Friday April 4, 2008, 102 miles (164 km) - Total so far: 813 miles (1,309 km)
Check it out on Google Maps
Today was a lucky day! At least the end was. The first part of the day was pretty brutal. Today's stats? 4700ft of climbing, 5200ft of downhill, and 102 total miles. I'll be in Texas by tomorrow evening which I am excited about; it means I've knocked out 3 of the 8 states! Yay!
I'll jump to the usual highlights and lowpoints and tell the end of the day story last.
Highlights:
-getting my first care-package
-not getting rained on when it was raining ahead a little.
-slowly grinding up to the pass, huffing and puffing... This car pulls up alongside while I'm riding, I thought they were going to cheer me on, instead they start having a full on conversation with me telling me where they're coming from and the lake they're looking for; they wanted directions! I actually knew where this lake was, about 60 miles in the opposite direction! Boy were they lost. It was pretty funny so I'll call it a highlight.
-while stopped and hunched over the handlebars, trying to get some oxygen to my head at 7900ft, having a couple stop and make sure I was ok. They offered to take me and my bike to the top in their car, and I explained that I was planning on pedaling every mile across the country but that their offer was very nice and appreciated.
-getting to the top and having no water...and then another couple gave me some when I asked if they had any.
-the ultimate "highpoint" of the trip! Emory pass at 8228ft. The views from the top were wonderful!
-having a swarm of bees trying to pollenate me. (After I put on my bright neon yellow windbreaker at the top)
-huge downhill, super fast.. I was going 40mph for about 10 minutes. I felt like I was in one of those car commercials, you know the type, some cool music playing and a driver whipping around tight turns in the mountains with the warning in small print "Professional Driver. Closed Course. Do not attempt." I was cruisin and needed a disclaimer message following me!
-getting to Hillsboro and finding 3 restaurants to choose from... ALL closed! What the heck!? To my luck (and this goes along with the last story) one of the owners was locking up and leaving, and after some begging, she got me an almond croissant and a sprite :). There was no other stores open in town, it was 3:30pm, and I hadn't eatin all day, and I was at mile 59 of 102.
-smooth sailin the next 43 miles into Hatch.
-scaring away a dog by barking and growling at it (see lowpoints)
-Riding past super symetrical pecan groves. I like symetry.
-arriving in Hatch before dark. (I didn't actually start riding till 10:30am and made it to Hatch at 7:00pm)
Lowpoints:
-more climbing. Blah.
-cold at the top ( I put on all my warm stuff for the descent)
-the end of the downhill.
-being chased by an angry pitbull who seemed hellbent on biting into my flesh. (See highlight above)
That's it for lowpoints! Another lovely day on the bicycle.
Onto my last story of good luck.
First off, I have a routine now for the things that need to be accomplished each evening... And tonight couldn't have worked out better!
I pull into town at 7:00pm... Decide to find the grocery store. At 7:03 they were locking up but after more begging they let me in and I got what I needed. Yes! Next.. I wanted subway, but google maps said the nearest one was 35 miles away. Darn. Gotta find a restaurant.. All closed! Decide to go to motel to check in: what's across the street? Brand new subway. Next door? Dairy queen for strawbeery milkshake. Built into the motel? Laundromat for my stinky clothes. The luck!! Wouldn't it be nice if such simple things always made you so happy? On a trip like this it's much appreciated when something like that happens, especially after such a long hard day.
I'll jump to the usual highlights and lowpoints and tell the end of the day story last.
Highlights:
-getting my first care-package
-not getting rained on when it was raining ahead a little.
-slowly grinding up to the pass, huffing and puffing... This car pulls up alongside while I'm riding, I thought they were going to cheer me on, instead they start having a full on conversation with me telling me where they're coming from and the lake they're looking for; they wanted directions! I actually knew where this lake was, about 60 miles in the opposite direction! Boy were they lost. It was pretty funny so I'll call it a highlight.
-while stopped and hunched over the handlebars, trying to get some oxygen to my head at 7900ft, having a couple stop and make sure I was ok. They offered to take me and my bike to the top in their car, and I explained that I was planning on pedaling every mile across the country but that their offer was very nice and appreciated.
-getting to the top and having no water...and then another couple gave me some when I asked if they had any.
-the ultimate "highpoint" of the trip! Emory pass at 8228ft. The views from the top were wonderful!
-having a swarm of bees trying to pollenate me. (After I put on my bright neon yellow windbreaker at the top)
-huge downhill, super fast.. I was going 40mph for about 10 minutes. I felt like I was in one of those car commercials, you know the type, some cool music playing and a driver whipping around tight turns in the mountains with the warning in small print "Professional Driver. Closed Course. Do not attempt." I was cruisin and needed a disclaimer message following me!
-getting to Hillsboro and finding 3 restaurants to choose from... ALL closed! What the heck!? To my luck (and this goes along with the last story) one of the owners was locking up and leaving, and after some begging, she got me an almond croissant and a sprite :). There was no other stores open in town, it was 3:30pm, and I hadn't eatin all day, and I was at mile 59 of 102.
-smooth sailin the next 43 miles into Hatch.
-scaring away a dog by barking and growling at it (see lowpoints)
-Riding past super symetrical pecan groves. I like symetry.
-arriving in Hatch before dark. (I didn't actually start riding till 10:30am and made it to Hatch at 7:00pm)
Lowpoints:
-more climbing. Blah.
-cold at the top ( I put on all my warm stuff for the descent)
-the end of the downhill.
-being chased by an angry pitbull who seemed hellbent on biting into my flesh. (See highlight above)
That's it for lowpoints! Another lovely day on the bicycle.
Onto my last story of good luck.
First off, I have a routine now for the things that need to be accomplished each evening... And tonight couldn't have worked out better!
I pull into town at 7:00pm... Decide to find the grocery store. At 7:03 they were locking up but after more begging they let me in and I got what I needed. Yes! Next.. I wanted subway, but google maps said the nearest one was 35 miles away. Darn. Gotta find a restaurant.. All closed! Decide to go to motel to check in: what's across the street? Brand new subway. Next door? Dairy queen for strawbeery milkshake. Built into the motel? Laundromat for my stinky clothes. The luck!! Wouldn't it be nice if such simple things always made you so happy? On a trip like this it's much appreciated when something like that happens, especially after such a long hard day.
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