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Previous entry: "Eugene, Oregon (day before we leave)" | Next entry: "Alsea, OR"
06/06/2007 Entry: "Alsea, Or"
Dear readers, welcome to our first update from the road! This is our second day on the road, and I am typing from our overnight town of Alsea, Or. Ariel and Karen are still on the road and I expect them to arrive within the hour. More on that later- first, we have YESTERDAY! WOO! Eugene, Or to Monroe, Or (31 miles) We got off to a rough start in Eugene, but that is to be expected on our first day. We had some mechanical issues such as non-working brakes and loose handlebar stems that led to some crazy bike handling and safety issues. By the time we got those ironed out it was past noon but we had a short day that day so we weren't too worried about it. Laura escorted us for the 1st third of the day on Eugene river bike paths where we all learned/remembered how to handle loaded touring bikes. It was definitely an adventure. An adventure complicated by frequent rain and us witnessing another biker have an amazing crash that invovled him flipping over and sliding on his back. He was fine, however, and got up laughing. This didn't help our nerve much though. All in all we eventually got our cycling legs and the ride into Monroe was uneventful. We arrived around 4:30 and camped out at a park on the side of town and had time to practice juggling and our people stacking. Tired - we retired early. Except for Ariel, who stayed up late doing pushups. Ariel is a little wierd. Monroe, Or to Alsea, Or (35 miles) We are starting the trip with very low mileages because most of us didn't have time to train. My goal in picking a route was to avoid passes in the first few days as well. Today I failed at that goal. The ride started out nice and easy despite the persistance of Oregon's intermittent rain. A little windy, a little hilly, but VERY beautiful. We met at important turns to make sure no one got lost and all was good. All was good until a random the Pacific Crest Pass showed up out of nowhere near the end. It's on that pass that I believe Ariel and Karen still reside. But, with every good uphill there follows a good downhill. My good downhill was interupted with a bit of adventure. There I am cruising down a winding mountain road, in full crouch, going a cool 35ish MPH. All the sudden I hear a loud scraping crashing noise. My first reaction was that I must be crashing, but quickly ruled that out since I was still on my bike and breathing. My second reaction was that I was about to crash, but a quick glance at both wheels and the road ruled that out as well. All seemed good - until I looked behind me and saw one of my front panniers bouncing joyfulling down the road. Confused because I didn't hit any bumps that would cause something like that to happen I looked at my front rack and, sure enough, my left front pannier had jumped ship. I ran back, grabbed it from the path of an oncoming car, gave it a stern talking to, and reattached it. The damage was minimal, just a slightly ripped rain cover. All in all it could have been MUCH worse. I wish Ariel and Karen better luck. Tomorrow Tomorrow we head to the coast. 40-50 miles on a narrow road the follows a river through the Coastal Range. Our route is not set in stone and we may add miles to bypass a sketchy road. We may also break the day up in two if we run into lots of passes that aren't well marked on the map and if we find a good camp ground. For now I must go scout out a place for us to stay tonight and gets things cozy for when the rest of the group arrive. I'll attempt to do a picture update, keep an eye on the gallery. ILYQ
Replies: Leave us a note! (1)
Silly pannier! It must have missed me and attempted to return. I'm so glad to hear all of your difficulties of yesterday have been ironed out. Keep up the good work! Snuggles. ilyp
Posted by Qehn @ 06/06/2007 02:53 PM CST
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