower visitor
center. The campground here is $15/ night. ! have no intentions of staying here another
night. ! plan to ride 8 miles to the next visitor center @ 1,400' then return on 505
through Toledo, WA to a state campground near hwy. 12. That will be a kind of short
day. Then about 50 miles the next day to another near Maytown, WA. The day after
that will be a short ride into Tacoma, WA. for an hotel stay. !'m all out of clean clothes
so !'m starting to recycle. Maybe tomorrow !'ll find a laundry. 58 miles.

Day 47 Washington State July 28, 2001

! left late in the morning after it started to get a little brighter out. ! was afraid it might
continue raining. ! got a few blocks and it was drizzling lightly. ! could see blue sky up
ahead so ! continued on. It got much nicer. The sun was out and no wind. There were a
few hills, but nothing to tough. ! saw the bridge from a few miles outside of Astoria,
OR. It is 4 miles long and really high. The road has to circle around to climb up that
high. ! hear there are only two narrow lanes and no shoulder. 101 turns into 30 in
Astoria and that's the way ! went. In town ! bought MYself a Jerry Garcia tie. He did
some cool designs. Then on to Westport, OR to catch the ferry. IT goes to Puget
Island, WA then hwy. 409 goes across the island then across the bridge to Cathlamet,
WA. !'ve finished off another state. MY map doesn't show many state parks w/
campgrounds so !'m not sure exactly where !'ll be staying for the next few nights.
Outside Cathlamet ! found a mobile home park that takes RVs and tents. It's not very
nice but it's about halfway to the state park outside Mt. St. Helens. A few more days
and !'ll hit Tacoma. Perhaps a hotel there. There is a Performance bike shoppe there.
!'m going to get some new handlebars and tape to replace in Vancouver. The bars are
as old as the seat post was. It doesn't appear damaged, but ! don't want to wait for it to
snap. Probably a new chain and other parts too. 47 miles for day 47.

Day 46 Nothing July 27, 2001

! did almost nothing today. ! rode to the internet cafe' and the grocery store. Then !
walked down to the beach. After tonight's movie it was sprinkling outside. ! got in MY
tent and listened to the drops hitting. It got heavier, but just steady. It rained all night. !
think !'ll be off in the (late) morning. 2 miles.

Day 45 Huevos Rancheros July 26, 2001

It's been awhile since ! had huevos rancheros. There is a Mexican restaurant next to
the hostel in Bandon, OR that had them on the menu, but they didn't open 'til 11 am.
What's up w/ that. ! got some for breakfast today. The waitress spelled it wavos
rancheros. ! knew it was going to be a short day today. Just to Seaside, OR for the
hostel. ! got here early. All the rooms were booked up. They do have camping in the
back yard so that's what ! did. ! made it to the bike shoppe and got fixed up and a new
tool and, finally, ! got to go kayaking. Two miles up the Necanicum river. That's as far
as you can get @ high tide. There's another river w/ a confluence just before the ocean
near here. !'m going to have to See about doing that. MY deltoids are sore. They show
a movie every night here. We watched Get Shorty last night. It's kind of funny. !'m
going to stay another night here then, since !'ve heard horror stories about the bridge
from Astoria, OR over to WA., ! think !'ll head inland there and take a ferry and a bridge
over @ Westport, OR. then over to Mt. St. Helens. That way ! get a few more days of
riding in and it'll be warmer and ! can get to Tacoma, WA on smaller roads. It looks like
once ! get to Seattle, WA !'ll be getting a couple weeks of rest since !'ll be hanging out
there and in Vancouver, BC and Toronto and on the train. ! can take ferries from
Seattle to Victoria, BC. 33 miles.

Day 44 Loot July 25, 2001

! went to Sambo's for breakfast. It's a little like Denny's. Way back in the 70s there
was a whole chain of them. Then people started getting pc and decided it was just
wrong to mention that Sambo was black. The chain tried a few things, but ended up
bankrupt. The one in Lincoln City, OR wasn't part of the chain so it survived as did one
in Santa Barbara, CA. ! figured today would be about as far as what ! estimated
yesterday would be. ! took a cutoff onto the Old Scenic 101 that added about 4 miles.
Then a section along the coast to Tilamook, OR. Coming into Tilamook ! was feeling a
bonk coming on. Or maybe it was a little dehydration. Anyway, ! stopped for a Power
gel and headed into town for lunch. !'ve been eating lunch in some funny sounding
places lately. Tilamook and Yachats, OR. From there it was on up to the campground.
It didn't look like it was that far and ! felt a lot better after feeding. ! decided to skip the
backtracking to the bike shoppe since it sounded like a place that mostly sold videos
and did some bike work on the side. ! had a busted spoke on the drive side and since !
was concerned about weight ! left MY tools to remove the cassette @ home. No telling
how long it had already been. ! figured it could last 50-60 more miles. Around Tilamook
Bay is a really tough place to make any progress w/ a camera. About halfway around !
spotted a RR track just 50' from the road w/ some action going on. Tilamook Bay Line
short line had a pair of diesels pulling a flat car w/ a shovel chained down to it and
several gondolas full of spools of tubing. It looked like they were putting it into a trench.
Right where ! stopped the shovel ran into a snag. They were stalled. It tried to pull it
up, but just managed to rock the flat car. It was quite interesting. On the other side of
the road was the bay and a good shot of the harbor. Just around on the other side a
junk yard w/ a couple cranes and then another shot of the harbor. Just a bit farther up
an old steam engine w/ a few cars and a speeder. ! forced MYself to continue onward.
When ! got to camp ! found a picnic table w/ a bunch of stuff abandoned on it. 2 pairs
of tyres. One had a Mr. Tuffy liner in it. And a jar of organic peanut butter unopened.
Two cans of spray paint. The paint had scraped off the dropouts on the B.O.B. so !
painted them to stop the rust. Then ! sprayed another coat of orange on them just for
fun. ! thought ! was carrying a bunch of stuff until the Germans showed up. They had a
tent over twice the size of mine w/ 3 rooms and as many clothes on their clothes line
as ! have and more in the tent. All that on 2 mountain bikes. There were also a pair of
Canadians and a pair of Californians. ! was the only American there that night. And
also the only one going North getting stronger. Almost everyone goes South to get the
tail wind. They are getting weaker. 84 miles.

Day 43 Perseverance July 24, 2001

! was on the road early this am. It was 12 miles to breakfast so no waiting around. !
could see MY breath. ! thought about putting on the arm warmers, but decided to just
keep riding to warm up. ! did. Then got cold while feeding. The wind today was not bad.
On occasion it was brutal, but not often. It also warmed up quite nicely by mid day.
Into the 70s ! think. And sunny. It was fabulous. !'m not sure how the fog went away
w/out pulling in the winds unless perhaps the water is warmer here than on most of the
coast. Perhaps not as deep so it heats up faster like the shore does. About 1pm !
looked up and saw a sign for a model RR open to the public. ! darted across the street
to view. The little old guy came out and rambled for an hour about every highway and
RR between Denver and the Pacific. He had most of a single car garage filled w/ HO
scale Santa Rosa, CA. A whole lot of rail and all of it filled. He basically had a folded
figure 8 setup. Off to Depoe Bay, OR for lunch. ! had MY first clam chowder. In a bread
bowl of course. Actually the bread bowl was just tossed into the regular bowl. ! was
feeling good most all day. Perhaps it's because ! figure only 3 more days on the coast
then inland to the warm still air. ! can hardly wait. ! was attacking the climbs 'til MY
legs burned. They were mostly short and not too steep. ! had figured on 60 miles
today. In Lincoln City, OR ! saw a sign that said OR state park. The road name was
the same as the campground name so w/ some trepidation ! made the turn. 5 miles of
curving and undulating tarmac later ! was back out on 101 North of town. ! had gone all
the way around Devil's Lake to no avail. ! backtracked a couple miles and there it was
just a block from the highway. ! think !'ll have breakfast @ Sambo's tomorrow. !
remember seeing and feeding @ Sambo's a few times as a small child. Then they
disappeared. There's one barely a mile away from here. 69 miles.

Day 42 Wind & Hills July 23, 2001

Battered AA battery count 21


! got a late start today owing to the fact that the hotel had HBO and ! decided to stay
up 'til 2am watching "The Perfect Storm". Not a bad movie. ! got going about 11am.
Headed into Reedsport, OR for breakfast. Too late. ! ended up having a Garden Burger
and a basket of fries for breakfast. Just out of town ! hit a nice long climb. Long and
steady. Not too steep. There were more climbs. Most w/ long fast descents on the
other side. ! stopped for groceries in Florence, OR and since ! had just eaten recently !
got a banana and a Hershey bar for a snack. The wind really picked up while ! took MY
break. ! went the rest of the way through town w/out getting into double digit speeds.
The wind continued and the climbs got steeper. ! was traversing the edge of Cape Mtn.
1,469' peak. Then a long descent to where ! spotted the Hacetas Head Lighthouse.
One more mile of climbing and it was downhill and straight all the way to the
campground. ! thought it was about 50 miles to the campsite but it turned out to be
only 40 so ! went back a couple miles to the lighthouse for the tour. ! had to climb the
hill ! just came down then down the hill ! had climbed earlier then down the side road to
the beach. From the beach it was a 1/2 mile hike up to the lighthouse. You may have
guessed by now that ! had to climb again to get back to the campground. ! talked to
the ranger. It looks like the place ! had planned to stay tomorrow night is too close. !'ll
go on to another campground then the next day to the Seaside, OR hostel. That
means !'ll be hitting WA on Thursday or Friday depending on how long ! stay there.
Maybe some kayaking. 46 miles.

Day 41 Warm July 22, 2001

It was actually warm yesterday and warm again today. ! ate leftover pizza
for breakfast and took a short nap. ! was planning to go to Reedsport, OR
about 50 miles away. About 3 miles short of Reedsport ! found a hotel that
had a special going on. They are remodeling so all the new rooms are $35. !
figured that was good enough to stop 3 miles short in Winchester Bay, OR.
Just a few miles out of Bandon ! turned off onto Seven Devils Road. It
probably only added a couple miles and was a much nicer road. ! got back to
101 North of Coos Bay. The RVs are everywhere. Nice and warm all day and
sunny. Not much wind and the hills were not bad @ all. ! think the rest days
really helped. 50 miles.

Day 40 Disappointment July 21, 2001

! stayed over an exit night here in Bandon, OR so ! could go kayaking up
the river. The guy @ the shoppe said he had a group arriving @ 8 am so he
would definitely be there. ! got there about 9 and the place was locked up. !
waited around for a while then decided to wait @ the hostel. Nothing. ! went
to the library and read some e mail and put in some orders to sell some
options. If ! get what ! asked !'ll make more than ! did last month on them.
!'m liking these options. Too bad the Lucent stock is soooo far down from
what ! paid for it. @ least ! can make back some of it. !'m surprised that
they didn't get exercised in the last month. They were definitely "in the
money". Maybe !'ll get lucky again this month and they won't get up high
enough for anyone to want to exercise ME. Only 28 days 'til the new ones
expire. ! also looked around in some of the shoppes in old town. Some of the
galleries were interesting. Tomorrow night ! should be in a hotel in
Reedsport, OR so ! can send this out. 0 miles today.

Day 39 Rest Day July 20, 2001

Not very far to the hostel so ! took it easy. ! hardly used MY big ring @
all today. !'m in old town Bandon, OR. Right across the street from the
harbor. This is a fairly large town along the coast. 2,270 people. There are
very few people in this country who live in big cities. A lot are just living
in little towns. Just before ! got to town ! stopped for fudge @ a little
shoppe. Just as ! pulled in one of the state representatives pulled in to
talk to the owner about highway access. It seems the D.O.T. is way out of
line and making things up. This is a nice little tourist town. Lots of little
shoppes. ! think !'m going to stay tomorrow too and take a sea kayak up the
Coquille river for a few hours. !'ve been watching the sunsets when it isn't
fogged over. Amazing tonight. It set behind the lighthouse. The clouds lit up
and turned orange. The bay was streaked w/ orange. A mere 28 miles.

Day 38 Rain July 19, 2001

It rained this morning. ! was asleep through most of it. It wasn't too
hard which is good since ! didn't put up the rain fly last night. Very little
leaked in. This tent works well. It gets bitterly cold. ! could see MY breath
when ! left this morning. After being inside w/ everything closed up for a
short while it gets nice and cozy. That's w/out the rain fly. If ! put it on
! would pump out the sweat and it would condense on the inside of the fly. !
got up, walked on the beach and went into town for breakfast. Then to the
bike shoppe. Yesterday, in Crescent City, CA, when ! needed a seat post, !
was advised to go to the Escape Hatch. "It's just about a mile down the
road". ! went looking for it and found a dead end. Then ! found another
shoppe. Well, today, ! went to the bike shoppe in Brookings, OR. Guess which
shoppe ! found. The Escape Hatch. ! got MY part and another tool. No sales
taxes around these parts. It's odd. ! figured it would be about 58 miles
including the 8 running around town. Then around 20 tomorrow. It was quite a
few more than that and lots of climbing. ! went around Humbug Mtn. The climbs
where steep and when it was flat or downhill the winds were ferocious. When !
stopped for lunch ! found out how far it would be to the camp. Farther than !
had anticipated. ! was counting down the miles slowly. Then the tenths.
There's the turn. Cape Blanco State Park 3 miles. Argh. Moments later.
Campground 5 miles. The wind and the hills are making ME stronger. @ least
they better be. Tomorrow will be an easy day. About 30 miles to the hostel in
Bandon. ! may take a day off there too. !'m going to sleep late and then just
spin easy. !'ve earned a rest day. 73 miles

Day 37 A Good Day July 18, 2001

"I don't take anything for granted. Now I only have good days and great
days" Lance. Right out of the hostel driveway was uphill. Uphill for 3.7
miles. Then a short flat and more climbing. @ least ! wasn't cold. And ! felt
ok climbing after a bit. It's tough starting out that hard w/out any time to
warm up. @ 6.7 miles ! was heading downhill when ! felt it. MY saddle moved
back and down. ! knew what was happening. ! had dreaded it. MY seat post had
snapped. !'ve had it happen 3 times in the past. It was always sudden.
Everything was ok then suddenly the saddle is on the ground. This time was
different. It split on the front but the post was too strong to tear apart
completely ! was able to nearly pull the whole thing out before it broke
completely ! had to adjust the rack and put what was left of the post back in
so ! could ride to the next town. Crescent City, CA. About 9 miles w/ the
seat way too low. ! got a new post and a new blinker. Every thing set up and
!'m off again. 2pm and !'ve only managed 18 miles. About 20 more to the
border. ! had to make a few stops to get everything adjusted but it was
working well. ! was making good time and finally got into Oregon. That's
where they invented oregano. Brookings is the first town and they have the
obligatory info place. It was just hard to find. ! did find it next to a used
RV place. Since they where open ! went into a couple. If you ever get a
chance to go in one of the big ones do it. Those things are amazing. The
entire coast it seems is covered w/ state parks, but very few have camping.
There was one 2 miles away and the next one was farther than ! wanted to go.
I got into camp and decided to do some maintenance. Damn good thing ! did
too. If ! hadn't ! wouldn't have snapped the seat post binder bolt. ! have to
ride into town tomorrow to get a $5 part so MY panniers don't swing into MY
wheel. Then come back to break camp. Good thing ! stopped right outside of
town. ! realized tonight that for the last couple weeks !'ve pretty much been
living on the beach. 47 miles.

Day 36 Last Whole Day in CA July 17, 2001

Today was to be an easy day since ! didn't want to pass up the Redwoods
hostel. ! slept late, walked down the beach and then rode of an hour and a
half later than the day before. The hostel is closed between 10am and 4:30pm
so there was no point in getting there early. It was about 15 miles to the
first town and breakfast. Off ! went. ! came across the visitor center in the
Redwood National Forest and was concerned about finding food so ! went in to
ask. They said 1 more mile to town. As ! was leaving ! saw another cyclist go
by heading North. Most are heading South w/ a tailwind. ! had to speed up
some to catch him in the mile ! had to MY stop. He was riding a 1958 Sturmey
Archer 3 speed. Just after passing him ! turned off @ the restaurant and then
groceries. There were more tourists there. After an hour there ! continued on
and got onto the scenic alternate route. It was a gradual climb. Not bad, but
not fast. ! busted another spoke and pulled over to replace it. There was a
couple on a Goldwing from Vancouver there so ! talked to them for a while
until a guy from Seattle stopped. He was carrying a large fanny pack and
nothing else for a three week tour. ! now had about 20 miles remaining. The
climbing continued until ! hit 30 miles. Then it was downhill for 2 miles to
get back on the freeway. A short climb and then another long, fast descent. !
hit 38 mph even though !'m not supposed to go over 30 w/ the B.O.B. Guess who
! saw just ahead of ME. The guy on the 3 speed. ! caught up to him and
chatted for a few miles. He is trying to make the border tonight. That will
put him 25 miles ahead of ME. !'ll probably pass him again tomorrow. ! wonder
how long it will take. ! had a couple hours to wait 'til the hostel opened so
! went across to the beach and walked around in the sand barefoot. It was
really hot. ! waded into the ocean past MY knees. That was really cold. It's
good for the muscles though. It cuts down on the swelling and makes them feel
better. Now !'m fed and bathed and relaxing. !'ll feed again in a few hours.
Then sleep in a real bed w/ a pillow. 41 miles.

Day 35 Second Millennium July 16, 2001

Today is the day ! hit 2,000 miles. Just North of Rio Dell, CA. Once
again on the freeway. ! got an early start. On the road @ 8am through the
redwoods. Then out onto 101. ! made Eureka, CA by noon and found a bike
shoppe. ! had them tighten up the bolt in MY pedal. That stopped the infernal
ticking !'ve been worrying about for a week or two now. ! also got a cap
since it is bitterly cold around these parts when !'m off the bike. The
shoppe had caps w/ Japanese characters on them. ! got the one for the
Avalanche. Avs rule. Then bagels for lunch and over the bridges to Somoa
island in the bay. It looked like ! might save a few miles by going over the
bridge instead of around the bay on 101. Not much, but it was not nearly as
busy. The wind was back today. !'m back on the coast. ! planned a big day
today so ! could just do a few miles tomorrow to the hostel in the Redwood
National Park. ! get to sleep late tomorrow then find a good place for
breakfast. Hope ! can find a Denny's. !'m rather fond of the Grand Slam
Slugger deal. Mmmmm. ! walked on the beach and sat out there reading today.
!'ve noticed that the road sides are littered w/ scraps of redwood. Just
about out of power so it's time to shut down. 82 miles.

Day 34 Avenue of the Giants July 15, 2001

! felt ! should do about 75 miles today to make up for taking off early
yesterday. About 30 miles out ! turned onto the Avenue of the Giants. Highway
254 runs nearly parallel to 101, but through the redwood forest. ! also have
been informed that just before last night's campsite ! reached the northern
terminus of Highway 1. It's all 101 from here. Another sunny day. There was
wind though and some climbing. ! broke 2 more spokes today. About half way up
Ave. of the Giants ! stopped @ the visitor center. The only campsite before
Eureka was a mere 2 miles up the road. ! had wanted to camp a bit south of
Eureka, but didn't want to go farther than that. So, being hungry and lazy,
!'m now just outside Weott, CA. ! found a little store (Mama Su's) and was
tempted by the 1/2 pound hot dog. After that is was across the street to the
campground. ! was all set up by 4pm. ! went to the beach of the Eel river and
read for quite awhile. Then back to the store for a couple microwaved
chimichangas and a YooHoo. They had a couple recliners in the corner and
Opera on the boom box. Nice little place. Early to bed tonight so ! can do
many miles tomorrow. ! want to make the Redwood Forest hostel for Tuesday
night. That should be doable. 52 miles.

Day 33 Redwoods July 14, 2001

Battered AA battery count 19


After breakfast ! hit the road out of Ft. Bragg, CA. It was cold. ! put
on the goretex jacket. ! had expected it to get warmer and sunnier once !
turned inland. It didn't wait that long. Just a few miles w/ the Goretex and
it was up into the 70s @ least. ! ran into a group of high school kids from
all over the country who were riding from Seattle to San Francisco. 14 of
them. All w/ red pennants on their bikes. That was just before leaving the
coast. ! had wanted to do almost 70 miles today. Once ! started East !
started to climb. It just went up and up. It was warm and sunny too. Just
what ! wanted. ! was a little surprised. The news said it was supposed to
cool off for a few days. After 10 miles it leveled off and ! thought for sure
it was over. Not so. ! climbed 12 miles from sea level. ! was working the
whole time for 4-6 mph. then ! realized ! was hungry. It was 4pm after all by
the time ! hit the summit. It looked like ! could get food in Leggett, CA.
They had a restaurant that was closed and a store. ! had a couple frozen
burritos and a Haagen Daz bar. A patron told ME the campground just a couple
miles away was really good so ! decided to take off early. They had a
swimming hole in the Eel River so ! got to do a few laps. It felt like it was
going to be really cold, but once ! was in it was fine. There are 2 groups of
riders heading south in MY camp area. 7 all together. ! talked w/ all of
them. Over @ the store ! got an Arrogant Bastard Ale. ! had seen their
jerseys, but never the actual beer. It's very stout. Beer is fun. !'ve got
quite a buzz going. !'m thinking of staying up late to enjoy it. 48 miles.

Day 32 Ft. Bragg, CA July 13, 2001

! saw 7 tourists going south today. ! saw some sunshine today. And wind.
! wore the arm warmers today. After several miles of rolling hills ! came
upon a little grocery/deli. Spinach and feta calzone and a big piece of
chocolate cake. ! got a nice chocolate bar yesterday, but forgot to eat it.
!'m taking care of that now. ! just saw that some people think they've found
the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's plane. !'m in a hotel in Ft. Bragg, CA for
the night. Tv sucks. !'m not really seeing anything to miss. Late tomorrow
highway 1 turns inland for a few miles so maybe it'll be warmer. There may be
flooding in Denver. MY house should be OK. ! think ! may look for an inland
route through Oregon and Washington. 43 miles

Day 31 Vultures July 12, 2001

! slept really well last night. 10 hours. ! checqued MY resting heart
rate. It was only 48 bpm. Usually it's right @ 60. Everywhere ! go around
here they seem to be conserving water. They have nearly half the water on the
planet sitting right next to them. ! don't understand. The air is so dense
here. And damp. No wonder they got an ocean. All that humidity condensed out
in a big puddle. ! got 1 mile out and a vulture leapt from a tree and flew
gracelessly down the road in front of ME. ! nearly hit it. ! stopped soon n
after that @ a hotel for breakfast. They had an ocean view and a little
ornamental pool in the back. There were a couple raccoons hanging out back
there. They've had 'coons get into to kitchen overnight before. @ the
restaurant ! met Cayc & Dee. They are traveling up the coast by SUV. !'ve
learned that the coast is either cold and foggy or cold and windy. The wind
blows away the fog. ! got to see the ocean in the sunshine today. It really
is big. ! think !'m a little too far north to see Hawaii by now. Maybe if the
sun had been out a few days ago. !'m @ a KOA Kampground outside Manchester,
CA. 49 miles.

Day 30 By Golly It's Been a Month Now July 11, 2001

! left Point Reyes this am and got to walk most of the first 2 miles up
that 17% climb. After that it was up and down. Some nice, fast sweepers and
little climbs. About half the day was on the San Andreas Fault line. Later !
got to the big climbs. One looked like the climb to Independence pass except
it was green. ! rode the whole thing. The thing !'ve noticed about the little
roads in CA is that they often have treacherous precipices on one side. No
guardrails. Just a few wildflowers to keep you from plummeting to your death.
Finally over the top. ! was ready for a campsite by now but doubted ! would
find one anytime soon. Then, boom, there it is. A nice spot too. ! have a
little foot bridge across to MY spot and a big redwood to lean the Jackal on.
After pitching MY tent ! walked down to the beach. No sand just rocks and
touched the Pacific for the first time. ! had touched water in San Francisco
Bay and Drakes Bay, but this wasn't a bay @ all. This was the real thing. The
ocean is a huge place. It goes to the edge of the world. Time to sleep now.
61 Miles.

Day 29 Point Reyes July 10, 2001

!'m in Marin County. The birthplace of mountain bikes. No bike shoppes to
be found. ! stayed an extra day @ the hostel. ! had planned on riding out to
the light house on the point, but it's 25 miles each way and ! was feeling
too lazy for that. ! just rode to Point Reyes Station for breakfast then
headed toward the light house. ! found the Inverness library and checqued
some e mail then got groceries and a sandwich. After dropping MY groceries !
rode down the trail to the beach. ! figured it would be fun to ride around
w/out all the weight. It sure was easier. Although, !'ve forgotten how to
handle the bike w/out it. It feels like it wants to fall over. Kind of how it
used to feel before ! learned to stand w/ the load. !'ll have to re-learn the
light bike handling for 'cross season. 38 unloaded miles.

Day 28 Point Reyes July 9, 2001

! came across the Golden Gate Bridge today. It's a long way down over the
sides and very windy. ! had to walk the whole way. After wandering around on
the other side ! finally figured out where to go. Into Sausalito where ! had
lunch. Now, when ! go in a place that sells burgers of $8 ! expect better
service than waiting 10-15 minutes to get MY order taken then nothing from
the waiter until ! go up and ask for MY checque. No service No tip. The hills
around here are harsh and twisty. Then on the last descent to the hostel !
saw one of the steep descent signs w/ the truck on it. It said 17%. !'ve seen
a bunch that say 6%. 17% is a steep hill. !'m going to spend tomorrow here
and ride to the lighthouse beach to look for whales and seals. It's 25 miles
each way. W/out the trailer. !'ll get to see if !'m getting any stronger.
Hope so. 52 miles.

Day 27 Alcatraz July 8, 2001

! stayed an extra day @ the hostel in San Francisco to see stuff. ! took
the cable cars to Market St. ! met a girl from Italy and we spent the day
wandering around. We went up Coit Tower where you can see the entire city.
Lots of photos. This evening ! went to Alcatraz on the Ferry. ! got to tour
the cell blocks and look around the island. It started out as a fort then
became a minimum security military prison before it was converted to Maximum
Security. There were 5 escapes. None of them were ever found and are presumed
dead. The water is very cold and it's a mile and a quarter to San Francisco
w/ a 4 mph current. There is a triathlon every year that starts out there and
they swim to shore so it can be done. Probably in a wetsuit. 0 miles.

Day 26 Into San Francisco July 7, 2001

The plan was to ride to a few miles outside of San Fran then head in
early the next day to a hostel. That way ! would have plenty of time to ride
around town. As ! got closer ! figured out that it's all city around here so
! went on in and (finally) found the hostel. $22.50 a night. That includes a
bagel, juice and coffee for breakfast. ! think !'ll ride up to Point Reyes
today and camp or stay @ the hostel there. The hills are huge here and the
streets are narrow. Not a good place to be dragging the trailer. It's
definitely a courier environment. 78 miles

Day 25 Big Day in California July 6, 2001

! rode around town some then to Watsonville. That was over an actual
mountain pass only it was 3,000' and 40* lower than what ! would have been
dealing w/ riding across the desert. It is so much nicer here. By 11am ! had
stopped @ a small winery and had a few tastes. In Watsonville ! stopped by
the bike shoppe for some parts and saw lots of airplanes going over. Off !
went to the airport. ! got checqued out in a Katana. Just after takeoff ! got
MY first sight of the Pacific. We actually were flying out over the water.
For a tiny little plane the Katana really goes fast and climbs well. Then
through Santa Cruz, CA out onto Highway 1. The Pacific Coast Highway. All you
have to do here is camp on the beach. If you can find a way onto it. ! looked
for quite awhile before ! found a spot and it's not even on the beach. There
are cliffs that ! don't even want to consider dragging the Jackal down or
back up. ! can hear the ocean and see it. It goes on forever. ! guess there
really isn't anything out there. 67 miles.

Day 24 500 Miles July 5, 2001

Battered AA battery count 14


As ! stated last time, !'m tired of the desert. Too hot and too
dangerous. ! got on the Greyhound in Vegas and took it to LA. The bus depot
was crowded and ! had a bunch of stuff. ! dragged MY trailer over to the guys
loading and went back for the bike box. This really friendly guy offered to
help w/ the box and then when ! got on the bus ! ended up sitting next to
him. For some reason he felt he had to confess to ME that he was stowing
away. He had come to Vegas 5 days earlier w/ 2 friends. After a couple days
there was a knock on their motel door. The cops took the 2 friends away for
robbery. And they took the return bus tickets. This guy had spent the last 2
nights sleeping @ the bus station. First stop LA. On the way we stopped in
Barstow, CA @ the Amtrak station. It's a regular Greyhound food stop. There
were 4 busses there and one little store about 10' by 15' inside. One lady
working the counter, two cash registers and two microwaves. With the whole
store packed and people lined up out the door she handled everything
efficiently.. ! had to go back and congratulate her on her focus. Then after
waiting around off we went to Gilroy, CA. the Garlic Capital of the World.
They process a lot of garlic there. ! got there a little after 5am. Some
sleep on the bus. Actual riding was only about 2.5 miles.

Night 23 Busted

After checqueing in and feeding ! played the slots a little bit here @
the Hilton and won $15. Then ! watched this guy win a Mustang convertible.
After that ! went down the Strip to get some pictures. ! got to see the
Mirage volcano erupt. ! have never played blackjack before, but !'ve heard it
is the best odds game around so ! found a $5 table and started playing. After
3 hours ! was up over $1,300. Then it went away. All ! had left was MY $100
stake. ! didn't want to blow that so ! left the table. Then ! decided to go
back. ! broke MY one $100 chip and played for another hour. It's all gone
now. ! figured ! could lose $100. That's why that's all ! got. Oh well. !
should have quit while ! was ahead.

Day 23 Las Vegas July 4, 2001

What a tough night. The wind picked up just as ! was setting up the tent.
Then it started going really strong. Of course it was directly into the side
of the tent so no ventilation. ! was a little worried about tent damage but
it seems OK. Once the wind subsided it was just hot. ! was dripping sweat
trying to sleep. ! did for short bits. Around midnight ! got hit in the face
by a couple raindrops so ! scurried outside and put up the rain fly. Now even
less ventilation and the 5 raindrops was the whole storm. ! had all the doors
open and finally got a few hours. Now !'m just killing time 'til the cafe'
opens then off to Vegas. ! made it to Vegas. After 10 hard miles ! got onto
the Boulder Highway and got to race w/ a triathlete for a few miles. The
strip is really cool looking, but the rest of town is just ugly. Tonight @
7pm ! find out if ! win the Mustang convertible or the Harley. ! think the
Mustang is preferable. !'ll load up the Jackal and cruise to CA then sell it.
It was 105* when ! got here. !'ll get pictures for next time. A mere 31
miles today.

Day 22 Chloride to Hoover Dam in Four Hours July 3, 2001

! got onto 93 and started moving fast right away. ! was cranking along
about 25 mph. until ! got to 20 miles. ! only slowed down a little then. It
was hot for sure. ! didn't even open up the sleeping bag last night. About
half way it started to climb. Not much, but ! could tell. Then for the last
15 it started getting steep. Almost granny gear climbs and then big descents.
Then the descents ended and just the big climbs. They were hurting and it was
really hot. ! found out later that it was 118*. A steep 1 mile descent to the
Dam and then crossing it was a traffic jam. ! pulled into the visitor center
for H2O and dumped a few bottles on ME. It's a two mile steep, narrow climb
w/ switchbacks up from the dam. ! rode the whole thing. Cars were lined up
all the way to the top coming down and moving slower than ME. ! had decided
that ! would camp in Lake Mead and then just 25-30 miles into
Vegas tomorrow. That's the new strategy. Get close to a hotel so its just a
short day to it. That way ! get to spend more time there. ! talked to the guy
@ the visitor center. He said it's usually about 15* hotter out in the desert
than here. It's way to hot here. Dangerously hot. And since ! have more money
than Mother Nature. ! must. ! see bus adds telling ME "otters don't have
annual incomes" !'ve decided to see the rest of the desert by bus. !'m really
sick of the desert. !'ll be in Gilroy, CA (garlic capital of the world) on
Friday. Not nearly as hot and different scenery. And a far better chance of
not dying. ! like that part. !'m sitting in the tent right now dripping w/
sweat and it's long after dark. It was 102* @ 8am here. This campsite has
trees all around ME. And birds. Noisy birds. They were making all the sounds
you've ever heard from a pinball machine. It sounded like an arcade. ! was
wondering when the deaf, dumb, blind kid was going to show up. 76 miles today.

Day 21 Easy? day July 2, 2001

! looked @ the map. Losing 2,200' to Kingman, AZ looked like it shouldn't
be too hard. ! figured ! could do another century and then an easy ride into
Vegas. ! started out rolling easy and fast then up some then up some more.
Not too bad. A couple short steep drops and then mostly level. ! didn't
really want to do all the descending really fast. Just gradually over the
whole ride. Well, somewhere ! missed the descending. Up a hundred feet then
down about 500'. It started getting really hot. 110*. The road was almost
flat. A "false flat". And once ! got into the Mojave desert the wind started
blowing hard. ! was in MY granny gear doing almost 10 mph. Finally, ! made it
to Kingman for lunch @ Cracker Barrel. Then another 20 miles to Chloride to
camp. That put ME about 80 from Vegas. On 93 out of Kingman there was a
crosswind. The tumbleweeds were a-tumbling. They would rush up to the edge of
the road, look for cars and then dash across when it was clear. ! saw a road
runner too. After turning off 93 onto the road to Chloride ! was heading
straight into the wind and going uphill. Whew. ! figured ! could make the 4
miles in a half hour. A mile into it a guy turned around and offered to let
ME load up the Jackal in his cattle trailer. He dropped ME off @ the town
park/campground. 88 miles today. Maybe Vegas tomorrow.

Day 20 No Flats July 1, 2001

After 4 straight days of @ least 3 flats a day ! had none today. About
damn time. ! did manage to break 2 more spokes. @ this rate ! may have that
wheel rebuilt by CA. The guy @ the hostel lied. He told ME it was 55 miles
max to Grand Canyon Caverns from Red Lake (the one on 64. Not one of the
other 2 that !'ve noticed so far). 81 miles today. He said "I live in Ash
Fork and it's only 13 miles from here. And it's all downhill so you don't
even have to pedal." After 8 miles uphill ! dropped into Williams, AZ on
Route 66. 12 miles @ Denny's. There were 4 tandems outside. They were enroute
from CA to the other ocean. Credit card touring. ! think the 8 of them had
less gear than ! have. Williams, AZ is @ 6,770'. Seligman, AZ is only 5,240'
It looked as though it might be an easy day. A big climb out of Williams and
then a 6 mile descent @ 6%. That's 1,900' to about 5,000' or so. ! got onto
Route 66 again. Then a climb up to 5,700' and a descent to Seligman, AZ. !
wasn't really hungry, but ! was hot so ! stopped @ the milkshake shoppe. It
was a total 50s thing. All outside. Shakes, floats, burgers. And DJs blasting
50s tunes. Lots of old cars out front too. On to Grand Canyon Caverns @
5,500'. The cavern goes down 210 feet. Still, ! was higher than ! was in
Seligman. @ least ! got lower than Denver for a little while. Tomorrow ! head
to Kingman, AZ @ 3,325'. The Grand Canyon Caverns are 40 miles from the Grand
Canyon and 150 miles the way ! came. They get their name because they traced
the source of the air coming into the cavern to the Grand Canyon. It takes 2
weeks for it to make it all that way. The guy that found the cavern thought
it was full of gold so he bought all the land around it. It wasn't so he
started lowering people 150' down on a rope for a quarter. Then they built
stairs and ladders. He ended up losing the cavern in a poker game. Then it
was sold to the family who owns it now in Denver. It's always 56* and 6%
humidity down there.

Day 19 The Canyon June 30, 2001

Wendy & ! went to breakfast in the morning then ! went to the airport to
see the Canyon from the air. A de Havilland Twin Otter w/ giant windows and
STOL kit. ! got to sit right behind the cockpit. The view was amazing. Almost
an hour in the air for $60 and ! filled up a whole digital film card. That's
nearly 8MB on one flight. !'m looking over them now. ! think ! can upload all
of the photos so you can browse them @ your leisure. !'ll let you know. After
landing ! took off towards Williams, AZ. @ 46 miles ! found a hostel. Also, !
met a guy from Austria out touring. ! had lunch in Valle, AZ just like
yesterday, but ! could barely get up afterwards today. Just so tired. ! guess
! didn't get enough sleep last night. This place has a VCR and a bunch of
movies so that'll be tonight's entertainment. Maybe. A few children have
landed. We'll see. About an hour 'til sunset. ! hope they don't take over the
tv room.

Day 18 To the Canyon June 29, 2001

Battered AA battery on road side count: 10

Day 18 (June 29) To the Canyon
Checque out was @ 11am but since AZ doesn't do Daylight Savings Time that
is actually noon to ME. ! trued up MY wheel and adjusted the brakes and made
it out just in time. MY map says that the canyon is about 100 feet lower than
Flagstaff. There are three mountains along the way though so the road weaved
in between them up to 8,046' Then it dropped to 6,000' in Valle. ! had had 2
flats already and while talking to the guy @ the little store it went flat
again. ! went to the Flintstones Village for lunch and got out of there w/
2.5 hours 'til sunset, 20 miles and 800' of climbing to the nearest campsite.
! time trialed it for the first 10 miles and had another flat. The last few
miles ! didn't push 100% but they still hurt. The campsite had plenty of
spots open so ! was OK and on the way in ! met this cute Wendy. ! went over
to her site and we talked for about 3 hours. She lives in Boulder and did an
11 week tour last summer. She also used to race and does Karate.We're going
to go to breakfast in town later. Then !'ll take the airplane tour of the
Canyon and head to Williams, AZ for tonight. 77 miles.

Day 17 Fix-a-Flat June 28, 2001

This morning it was push the Jackal out to the paved road. Just over 1/2
a mile. Then onto the highway. ! got to 0.9 miles or 100 feet from where the
tent had been when the back tyre blew out again. ! patched it and pumped it
back up. ! could hear it leaking so off again it came. ! couldn't find a hole
so ! just put in a new tube. 14 miles to Denny's. 3.5 miles later it blew
again. ! patched the tube and decided the tyre was done so MY spare tyre went
on. Just over 1,000 loaded miles on the rear is OK ! guess. The front looks
OK still. ! got to do about 7 miles on Route 66 through Winslow, AZ. Prior to
that ! saw another tourist heading East on the other side. When ! got to the
end of 66 ! stopped into a convenience store. He had been in there several
hours earlier and crashed. Had to stop for a minivan and couldn't get out of
his toe clips. ! was going to feed @ the next town then camp a few miles
later. That would leave ME a short jump to Flagstaff, AZ where ! am now. The
next town had nothing going on so ! took MY banana and kept going. Shortly, !
happened upon a large pickup truck w/ a teenager underneath and his Mom
looking on a bit concerned. They had a flat and the spare didn't want to come
loose. There was a trick to it. We figured it out, got it changed and they
gave ME a ride into town. We pulled off @ the next exit to get air and as we
left a homeless family (moving from Florida to Anchorage) pulled down the
ramp and waved @ us. They had gotten some bad gas and their minivan was
stalling. My chauffers had a cell phone so they called a tow truck to get
them fixed up. And that is it so far. Time for dinner.

Day 16 Millenium June 27, 2001

When ! got up this morning there were cows in the parking lot. The sun
was out and !'ve had two days of resting MY legs. MY arms are sore from
swinging the crowbar. After twelve miles ! had gained 1,200 feet. A long
steady climb to begin what would be a tough day for the Jackal. @ the top of
St. Michael's Summit ! noticed the front tyre was low so ! pulled over and
pumped it up. A couple miles later it was flat again so ! patched it. Once !
got it reinstalled POW. Another hole. Patched that one and off ! went for a
few more miles until it blew out again. This time ! peeled off the bad
patches and put better ones on. Just as ! was about to depart HISS. ! had to
repatch again. Then onto what ! was told would be a small town @ Ganado. !
had to get some groceries there if ! was going to go across the reservation.
No luck. ! changed plans. Down to I-40 then to Flagstaff before the Canyon.
!'d be out of clean clothes by then and that would give ME a couple more days
between hotels. !'ll be going to Vegas next to pay for the trip and the new
sports car. While eating @ the deli in Ganado the tyre went soft again. No
point in patching it again. New tube. Just what it needed. A few miles after
getting on I-40 ! hit 1,000 miles. Just a few to go to the campsite in the
Petrified Forest. ! had 92 miles. They told ME ! could ride in 2 miles, leave
MY bike and hike a mile in and camp or ! could ride all the way through the
park (28 miles) and out the other side to camp. That would put ME a couple
miles farther away from Flagstaff. ! opted to make progress to the next exit.
! found a spot to camp and managed 101.7 miles. Third century so far. Right
after the 1,000 mile mark ! broke a spoke. Then on the dirt road to the camp
spot ! punctured MY back tyre. It's all fixed now. 60 or so miles tomorrow
then a short ride into town to spend a lot of time in the hotel.

Day 15 Demolition Man June 26, 2001

It was raining this morning and it looked like it would rain all day. Can
you believe it? Raining in AZ? ! decided to stay another day and tear stuff
up. We got the floor and cabinets all pulled out shortly after the sun came
out. This buliding was a thrift shoppe w/ an apartment in it when ! got here.
Now it is a frame, trusses and a concrete pad. We took the tin roof off
before dinner. The whole building was wobbling so ! went in and put up some
braces. ! didn't really want to leap from the scaffold to avoid a collapsing
building. !'ll be taking MY "will work for food" sign and heading out
tomorrow.

Day 14 Day Off. Razin' Arizona June 25,2001

After breakfast today we went to the building next door and started
tearing out drywall. Then posts, ceiling tiles and insulation. The whole
building is coming down. @ this rate maybe tomorrow. ! got to smash stuff w/
a crowbar until MY hands were blistered. We ripped up most of the floor. The
roof comes off tomorrow and the kitchen cabinets come out then the walls come
down. Across the street there is a steep dirt hill. Some of the girls
struggled to walk up it. There was a local guy who had run up and down it
eight times. He's training for the 2004 Olympic trials for marathon. ! ran it
once. ! think the altitude is really hurting the kids. We're @ 6600'. Almost
time for a big dinner. Good and Free meals. And a place to sleep indoors.
What a deal. Next time ! sleep indoors will probably be in Flagstaff, AZ
after the Grand Canyon

Day 13 Grit June 24, 2001

! woke up somewhere West of Lukachukai, AZ in the Navajo Nation. ! never
saw the town. Didn't see Greasewood either! went over a pass in the Chuska
Mountains then into Ft. Defiance. Then another 3 miles to Window Rock. !
found the church. 63 miles today. !'m going to take tomorrow off and help
tear down the building next door. !'ll be sleeping indoors both nights. Food
and shelter. Maybe !'ll true up the Jackal's wheel tomorrow and adjust the
brakes. These folks flew into Albuquerque and then drove 150 miles to get
here. Gads. And now it's raining. !'m in charge of wacking flies. About a
dozen have perished @ MY mighty hand. Smells like spaghetti for dinner.

Day 12 Siesta June 23, 2001

! woke up in Beclabito since that is where ! went to sleep. Once ! was
all packed up ready to go ! went to see the missionaries for some water. Ken &
Evelyn Greenwell were quite nice. Evelyn had been making bread and gave ME a
loaf. ! just ate half of it for dinner. Tasty. Their son took off many years
ago on a bike tour from Kansas City, MO and ended up in Seattle. Thanks for
the bread. So it was back into AZ for ME to start out. In the last 2 days !
went through Baclabito, NM and Teec Nos Pos, AZ 3 times each. 64 became 160
then ! got on 191 down to Round Rock. Then 12 will take ME the rest of the
way to Window Rock tomorrow. Just before ! got to Rock Point ! got rained on
for a good 5 minutes. Then came the wind. ! pulled up @ the PO and lay down
on the bench for a half hour while the winds subsided.Quite refreshing. Alas,
the next 16 miles to Round Rock were for some reason incredibly dull. After !
got onto 12 the heat started to get to ME. ! found a little house w/ a shady
side and took a nap on their porch. By then it had cooled off quite a bit but
! could see virga and rain all around and lots of wind. ! waited more then
decided 6 more miles may get ME out of it and ! should try it. After 5 miles
! changed MY mind and pitched camp. Just in time too. It's now raining on ME.
Not hard. Good thing ! put up the rain fly. It should be gone in the morning
and !'ll be off to Window Rock. A mere 50 or so miles away. See, ! am cutting
back. 84 miles today

Day 11 Four Corners June 22, 2001

Remember: le Tour de France starts on July 7. Coverage is on Outdoor Life
Network w/ Phil Ligget. www.OLNTV.com Tune in to see Lance win his third Tour
in a row. ! wouldn't mind if you taped it for ME either.


There is only one spot in the entire US of A where 4 states have their
borders come together. That spot is 66.5 miles from MY motel in Farmington,
NM. Since ! was in the motel last night ! sent and received e mail. From
earlier episodes you may recall that ! flew MY buddies Bob & Leo out to ky.
(the jelly state) to stay w/ Mother while ! was touring. Bob cat doesn't care
for travelling. He really didn't like the flying. He crawled under the back
seat and just huddled there. ! clipped their leashes to the fence @ the
airport while ! unpacked the plane. He thought ! was going to abandon them or
something and kept trying to climb over the fence to ME. He loves ME so much.
! was there on and off for 4 days then flew home. Mother just informed ME
that a couple weeks ago Bob took off and hasn't been seen since. The dogs
weren't harassing him. !'ve heard stories of kitter catters crossing whole
countries to get back to their people. ! wonder if that is his plan. !'m
hoping he is just hanging out in the woods and will return to Mother's house
soon. ! am quite worried about him and wondering if this whole trip is a
mistake.Giving up Bob is too much. It's too late to fix it now. ! just hope
it takes him longer to get home than it takes ME. We are homeless and ! doubt
the "sponsors" would know what to do w/ him showing up. Perhaps they'll fall
for him and sneak him in to his house. ! miss him a great deal. ! hope he is
OK.
The desert is a harsh and unforgiving environment. ! left Farmington this
morning after 11. ! had planned on going to 4 corners then on across AZ to
the Grand Canyon. Once ! got an AZ road map ! realized that the entire way
would be on Indian Reservations. After the one ! had just covered ! didn't
want to spend several days in another one. That and Mother's church group
does missionary work in Window Rock AZ (near Gallup, NM) and the cook said !
would be welcome to come by for food and a shower. ! sure would like to take
a day off and a little back tracking to go around the res. didn't look so
bad. Off ! went to 4 corners. By the time ! hit Beclabito ! had drunk over
half MY water and wasn't sweating anymore. That sounds like the symptoms of
heat stroke. Lo & behold an Indian Chapter House. ! stopped in for more
water. After dumping most of what ! had on MY head and chugging the rest !
went into the bathroom to refill and stick MY head under the faucet. By the
time ! left ! was chilled and shivering. Ahhhhhh. While @ 4 corners ! talked
to a guy who did the '96 RAAM (Race Across AMerica) on a team of 8 tandems.
They finished in a little over 6 days. He brought his camcorder over an
talked to ME about MY trip. Now on the way back ! figured ! would stop @ the
Beclabito Baptist Church for the night. That is where ! am now. The minister
advised ME to go back to AZ and take highway 191 instead of 666. That will
take ME almost straight to Window Rock w/ just a couple extra miles. ! am so
watched over. 85 miles today. ! know. ! really want that day off.

Day 10 Scorched on the road to ruins. June 21, 2001

Up and on the road by 9am today. ! figured !'d take 2 days to get to
Farmington, NM. Just as ! got on the highway the sign said 50 miles. That
means one day and @ the rate ! was going to start out ! could be there by
noon. Just north of Farmington is the Aztec Ruins monument. Why not stop by
there? ! did. Turned @ Bloomfield and went up one steep climb. ! kept
chanting "! think ! can, ! think ! can" Made it. Then it kept going up just
not as steep. The ruins were interesting. Not really Aztec. They were
actually Anisazi. ! had been flying most of the way to town except for a few
hills. Back to Farmington the road turned evil. 3 lanes. Busy. Shoulder about
4 inches wide and sandy. And the heat. 94*F. !'m feeling much better now that
!'ve had a cool shower and a hot meal. ! got an AZ map so ! can plan out
where !'ll be heading next. Definitely up to the Four Corners. Then towards
the Grand Canyon. That's what you get when you ride around the water bars on
the trails. Just finished laundry. Those gloves really reaked.

Day 9 Did it again June 20, 2001

! broke camp @ 6:30 am. The first 9 miles took an hour and a half. The
next 2 were over in 5 minutes. Over the hill it started to feel good. @ about
30 miles ! was getting close to Tierra Amarilla. The road was smooth, flat
and fast. ! was doing 23 mph w/ very little effort. ! looked back and spotted
a roadie 1/4 mile back keeping the same pace. The race was on. He was
unencumbered so ! knew he would be a threat on the one hill. ! still managed
to beat him then after the next little climb ! pulled into the cafe' as he
went by. ! figured !'d go the next 12 miles to Chama for an early lunch w/ 48
miles already. From there it is only about 7 miles to the Continental Divide.
! took heart in noting that the peak of the next mountain near MY route was
800 feet lower than ! was. Over the Divide and it's all downhill. Finally.
!'ve done 7 big climbs in the 9 days out so far. ! decided to go for the
century. That would put ME through the Apache reservation and into the West
section of Carson National Forest. It was mostly downhill. The wind of course
was going uphill in quite a hurry. ! had to pedal hard to go down @ 8 mph.
Ouch and the heat. ! made it to a campsite w/ 109 miles. ! know ! said ! was
going to cut back to 50/day, but ! was overcome w/ irrational exuberance. The
biggest thrill came when ! realized the lids of MY panniers had pockets in
them. On the dull parts ! would amuse myself by popping the blisters on MY
sunburned arms. They refill in an hour or so. Kind of like renewable bubble
wrap. Time to sleep.

Day 8 Fear June 19, 2001

! spent the night in Taos @ the Holiday Inn. Checqued e mail and sold
some options. Also did 20 laps of the wading pool. That thing was so short it
seemed like a couple strokes and it was time to flip. ! got a Fat Tire w/
dinner. Mmmm. In the morning ! went by the H&R Block office to see about
classes. All the offices in NM and AZ are franchises except Albuquerque and
don't do classes 'til September. Next stop was Gearing Up bike shoppe for
some parts and a geek mirror. It seemed like a good idea, but ! just am not
getting it yet. On the way out of town ! passed the Taos Regional Airport.
What a sight. A flock of gliders waiting to get towed. ! crossed over the Rio
Grande Gorge and then came by this place where all the homes are self
supporting. www.earthship.org. Camp was to be in the Carson National Forest
just off Highway 64. ! was concerned about bears, wolves and mountain lions.
!'m sure there's something about living out in the wilderness that's
appealing. ! just haven't figured it out yet. ! like the city. ! did manage
to see the Big Dipper one night. ! don't think ! had ever seen it before.
We'll see if ! get used to it.