Week 1 on the TransAm

Where do I begin!? We’ve completed our first week and so much has happened. I want to thank Schylie for her help with our end of the blog. It seems every day has been so taken up with biking, cooking, set-up, break-down, and sleeping that there’s been no time at all for me to write a post. Not to mention, given how much we’ve put out each day, the only thing I want to do at the end of the day is go to bed! Even now, it’s already 10 PM Wednesday the 21st and today was our hardest day yet. Nevertheless, I want to try to give you a few highlights and stats from each day of our first week.

June 14

We were aiming to hook up with the family at Jeremy & Marie Prys’ house in Salem, OR on Saturday so we could go to church together on Sunday. So despite being novices at this we knew we had to give it our best shot in order to make it the nearly 200 miles in our first 4 days. Day 1 made for a strong start. We biked 49 miles, from Astoria to Nehalem Bay State Park in Nehalem. Honestly, it was farther than I wanted to go on our first day but once we’d passed the too-near campgrounds, Nehalem Bay State Park was our only option. So we had to keep on trucking till we reached it. I was sprawled out on the side of Highway 101 a couple of times because I was so exhausted by the hilly coastline. One time we even laid in the grass before a tunnel to get a 20 min power nap. The State Park was very nice and we enjoyed visiting with two other cyclists.

June 15

We’d been warned of a freak fall-storm warning for June 15-16 along the coast. They forecasted 50 mph winds and 5 inches of rain in 36 hours. When we awoke at 6:30 on the 15th to a break in the rain, we decided to pack up and hit the road. Breakfast would have to wait. We stopped at a gas station up the road and ate summer sausage and cheese and set out to brave the storm. I had no idea how far we’d get but figured we should do what we could. There were a few campground options along the way so I knew we had plenty of options. With the Lord’s help we made it 25 miles to an RV Park across the street from the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Need I say it was an extremely hard day? The rain blew sideways and the headwinds(!) certainly felt 50 mph. We’d be using all our strength to keep moving and as soon as we rounded the corner and were fully exposed to the ocean, the wind would literally stop us cold. It was like running into a brick wall. We had to quickly downshift in order to keep moving. At other times we’d come to the top of the hill and it would literally blow us sideways. It was a real battle all day,  between the hills, the winds, and the rain. But I have to say, given that we covered 25 miles I think we held our own.

June 16

We left Tillamook and set our sights on Rose Lodge. It would be a long day; 55 miles and the remains of the coastal storm; but I thought we could do it. Besides, we had to make it to Rose Lodge if we had a chance of making it to Salem on Saturday. The ride was the hardest yet. We encountered 2 very long, steep hills that Rocky and I simply could not conquer without pushing our bikes, one on the Netarts Highway (131) and the other on Cape Lookout Road. Forrest biked all the way to the top of both hills with a few good breaks, but Rocky and I probably took a dozen breaks and walked a good mile that day. It was an accumulated elevation gain of 3000 ft. We reached Rose Lodge by 7 PM exhausted and got an awesome campsite on the river.

Two unfortunate events (of which Schylie has already written) were my crash, which tore a hole in one of my front panniers and ripped a couple of holes in my shoe, and my falling over into a guard rail on a switchback on Cape Lookout Road. It’s funny. I don’t remember seeing many guard rails on that hill. In fact, I remember thinking how terrible–if not deadly–it would be to fall off the shoulder hundreds of feet to the gorge. I warned Rocky to steer well clear of the edge and to be careful. I can’t tell you how thankful to God I am for that guardrail. It hurt badly when I fell into it. The guardrail bruised my right thigh and the top tube bruised the inside of my left thigh; but praise God I was thankful to be alive and still on that hill.

June 17

The water spigot at the Rose Lodge RV Park wasn’t working properly so we left the campsite with no water. Just after getting on the road we stopped in a driveway to situate a few things when suddenly a jolly cyclist traveling West stopped to greet us. Brad had begun the TransAm in Yorktown, VA on May 1st and was only a few days from the end–he was cruising! No wonder he was jolly 🙂 In any case he encouraged us to keep going and enjoy the ride–especially the people along the way. He was thrilled to see the boys have this opportunity at their age and wished he could have done it when he was younger. When he asked us how the ride for us was so far, I told him it was tough and that my legs were quite sore. He apologized to tell me that it takes 3 weeks to get past that. He sped off after giving us the water from one of his bottles. Thanks Brad! He warned us that we’d not find any water for over 20 miles so we decided to knock on the door of the home before which we’d stopped. The man kindly let us fill up all our bottles and we were on our way. Thankfully, the day was pretty uneventful. We had a few tough hills, but besides that the terrain was relatively flat the whole way. We biked well together with Forrest in the lead and Rocky and I drafting behind. We’d planned to meet Chantry in Monmouth just outside of Salem. It was a total of 62 miles and we made it by 4 PM. It was so good to see them again and to have a nice bed to sleep in for a couple of nights.

June 18

When we started on the 14th I was bummed that our rest day (Sunday) was coming so quickly. Only four days of biking and then we’d have to rest 🙁 But by the end of Saturday I couldn’t have been more thankful for that Sunday! In fact, I was looking forward to it by Friday. We enjoyed a blessed time at Jeremy and Marie Prys’s home with Chantry and the girls. They have children our kids’ age and we’ve known them since 2004. It was a great time of fellowship and we were blessed to attend their church with them on Sunday.

June 19

Chantry drove us back to the place from which she’s picked us up on Saturday and we were off again before 9:00. We’d enjoyed the rest and felt ready to ride. We needed to stop by a bike shop in Corvallis and didn’t know how long we’d be there so we’d reserved an option to stay with an old friend there. But otherwise, my eyes were on Armitage State Park in Coburg, just outside of Eugene. It would be a long 59 mile ride but with only a few minor hills. More than that, it would be the end of the first of 12 map sections which make up the entire TransAmerica trail. It was a great incentive–and we made it! We got out of the bike shop in less than a half hour and got far more than we paid for. The man who served us, Carl, had ridden the TransAm three years ago and not only gave us encouragement, tips about riding and places to stay, but also made a few minor adjustments on my bike for free. Thanks Carl! We left there excited and at a great pace. We also met two other bikers on the trail heading East as we are–Samuel and Chad; so we expected to see them along the way, if not at Ermitage State Park. But we’ve seen neither hide or hair of them. All I can guess is that they chose a different stopping point.

What a joy it was to finish our first map! We’d ridden 234 miles from Astoria to Coburg in our first 5 riding days. We stopped at the corner of Coburg Road and McKenzie View Drive to do a victory dance and take a picture. Armitage State Park was just a little further up the road so we headed towards it, very much looking forward to a good rest. But just as we came to the entrance we were met by a most unwelcome sign: Campsite Full. With nowhere else to go, we headed towards the office praying for a spot. The man told us the place was full and he had nothing for us. I told him we’d biked 60 miles that day and would take anything. He suddenly made a phone call, charged me $20, and directed us to an undeveloped area for the park in which we could set up camp. Praise God. It was an awesome site right on the river, had a picnic table, and was next to a small sheltered area with a sink for washing our dishes and filling up our water bottles and with outlets for charging our devices. So much for undeveloped. We slept well and dreamed of tomorrow’s miles.

June 20

Happy 18th birthday Forrest! We set out from the Park along McKenzie View Drive and biked along the beautiful McKenzie River all day long. It was a pretty flat ride and we knew we’d be facing McKenzie Pass tomorrow so we tried not to push too hard. Nevertheless, the days and miles were adding up and our legs were tired. We stopped for the night at an RV Park a mile or so West of McKenzie Bridge and camped along the McKenzie River. There was a very nice man there who gave us some detergent to do our laundry and I got to spend an hour talking with him about the authenticity of the Bible’s claims and his need for Christ. He wouldn’t have any of it; but I trust we planted seeds for a future harvest.

June 21

We’d finally arrived. Today was the day we’d have to conquer McKenzie Pass. It’s a 4000 ft climb for 22 miles to reach the 5325 ft summit. It had just opened for cars a day or two earlier so I figured we’d have a tough go of it since there are no shouders. Thankfullly the cars were at a real minimum and we saw far less than I had anticipated. But the cars weren’t my greatest concern. The climb was. We were all sore and I honestly didn’t know if I could make it. Given how Rocky and I fared last Friday with those small hills and a 3000 ft climb, I was really concerned about our first mountain and a 4000 ft climb. I’d been praying about it since our first day and here it was before us. We left the RV Park at about 9:00 and reached the McKenzie Pass Byway (Highway 242) at 9:45. The sign said McKenzie Pass, 22 miles. So off we went. I figured it would take us 7 hours to reach the summit.

I can’t begin to explain how hard that climb was. It never seemed to end or let up. We just kept going up. About half way up I wanted to cry because it was so hard and I was so hard. At 2000 ft I asked the boys to take some of my weight and they were glad to do it. Rocky took my iPad and Forrest took my hammock and sleeping bag. It’s probably no more than 7 lbs total but I was so thankful for the help. We took lots of breaks along the way and I think I spent the whole climb praying. I was praying for God to help the boys, to give them strength and endurance, to help them for helping me with some of my weight. And I was praying for myself. Every turn of the pedals took everything I had. Every break seemed far too short and Rocky and I thought of walking many times. And yet, we kept getting back on that bike and we kept pedaling. The halfway point–Alder Springs Campground–was bittersweet. It means we’d cycled 12.5 miles. It also meant we had to do it all over again. And since it was less than halfway up in terms of the elevation, it meant we had more elevation gain ahead of us than we’d put behind us. Our only food for the day was protein bars. More prayer needed.

After 6 hrs and 45 mins we finally made it to the summit. We’d biked the whole thing and hadn’t walked once. We biked over to the summit sign for a picture and I burst uncontrollably into tears. I can hardly think about it now without crying all over again. It was such a hard, grueling climb and I was just so grateful to have made it. I know prayer was the only thing that got us over that mountain. Thank you God.

After a look around the Dee Wright Observatory at the summit (all constructed from the surrounding lava rocks) we enjoyed the descent into Sisters and stopped at Sisters Saloon for dinner at around 6 PM. After a welcome dinner we headed 4 miles outside of town to stay with Jim and Patty Evered who’ve hosted cyclists on the TransAm since 1976. They gladly put us up in their lush tent/cabin for bikers, offered us a warm shower, did our laundry, and sent us on our way with an excellent cup of coffee. God bless them for their kindness and warm hospitality.

Now I’m finishing this post just after 8:00am Thursday and we’re about to head out for the day. We’re planning to spend the night somewhere just this side of Ochoco Pass, which we’ll have to climb tomorrow along with Keyes Creek Pass which sits just after it. Thank you for your prayers.