Milestones and Mormons

Since Mt.Vernon, I have hit a few milestones on the trip. I passed the Oregon/Idaho border(the Idaho River) and am now riding in Idaho. It seemed like forever, but after 781 miles I completed my first state. The same day I hit the highest speed I have on the trip 38.7 mph. Other milestones include highest peak yet, first dirt road, changing from Pacific to Mountain Time, first major repair while riding, my first century today, mile 1000, and the most consecutive riding days.

The last night in Mt. Vernon a young couple pulled into the "Bike Inn" where we were staying. They were both teachers in the San Fransico public schools and both originally from the Chicagoland area. She was even from my hometown, Naperville, IL. After arguing over the better high school, talking about favorite places to eat, and how much things in the area have changed, we realized we would be back in Naperville the same weekend. Hopefully I will get to meet up with them downtown in Da Ville! The next morning I rode with them and my two other friends Gabe and Clay. Nearly 20 miles outside of our destination and at least 100 miles from a bike shop, I began to feel my bike start wobbling. As I looked down I noticed the rear wheel was badly out of true and pulled over. After stopping and inspecting my back wheel, I found that I had broken a spoke. Damn! Luckily I was riding with the Oregon guys, because I didn't have my cassette removal tool. After replacing the spoke and truing it up the best I could, we rode on. It was somewhat of a confidence booster to get through the first repair and found a little weight had been lifted. Aside from the excitement of changing a spoke, the ride was one of the most boring yet. Only riding 60 miles landed us in Unity, OR.

There are 5 state parks within 10 miles of Unity, but not a single campground in town. We arrived around 6 and spoke with everyone we could find, a bartender, gas station clerk, the local ranger station, and finally the city council who was meeting in the community center. The only idea that everyone had was to stay in the field behind the community center. We were informed this was illegal, but were later told there was no sheriff in town to enforce the law. Needless to say, we stayed in the field. While asking for places to stay, I happened upon the Unity City Council meeting where they were conducting an appropriations meeting and using Robert's Rules of Order. I interrupted with a motion to table discussion until a later point in time and all of them loved it. They seemed very surprised that I knew what was going on and were happy to help me after that(never knew that anything that occurred in student senate meetings would actually have a real world application).

Shortly after finishing dinner I decided to sit down to read a bit. While reading I noticed the sun setting over some distant mountains. I watched it for a while took a few pictures and soaked it all in. I realized that at no other time in my life will I ever have so little to worry about or such a relaxing experience. This was a great day!

The ride the next day was equally boring and beautiful at the same time. It is strange how you can be surrounded by beautiful scenery for a few days and start to look for something new or different. From unity we rode to Ontario, OR where we stocked up on food and I was able to get my wheel trued at a shop. While touring around Ontario, which is not a big city, I redefined (or I guess defined for the first time what requirements an area must have to be considered a city. The list follows:

A Post Office
A Bank
A library
A grocery store
A cafe or fast food restaurant
A school

I started thinking about this when I came into Ontario and realize that this was the first time I had seen a McDonalds in almost 400 miles, and a bank or grocery store in 200.

Here we stayed at an RV park in the owners backyard. It wasn't much, but it was the first shower in a few days so there were no complaints. While in civilization, I took advantage of cell service and called Barb, Steve, and Emma Kerr (Yeah the former Bulls Coach!) who I had spoken with earlier in the summer for touring advice and who happen to live in Boise, ID. We connected and came up with a plan to meet up after the our ride the next day. The only entertainment of the ride was dead rattlesnakes on the road, a short climb, and an entertaining woman washing her car while we ate lunch. We stopped to eat on the side of a gas station and while sitting on the curb facing the car wash, a woman pulls up and blocks the wash entrance. She was driving a new looking Dodge Caliber that was a strange orange color. The dealer might call it "mars orange". She was wearing denim from head to toe, but it was all brown. She also had straight greying hair with a bowl cut to define bowl cuts. As she pulled up I could barely hear her music but saw her hand tapping to the beat. She hopped out of the car and did a little spin before reaching inside the car to crank up the radio. She was blasting Kenny Rogers or something loud enough that we could barely hear each other laughing at her. She then closed her door and started to clean the rest of the car while others waited behind her to get into the wash. We finished our ride in Boise where we stayed with the Kerr family. It was great staying with fellow bike tourists and hearing stories from the road. They showed us around Boise, took us to Fancy Freeze (a local ice cream shop), and treated us to a great meal! (Thanks again for everything Barb, Steve and Emma!!!) The day before I had my wheel trued and it was already a little out of shape. I talked to the Kerr's and Steve took me to a couple of local shops. The recommendation I was given was to buy a new wheel. Unfortunately, none of the shops that were still open had a decent touring wheel. The next day we called up the other shops and hit one of the same. After searching and searching, The Hyde Park Bicycle Shop found a set of custom built touring wheels, and though I only needed the one, I picked up the set.

After getting the bike all squared away we started riding Sunday at around 3pm. It was a terribly hot day, and after 20 miles we found ourselves in the middle of the Snake River Valley/the desert. We had directions and were planning to ride Interstate 84 to a local road and then turn toward Mountain Home, ID. We could have stayed on 84 to Mountain Home and made it there in 25 miles. Instead we took the back roads which turned to dirt roads and added another 40 miles to the day...awesome! We rode through sunset and pulled into a Mormon Church just outside of the Mountain Home Air force Base at around 10:15pm. All of the doors were open, but nobody was inside. After finding some brochures and event schedules we managed to pull together a couple of phone numbers and notified the Church Bishop that we would be sleeping behind the church.

The next morning we were woken up by the sprinkler at 5am! All of our stuff was SOAKED!!! Thanks for the heads up Bish! We quickly moved all of our gear and packed it up wet. The ride started just before 5:30 and took us until we saw a McDonald's, mmm...Hashbrowns! The rest of the day was terrible. From McDonald's in Mountain Home to Fairfield, ID, 54 miles away, there was not a single stop. I finished all 6 liters of water that I was carrying with 20 miles left to go. I felt like I was in the Never Ending Story where the nothing begins and just start to spread and engulf everything in its path. When I eventually arrived in Fairfield, home to Bruce Willis' ski resort, I found the City Park/Local campsite. It wasn't much, but it was free. Near the end of the night an 18 year old guy named Tyler rolled in. He is riding his bike from Prineville, OR where he attended boarding school, to Madison, WI where he is from. His original plan was to walk home, but realized he didn't have time if he wanted to start school on time. He will admit that he has never really ridden before. He longest ride before the first day was 14 miles and it was to go pick up some drugs before he had his license. He has been hanging with us for the past couple days. Everything that he has is new and looks like the guys that ride their bikes a few times a week but have all of the nicest stuff for those occasions. So far he has been a lot of fun and he jokes around a lot.

Recently one of the other guys that I am riding with, Gabe, decided to buy a long sleeve shirt to prevent sunburn on his arms. He picked up a light colored collared shirt at a thrift store and wears it everyday along with a pair of plaid shorts. He looks like a Spanish exchange student. Also, he has some great stories about working for the Oregon Forest Service, preventing fires. He worked with a guy named Phil that might take the cake for the strangest/most ridiculous person you could ever work with. For example, the guy would shoot the stray cats in his yard with a shotgun just because he thought they rolled funny. Also, he would pick Gabe up each morning and pee in Gabe's yard after ringing the doorbell. But the thing about it was that he would go near a tree or a bush, just stand in the open peeing and wave to whoever answered the door.

On the way to Arco, ID from Fairfield, I hit mile 1000, but I was in for a surprise just before I hit it. As I watched my odometer roll forward to 999, I saw another biker standing beside his bike a ways ahead of me. Johnny was a middle aged guy who was clearly stoned out of his mind, riding his bike from, he didn't know where in Oregon to North Carolina. He rode an old Trek mountain bike and had it decked out with a full set of Panniers, a BOB trailer on the back, and a Kermit the Frog stuffed animal strapped on his handlebars. My favorite part of the encounter was hearing him try to explain how he used to get high and watch sesame street as kid and how Kermit always played music out of key. "Get it? Out of key...like a key". Which brings me to my next point, don't do drugs. Total his bike weighed over 300lbs. without him on it. He wore bleached blue jeans, a cotton t-shirt, and gym shoes. Johnny has ridden xcountry every summer for the past 9 years on the same bike with no maintenance other than a few sets of new tires and truing of the wheels. He is from Alaska where he works in a kitchen doing dishes $16.50/hr. and he works from 11:00am - 4:30am 5 days a week...he is clearly not a normal dude. It was hilarious to hear him talk about his stash and all of the random stuff he carries, 5 liters of water for motorists that might be stuck on the side of the road, for example. Aside from his ramblings, Johnny did have some great advice. He told us about a really cool local Hot Spring just off of the highway that was never used and probably the best I have heard about preventing animal attacks. Three years ago he was in the woods of Wyoming where a bear approached him while he was "gobblin' up some beans," at which point he grabbed a road flare and lit it in the bears face scaring it away. I am still not sure if this actually works but another local confirmed it for me, so I will be picking up some road flares shortly.

Speaking of animals, there are snakes EVERYWHERE! Riding down he road you see at least 1 dead snake every 5 miles, most of which are Rattlesnakes. I am quickly developing a fear of snakes after hearing local horror stories. Other animals include antelope, cows, sheep, bulls, and horses. I have only seen 5 antelope. Cows are scared of everything. As I ride by they usually back up or stand up really quick if they are laying. A simple "moo" generally sends all of them running. Sheep just stare at you as if you are treading on their turf. They hang out like a gang and glare at you as if they were saying, "get any closer and I'm 'bout to put you down for dirt nap!!!" Bulls are usually laying down and looking off in the distance like a fat kid dreaming of ice cream. They always seem so content. Horses are always eating and pretty much ignore everything going on. On occasion, the locals can be just as interesting as the wildlife.

Last night I stayed in Craters of the Moon National Monument. It is a huge lava rock field in the middle of nowhere Idaho. As filled out a campsite registration card for the night, an older woman who just finished doing the same began to ask me about riding. Eventually the conversation led to "where did you go to school?" and next to "If you died right now, are you %100 confident that you would go to heaven?". I couldn't believe it. This woman was trying to convert me at a campsite. After answering "no" she responded with, "Well if I'm not mistaken Jesuits are Catholic, and the problem with Catholics and their Church is..." I thought it was common sense that you didn't introduce a topic with "the problem with your religion is.." but apparently it is not. Heads up to everyone out there that hasn't picked up on this. I tuned back in after she asked if I was listening and she continued "No matter what sins you commit, as long as you accept Jesus into your life, you will go to Heaven." I strayed from her rambling again and started to day dream....You mean to tell me that I can drown cute and innocent puppies and kittens, steal everything I have ever wanted, even covet all of my neighbors wives, but as long I accept Jesus as the son of God, I get a "Get out of Hell free card"? Where do I sign up? I pictured myself walking up to the pearly gates after all of these sins and a deep bellowing voice saying "Marcus, you have broken each of the 10 commandments...twice. You're going to hell." But then I say "not so fast" and wave a magical card, just like I would to the lady at the entrance to Costco, and the voice says, "DAMN!" (Schmells...100 bucks says you slice it into the woods. -Gambling is illegal at Bushwood sir and I never slice... DAMN!). Just like that I'm in. And the would be samples of select products are now full sized entres of the items of my choosing! The woman decided that she wasn't getting anywhere and said she would write down some passages for me to read rather than reciting them to me. I kind of wanted to see what she would do if I said something about Gingers not having souls, but then decided I would rather go eat than mess with this lady. She said, "what a difference between you and my Joshua. Both of you spent four years and Christian colleges and he knows his bible so much better than you." I simply responded with "Mam, I didn't go to college to learn the bible". My friend Gabe bailed me out at this point by walking up and telling me that my tent was blowing away. I walked back with Gabe and just before getting to the campsite he yelled to the other guys, "hey watch out, there are some crazy Mormons trying to convert people around here!" Just then I noticed the woman standing beside her car looking at us...she was in the campsite next to ours. The next morning I woke up and as I was packing my things, the woman came up to me with a neatly folded sheet of paper that said, "Marcus - The Gift of Life". The letter contained a whole list of passages to read and some advice: Don't listen to anymore Rock music on the radio, just christian. Try BOTT.

Today I rode my first century, 100 miles in one day! We rode from Craters of the Moon to Rexburg, ID, home to BYU Idaho (Can't get enough of that good stuff Baby...Uh HUH!!). The ride was long, but not as bad as I thought it would be thanks to some minor seat adjustments and advice from the Kerr's about using chamois butter and two pairs of padded shorts. While researching for this trip I read an article that said, "buy a Brooks saddle or don't go". Brooks is a seat manufacturer that makes leather seats. They are suppose to be the most comfortable seat every because they mold to fit your butt. I had heard it takes between 300-1000 miles to break in, but personal experience says otherwise. Sticking with the painful theme, my friend Ed from the first few days of my trip gave up on his trip. After a few more days of limping around and not being able to ride his bike with weight, he packed up his stuff and caught a flight to New York. I was disappointed to hear this news, but was waiting for it. I didn't think he was going to make it out of Nedarts unless he had someone to ride with. I think this is why I stuck with him for so long.

I will end with good news. Tomorrow I will ride to the town of West Yellowstone, just outside of the entrance to the National Park where I hope to spend the 4th of July.

-Marcus

P.S. A special thanks to Barb, Steve, and Emma for letting us stay with them and treating us so well! Thanks to them as well as my Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom for getting me in touch with such great people!