Ray's Travels

Unless you are Scooter Libby it’s a bit tough to
celebrate the 4th of July with Dubya as President. But
we digress. . .

We have over 1200 miles of riding behind us. There is
hope than this trip is doable.

Yesterday was a tough day crossing the Continental
Divide. Although the climbs were a bit less steep than
the previous day the road conditions were a problem.
There is a seven year project rebuilding the road we
were traveling and parts of it were closed to
bicyclists. We had to be shuttled about 5 miles over
the construction area. Because of safety issues and/or
road closures it doesn’t count against our EFI (Every
Fabulous Inch) of bicycle travel. It made for a long
day due to standing around and waiting to be shuttled.
On the way into Dubois there was a stiff headwind
which we didn’t need at the end of a long day.

Dubois WY is a very isolated town. It would have been
nice to spend a little more time there. It really has
the feel of an authentic Western town. Although we
were running late for dinner they had to hustle us out
of the restaurant’s dining hall because they had to
set up for a square dance. Dubois has a more authentic
feel than the tourist traps we’re all so used to.
(Jackson Hole is now a big traffic jam with all the
chain stores you’ve seen a thousand times.)

Today we had an easy 79 miles into Riverton, WY. It
was mostly a gradual downhill. Although there was a
slight headwind the weather and scenery was so
beautiful that we couldn’t complain.

This evening some severe thunderstorms rolled through
Riverton. We’re hoping that all is clear by the
morning as we have a 120 mile ride across a lot of
nothing to get to Casper, WY. In Casper we get a rest
day which we need.

This photo was taken from our hotel room window. I guess, in the end, nature
provides the most impressive fireworks.

We did 88 miles today over a couple of tough passes
and into Jackson, WY. The second climb was murder. A
lot of riders had to walk their bikes for part of the
way up. The early part of the ride might have been
easy except we found ourselves riding into a stiff
headwind.

Tomorrow we climb over the Continental Divide. That
involves a climb to over 9600 ft. The total ride is 88
miles again. The bad news is that we understand that
some of the road is torn up so about 15 miles may be
on dirt roads. We end up in DuBois, WY.

The day after is 79 miles to Riverton, WY and then we
have a 120 mile day into Casper, WY. After that, a
rest day which will be much needed.

The good weather is suppose to continue. Please drop
in your local church and light a candle in praise of
Westerly winds. We need them.

The trip is rolling along. We managed quite nicely on
the 97 mile day. We got an early start and got 60
miles behind us before 11:30am. We finished the day at
about 4:00pm after stopping for lunch and taking a few
breaks.

After traveling all of that way I got a flat tire 1/2
block from the hotel. It was our first of the trip.

Today was an easy day. Only 38 miles from Twin Falls
to Burley, ID. That gives us a little extra rest time
for tomorrow. We bike to Blackfoot, ID which is 110
miles. It will be sunny, hot and dry. It’s going to
take a lot of sunscreen and water to get through this
one.

People living on Park Ave., Fifth Ave. and Lake Shore Dr. are jealous.

Not the Library of Congress but an award winner in Idaho.

Today we had an easy day to ease us off our off day.
We did 50 miles from Boise to Mountain Home, Idaho.
Our perspective has really changed. 50 miles used to
be a hard day of biking. Today I’m thinking that I can
wear my shorts again tomorrow without washing them
because they didn’t hardly get used today.

Mountain Home, ID is the location of an Air Force base
and apparently little else. What we saw of the town
wasn’t impressive in the least.

Tomorrow the challenge resumes with a 97 mile trip to
Twin Falls, ID. We are told there is some beautiful
scenery and we don’t ride on the Interstate.

Doing only 50 miles today got us to the hotel around
noon and before it really warmed up. Tomorrow we won’t
be so lucky. The heat is bound to hit us mid
afternoon.

So far, so good. Less than 3,000 miles to go.

We made it into Boise, Idaho today. It was a fairly
easy 53 mile ride. The weather has been beautiful so
far. It’s very cool in the morning so we can get most
of the ride in before the afternoon heat.

Tomorrow is our first rest day and most everyone is
happy about that. Boise has changed so much since I
was last here about 30 years ago. As expected, about
the only thing I recognize is the state capital.

Tomorrow, massages and rest. Life is good!

You know you are in Idaho when you see this:

Update:
We found out today that the man who’s truck went into
the river in front of us died yesterday. We were told
that with the heart attack and the time in the water
he had too much going against him. It’s not a surprise
that he died but it is still is depressing knowing
that we watched it all happen without being able to
help.

After 8 days and 569 miles we are spending our last
night in Oregon. Oregon is a beautiful state but it
can be a real challenge on a bicycle. After the 117
mile marathon we did 83 miles over 3 tough mountain
passes the next day. Everybody was pretty beat up
after that. Today we biked 63 miles to Ontario, OR but
a lot of it was downhill or flat. We did have to do a
few mile on I-84. It was a new experience to ride a
bike on an Interstate.

Tomorrow we are suppose to have a fairly easy day of
62 miles into Boise, Idaho. On Tuesday we get our
first rest day. We are really looking forward to that.

We are holding up well physically except for the
expected muscle soreness, stiffness and soreness in
the butt. On a trip like this, the big enemies are
sunburn and dehydration. We’ve been able to avoid
those problems so far with lots of sunscreen and lots
and lots and lots of water and Gatorade. Our alcohol
consumption has dropped to zero if, for no other
reason than, we want to avoid any dehydration.

It was a grueling week but getting through it gives us
the confidence that we may be able to actually
accomplish our goal of getting across the country.
Some people do the trip in segments over a period of
years. Some will leave the trip in Boise and a few
other will join.

If any of you are really, really into the details the
main tour guide has a website that details the trip by
day. Just click on the day for a full report and some
pictures. The site is:

http://www.bamacyclist.com/Journal2007/North07/07north.htm

We appreciate the reply e-mails. In some areas where
we have stayed the internet access and the cell phone
service is poor. I tried to send some e-mail replies
yesterday and gave up in frustration. Meanwhile the
cell phone wouldn’t go for 10 seconds without dropping
the call.

BTW, if you didn’t figure it out already, the cell
phone system in the U.S. is an abomination and an
embarrassment. Vietnam has better service. If the cell
service providers spent half as much time and effort
making sure calls could be made as they spend trying
to find ways to rip off their customers there would be
a huge improvement. In the next presidential election
I’m voting for the person that will promise to jail
the management of Verizon and AT&T and get a system
that works. How’s that for single issue politics?

Anyway, off to Idaho tomorrow. We can start looking
forward to the Tetons and the Continental Divide.

Today we biked from Prineville, OR and ended up in
John Day, OR. It was 117 miles of beautiful country, a
couple of tough climbs and some great downhill
coasting.

We were very lucky. The weather was great, sunny but
cool. The road was in good condition and we had a
tailwind at the end which helped immensely during
those last miles. We’re feeling pretty good
considering the distance.

Tomorrow we bike to Baker, OR. It is ONLY 80 miles but
there will be 3 tough climbs.

This is a pretty strong group of bikers. The AVERAGE
age is 57 years old which is hard to believe. A lot of
them look very average but when you put them on a bike
they know how to make it move.

So far, we are holding up well and enjoying ourselves.

After the last update things will sound quite boring.
On Wednesday we biked about 70 miles in good weather.
We left the lush mountains and entered the desert. The
change was sudden and dramatic. It’s hard to believe
that terrain and climate can change that quickly. We
stayed the night at an Indian resort/casino out in the
middle of nowhere. Indian casinos are proof of the
saying, “build it and they will come.” It’s not that
the place was busy but you wonder why anybody would
drive all the way out to a place in the desert brush
just for the lure of a gambling parlor.

Today we biked about 60 miles in beautiful weather. So
far all is going well.

Tomorrow comes the first big test. 117 miles along a
single road including two big climbs. This isn’t going
to be easy. If we make it through this at least we
will be getting close to our first off day in Boise.

Wish us luck!

Update: We are told that the driver of the truck that
went in the river is still alive. It doesn’t look good
but they are hoping for a miracle. According to the
doctors, he apparently suffered a heart attack and the
shock of the cold water revived him enough to try to
escape the truck and yell for help.

We appreciate the reply e-mails and welcome any news.
If you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask.

Time to get some rest for an early rise and a grueling
day.

First, is was a beautiful day for biking. Cool
weather, some sun and some beautiful scenery,
especially of Mt. Hood. We traveled 75 miles. The
first 40 were flat and the next 35 had some
challenging climbs.

About 30 miles into the day we were biking along a
bike path that goes between the Interstate highway and
the Columbia River. These border the Portland airport.

Suddenly, immediately in front of us, a small pickup
truck veered off the highway down an embankment,
across the bike path, down another embankment and into
the Columbia River. The truck was floating nose down
in the water and the driver was trying to get out
through the rear window. He was calling for help when
the truck sank with the driver still inside. 911 was
called, police, a rescue team and rescue boats
arrived. After about 20 minutes, divers located driver
and pulled him out of the water. They were able to
resuscitate him enough to get a pulse but he is in
extremely critical condition and not breathing on his
own.

Marie actually saw the whole incident. Even though I
was ahead of her, I was looking down and only saw the
man trying to get out of the truck and screaming for
help. There was absolutely nothing anyone could do. If
anyone had entered the water they probably would have
also drowned.

The police retained us at the scene to get eyewitness
reports. The media showed up.

It was a shocking and sobering experience. The feeling
of helplessness in an event like that is awful.

The rest of the day went fine. We bike 65 miles
tomorrow with some serious climbing early in the ride.

We certainly hope that future updates will be less sensational.