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Ride Home, Day 4: Longview to Portland

It was raining when I woke up in Longview, Washington.

I left late and ate breakfast at a local health food cafe to kill some time while hoping that the rain would let up. It didn’t. I hit the street at 11:30 AM.

My camera stayed safe and dry in a plastic bag inside my backpack. My backpack stayed dry inside a plastic bag of its own.

I crossed the Lewis and Clark Bridge into Oregon by riding my bike on the shoulder, which was covered in rich smelling cedar wood chips. Perhaps a truck spilled them. The cars drive pretty slow on the bridge because the passage is so narrow. I wondered why the people who designed the bridge never thought to include a bicycle lane or pedestrian walkway.

On the Oregon side, a hiker walking with two walking sticks and a large backpack stopped me to ask about crossing the bridge on foot. I told him he could make it if he was careful. We parted ways.

Route 30 from Mt. Rainier to Portland consists mostly of a constant upward incline or else it’s flat. Mostly however, it’s uphill.

It rained relentlessly during the first three hours. The cold wind, misty spray from passing trucks and strong headwinds really tested my resolve. When my left arm grew weak and my fingers started going numb, I began to question if I’d make it the whole way home. It was hard to tell if the rain had soaked through my raincoat or if I had sweat through to the rain.

I sang songs in my head and took it moment by moment. Each time I turned the pedals it brought me that much closer to home. Eventually I began singing songs out loud.

When I’d get to the top of a hill and round the bend only to find another hill to climb, I’d laugh at the sky. Ha! Hills from Portland to Port Townsend now know my name and they tremble when they see me coming.

At some point the rain let up and the temperature warmed slightly. Good thing. I had begun to grow cold. Knowing that I’d be able to sleep in my own bed kept me moving.

I took out my camera after it hadn’t rained in a while. I was covered in grit and wet but my camera was dry.

My legs certainly were tired. I rode 75 miles the day before, 50 the day before that and 40 the day before that.

Still, the hills couldn’t stop me!

Finally, I saw the sign for Portland. About an hour to go.

Ten miles of slow incline.

Every time it looked like I was able to coast I’d stop pedaling and the bike would stop. The wind was pushing me back. The rain had soaked me to the bone. The hills were trying to get me. It was as if BP was controlling the weather.

I knew where I was and it wasn’t far from home.

It had warmed up and I was on familiar streets. I was nearly there, limp arm and all.

Portland began to welcome me.

I saw things anew and noticed things never before seen.

The bridge to Front Street was the last hill I’d have to climb.

I slid into the Pearl District by way of 17th street and was home at 4 PM.

It was so good to see Gwenn! She took some pictures before we went inside.

I did it! I rode 450+ miles round-trip to protest the BP oil disaster.

I didn’t spend a cent on gasoline or car insurance.

It took five days to get to Port Townsend and four days to get back to Portland. Going home is always faster.

I learned a lot and have many more questions and ideas. My legs are tired and my resolve is strong. 

The road is long, life is short.

I’ll be writing a summary of this experience (including a more detailed budget analysis) and more about cars, bicycles, oil, and living green in the comings days.

Posted in Beyond Petroleum on August 31, 2010 : Comments (0)

Not Eating Sugar on the Road

I’m writing this post from Longview, Washington after having bicycled 75 miles on the BP protest ride. Tonight I stopped at a local restaurant and it wasn’t much better than the last place.

The salad was better but only by a bit. The veggie burger was nicer (everything else on the menu was meat). However, I don’t think I’ll ever choose to replace french fries with potato salad again.

The small health food cafe was closed but it will be the place to eat at in the morning.

Only one more day and then it’s back to my own food in my own home!

Posted in Stop Being Sweet on August 31, 2010 : Comments (0)

Ride Home, Day 3: Olympia to Longview

I rolled today! 75 miles of rolling to be exact.

Yesterday was such a windy, slow day. Today I was determined to make the best of it.

Even though the shower was a trickle, the water was hot. It wasn’t going to stop me from being in a good mood.

I left the hotel at about 9 AM. The sun was out and the temperature mild. I got a bagel and started peddling.

Due to the nice weather, I rode with my camera strapped to my body so to be able to take photos along the way.

Having the camera inspires me to notice things.

Samantha (the voice in my GPS) took me on a ‘shortest ride’ route and it worked out well. I passed some pretty scenery.

Old Highway 99 was a decent road with few steep inclines and a good amount of shoulder. Cruising at 15 mph wasn’t hard. Yesterday, because of the wind and hills, I was lucky to ride at 6 mph on average.

Passing through towns is like sampling flavors at the ice cream parlor. You can get a taste but you really don’t know the place.

Each town has its own character.

Smaller towns have remnants of a time gone past as compared with the bigger towns which have given way to large streets and drive-through fast food joints that don’t warrant a photo.

In the image above you can see the smooth edge of the street in the middle with the rough road to the left and the gravel to the right. I rode on the smooth spot as long as possible. In a car, rough asphalt usually means a bit more road noise. On a bike it means more friction and that slows you down.

Traveling like this reminds me of road trips I took in a car.

Everything is somehow less vital in a car.

On a bike everything is right there, in your face.

The mention of Portland on this map got me thinking I could make it home by midnight.

I imagined surprising Gwenn and decided to not stop riding until I got home.

When the rough road came to an end I was so happy I pulled over to get a photo. While shooting the picture below, a couple of kids came speeding down the street and rounded the curve nearly uncontrollably. Thank goodness I was off to the side as they passed.

It would have been nice to take a little more time to stop in places but there are only so many hours in a day (and only so much energy in one body).

The guy riding in the passenger seat of the gray pickup truck in the picture below barked loudly at me like a dog (ough, ough!) as they passed very close. Then he looked at the woman who was driving as if to get her approval. You can kinda see him doing it in the photo.

In Centralia there was an interesting trailer parked in town. It had a bunch of wanted criminals on it.

It looked like some kind of art installation!

In Subway there was a sign by the register advertising reusable sandwich bags that you could buy for yourself or your kids. Why doesn’t Subway give them away? This is a company that gives you a plastic bag to carry your sandwich ten feet and then discard. They also call their employees “sandwich artists.” Now that I think of it, why do I go there at all? Oh yeah, $5 vegetarian ‘Veggie Delight’ sandwiches in the middle of meat country, that’s why.

What if the sky turned yellow. Would that make people care about the environment?

By the time I reached Longview it became very clear that there was no way my body would be able to continue another 5 or 6 hours to Portland.

I checked into a motel and set out to get some food.

The first thing I do, however, is get out of my wet clothes. I dry my over-shirt using the fan so it’s ready for the next day.

I’m in the middle of town, surrounded by chain stores, fast food and big roads to cross.

There’s a health food cafe just down the way that opens in the morning. Guess where I’m getting breakfast!

One more day to go…

Posted in Beyond Petroleum on August 30, 2010 : Comments (2)

Weekly Sugar Challenge: Week of August 30, 2010

This week’s sugar challenge: Spy on someone and track how much sugar they eat. Don’t tell them.

Watch your kids, your spouse, your boss, your employee, your partner, your enemy, your mother, your father, you get it.

Notice how much junk food they eat. Do they eat a lot? Do you eat like them? Are you influenced by their diet? Are they influenced by yours?

That’s it. Keep your eye on someone close to you and see what you notice.

Good luck!

Posted in Stop Being Sweet on August 30, 2010 : Comments (0)

Ride Home, Day 2: Brinnon to Olympia

The time was 9:06 AM when I left the hotel room in Brinnon. I rode 60 slow miles today.

It was cold and windy. Riding by the water was challenging. At some points the headwinds were so strong that my bike would have stopped (and moved backwards it seemed) if I ceased pedaling.

It was cold. Highway 101 was long and hilly. I’m glad I didn’t ride up it to get to Port Townsend. It’s kind of a boring road. Maybe I’m just tired.

For some reason I kept singing a silly song over and over in my head this afternoon. For the life of me I can’t recall it now. It’s a nonsense song for kids. Being alone on the ride makes me withdraw into my thoughts. It’s a five or six hour meditation. I was really in the zone today until, on a very narrow stretch of road, someone yelled at me out of their Jeep window as they passed 18 inches to my left. It’s kind of like someone sneaking up on you and yelling in your ear. 

Abstinence

While in school this past week, my classmate Stephanie mentioned something that stuck with me. She told of a young man who went to another country to work with poor people. When he returned to the states he swore off using hot water because some people in the world don’t even have running water. She said it lasted about a week and then he reconsidered. He now takes hot showers again.

You or Me

In 1997 I performed at a storytelling festival as one of three featured performers. The show was on a Friday night. Just before we went on stage the organizers told us (performers) to cut our act to just 20 minutes because they wanted the audience to have time to attend an outdoor community event that was coinciding with our show.

I did as they asked and performed for 20 minutes. The next performer did his entire act (30-40 minutes) and the following performer did his entire act as well. When the whole show was done the organizer said to me, “I don’t remember your show being so short.” He had seen me perform a year prior and was comparing. I felt tricked, as if everyone somehow knew not to cut their set short.

After a very long ride, I made it to Olympia. This city is becoming familiar to me now. The sun came out.

During my walk around town, several well dressed teens approached me and asked for money so they could take the bus home. One man in his twenties asked for fifty cents and then asked for weed. I passed a crowded soup kitchen near the post office and then took a walk through the downtown area. Two cops were marching down the street as if they were responding to a call. I expected to see some action until they stormed through the doors at Starbucks.

This is a college town. Kids hang out playing guitars on the corner. There was a music festival on the waterfront. There’s a bit of energy here. It’s hard to explain. It reminds me of being a kid again. I went into the funky shops, the music store and a cool used book store that sold stickers and patches.

While flipping through the stickers, I spotted the message in the photo above. It made me feel like there are no solutions. Maybe I just need some sleep.

Posted in Beyond Petroleum on August 29, 2010 : Comments (0)

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