Day 1
June 1, 2005
Well “Day 1” has come and gone. It wasn’t too bad. I definitely rode farther than I intended. As long as my body isn’t too banged up in the morning, I think it will prove to be a good move. I ended up coming all the way to Eugene, 69.01 miles. Madness! And then, once I got here I went for another ride over to Chili’s, which ended up being farther than I thought, to snag a free meal with some vouchers my manager gave me before I left.
So, it is really possible that I will be a bit sore in the morning. In one of the touring books I read in preparation for this it outlined the key mistakes made by novices. One, inadequate training – check. Another, covering too much ground early into the trip – check again… Like I said, I wasn't planning on going all the way to Eugene, but I didn’t get any fuel for my stove when I had the chance and the next spot I was hoping to get it was closed. So it would have been a Power Bar dinner. Although those Power Bars are rather tasty… Many thanks to my grandmother for stocking me up on them! I had two on the ride over today which served as my lunch and gave me the extra boost to press on to Eugene.
I got up around 6:45 and heard it was raining, not exactly the first thing you want to hear when you wake up for your first day of a cross country cycling trip, so I went back to sleep and woke back up around 8. I figured I’d better enjoy the comfort of the hotel room while I had it, no need to rush out into the nastiness. I took a shower, checked the email, packed everything up, made some oatmeal – in the same supplied container I used yesterday to go get ice, Mr. Resourceful…! – checked out and hit the road. By the way, the decision to have the impromptu “wheel dipping ceremony” when I had the chance was a good one. My bike got pretty nasty from it, sand and stuff everywhere, it was good to be able to clean it up last night, plus it was good to just get up and head out of town.
It started raining about a mile down Route 126, the road out of Florence, and continued for about an hour and a half. The rain itself wasn’t too bad, just a light drizzle, it was the road filth that was pretty nasty. My legs got pretty dirty from all the dirt being thrown up, good thing I had my hot little tights on.. and the bike got pretty dirty too, but it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated.
I also introduced myself to the old lady today. Cyclist commonly refer to the highest gear as the “Granny Gear,” and I figured, since we’ll be getting to know each other pretty well over the next few months, why not get acquainted. There were a few rough hills today, but nothing me and the Granny couldn’t handle.
I finally got into Eugene around 5 or so and stopped by a little bike shop for directions to the hostel where I was planning on staying. They gave me great directions and I got there in about ten minutes. Eugene has got to be one of the most bike friendly towns in America. They have bike lanes in just about all the streets, there’s a mutual respect between bikers and motorists, and they also have bike trails that run throughout the city just for bikes and “peds” as the signs say – pedestrians; it’s really neat. And they’re used. I saw people riding, from work I assume, with friends…I just thought it was pretty cool, kinda European to me for some reason.
The hostel is fully functional. When I got back from my trek to Chili’s, Rob and Sylvia, two that work here, were on the back porch hanging out and I joined them for a while. At one point Rob said how he enjoys seeing the reactions of the people who arrive to the hostel and are expecting something different, just…different. I must say, I had the same reaction. I don’t know what I was expecting but I think I was definitely expecting something …Different. It’s an old two-story house that had at some point been turned into a hostel by an Indian lady. And like most hostels, I reckon, they don’t claim to offer any luxuries; it is what it is. I’m, right now actually, in the “Coyote Room,” a barracks of sorts, with a sleeping man from China. I felt bad when I came in; he was already asleep with the light still on, I didn’t know if that was for me or not. But I got all set up, as quietly as possible, and turned out the light, which I also hope he didn’t mind. They don’t sleep with the lights on over there, do they? I’ll have to look into that.
All in all, a good start to a long journey.
And for the record, with the 3.96 miles I covered from the Pacific to the hotel yesterday, I’ve traveled 72.97 miles toward my destination of Virginia Beach…
Well “Day 1” has come and gone. It wasn’t too bad. I definitely rode farther than I intended. As long as my body isn’t too banged up in the morning, I think it will prove to be a good move. I ended up coming all the way to Eugene, 69.01 miles. Madness! And then, once I got here I went for another ride over to Chili’s, which ended up being farther than I thought, to snag a free meal with some vouchers my manager gave me before I left.
So, it is really possible that I will be a bit sore in the morning. In one of the touring books I read in preparation for this it outlined the key mistakes made by novices. One, inadequate training – check. Another, covering too much ground early into the trip – check again… Like I said, I wasn't planning on going all the way to Eugene, but I didn’t get any fuel for my stove when I had the chance and the next spot I was hoping to get it was closed. So it would have been a Power Bar dinner. Although those Power Bars are rather tasty… Many thanks to my grandmother for stocking me up on them! I had two on the ride over today which served as my lunch and gave me the extra boost to press on to Eugene.
I got up around 6:45 and heard it was raining, not exactly the first thing you want to hear when you wake up for your first day of a cross country cycling trip, so I went back to sleep and woke back up around 8. I figured I’d better enjoy the comfort of the hotel room while I had it, no need to rush out into the nastiness. I took a shower, checked the email, packed everything up, made some oatmeal – in the same supplied container I used yesterday to go get ice, Mr. Resourceful…! – checked out and hit the road. By the way, the decision to have the impromptu “wheel dipping ceremony” when I had the chance was a good one. My bike got pretty nasty from it, sand and stuff everywhere, it was good to be able to clean it up last night, plus it was good to just get up and head out of town.
It started raining about a mile down Route 126, the road out of Florence, and continued for about an hour and a half. The rain itself wasn’t too bad, just a light drizzle, it was the road filth that was pretty nasty. My legs got pretty dirty from all the dirt being thrown up, good thing I had my hot little tights on.. and the bike got pretty dirty too, but it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated.
I also introduced myself to the old lady today. Cyclist commonly refer to the highest gear as the “Granny Gear,” and I figured, since we’ll be getting to know each other pretty well over the next few months, why not get acquainted. There were a few rough hills today, but nothing me and the Granny couldn’t handle.
I finally got into Eugene around 5 or so and stopped by a little bike shop for directions to the hostel where I was planning on staying. They gave me great directions and I got there in about ten minutes. Eugene has got to be one of the most bike friendly towns in America. They have bike lanes in just about all the streets, there’s a mutual respect between bikers and motorists, and they also have bike trails that run throughout the city just for bikes and “peds” as the signs say – pedestrians; it’s really neat. And they’re used. I saw people riding, from work I assume, with friends…I just thought it was pretty cool, kinda European to me for some reason.
The hostel is fully functional. When I got back from my trek to Chili’s, Rob and Sylvia, two that work here, were on the back porch hanging out and I joined them for a while. At one point Rob said how he enjoys seeing the reactions of the people who arrive to the hostel and are expecting something different, just…different. I must say, I had the same reaction. I don’t know what I was expecting but I think I was definitely expecting something …Different. It’s an old two-story house that had at some point been turned into a hostel by an Indian lady. And like most hostels, I reckon, they don’t claim to offer any luxuries; it is what it is. I’m, right now actually, in the “Coyote Room,” a barracks of sorts, with a sleeping man from China. I felt bad when I came in; he was already asleep with the light still on, I didn’t know if that was for me or not. But I got all set up, as quietly as possible, and turned out the light, which I also hope he didn’t mind. They don’t sleep with the lights on over there, do they? I’ll have to look into that.
All in all, a good start to a long journey.
And for the record, with the 3.96 miles I covered from the Pacific to the hotel yesterday, I’ve traveled 72.97 miles toward my destination of Virginia Beach…
posted by SuperByron3000 at 6/04/2005
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