6/16/09
Yesterday was my first day actually riding along the transamerican trail. it took me roughly 100 miles and two days to get there, but it was worth every minute. The night before I started the ride, I woke up around 1am wheezing, congested, and eyes more red than my now sunburned face. I had no idea what the hell was going on! I imediately took some benadryl with a couple glasses of water and blew my nose as best as possible. I went back to bed scared I might wake up worse and need to get some help. I did wake up again, several times in fact, but with fewer symptoms of this allergy each time. At around 6:30 I got out of bed fed up with restlessly laying in bed. I got ready for my ride and grabbed some breakfast with my friend Ed. We were going to ride south on highway 101 to Netarts after dropping some weight at the post office. The entire morning, Ed was complaining of poor control of his bike with a BOB trailer on it.
As I have mentioned before, Ed is a 69 year old guy who is riding cross country on the Northern Tier trail. He is a smaller guy, about 5'6" and he looks like Willy Nelson with a glasses. When he rides he puts on an american flag bandana, so he really looks like Willy! He moved.to upstate New York after living in NYC and New Jersey. He is retired and used to sell Encylopedia Brittanica's until internet and the more reliable source Wikipedia came on the scene. He rides an old miyata with tons of really cool new components and carries his stuff on a BOB trailer, which he has never toured with before. His experience is mainly week long tours, about each year, with panniers or a support car.
I was excited to start my first day on the trans am and was ready to really cruise! As we staryed the ride Ed was a bit unsure about his trailer and riding a little slower to play it safe and to take it easy with all the weight. We stopped in a little surfer town called Seasised for lunch. I decided to switch it up and had a tortilla with peanut butter and granola rather than the banana and honey. While eating a women witha baby stroller walked past and commented on my tail light which was still on "you just leave your light on to waste batteries?" She was genuinely pissed off that I left my light on. I imagined her going home and telling her husband that she would never believe what she saw today, a kid with his bike light on while he wasn't using it. I wanted to say "yeah, because I'm trying to see how much energy I can waste and fill a landfill in the process." Instead I said "oh thank you I didn't know it was on" to which she shook her head and sighed.
After eating Ed and I forged on into the hills which were suppose to be the hardest part of the day. The road was in good condition and the weather was getting better by the minute. As we came down our second big hill of the day, we were coasting at around 25mph (slow compared to the usual 30-35 that you hit on bigger hills) there was a large truck carrying lumber coming down the hill behind us and tracking ahead getting ready to take the incline. With Ed ahead of me, I saw his trailer begin to swing back and forth, slowing to 15i20mph he started loosing control. Eventually he gave up and took it down before letting it carry him into oncoming traffic. He hit really hard landing on his right hip and rolling onto his left shoulder. The stuff in his bag went everywhere across the road as cars stopped to help and the large truck behind us blocked traffic. He was fine, aside from a sore right hip and a torn up jersey. Soon after the crash a few tourist showed up to start their day. They were riding with a support car that gave Ed a lift back to Netarts as I continued down the 101. Continuing on I was dissappointed to have lost my friend for the day, possibly the lowest point of the trip so far.
After another 10 miles I started to see a glimpse of the beach and then the ocean with large rocks sticking out of the water in rnadom spots. The views were amazing and I took pictures every opportunity I had. While stopped at a viewpoint, I read a sign that said "The Goonies" was filmed on the beach I was looking at. The first ebtrance to the beach I saw I hiked down and took pictures. Here I also completed on of my goals for the trip, taking a picture wuth my rear wheel in the Pacific Ocean. There weren't many people around to take it for me so its hard to make out what is going on, but I have it. When I first hike down to the water the bike was sinking into the sand making it seem 200 lbs heavier, and once I got down to the water a huge wave came splashing up covering the wheels, chain, derailler, and me, ankle deep in salt water and sand. I heard that this is good for corrosion and breaking down necessary grease on moving parts. I saw all of it and just smiled and laughed, having completed one of the items on my checklist. As I turned to leave the beach looking at the bike as the wet parts were quickly covered in even more sand, I imagined Walter from The Big Lebowski saying, "f@*# it Dude. Let's go bowling." I laughed to myself some more. Good thing there weren't many people on the beach,be cause the one or two who were there must have thought I was a schitzo with a bike fetish and I was just getting some pics of my new girlfriend on the beach.
The other bikers I had seen in the day said to prepare for Manzanita hill. This was my next climb and I got to the top without a problem. As I rode down the back side, I began to realize that I am getting in great shape and fast! The view from the top was beautiful, so I took the chance to sit on a ledge and relax with the Pacific and some beach town in my sights.
As I rode into the town I saw on the hill, I realize it was almost 4 and it was starting to get really hot. I didn't hesitate to stop at the Dairy Queen in town when I rode past. I had the most delicious orea blizzard of my life sitting on the side of the road in some town 14 miles out of Tillamook, OR. I also used this as an opportunity to put on my spf 85 sunscreen. Supposedly it doesn't do anything after 30, but I need all the help I can get so I picked up albino strength $. The money sign is a typo but I like it, so it will stay. It was too late for sunscreen, my face was burned and my eyebrows stood out like the letters on a stop sign when I saw myself in a mirror.
I continued my ride refreshed and ready to eat some cheese as I pedaled on to Tillamook, home of the Tillamook Cheese Company. When I arrived at the factory I was dissappointed to see their were no more tours that day, but was still excited to pick up a brick...I need my cheese! At the factory I received a call from Ed, who had since gone to the ER to get thing checked out. I met him their and was dissappointed to see him with what looked like a crushed spirit and some Xrays. Nothing was busted but he had a partial tear in something. He caught a cab to his friends place and I rode there.
I ended the day with 75 miles under my belt and a bike that needed to be cleaned. Ed and I ordered some pizza and looked at the maps before calling it a night. I am still unsure whether I will hang around with him tomorrow, but I think I might just because I am really sore!
-Marcus
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