Day 61 Baker City, OR to John Day, OR

This morning we were in for a bit of a treat, because although we thought that we would be riding through only desert today, it was actually a national forest.  As we went into the forest, we realized that there were a number of Adventure Cycling people going through the same area as we were.  It's always nice to see other cyclists on the road.  It's become a more and more common sight as we head west.

Sneaky picture of these guys...

The morning was relatively uneventful.  We actually did quite a bit of climbing today, although it was very gradual, I think somewhere around 5000 feet of climbing.  At the lunch stop it started thundering and lightening and we were afraid that we wouldn't be able to finish the day (as a rule of safety, no biking in lightening or thundering).  The good news is that as soon as we descended the hill (after waiting for the weather to calm down first, of course), everything cleared up and the rest of the day was quite beautiful (although kind of hot).  Funny thing is, as we left the lunch stop we were all in such a big hurry to get to the host to avoid being rained out, but as soon as we saw that everything looked good, almost the entire team stopped to get ice cream.  Sometimes ice cream just takes priority over other things I suppose...

Why... would anyone ever create this... 10,000 miles of gravel road riding????!!!!

Thank you to our hosts for tonight, the Assembly of God in John Day.  We had a great dinner of brisket, something we haven't had in a very long time.  I think the last time we had it was in Ohio with Navigators... wow that seems like such a long time ago (please forgive me if somebody else served us brisket and I forgot!).

We managed to have an early team meeting tonight, which means I finally have time to catch up on this blog, write emails and postcards, etc... free time on the 4K is a rare gem sometimes..

Day 60 Cambridge, ID to Baker City, Oregon!

Although we knew we had a very long day ahead of us, we decided we would all try to move faster in the morning and wake up at 5AM, instead of 4AM (which is when we wake up on really hot or long days).  So the reason today was supposed to be such a difficult day is that aside from being long (111 miles), we would have to pass through Hell's Canyon.  No need to go into incredibly specific detail, but at some point in the day we descend into the Canyon (although technically it's a gorge, not a canyon), and then we spend a long time in the second half of the day climbing back out.  The most important detail being that although it would be gradual, we would be climbing over 9,000 feet.

I think everyone on the team was both somewhat dreading today, but at the same time looking forward to it.  Because Hell's Canyon lies just on the Oregon side of the border (yes, finally Oregon!), it's kind of a 4K rite to complete it.  For some complicated reasons, it was decided that Chelsea and I would be in the water van for the first half of the day, and then two other teammates would swap out after lunch so we could ride.  The reason for the midday switch is that pretty much everyone wants to ride across states (so you can get state sign pictures in your 4K jerseys / chamois), and as our final state, Oregon is probably the most important of all.  Although I was a bit disappointed about not being able to ride into 

Oregon directly, I actually enjoy being in the water van, so I was looking forward to it.

Everything in the morning went very smoothly.  The first water break went by with no problems of any kind.  We wanted to setup the second water break at the Idaho Oregon border (so we could get a team picture at the sign).  Unfortunately, as everyone was waiting for the team to assemble, the last team just wasn't pulling in at all.  We saw two out of the four come down the mountain (not Hell's Canyon yet, but still a great downhill from what I saw in the van).  However, we didn't see the last two teammates coming down, and when we saw the food van stop about a quarter mile up the mountain (no trees to block our view), we became slightly worried.  We thought perhaps they might have a flat or something, but when Chelsea and I drove up to check to make sure everything was ok, we were immediately asked to pick up Caitlin (who is a nurse) from the bottom of the mountain.

Long story short, one of the teammates skidded off the road on a downhill and fell off of her bike.  Fortunately, she is going to be okay and actually has already been discharged from the hospital.  It was a bit touch and go for a bit, especially when we realized that the EMTs had called in a helicopter.  Turned out that it was only because they wanted to take her to Boise, which is the nearest city with a level one trauma center.  Unfortunately she broke her collarbone and it seems extremely unlikely that she will be able to rejoin us on the route.  At best we're hoping we can see her in Portland.  Thankfully the injury turned out to be less serious (still serious of course) than we all initially feared.

Every 4K team has its share of injuries, but after Jamie's passing and Joanna breaking her ankle, it was incredibly obvious how sensitive we as a team have become to any incident (which seems well warranted, of course).

After our teammate was airlifted out (again, by this point we knew that she was almost certainly okay, she was responsive and laughing here and there), we were fortunate enough to meet a group from the local power plant (via dam on the Snake River I believe) who offered to help shuttle our entire team to a nearby park, where would have water and shade and bathrooms.  I'm not even entirely certain who these people were, but if you ever read this blog post, please know how grateful I am for your kindness (they even offered us homemade cookies, cookies!).

Once at the park, we decided that the majority of the team should stay together (the day was called and there would be no further riding), and that the van drivers would move as much of the luggage, gear, food, bikes, etc. to the host in Baker City, and then return for the rest of the bikes and all of the team.  So began my drive through Hell's Canyon with Chelsea (my water van partner), Margrethe, and Ashley.  In addition, Max and Walt came along (As ride director, Max wanted to go to meet our injured teammate in Boise, and Max needed Walt to rent a car since Max is under 25).  

It's strange, after all the bike riding this summer, I can't help but feel like I see the terrain so differently, even when I'm in a car.  You notice every ascent and descent no matter how gradual, you notice places you could stop and make a water break, etc. So as we went up and down the hills of Hell's Canyon, I was trying to picture what would be like to bike through there.  On the one hand, it was incredibly beautiful, with the river constantly to our left.  However, I couldn't help but worry about the road.  There were a lot of hairpin turns and switchbacks.  So many blind turns, around which a car might come flying at 45 mph would no thoughts of cyclists.  Although we saw very few other cars, I still couldn't help but wonder if we were actually better off not riding on the road anyway.  As I've said before, it's a major rite of passage for 4K to come through Hell's Canyon.  But within the context of our team and everything that has happened to us in the past 60 days, I still felt very hesitant.  If the road had somehow been closed off to traffic, I think the ride would have been amazing (a lot of climbing, but great descents as well).  But obviously that's an absurd dream (except for the RAGBRAI...check it out on a google).  It's days like these I wonder what it would be like to be in a bike race, where they actually do shut off all the roads to cars, aside from support vehicles.

Once we arrived in Baker City, we met up with a very kind man from St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Mike.  I was worried that we would inconvenience the host way too much by arriving early with just our stuff, but Mike was incredible kind and even helped us unload our gear and bikes.   After both vans were unloaded (a process that ALWAYS takes longer than I think it will), we made the drive back to the park where our teammates were waiting.  Although it took us quite awhile to go back to them, it turned out to be quite alright since apparently they had all fallen asleep at the lake (surprise surprise).  And actually once we arrived back at the host with the entire team, the reverend from the church, Aretha Boneracke, surprised us with a great dinner from Subway's.  As always, thank you so much to our hosts for being so generous.  

So while it was definitely disappointing to not be able to finish (or for me, ride at all) the day, I think the entire team was happy with the way everything was handled.  It's too bad that we've had so many incidents that we're almost used to them, but I suppose there's not too much we can do but pull ourselves together and continue.  We will be back on the bikes tomorrow and riding.  It's really too bad see another teammate forced to discontinue riding, but hopefully we will see her in Portland.

Hell's Canyon... looks beautiful, but would have been extremely dangerous I think on a bike

Made it to the last state...

Day 59 Boise, ID to Cambridge, ID

We actually had tailwind today!  In case you don't know what that means, the winds in North American tend to blow west to east.  Buuuuut since we're riding from east to west, it means that most of the days, the wind is actually against us.  Sometimes the wind is very weak and you can't really notice, but often times it's brutally strong and makes it very hard to go at a steady pace.  Once in awhile, either we head east or the wind changes directions to favor us.  When the wind is strong, it can make the biggest difference in the world.  Today we actually headed mostly north and slightly east (I think... at least definitely north), and we ended up getting a pretty good tailwind.  We were incredibly grateful, knowing that it would make a hard day like today go by that much faster.

Compliments to the water van for leaving incredibly early this morning to chalk us out of Boise.  Leaving cities is always difficult since there are so many turns and usually a lot of traffic.  The water van people (Dan and Emily Lake) left around 4:30AM I believe to go around the streets and chalk directions for us.  We've gotten lost or at least very confused every time we've left a major city, but I think this was the most successful one yet.  There was a brief stretch where there was no chalking from the van because we were on a path, and of course it somehow turned into gravel.  But fortunately we were able to reroute quickly.  Quite unfortunately, we had a very very angry pedestrian curse us out and call us "spandexians", or so I believe.  While it's somewhat disappointing to have someone disparage cyclists so much, to be frank about it we found it so hilarious that I think we're just going to call ourselves spandexians from now on...

The first local highway we were on for most of the morning made me think about Jamie and the accident.  Team Portland 2014 has definitely developed a reputation for fearing highways far more than other teams.  But obviously, we have good reason to do so.  There have been many instances where I think most teams would have just ridden through a highway with a lot of traffic or a very narrow shoulder or even the interstate, but for our team, these things are usually out of the question.  I can't help but wonder if we would be like other teams if we had never gone through the accident. I think back to the roads we road on before the accident in Pennsylvania and Ohio and wonder if we would still ride on them now.  Anyway, as you can imagine the first highway was not so great.  The shoulder cut in and out (a theme for the day) and there was a lot of traffic, although most cars were quite nice and moved over for us.

We ran into a bit of  team problem today.  When we arrived at mile 65 or so, where we predicted we would be having lunch, we found out that the food van would take at least 45 minutes to get the town where we were (Payette, ID, just across the border from Ontario, OR).  As most teams were already at the lunch spot or very close, we decided that it would be much better for the teams to continue onto the next town, just to cut down on the miles would have to ride after lunch.  A major factor was the heat... it was supposed to read over 100 degrees in the late afternoon, and obviously we try to avoid that kind of heat as much as possible.  Although this seemed like a great idea at the time, we didn't exactly anticipate what would happen to the last team.  Because they had had so many bike problems (mostly flats I believe), they were 20+ miles behind everyone else.  When we moved lunch up to mile 77 or so, they ended up having to wait to eat lunch until 330PM or so, and because the other groups ahead of them continued to move to beat the heat, they ended up not seeing anybody on the team for the rest of the day.  To make matters even worse, because the vans were tied up supporting the front groups, the last group received very little water van support, at some point I think 30 miles or so without it (although they filled up water at gas stations, etc).  This problem was brought up at the meeting tonight and I definitely think there are things that could have been better to support the last group and mistakes were made.  But to me, it raises questions about how 4K should be done.  How long should the first group wait before leaving water breaks (which were very short today, which contributed to the increasing gap)?  Part of me feels like it would be great if the first group waited until at least the last group arrived at the break, but I always understand why groups would really want to not have to wait.  As has become obvious, 4K has come to mean different things for different people, and for some finishing the day's ride is incredibly important because it's a completion of their promise to spend the day riding for someone they love.  Difficult questions to answer, not sure if there's any perfect solution...

One very very bizarre thing that happened.  Although we had tailwind almost all day, we had a brief period when we had headwind... which of course was during our descent from a very tall hill... oops, kind of ruined a descent, but I'm just grateful for the tailwind we got all day.

Tonight we are being graciously hosted by the Cambridge Bible Church.  After my group arrived (we were actually first to arrive, which is partially why I'm pondering this question of how long the first group should have to wait).  During dinner, I talked to a man named David whose wife had passed away from pancreatic cancer just two years ago.  It's discouraging that just about no matter wherever we go, we meet people whose lives have been affected by cancer.  However, to see a positive in all this, it's encouraging to know that everywhere we go, we have people who support what we are doing.

Day 58 Rest day in Boise, ID

Not much happened today, except that I caught up massively on the blogging.  So I didn't get to really see Boise (some people went rafting or tubing on the river), but I got a lot done, which is enough.  Tomorrow we'll be biking out of Boise, which should let me see other parts of the city.  One day I'd like to return and spend a good bit of time here (a common sentiment I have for the places we visit).

Boise State Stadium... one of the few places I was able to see in Boise

Emily Lipsitz doing whatever she is doing... huh??

Day 57 Mountain Home, ID to Boise, ID

A very strange day, but a good one nonetheless.  The only route from Mountain Home to Boise involved riding at least 16 miles on I-84 with 80 miles per hour speed limits... meaning cars are actually moving much faster.  We decided that as a team, it wouldn't be worth the risk and that no one on the team should ride it.  It was a somewhat difficult decision, since there were several people who would have been willing to ride, but I think as a team we made the right call.  Not just for safety sake, but also for team unity.  In order to make the shuttling easier for the vans, several of us (including me) decided to ride up to the freeway, rather than just wait for the vans to return to make the second trip (first trip being shuttling everyone else ahead of the freeway).  Today we are actually headed mostly north and not much west, so we had an amazing tailwind behind us most of the time we were riding.  Although the roads weren't particularly great, we managed to fly down the road around 20 miles an hour with minimal effort, all thanks to the wind (when the wind is bad, i.e. headwind, it can be difficult to go 10-12 miles per hour).

While we were shuttling, we received news that the team ahead of us had had three or four flats... on the road we were about to get onto after we were shuttled.  Seeing as the team has been blowing through tubes (sorry) in the last few days, we were apprehensive about the road and considered asking to be shuttled past that road, but I'm glad we changed our minds.  I think the team ahead of us must have just gotten really unlucky, because we didn't have any flats on the same road.  This is the first state where we're really encountering the goat heads, which are tiny plant spikes that in conjunction with the heat (which weaken tires I think?) give us flat after flat.  

The ride into Boise was actually incredible, because aside from being entirely downhill, there was a big bike path that meant we didn't have to worry about cars at all.  I had no idea what Boise would be like, but just like it was with Pittsburgh, so far it's been a very pleasant surprise and the entire area seems much more bike friendly than I thought.

Thanks to our hosts tonight and tomorrow, the First Presbyterian Church, right in the downtown Boise area.  They were generous to give us most of the entire fifth floor (biiiiiig church), so we won't be lacking space tonight.  

We also had the privilege of eating dinner with a different group of cyclists going across the country, Bike and Build (www.bikeandbuild.org).  Funny thing is, we've been on a similar route for the last week or two, and we actually were in Jackson Hole at the same time, but just weren't able to meet up (they told us they waited outside our vans for an hour, trying to see if we would come back!).  It was really nice to finally meet them, after hearing from locals about how there was this other group of cyclists going through the area one or two days before...  To be perfectly honest, I'm a bit jealous of the fact that their route never changes year to year, meaning they have the same directions year to year that are established.  We on the other hand, have different routes every day it seems sometimes, so getting lost is nothing uncommon or new.  Having said that, I almost think that it's more fun this way - that when we struggle as a team to get over 10 miles of gravel that appear out of nowhere, it brings us a bit closer together and gives us something to laugh about later.  I know that in the context of Jamie's accident, Team Portland 2014 4K is very different from all other cycling teams going across the country, but tonight was when it was the most apparent to me.

Day 56 Twin Falls, ID to Mountain Home, ID

Today was a challenge.  Emily Lipsitz, Mitch, Brady, and I had an amazing start to the day.  We finally turned somewhat north as well as west (in the past week or so we've been only heading mostly west and a bit south), meaning we would finally get some of that allusive tailwind (as opposed to only headwind).  We were flying and the first water stop came up so quickly (which is encouraging).  I had some minor knee aches (I think I pulled something, but again very minor), but the truth was that it was a really nice day.  It was supposed to be a 92.6 mile day, which at this point is normal (the distances between hosts have increased gradually in the past few weeks).

The problems started when we missed a chalk mark and missed a left turn.  Thankfully the were stopped by a different chalk mark... but from Bike and Build.  The chalking didn't look anything like our usual chalking, so we were very confused and called the water van, which is when we realized that we had gone about 5-6 miles further than we should have... oops.  Still, not too bad, so we turned around and made it to the water van (and on the way passed the most pot-holed (?) bridge in the world... Brady's phone actually fell out of his pocket).  However, after we continued after the water stop (including climbing a decent mountain), we were told to turn around and go back exactly the way we came.... gravel of course.  It was pretty frustrating to have to go back to the exact same town that we were just in, especially because we had talked to a local who told us that the only way into Mountain Home was the first way we came in (what we had initially thought was wrong).  We had appreciated his advice but assumed that there would be a different route and that we should just stay with the rest of the team.

Thankfully when the lunch van arrived in the same town, they brought a ridiculous amount of food with them, so everyone was happy anyway (we're not that difficult to please really).  We did end up having a very serious meeting about what our team policy should be when hosts ask us to be at dinner at a very specific time, and it seems unlikely that we'll be able to make it in that time frame.  There is definitely some tension on the team, since different people see the trip as having different purposes.  Some see the most important part of the trip as finishing each day that they dedicate to a family or friend, whereas some see the most important part of the trip as spreading awareness about cancer and meeting the hosts (who always have someone affected by cancer).  I personally would like to think that I can find some kind of compromise in the middle, but I think I gravitate towards the latter.  I don't mind too much if I can't finish for the day, but I'm bothered if I feel like I put in a lot effort to finish.  However, even more important than that, I would find it really rude for us to ignore when hosts want us to be there.  We're their guests and so many of them have gone out of their ways to provide food, housing, laundry, showers, etc. that I feel obligated to at least meet them if they're there, even at the expensive of finishing.

So the rest of the day was quite a struggle.  We didn't get lost anymore, but the route was difficult because 1. all of the sudden it became very hot (forecast said 92, but it was over 100), 2. we had flat after flat because the Idaho Goat Heads (tiny spikes from plants) that really slowed us down.  As a result, we weren't able to bike all the way into Mountain Home, but thanks to our group adding on miles by getting lost, we actually managed to hit 92.6 miles for the day.  Despite the fact that we didn't quite make it to town, I would still say it was a challenging but rewarding day.

Teammates climbing as I try to cheer them on (out of breath at that point I believe)

Behold the greatness of the helmet hair after a full day of riding

And our hosts at the River of Life Family Worship Center were incredibly kind to us.  I think the pastor of the church sensed that we were in trouble with the heat and met up with us in his pickup truck, which let's just say really saved the day.  We were able to shuttle just about everybody around the same time and not leave anyone out in 100+ degree heat.  And when we arrived at the church, I was really glad we had shuttled.  The church had told us that it would be okay if we arrived after 7PM, although they wouldn't be able to be there and the food would be cold.  I didn't care about the food being cold (which is the case 90% of the time on 4K anyway), but I really wanted to meet the hosts, and they were all incredibly kind to us.  They shuttled us into their homes to shower and actually took our laundry to their homes to do for us.  It never fails to amaze me, when we run into people that are so willing to take complete strangers into their lives and treat them like friends and family.  I think I would have been really disappointed to have missed seeing the hosts tonight.  Although it's frustrating when we don't finish days, I always remind myself that I can always go on long bike rides, but it's unlikely that I'll be able to meet these wonderful hosts ever again.

Day 55 American Falls, ID to Twin Falls, ID

Today was a great day.  Having had bad wind for the past several days, I decided to be super strategic with the way my group rode.  Because we had a good wide road with very few cars, we switched off between riding in doubles (2x2) and single file to save our legs against the wind (when you ride behind someone, or even better someone(s), it makes your effort much much easier because they block the wind for you).  Fortunately while at times the winds were bad, they were never as bad as I feared they would be, and it kind of turned out that I over prepared, which in this cause kind of worked out.

I won't say who it was, but today we had a teammate who had... a comically troubled day.  Nothing too serious, just funny.  At some point, a truck left a trail of dust that got caught in her eye and her contact fell out of her eyes.  Then she managed to sit on a prickly bush and ended up having the entire team pick them off of her butt.  To top things off, right before the last water stop, her nose started bleeding (quite a bit too), but instead of stopping as everyone thought she would, she insisted that we continue to the water stop, which was only a mile or so away.  Typical 4K day I guess.

Yup those are bullet holes

Amazing gorge today... here's a pic.  Complete surprise that we did not see coming.  We saw it as we crossed the bridge, and we were grateful that there was a scenery area right after the bridge.

Surprise gorge = very nice way to end day

With Kelsey at the gorge... wish you could have been there to see how beautiful it was

One more special thing to note - after we ate dinner, my group went back out to the streets of Twin Falls.  We had biked I think around 95 miles or so, and we wanted to up it to 100 miles to complete a century.  Kelsey dedicated her day to her grandfather who passed away from her cancer, and because she had been in the vans the other days, this was her first opportunity to complete a century.  We just cruised around Twin Falls, enjoying either the lack of wind (when blocked by buildings), or actual tailwind.  Even though we were tired from a long day of riding, it was still an incredible 5 miles to finish.  I had actually ridden today for my friend Megan, whose sister passed away from Hodgkin's Lymphoma two years ago to this day.  So the 100 miles are for Kelsey's grandfather and my friend Megan and her family.