Paul's bike blog

Yesterday I rode a few mile up into the coast range where the road to King's Vally takes off. There was a lot of gravel on the roads so I decided to try a flat valley ride today, thinking it would be better. Peoria, Oregon is about 10 miles from Corvallis. It is a popular road route with lots of options to make it longer. It was almost sunny in the morning but was mostly cloudy during the ride. There was not much gravel on the road, and not much traffic either. I really enjoy riding through farmland. I passed some orchards, and berry farms, and lots of grass fields.

The Willamette River. The river had gone down since last week when it was flooding after some very heavy rain.

Linda, Adinah and I took a drive out to see Alsea Falls. It's only about 20 miles from here. It had been raining heavy for several days, and was still raining hard on and off during the drive. From Philomath you head south through Bellfountain and Alpine, and then turn west. You cross the divide at about 1,200' and start down along the Alsea river. It's all lush green Oregon coastal forest with lots of ferns. Many years ago I lived not from from where this river hits the ocean, but I had never been up to it's source before

Linda, Adinah, and Frodo at Alsea Falls after several days of hard rain.

Some of you might have seen Linda's post on Facebook that her mother passed away last Friday. What you might not know was that Linda was her mother's full time care provider for the past 3+ years. During this time Linda was steadfast in her resolve that her mother would not die in a nursing home. Even when she lost her hearing shortly after moving in with us and could no longer have a conversation. Even when she could no longer stand and had to be lifted from her bed to her wheel chair. Linda still took her out in the car, to Lithia Park on sunny days, or to the Indian Casino where she loved to play the slot machines. Linda taught me the true meaning of devotion. She gave up a lot, including her career as a Midwife, but she succeeded in giving her mother the best last years anyone could ever hope for, including having time to get to know here great granddaughter JJ. We should all be so lucky to have someone love us this much.

Linda and her mother Sue Stauff

I've been back in my little house in Philomath almost a week and have been riding everyday. The first couple of days were rainy and I got a good test of my rain gear. For the most part I stay pretty dry. My pants and jacket seem to do their job. If it's raining hard my gloves soak through, but that shouldn't be a problem for my 6 mile commute, as long as I can dry them out during the day. My shoe covers keep my feet dry and toasty.

Dan, Paul, did a late fall ride around Applegate Lake.

Dan and Paul admiring the fall foliage

A very momentous road ride today. After almost two weeks of cold rainy weather, the day dawned bright and clear. It was over 60 degrees by the time I got started. It got up to the mid 70's before too long. The colors were as good as they get for the Rogue Valley. My pictures cannot convey how vivid they were today.

Nice colors and sky coming back into Ashland on the bike path.

It was shaping up to be the perfect day for this classic century. Last year was too hot, so we opted for the metric, which of itself is a great ride. This year the forecast called for a high of 88, but we knew it would take all day to get that warm. The last time I did the full century was in 2006. David picked me up at 6:00 and we were at the fairgrounds in Yreka before 7:00.

I started the day with the idea of riding up Anderson Gap. I knew this to be a steep climb and I had never done it. It turned out that Dan and Paul didn't have the time so we decided to do Siskiyou Summit instead. It was nice and cool on the way up and very clear at the top. Nice view of Shasta. The ride down was even a bit chilly. As we got closer to town the wind picked up and we had a stiff headwind all the way back.

It's hot in the valley this time of year so it's good to get up in the mountains. I rode the Trucker up to meet Linda at the North Fork Campground. Very hard ride up Dead Indian Memorial. The second night I camped by myself at the back of Hyatt Lake.

You can view all the pictures on my Picasa Web albums or watch the slide show here.

My first ride out since returning from my tour. Did the Woodrat loop.The road bike sure felt light and responsive. However I'm not any faster. Sure, I can ride all day. Distance and hills are irrelevant, just as long as I can gear down and go slow. I think it will be a shock the next time I get in a fast group ride. Endurance is great though. Usually I start dragging by the time I hit Talent Ave. on the way home, no matter how long or short the ride. Not today. Maybe it was that great tailwind but I had lots of energy all the way home. Not bad on a 72 mile ride.

Day 21: 38 miles. Total: 1,015 miles

Last night Paul R. called me and we decided Glacier was not in the cards for this year. Maybe next year and preferable with more people. Although I'm hooked on self supported touring and want to do a lot more, I can see that a supported trip like we did in Idaho in 2005, with 7 people, would be a lot of fun.

Day 20: 45 miles. Total: 977 miles

It was about 14 miles to Lolo Pass. For about half of this we were still following the Lochsa. We spent three days on this river.

Day 19: 59 miles: total 932 miles

All along the wild and scenic Lochsa River. Awesome rapids the whole way and saw exactly one kyack in the water, though a bunch on cars.

A quiet section on the Lochsa River.

Day 18: 58 miles. Total: 873 miles

Another day, another river. Actually three rivers. But first, as we left Grangeville, we crossed Camas Prairie.

Day 17: 25 miles: Total 815 miles

The day began with a 10 mile climb out of White Bird canyon, past the site of the famous 1877 battle where the Nez Perce defeated the US army. The route followed the old highway so there was no traffic and lots of switchbacks of about 5% to 6%. You could see new highway which was a straight and relentless 7%. The view back the canyon was great.

Day 16: 66 miles. Total: 790 miles

Today was all about the Salmon River, which I rode beside most of the day. The Salmon made up for my disapointment in the Snake. Unlike the Smale, the Salmon is wild and free.

But the day started on the Little Salmon River. This is what it looked like where I camped last night

Day 15: 35 miles. Total: 724 miles

Day 14: 50 miles. Total: 689 miles

It was windy and rained overnight but I was able to get going fairly early. I got warm pretty quick riding uphill. I knew I had a long hard climb getting up from the Snake River. It was a pleasant climb along Brownlee Creek. At first the hills were all bare with just some green along the creek. Soon it became quite lush along the creek with cottonwood and a bunch of smaller trees. At about 3,000 feet there were some firs and soon the ridges had fir and pine. I was pleased to have entered yet another national forest.