2009 Cross Country Bike Trip: May 2009

A COLD foggy morning start in camp in Sandlake Oregon.

A leisurely two hour lunch break in a river next to highway 22.

This is what happens when 5 bikers see something cool on the side of the road.

FREE DINNER at the Polk County Fairground! Thanks to Amanda and the amazing foodservice staff!

Raquel Pinderhughes (SFSU professor extraordinaire) gets front seat on my bike trailer.

We met Matthew Pack, a cool kid riding SOLO from Canada to Mexico! Go MATT!

Just finished our third day of riding – our best yet! We covered just over 60 miles, taking us through some of the most dynamic scenery I’ve seen. Morning started in a dense costal fog just outside of Sand Lake Oregon. We followed the stunning highway 22 from the beach, through the costal range and out into Oregon’s agricultural valleys. We’d been following the Little Nestucca river through a valley for about 15 miles before the 80 degree heat made it too appealing not to jump in. A 2 hour lunch break later and we were on our way!

We randomly started riding with an awesome kid named Matthew Pack yesterday afternoon. We had stopped to change a tire and were cheering him on as he rode past, and he decided to join us for two days. Turns out he was riding SOLO from British Columbia to Mexico! We all enjoyed each others company for two days before parting ways. Fun times.

We rolled into the unassuming town of Rick Reall at about 4 PM, unhappy that the only camping option was in the back of a fairground. Fortunately it turned out to be one of our greatest “mistakes” yet. A Saturday night 50’s music dance party was booming in the town hall, complete with live music and an interesting small-town American crowd. Amanda decided to chat up the food service folks and ended up scoring us a HUGE hamburger + fries dinner, FREE. Check out the pictures, they capture about 10% of our excitement!

Thanks to the good people at the church in Grande Ronde! The cool water was a great refresher!

Thank you to the Polk County Sheriffs deputies – GREAT people!

So far we’ve had no major mechanical problems with the bikes. Poor Nick has had 5 flat tires in 3 days, but on the plus side he can now change out a tube in about 5 minutes flat! ? Fingers crossed our good luck will continue.

Love to everyone at home!

We had a FANTASTIC first day of riding! Weather was clear and warm – 70 degrees! Life is SO GOOD! We started out voyage in Fort Stevens State Park in Oregon and make it as far as Manzanita – about 45 miles, not bad for our first day. Had some brief mechanical issues with the bikes, but were lucky to be very near a bike store both times. Other than that it’s been smooth sailing down one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world.