Since a few people along my ride have asked, maybe it’s worth giving an answer to this question. This may be of interest to other touring cyclists who battle some of the same physical problems. The short answer to how I feel is “surprisingly good”.

My neck and shoulders, which sometimes have bothered me on longer rides, have felt fine.  I attribute this to handlebar extensions that I added so I could sit in a more upright position when I wanted to.  There are surprisingly no extensions available for the drop handlebars used on most road bikes.  I adapted mine from ones manufactured for trail bikes.  I drilled them out to the correct size for drop handlebars (yes they differ from straight bars), and have them pointing backwards instead of forwards.  I ended up using these about 3/4 of the time, though I employ each of the other three traditional hand positions at least some of the time.  The extensions are the silver bars in the image below.  They stick straight back and are level (not pointing up or down).

I’ve been blessed with almost no back problems over the years, despite decades of jarring running and other abuse.  That situation hasn’t changed on this ride, again perhaps because of my more upright posture most of the time.

My hands tend to get a little numb as I ride, but I alleviate this by switching hand positions frequently.

The troubles I had with connective tissues (bursitis and tendonitis), which I thought might be trip-ending early on, went away completely.  Part of this was icing and stretching and a topical analgesic, Voltaren, but I believe the key factor was discontinuing the use of toe clips (external cages on the pedals) and allowing my foot to assume whatever position it wanted.  This ended up being significantly different (more forward and more to the outside) from where the cages would hold my feet.  To forgo clips eliminates the possibility of using your legs to pull up on the pedals rather than just pushing down.  But I’ve come to believe that pulling never happens (at least when touring and not sprinting).  I quickly found after I stopped using the cages that I couldn’t tell whether my feet were in them or not.  (I just used the “bottom” of the pedals rather than removing the clips, so once in a while a foot did accidentally slip into one.)   My feet never came off the pedals, which should have happened if I were ever pulling upward.  Using so-called clipless pedals and connected shoes would have been worse.  They lock your foot into position with NO opportunity for even minor repositioning.  They also, in my view, have the disadvantage of requiring separate shoes when off the bike.

I bought the softest saddle I could find for this trip.  It worked great, avoiding the pain I had experienced on all previous bike tours.  The brand is Selle Royal, and the model is the Lookin Moderate.  Hunting online, I was amazed by the number of different saddle options that exist, and how expensive some of them are.

Finally, my legs were never sore.  On the contrary, in the beginning of the trip all my muscles had a wonderful tingle at the end of the day, telling me that they had been well used, but not abused.  I know Frank felt this way, and he mentioned it almost every day of the trip.  Sadly, this sensation went away in the later part of the trip, except after the longest rides or hardest climbs.  Similarly, in the morning my legs would feel a little fatigued in the early days, but this was gone completely by the end of the trip.  It may sound unbelievable, but at the end of eac day, after 70 miles and 6 hours on the bike, I did not feel at all tired or sore.  I attribute this to maintaining a truly sustainable pace, and the body’s ability (or even preference) to work pretty hard.

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I approached the last day’s ride with mixed emotions.  I’m ready for the trip to be over, but I’m also not willing to end this incredible chapter in my life.  All of the physical problems from earlier in the journey are gone, and I feel quite strong.  It’s like I’m finally ready to start a REAL bike trip.

The day’s ride was on a beautiful, relatively untraveled road most of the way.  It follows the Siuslaw River, first through agricultural valleys, and then through a steeper ravine. I’ve found that roads that follow rivers almost always make a gradual descent, not squandering hard earned altitude wit a quick drop.  They also wind pleasantly and have great views.  This road (Rte 36) was no exception, and it made for a great final day’s ride.  Weather again was perfect: a cloudless sky, a high in the 80s, and no wind.

I FINALLY found a roadside stand with fruit.  We bought plums, blueberries, and cherry tomatoes, and ate them all on the spot.

The stream became a river and I stopped at a roadside rest area to take one final dip on the trip.

At some point a rail line started next to the road, apparently serving a quarry we passed, but maybe once providing passenger service as well.  It passed through dense woods, unlike any other rail line I’ve ever seen.  It must be a beautiful ride.

All too soon, we joined Rte 126 — a much busier road — for the final 15 miles to Florence.  Noel’s wife, Kavitha, and his younger son, Aaron, spotted us and said “Hi” on their way to meeting us in Florence.  They had bought some yummy doughnuts, and I got this apparently “Mr. Bill” inspired pastry.

(5 Aug)  We stayed at a charming B&B in Florence, but doing the ceremonial front tire dip in the Pacific was a little challenging.  To get to the ocean requires a circuitous 7 mile bike ride, so we decided to do that in the morning.  It allowed us to have one last short ride and enjoy the sand dunes along the coast.  Kavitha and Aaron rented bikes and joined us part of the way.  As we walked our bikes across the beach, we met a man who had cycled across Australia when he was a little older than we are now.  Maybe our next trip?  He helped us out by taking this photo.

All that was left was to ship bikes back home.  Sean at Bicycles 101 (a bicycle and guitar shop) will be breaking down CC (who has now fully earned her name) and boxing her up to be transported by shipbikes.com.  I can’t wait to take her for a ride in New Haven.

The last mile…

Today I ran out of continent.

I arrived at Florence, Oregon, completing a 3500 mile bicycle trip, accompanied by my friend Noel, completing his own pretty amazing 500+ mile journey.

I will post more, but the words of The Waters of March (June – July in my case) by Antonio Jobim sum it up pretty well.  Almost every line seems to resonate with part of my trip.  I love Susannah McCorkle’s version.

The Waters of March (Portuguese “Águas de Março“)

A stick, a stone,
It’s the end of the road,
It’s feeling alone
It’s the weight of your load

It’s a sliver of glass,
It’s life, it’s the sun,
It’s night, it’s death,
It’s a knife, it’s a gun

A flower that blooms,
A fox in the brush,
A knot in the wood,
The song of a thrush

The mystery of life
The steps in the hall
The sound of the wind
And the waterfall

It’s the moon floating free,
It’s the curve of the slope,
It’s an ant, it’s a bee,
It’s a reason for hope

And the river bank sings
Of the waters of March,
It’s the promise of spring,
It’s the joy in your heart

Thank you all for following and supporting.  GB

We stayed at Loloma Cabins, a group of nice cabins right on the banks of the McKenzie River. The water is cold (though not icy), and I enjoyed a quick dip at the end of my ride.  The area has very tall trees and green overgrowing everything, which gives it a certain fairy tale quality.

Unfortunately, Noel got a flat almost right away.  A nuisance, but nothing major to fix.  Then it stated to rain.  Luckily, we were near a fire house, and they welcomed us there to wait it out.  That ended up being a delay of about an hour.  (Notice CC balanced on a pedal clip.  She’s very graceful.)

Everything seems covered in moss in western Oregon.  Here is a “green roof” on a USGS gauging station building.

We stopped in a bike store we were passing in Springfield so Noel could replace the tube we had used.  (Can’t be too careful.)  The woman working the counter was super nice, and even got us each ice water.

We tried to visit a bicycle museum in Eugene, but of course it was closed Mondays.

Much of the ride was just to cover ground, a contrast with the several days of beautiful riding we have had lately.  Toward the end of the day, I saw yet another f the huge piles of hay bales that are so common in the west.  Had to get a picture.

Tomorrow is the last day of the trip.  I can hardly believe it.  We rode to the unlovely town of Junction City to be able to ride the better route to the coast (Rte 36).  It was recommended by Ken Bettencourt of the 10,000 mile fund raiser for childhood cancer.  Looking forward to it.

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(31 Aug) Weather has continued to be cloudless, nearly wind free, and HOT (approaching 100).  We had three more beautiful days in a row, both in terms of weather and scenery.

We left John Day and had a long gradual descent to Dayville.  Very early on we ran into Eric, who is cycling to Connecticut from the west coast.  He’s going there to see his first grand child!  He just doesn’t look old enough.

The second half of the day was a very challenging 2000′ climb in hot dry air. It’s hard to stay hydrated under these conditions, or to carry enough fluids to do so.  The landscape looks like this.

Halfway up the climb we saw the rare western shoe tree.  It turns out this is where most athletic shoes are harvested.

We reached the summit after 62 miles for the day.  It was then a very steep coasting descent all the way to Mitchell, where we stayed in an old hotel.  There we ran into Richard, who is biking to Bozeman.

We all had dinner together, and finished with milkshakes that Noel says are his most vivid memory of the trip.

Mitchell is like several of the small towns we have passed through.  There’s just one restaurant, bar, grocery, and sometimes lodging.  And in some cases, they are all one business.

(1 Aug)  Again full sun and hot.  We got an early start.  The first 5 miles were a descent, and then there was a 12 mile climb. After that it was gradually downhill to Redmond, a total of 67 miles.  Unfortunately, 5 miles from the start Noel realized he had left his phone at the hotel.  I went back to get it, which allowed us both to go at our own pace (too fast for either of us).

About 2/3 of the way up the climb, we took a longish lunch break, and I took a dip in a small stream.  The water was not at all cold, but still v refreshing.

Toward the end of the day, we came upon a roadside farm stand.  I’ve been wanting local fruit the entire trip, but always seem to be there too early in the season.  At this stand, all they had were vegetables! (and no tomatoes even).  We bought carrots that were sweet enough to be fruit, and ate the whole bag right there.

(2 Aug)  Today was an amazing ride.  We left Redmond and were soon at the base of the Cascade Range.  We had seen them in the distance for a long time, and they look daunting, with snow still on several of them.  We also knew that this would be the highest climb of several in the past few days.

We stopped briefly in Sisters, a cute tourist town.  I ordered a double espresso, and the price was 50 CENTS! Drinks with milk were closer to what I am used to.  Espresso was excellent, BTW.

The approach to the climb was on a nice quiet road, and we were v pleased to see this sign.

Noel on the approach.

Noel was not feeling “peak”, but carried on gamely.  The road up was very winding and quite beautiful.  We took a couple of breaks, and before you know it, we were at the pass. This was Noel’s record climb, more than a mile high.

There is lava from recent (1,000 year ago) volcanic activity, and it looks unworldly.

Here we are at the Dee Wright “Observatory”, a tower built from the volcanic rocks affording a 360 degree view.  Mountains in the background are the Sisters.

We met 2 cyclists at the pass.  Jeff is from the area and has done lots of cycling. He gave good advice.

Luke is a young guy from Florida and is riding from his sister’s in Redmond down through California.  It was his first day out, and he seemed a little shell shocked.  Nothing like the Cascades in Florida.

Leaving the pass, we went on a screaming descent for almost 20 miles.  Hairpin turns galore.  Really fun to do at 30 mph.  Both Noel and I thought we should start a business giving people rides to the top ad letting them loose with bicycles for the descent.

The west side of the Cascades is suddenly lush, with 200′ trees everywhere.

We stayed at a cabin right on the banks of the McKenzie River.  The water comes from melting snow up on the mountain, and was VERY refreshing.

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Today we left Vale (surviving our night in Bates Motel), and rode in perfect weather through Oregon’s eastern farmland and foothills.  The sky was cloudless, winds light, and temperatures warm.   (The forecast is for temperatures close to 100 in the next couple of days.)  Farms around here (and all of Wyoming, Idaho, and now Oregon) require irrigation.  There is an extensive system of ditches and irrigation equipment wherever you go.

At our first stop, there was a sign up board where you filled out a card to get water access.

We talked with this farmer, who told us some of the background on farming in the region.  Farms are large (thousands of acres), which they need to be to survive.

He was remarkably unsentimental about it, identifying his crop as a commodity that had to compete on a global market.

I loved this tiny post office attached to a still older, unused wooden building.

This area abounds in beautiful weathered wooden buildings.

Conditions are very dry, and there are frequently signs of farms and ranches that have been abandoned over the years.  The region is only recently populated (last 100 years), so these places may have been active only a few decades earlier.

A lot of the scenery today was like this.  Huge fields, with dry mountains in the distance.

We did do some climbing, reaching a moderate pass. They must get a lot of snow, judging from the gauge and the warning to put on tire chains before ascending.

I entered my final time zone (Pacific) as we left Malheur County. At this point, I have ridden over 3000 miles.

Love that name: Misfortune County.  There are many uses of this French word in place names of the region, including a national Forest.

We finished the day in Unity at the Burnt River Motel, Store, and Restaurant.  We were the only occupants judging from the lack of cars in the morning.  Or maybe it was completely full of cross country cyclists, who — like us — bring their bikes into their rooms.

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The forecast today promised clear skies, light winds, and hot temperatures.  We left Unity OR in the morning cool, and were soon climbing into beautiful forest.  The trees are tall and straight, and there is little ground story.  It would be perfect for wandering on foot.  We passed several government run campgrounds.

Noel is more of a time trials guy than a king of the mountain, but here is evidence of his prowess uphill.  Our route has been taking us through numerous high passes and Noel takes it in stride (cadence?).

The buffalo and huckleberry theme continues.  We, of course, both had the ice cream.  Yummy and refreshing.

After our last high pass, we descended toward John Day OR.  The landscape around there is a series of foothills,mountains, and valleys. Gorgeous. Some of te prettiest views of the trip.

Noel (and I) have been very lucky. Taking all factors (weather, road conditions, views) into consideration, his time here has been the best string of 3 straight days on the trip.

In John Day we visited an unusual museum, partly chronicling the lives of Chinese workers in Oregon, but focusing on a couple of men from Guangzhou who established a medical practice and eclectic general store (opium, bootleg liquor, gambling, marshmallows, and Wheaties).  The shops(s) in their stone building was called Kam Wah Chung (or Golden Flower of Prosperity).  It’s a fascinating history about 2000 Chinese laborers (and only 3 women), makingit the 2nd largest “Chinatown” of the time.   The whole thing was given to the city, who left it unused and even unopened for decades.  When it was unsealed, it still contained much of the goods, which were preserved by the areas arid climate.

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Pamela came this morning to Jerry’s house and gave us a ride to Cafferty’s bike store in Nampa, Idaho, where Noel had shipped his bike.  It was ready to go, and so were we.

We said goodby to Pamela, who has been so helpful to us, along with Jerry.  Thanks guys!

The ride out of Nampa and the greater Boise area was 10 miles on a strip of commercial development, but soon we were in a beautiful farming area.  The forecast is for completely sunny skies for the rest of my trip (one week) and also very hot temperatures close to 100.  Luckily, winds have been “light and variable”, so not a factor.  Noel and i have been battling a little about getting started early to take advantage of the (much) cooler part of the day.  (I need a base layer in the morning.) He’s an owl and I’m a lark, so there’s the classic conflict.

Our route has been over portions of the Oregon Trail.  It seems crazy to me what those people did, traveling 2000 miles over this landscape in wagons drawn by draft animals.  And no motels!

We’re in onion country.  You can smell the fields and also trucks full of them that go by on the highway.

Noel was lucky to have a nearly perfect first day in terms of both weather and scenery. It was one of the best days of the trip.  Along the way we stopped in a hamlet with this government building.

And another weather beaten house.

And perhaps the saddest road kill yet.

Finally, we stayed at the Bates Motel.  What Psycho would name a motel that?  One clue: it’s next to the Bates pizzeria and Bates welding.

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I got a somewhat late start from Fairfield, in part because no place was open for breakfast (or anything else).  I saw this interesting hood ornament while I was waiting.

This was a hard day that I had to just muscle through.  The ride was on a surprisingly busy road that climbed and descended several times before a long descent before arriving at Mountain Home.  MH was originally called Rattlesnake.  (Excellent repackaging.)  The bad part was that there was a pretty strong headwind beginning at 9:00, and I made the mistake of not starting early enough.  I wasted 2 hours of sunlight and low winds.  Oh well.

Mountain Home has the craziest street names I have ever seen.  (And I include Galveston, where the street between R and S is R 1/2 Street.)  If I had gone one block over from where I took this picture, it would have been the intersection of North 8th East Street with East 8th North Street.  Simple, right?

In Mountain Home I met up with Noel’s brother’s father in law, Jerry Brady, and his significant other, Pamela Thibeau.  He was on his periodic commute to Idaho Falls, and we met and discussed the trip.  Then, Pamela gave me a ride to his house, where he is graciously hosting Noel and me in absentia.  A very generous favor, as was Pamela’s driving separately to give me a lift.

Just behind where he lives is a greenway that runs along the Boise River.  It’s a great recreational resource.  I saw several people tubing in the middle of a pretty large city.  Here’s one pedestrian/bicycle bridge.

There are hazards cycling in the West that you don’t find in the East.

For dinner I had yet another burger, this one quite excellent.  The Idaho French fries came with “fry sauce”.  The server said it is ketchup and mayo with spices.  I watched the end of Le Tour (de France) and the Red Sox winning their only game this season.

I can’t explain why exactly, but when I descended from Idaho’s high desert to Mountain Home, I had a feeling I was departing the West and arriving on the West Coast.   Tomorrow I enter my last state (Oregon) and time zone.  I’m both looking forward to, and regretting, the end of my ride.

Noel arrives this afternoon, and we pick up his bike from a shop where it was shipped, and start our 8 days of riding to the coast tomorrow.

Some days surprise you. This was one of them.

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Idaho has the longest stretches of barren (i.e., beautiful, undeveloped) land on my route. Today, to get from one motel to the next, I needed to ride 88 miles, give or take. I puzzled over this section many times as I was planning the trip. 88 miles? Really? No other option? None. Frankly, I was dreading this leg.

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To make things worse, yesterday was a moderately long ride (70 miles), and toward the end of the day, that mysterious pain (the ache I had in Granite Falls MN) on the lateral side of my left knee returned. I tried the same cure once off the bike: flex the lower leg as far back as it will go a few times. Same result: a tactile (and maybe audible?) click, and the pain went away. But would it return tomorrow?

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Forecast was for warms (low 80s), sunny weather, with 10 to 20 mph winds from the SW, a dreaded headwind. It matched the previous day’s prediction, and I hoped it would be identical in the sense that the wind only began to pick up after noon. Maybe if I started early, I could get a lot of distance in before battling a headwind.

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I got up at 4:30, ate breakfast in my room, and was on the road just before 6:00, as soon as it was light enough for me to be visible to other vehicles. Leaving town, I took an image of this sign bragging about Arco’s place in the history of the Friendly Atom.

The road out of town was beautiful, but chilly, as the sun rose behind me. My hands were very cold, and I looked forward to the temperature rising. The first 20 miles of the trip were a moderate climb, and I welcomed its warming effect.  (That’s my shadow on the road.)

The road crested at Craters of the Moon National Monument. As a former geology major, I loved the science behind the landscape, plus it was just plain beautiful. The sign at the visitor’s center twice uses “peculiar” to describe the area, and I have to agree. It’s a very special place.  These lava flows and pyroclastics are truly recent, just 2,000 to 15,000 years old.  They formed while native Americans lived in the region.

From Craters of the Moon, the road descended 20 miles, the sunlight was golden, the pavement smooth, and the views wonderful. It was fantastic cycling, and suddenly the day’s ride was half over.
I arrived in the town of Carey, and had a great surprise. One of the churches was holding a fundraising breakfast on their front lawn, and I noticed a bike with panniers parked nearby. I had to stop, even at the risk of the wind starting to pick up. There I met David, who is between undergrad and master’s, and is doing a bunch of fun stuff in the year between the two programs (cycling cross country, living in northern Italy among others). I also talked to Mike and his wife, two locals.  Thanks Mike for taking the picture!

That’s David on the left and Mike on the right in the image below.

Back on the road, I kept crossing Silver Creek. It had beautiful, luxuriant, submerged aquatic plants (I hope they’re not invasives). It had a certain Monet at Giverny look to it.

The water was clear and fast flowing. I was getting warm, and at one crossing I couldn’t resist a dip, even at the risk of the headwind developing.  (A little hard to see, but the foreground is actually 4 feet deep water, it’s that clear.)

The next 20 miles were beautiful. Road and weather conditions were good, as was the scenery, and I covered ground quickly.

But all good things must end. At around 70 miles, the road began to climb gradually, and the headwind started to pick up. So the final 20 miles were hard, but I could hardly complain. Today’s final mileage was just over 90, and I’ll add one or two going to dinner. New record.