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| This page was created for friends and family to follow along while I was actually on my trip. I called in updates to my brother, Caton, as often as possible. A few times I was camping in remote areas of the desert without cell phone coverage or access to a pay phone. Most of the entries below were taken from my personal trip journal I kept along the way. I am keeping this page up just for personal documentation. |
| date |
location |
mileage |
notes |
| 9.15.01 |
Portland, OR |
0 |
Worked on the web site.
Planning to camp tomorrow (Sunday) night on Mt Hood and depart Monday morning. |
| 9.16.01 |
Mt. Hood, OR |
0 |
Elevation 6513ft. Camping at Clear Lake National Forest campground, about 15 miles past Government Camp on Hwy 26. Put the bike together, loaded the trailer and took a test ride around the campground... rear derailer needed slight adjustment. Pasta shells with Prego and French bread for dinner. No Verizon coverage here. |
| 9.17.01 |
Redmond, OR |
82 |
On the road by 9:20... trailer imparts much greater wobble than expected or experienced during loaded training rides. Later adapted to control it well enough by keeping rigid steering and hard brakes.
After about 40 miles, right knee begins bothering me and I stop for lunch at Warm Springs Museum picnic area. Recalibrated cyclometer w/GPS, continued on to Madras to buy camping food and a knee brace.
All day, gorgeous views of the Cascades, Mt Hood, Mt Washington, the Three Sisters and Three-Fingered Jack.
Knee feels much better and I plan on riding to Bend to get a good start on the 2-day ride to Burns. Unfortunately, 5 miles before Redmond the right knee begins seriously hurting.
Elev 3020ft. Total ascent: 3153. Total Descent: 4230 |
| 9.18.01 |
Bend, OR |
115 |
16 mile ride to Bend, including a flat front tire, successfully fixed.
Marsha and her fellow employees at Sunnyside Sports Bike Shop were super nice... we discussed my knee pain and determined that my legs weren't extending enough. I adjusted the frame to allow for greater extension and had to install 2 extra chain links to compensate.
Off towards Burns tomorrow, camping on BLM land. |
| 9.19.01 |
Riley, OR |
219 |
[very weak phone signal]
Very chilly this morning. Knees not a problem. Desert!!!
Bumped into a fellow cyclist at a rest area ... made it all the way to Riley. There's a BLM campground just a mile or two down a gravel road, but I'm not camped there -- I'm camping next to the road because it'll be easier to get off.
Riley consists of a gas station, a convenience store, and ... [unintelligible] ... total miles today: 104. woo-hoo! |
9.20.01
1:15pm |
Burns, OR |
237 |
Not sure you could hear me last night... Have made it to Burns, and expect to be out of contact until tomorrow night at the earliest. Hope to make at least 50 additional miles today. |
| 9.21.01 |
McDermitt, NV |
393 |
Made 77 miles yesterday and camped last night on public land, off the side of the road. Couldn't sleep much for the coyotes howling in the shadows.
97 miles today and a new state! I'm in McDermitt, NV just across the border. Have shot a roll of film which I will mail back soon. Disposable cameras are expensive in McDermitt -- $20, tourist prices. |
| 9.22.01 |
Winnemucca, NV |
472.5 |
79.5 miles today. Another kick-ass day of desert riding. Found the groove. Nevada's rumble strips are much better than Oregon's, and its smooth asphalt makes for fast riding
Got to town a little past 4pm and looked for a post office to mail the camera, but it was closed on Saturday. Looked for the visitor's center hoping to get a Nevada bike map, but it was also closed. After buying some groceries, I planned to find an RV park with tent-camping spots, but they're all outside of town and the sun was setting.
Yielded to the temptation of a $25 motel. |
| 9.23.01 |
Battle Mountain, NV |
532.5 |
60 miles today. Was on the freeway by about 9 o'clock this morning. Had brand-spankin' new asphalt most of the way. Started out with a hard, 30 minute, 5 to 5 1/2 mph uphill climb, followed by two rear flat tires -- both times from small little wires, probably part of a car tire. Had strong sidewinds and headwinds all day long.
Pulled into Battle Mountain planning on tenting it in an RV park for 2 nights, taking tomorrow off. The only RV park turned out to be part of the Flying J truck stop, so I succumbed once again to the $30 motel room. |
| 9.24.01 |
Battle Mountain, NV |
541 |
Taking the day off and checking my email from the library.
A few lists that I am keeping [completion of lists can be found here]:
Road Kill
- Coyote: 6
- Rabbit: 1
- Porcupine: 1
Noteworthy Wildlife
- Pronghorn Antelope
- Golden Eagle
- Coyotes
- Rabbit
- Quail
- Fieldmice
- Hawks
- Ravens
Scary Things
- Semis going 55+ mph 2 ft. away!
- Wide loads
- Gravel
- The thought of quitting
- Looking down the 300 ft. cliff to the Crooked River in Central Oregon
- Bridges with little or no shoulder
8-9 miles of riding around Battle Mountain today, and another flat tire. BLM office for maps. Library for email. Mexican food for lunch. Hardware store for patch kit. Grocery store for supplies. Chicken fried steak for dinner. $2 down the drain on nickel video poker. Refilled flask :) |
| 9.25.01 |
Austin, NV |
632 |
1:30 pm Stopping for lunch at the Valley of the Moon rest area. Got off to an early, 7:30 start, but had another flat. The shoulders around Battle Mountain are obviously not swept often enough. I've had strong headwinds all day, so I probably won't make it as far as I'd like -- Austin is another 50 miles.
Camping shouldn't be a problem, at least. According to the BLM maps, Nevada is pretty much all public land between here and Las Vegas.
8:00pm Camping at RV park in Austin, an old mining town. Made better time today after lunch, despite 4671 ft of vertical climbing. Removed flagpole from the trailer -- greatly helped stability in the crosswinds, and got up to 33 mph on downslopes.
Discovered in Battle Mountain that I'd missed by 1 week (it's next weekend) the 2001 World Human-Powered Speed Challenge. They race recumbents down Hwy 305, which I'm travelling on now. |
| 9.26.01 |
Middle of Nowhere, NV |
713 |
81 miles. Camped in the middle of nowhere, off of the road a bit. |
| 9.27.01 |
Tonopah, NV |
778 |
11:00 am 36 miles so far today. Pausing in Tonopah to resupply on groceries and water before continuing on. Hope to make Scotty's Junction this evening.
I think I've discovered that the prevailing winds in Nevada blow from the south -- I've been riding into headwinds for the past several days.
In the shout-out department, a big hello to Gretchen :)
9:00 pm Rode 64.9 miles total today. 15 miles past Tonopah, descended 1200 vertical feet into 20mph + headwinds with gusts -- I only made 7 mph while pedaling downhill -- which made for dangerous conditions with the rumblestrips across the entire shoulder and trucks speeding downhill.
At the bottom, I stuck my thumb out an hour and a half or so, hoping for a pickup truck to give me a lift further, then decided to bike back into Tonopah and pick a different route. Took me almost as much time to go back up the 1200 feet with a tailwind as it took to descend into the headwind!
I think my alternate route will be east on Highway 6 to Warm Springs, where I'll get on Nevada 375 -- "The Extraterrestrial Highway" -- southeast past Area 51 to hook up with US 93 in Vegas. |
| 9.28.01 |
Rachel, NV |
887 |
109 miles today -- the best yet! The first half of the day was great, until I turned southward around 2pm. The headwinds are still grueling. I'm staying at the Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel, NV ... my room is 1/2 of a mobile home. Going to pop into the bar for a drink and see what they have in the way of memorabilia.
Las Vegas is about 140 miles away, so I seriously doubt I'll make it there by tomorrow night. Probably another evening camping in the Middle of Nowhere, NV. Hey, all those text messages should finally show up then. |
| 9.29.01 |
Middle of Nowhere, NV |
988 |
101 miles today. I'm about 40 miles south of Alamo and about 48 miles north of Las Vegas. The desert floor is too hard to drive tent stakes into, so I'm just sleeping under the stars tonight. Pepper spray at the ready for any coyotes.
Dinner tonight is tuna and tortillas. The tuna's a gift from a WalMart trucker I met last night in the Little A'Le'Inn bar. He'd been fishing off the coast of California and caught a load of salmon and albacore. Spiced it and pressure-canned it in mason jars. Tasty stuff.
Met a nice couple at the Area 51 visitor center. They took some pictures of me with my camera, and shot some video (digital I think) so maybe they'll email some stills or something. |
| 9.30.01 |
Boulder City, NV |
1056 |
68 miles today. I've been having a blast, yelling "woo-hoo" a lot as I cruise down hills. I'm very satisfied with my choice of the alternate route -- it's been an awesome three days of gorgeous desert riding with almost no cars at all. I had to stop twice to wait for cows to cross the road, since it's all open range.
Today I've stopped about 10 miles shy of the Hoover Dam at Boulder City, Nevada. Staying at the Flamingo Inn Motel -- "Clean Rooms, Low Rates, Cable TV." Dinner tonight was cheese ravioli and garlic bread at Tony's Pizza, and right now I'm heading over to the Southwest Frosty-Freeze for dessert.
Hope to make it the 80 miles to Kingman, AZ tomorrow. After that, only 200 miles to go! |
| 10.01.01 |
Kingman, AZ |
1137 |
81 miles today, for a total of 1137. First 1/2 of the day was hard, but it got better as the day went on. I'm probably just feeling a bit tired -- it's been a week since I've taken a break. Still, I plan to press on tomorrow and take no more days off before reaching the end of the road.
The weather was cloudy all day, so it wasn't as hot as I expected ... didn't have the sun on my skin until evening, when it peeked through. Crossing Hoover Dam was impressive this morning.
The RV Park in Kingman doesn't allow tent camping, so I went for the $19.99 motel room (of course). I'm walking down to the House of Chan American & Chinese Steak, Seafood & Cocktails Restaurant for dinner. |
| 10.03.01 |
Scottsdale, AZ |
1341 |
11:30 am I'm in Wickenburg, AZ at the Horseshoe Café, about to have lunch on my final day of riding. Rode 89 miles yesterday for a total 1226. Camped amongst the rocks and prickly pear in the middle of the desert last night.
Hope to make it to Scottsdale by 6 o'clock this evening. I've already ridden something like 43 miles today... it's all coming to an end.
6:45 pm I've made it! 115 miles today -- my best yet -- for a total of 1,341.4 miles. That's it ... I'm here. A great day of riding -- it was awesome. I had a smile on my face all day long.
Mailed back 4 disposable cameras yesterday from Wikiup, AZ via Priority Mail, so they may arrive in Portland by Friday.
Have hardly even had a chance to talk with Gretchen yet -- I've had a shower and we're about to head out to find some dinner. |
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