KOA's suck!

So I spent last night at my first KOA campground. Fucking awful and weird. I'm used to paying three to five bucks to camp and this place charged 17$. The hiker/biker area was located right behind the store and about fifty yards from the freeway. There were also spotlights on all night and I woke to the sounds of tractors ploughing the field behind the camp. The whole place is surreal. It's like I rolled into some trailer park gated community and rented someones ramshackle backyard. My area was surrounded by brick and wood walls like my own private camp prison. It did have a hottub though. I'll post some pics later when I have a computer with an accesible USB port. KOA's suck

Shoulderless roads seperate the boys from the fools

So I'm 2 miles from Eureka, Ca. I was thinking about getting a room and spending the day tooling around the town and doing laundry but I really want to get some miles in. But my mind and body were about to hit the breaking point yesterday so I'm not sure what it will be. I took a side trip into the redwood forest about 15 miles after I crossed the cali. border to get to the Jedediah Smith campground which was deep in there. It definitely was amazing and a nice break from the blistering heat. After that I cut back in to 101 and headed down to Orick. The days have been a little brutal. California specializes in treacherous highways like Oregon does with Bridges. i estimate that I climbed about 5,000 ft. of elevation in the last three days. And they all seem to be so steep. The kind that has the grade warning by the road for descending vehicles. One hill climbed to 1,200 ft. with most of it having no shoulder to ride on. I'm doing between 4 and 6 miles an hour while cars are screaming by at 40 and 50. I wanted to stop and take a picture but I couldn't kill my stride. California is not for lovers, it's for sadists. But after a few hours of climbing hills I get to scream down a mountain for ten minutes and it almost makes it worth it. Doing fifty miles an hour on a bike is pretty exhilarating.

How?

Shouldn't this have been lying flat on the ground? How in the hell does a staple stick straight up and pierce my tire?

Bike trouble update.

So as for the bike, I've had a few more set backs. I did replace the rear rack in Aberdeen but it might not make it to Mexico. Maybe. On Sat. Heather set me up in her friends beach house in Neskowin, OR. Awesome place. Thanks Heather, it was great to see you again. The road to get the house though is littered with very jagged rocks which tore up my tire. I failed to notice it until two days later as I was too busy claiming my scrabble-master title against Heather. I mean it was insulting. Total scrabble domination. It almost ruined our friendship. Anyway, I spent Sun. and Mon. stuffing my face and chillaxin' then on Tue. I packed up and noticed the flat which also had ripped a little hole in the tire itself. Luckily Heather was still around and she gave me a ride to the next town, about twenty miles away, to buy a new tire and patch the tube. It was pretty late in the day by the time it was all taken care of so we stayed in the town of Newport where I again Crushed Heathers scrabble dreams. Anyway, I took off on Wed. morning and only thirty miles into the day I got another flat. A large staple went right through the tire and into the tube only a 1/4 of an in. from where I had just patched it. Oh well. Then on Thur. as I was crossing the bridge into some town whose name doesn't matter I got a bent chain link. Richard, my touring buddy, had some extra chain links so we spent a good while doing that. That's about it...so far. Oh yeah and some squirrels clawed up my tent while I was taking a hike last week so now I've got duct tape patching it up. I'm still having an amazing time though. Peace Out.

Why wouldn't I want to be here?

Seriously, this is fucking amazing. The views are incredible and there are these fat, invalids barking and smearing shit all over each other. It's deeply beautiful and grotesquely heelarious at the same time. Just like me.

Doobie brother

This guy was headed North on the coast from San Diego. Rollin' on a big mountain bike with knobby tires, guitar on his back, and head phones blaring. The guy hardly noticed that I was there and proceeded to tell me he was a Doobie Brother. Then he played air guitar while singin some song that I might have known If I was born thirty years earlier and hadn't fried my brain on drugs. Immediately after the air guitar session he asked me where the pot was, as if it just had to be somewhere in the immediate vicinity. He seemed angry that there was none so I asked for a picture. "Shit, I don't care dude"

These are the good old days

The days just roll by and I'm finding myself in Bandon, only a day away from the California border. I hooked up with that cyclist I parted ways with in Florence and we've been riding together since yesterday. It's nice to have some company. And also someone to make a huge feast with at the end of the day.

This pic was taken today far off of 101. Just some dumped couch that looked like a fine rest stop. Until I started to think about what kind of meth lab or human fat factory it came from. Then I got scared and rode away. Ugh.

Good Morining

Whut up Ya'll? I spent the night in Florence, Or. last night. Made a couple of friends along the way, one of which was also heading south so we rode out for the last ten or so miles of the day. We parted ways in Florence because I was getting a motel for the 2hr. season finale of LOST. Oh such a good episode. See you next season LOST. I'll miss you.

This is just outside of Cannon Beach at just over 500 ft. of elevation. The wind was evil and I had to work hard to find my Chi.

such is life

So I seemed to be blessed by magical camping spots. On Thursday, after i blogged and took care of the bike It was already two-thirty before I left town. i was hoping to make it to Bay City but I was fighting a fierce headwind most of the way. Usually on flatland I'm able to average 15-17 miles an hour but the wind was keeping me held down to about 9. It feels like I'm being bullied by a mean spirited ball of cotton and it just frustrates me too much. I find myself screaming at the wind and wanting to punch nature in her nose. So I called it a day around thirty miles and pulled into the first camping spot I found. MAGIC. It was lush, had hot showers, and there were wild rabbits everywhere. I couldn't look in any direction without seeing a rabbit grazing on some grass. I paid for the night, went to go find a spot and who was next to me but my two German touring buddies. And not thirty feet from our site was a wide grassy field with two dozen horses roaming around, neighing, clomping, and swishing around in the creek.

Today I'm in Tillamook, Or. Last night I camped out in an excellent area just off the beach. I had the most secluded spot and only a hundred or so yards from the ocean. I layed down to rest just as the sun was going down and fell asleep to the sounds of crashing waves. Around midnight I was woken up by heavy raindrops taping on the surface of my tent. found it hard to fall back asleep with the immense glee that I was feeling at the time. I wanted to stay awake and soak the sounds in but not long enough to hear it end. Sometimes this all feels like a dream.

Good Friend/ Bad Driver

I Had meant to post this shot of Max earlier to get back at him for shaking my bike off the bus so here it is. Enjoy Fishies, this is your fearless leader at his finest. Somebody at work should print this and tape it around the bar.

Goodbye Quinalt

I had a wonderful time in Quinalt. I can't believe I live only two hours away and have barely explored the area more than a handful of times. It was also great to see my friends. We hiked around just a little 'cause Jeff had some sort scrape on his leg that he kept complaing about. I can't believe this is the same guy I saw catch a Salmon with his bare hands. Seriously, bare fucking hands! Later we all hung around the bon fire again and Sarah busted out her Fire fighter gloves that can withstand a crazy amount of heat. I was actually able to grab hold of a red, burning log with those things on. My arm hair unfortunately was not fire proof.

This is one of my fellow tourers. His name is Adolph and we've passed each other a few times, his buddies name is Raymond. They're both from Germany and carry around trailers like this one. Just livin' the life. They start earlier than I do but I make more stops so we keep lapping each other. I've come to appreciate every time I see them.

1 state down and two to go

Hello again. Yesterday I it made over to Oregon by crossing a 4.2 mile bridge of treachery. It might have been the most dangerous thing I'll have to do this whole trip. Two narrow lanes and just over a foot of shoulder. I kept an exhausting pace of 20 mi. an hour most of the way while nursing a busted knee (ten ibuprofrin seemed to help a little). When I got to the other side I criuse around a little, found a cheap motel, cleaned up, and then cruised around a little more checking out the town. Let me tell you that after a day of hauling around a huge load for forty+ miles and four+ hours there is no better treat than dropping off your load and pedalling around on what seems to be a feather weight bike. Astoria, Or. is a cool little place. I stopped in to a bar for a beer and a bite to eat an immediately made a friend. He also happened to work at the local bike shop and used to live in Olympia. We actually knew some of the same people. He was also on his bike so we downed the beers and cruised around as he showed me the hot spots. One of which being a very new brew house that rocked. we had some dinner and then scooted over to another cool joint called the Voodoo Room. All classed out with hipster/ rockabilly adornments. The bartender looked like he was birthed and raised there with slicked back hair and one greasy, curly bang hanging down his forehead like Johnny Depp in Crybaby. Scott, my bike buddy offered to let me stay at his house the next night if I wanted to stick around town but today is just too beautiful not to ride. So I dropped my bike off at his shop this morning so he could get some things in better shape and I'm taking the time to blog. Rad.

Anonymous

So I appreciate getting comments but when you do, leave your name or else it just comes up anonymous. Also if you click on a picture it will enlarge it, making it like totally cooler!

"You can't just let nature run wild"

I snapped this picture of the bald eagle as we were travelling the backside of the lake.
The Sea Anemone's were all over the beaches around Kalaloch.

Still here

It's Sunday and I'm staying another night at Quinalt. This place is just too amazing to leave. Heather came up yesterday and Sarah and Jeff will be here in about two hours. This is the best bike tour ever. The Hoh rain forest is bordering the backside of Quinalt and it's incredible. Heather and I took a drive around the thirty mile loop yesterday and decided that some hiking was in order. Waterfalls and lush, vibrant greens are everywhere. After our hike we're going out on the resort owners boat, whom we made friends with last night. Very cool guy. We had a huge bonfire on the beach with a few of his buddies. Chillin', drinkin', talkin'. I mean this guy definitely has his life figured out. Tomorrow I'll start again but with a fully recharged battery, muscles repaired and hopefully my tent patched up. The first day I got here I spent some time tuning up my bike and realized that at some point the brake caliper had shifted over and was rubbing the rotor constantly. That means I was pedaling against my own brakes for who knows how long. What a soldier...

rats

The raccoons get big out here.

Dirty Rats!

So after the Rack fiasco I set up camp, rode down to the next gas station for supplies; i.e. beer, came back and started up diner. Yum! After walking around the campsite and viewing the beach for a while I Laid back in the tent to cash out for the day. It was incredibly windy and a bit cold (just under 40 degrees) so my sleeping bag was the most magical place to be at that point. I nodded off to what should have been an amazing sleep but a few hours later I was startled awake by an awful noise just outside (or so I thought) of my tent. All of my supplies were located right next to my tent, under the rain fly in my bags. I wrongly assumed that because my food was in ziplocked bags inside of my panniers that it was safe. NO. At that point I had no idea what was happening so I leapt out of my tent with my machette (yes, I've been sleeping with my machette) to find Raccoons having their dirty way with my stuff. I sort of chased them away. They kind of strolled away, looking over their dirty shoulders as if deciding whether to leave or take my life. I retreated back to my tent with everything that I had and not five minutes later I heard that same awful sound. But all of my food is in here... the awful sound that I heard was actually those dirty rats ripping through my tent only four inches from my toes to get at a bag of granola. WTF? I jumped out again and searched for rocks big enough to knock that rats ass out. Needless to say I did not sleep well. ugh...

This is Kalaloch.

Broke Rack Mountain

So this is where the split was. To the left of this is a support bar that was bent and showing stress lines. I've had to repack the rear load to move more weight to the other side. Please let me make it to Aberdeen.

Tryin' to catch me ridin' dirty

This is day five and since it's Sat. I'm taking the day off. I made it to Lake Quinalt yesterday, got a cabin and now I'm staying. So farI've put 180 miles on the bike in 15 hours. The first day was brutal.According to my maps, From Port Angeles to Klahowya campground, which was closed, forcing me to camp illegaly (they forced me to do it officer) the elevation gain was roughly 2,00 ft. I weighed my bags before I left San Juan and with the weight of my bike I'm pushing around 90lbs. I should be like totally buff in three more days. On my third day I put in 60 miles to make it to Beautiful Kalaloch campground, right on the coast. This is where I noticed that my rear rack was bent and cracked due to a missing bolt. Look here LIFE, you're starting to piss me off! So I made my way around the campground and scrounged some tools from some friendly neighbors. I still need to stop in Aberdeen and geta new rack but hopefully this will get me there.

A pic of my Canadian friend Petes crack

This is where we camped about 200 miles deep into Oh Canada. The snowy mountain shot is on the way there.

Bad Omens for Team Chicken Wing

Wow! I've had some amazing experiences so far but a lot set backs and close calls too. Canada was amazingly beautiful and our campsite on lake Joffree was stunning. The Zipline tour through the forest on Blackcombe mountain was my wettest fantasy come true. Max, you really went above my expectations with that send off. Thank you. This picture was taken at the Anacortes Ferry dock prior to our parting. Sentimental saps. It was also about an hour after Max shook the entire bike rack, with my bike attached, off of his bus while turning a wild corner. Bad start for a bike ride across the country when the bike gets fucked before it begins. Seemed simple enough. One busted spoke and an out of true wheel. I wobbled my bike onto the ferry to meet Steffi and Daniel with an appointment at the local bike shop a day later. Turns out that the rim was slightly bent as was the FORK! FRICK! The bike techs advice was a new fork (which he didn't have in stock). We settled on sticking it in a vice and seeing what was possible. Luckily it came out rideable if just slightly unstable. I barely caught the the 9:30 Ferry to Sydney, B.C. which turned out to be the last one for a week. Whew! On my way down to Victoria the head winds were strong, blowing trees wildly and my bike backwards. as I was turning the corner of a major intersection, and noticing how little fun I was having, the wind really caught hold of my rear rack and blew it off. Literally. The hub supports stayed as the top tube attachment slipped off and I was dragging my load on the ground behind me. Really life? Is this how you're gonna do me? I pulled over to sidewalk, dealt with it and now I'm in Victoria, a few blocks from the ferry to Port Angeles, Wa. wondering what's next.

Hot Wing Tour '07 Begins

Alright, so this is my fourth attempt at updating this thing. Each time has come and failed me. The first post was tried the night before I left, when my emotions were running high and I was scared as hell. It was also an in depth thank you to everyone that showed support and love. To the fish hole regulars that made a lot of noise (and threw a lot of money!), Thanks. Despite what TINA might say, many of you became my friends over the years and it was awesome the way you carried on during my last couple of weeks. It meant a lot. And to Luke, thanks for not getting me back for covering the inside of your house in banana cream pie, before I left. You knew that I was a little too overwhelmed to take it well and it shows that you're a good friend (or just a forgetful stoner). Peace Out Ya'll!