Day 12
June 12, 2005
Well, for as concerned as I was about the joints and getting back on the road, today went pretty well.
I got up around 8:30 and slowly made my way out of New Meadows. It was close to 11 when I actually hit the road. The 36-mile ride to Riggins was a chilly one at first, the clouds had yet to break and there was a pretty strong wind swirling around me. But, after an attempted drizzle, the sun broke through and warmed up the ride into Riggins. The knee did great on her first day back after the scare. I had the ace bandage on it, and was real careful not to go too hard; I averaged 9.9 mph for the day. Another great thing was that the road was relatively flat for me today. It was just a nice day to get back on the bike and feel things out again.
You won’t believe it, but right now as I lay in the tent, I have the ace bandage wrapped around my left ankle. My Achilles tendon has also been bothering me sporadically, since about the fourth day, and when I pulled into Lucile it was my Achilles that was bothering me, not my knee. I’ve been telling people I plan on finding a knee brace in Grangeville tomorrow, now I’ll be looking for an ankle brace as well. I told my Dad I’m gonna be a sight to see with two knee braces and an ankle brace, and I thought my tan lines were going to be interesting before the braces... But I don’t care what I look like, now I’m in the mode of: “Take care of yourself and be sure you’ll have enough to go the distance.” I’m still very early into this; I can’t afford any persistent injuries. Although it is nice to have the flexibility in my schedule to take the time when I need it and rest the bones.
But back to today, I got to Riggins around 3 and got a great sandwich at a little restaurant. I wish I remembered what it was called: shaved turkey, 2 slices of ham, Swiss cheese, pineapple, mayo, and lettuce, served warm on a hoagie style, sesame seed roll. Ugh, It was awesome. I told the lady I wanted something good, something I’d remember – that was it; it was great.
After I recovered from the sandwich, I thought I’d go church shopping to see if I could find one that would be willing to open their doors and let me crash on their floor for the night. No one was at any of the churches, so I set off in search of a spot to set up camp. I’ve been asked by numerous people not to camp in the middle of nowhere again, so I went looking for a nice campground with pretty flowers, friendly people, a fenced in, private campsite, and a 24-hour armed security guard. I asked some locals where I might be able to find such nice accommodations and they said in my mother’s dreams. Then I scaled back the requirements a bit and they sent me up the road.
I ended up going another 10 miles to Lucile. They have a great little RV park, with the pretty flowers and everything, just $4 and I was set. They also had a shelf of used books for 50 cents each and I picked up The Jester, by James Patterson & Andrew Gross, for a little recreational reading. I set up the tent and went up to the restaurant to call home and pick up a sandwich.
One of the best parts of the trip has been all the homemade desserts in these little restaurants and diners out here. I went in and was going to get a sandwich “to go,” and come back and enjoy it with my soda and pretzels I picked up in Riggins. As I walked in, the server, Rachael – who said she’d check out the site and sign the guest book, and also said she saw Chris & Chaz yesterday – was portioning and wrapping up some great looking cobbler, with a nice, thick, cake-like crust on the top… I ended up ordering a BLT, to go, and a warm Rhubarb cobbler a la mode while I waited. And that, too, was amazing. I don’t even know what a Rhubarb is, but so far I’ve had two tastes of it since I’ve been out here, and each time it’s been phenomenal. The conventional thinking is that, after one travels 600 and some odd miles on a bike, that person should be shedding a few pounds – I bet I’ve gained 5 since I started the trip. I’m constantly hungry. And even when I’m not, the rationale is, “I think I’ll eat anyway. I enjoy eating, and I’ve just rode far enough; I deserve a prize – yes, that looks good.”
So today was good. Tomorrow I have the wicked White Bird Pass to scale. On the elevation chart it looks like a wall, roughly 4,500 feet in 6 miles. A local tonight said it’s a 7% grade, should be fun. I think I may have to hop off and walk it for a while. As sad as I am about that, I’m almost pretty sure of it. I don’t want to put the joints through two hours of agony, grinding through the pedals to make it over on the bike just so I can say I did it. Better to walk up a hill and complete the trip, than to hoof up a few hills and bail out in Kansas due to knee failure.
Last thing, I promise. I also charted my week tonight. I should be in Missoula on Friday night, and I’m really excited about that. Missoula has been a marker to me for some reason. I know it’s not accurate, but I feel like I’ll be a third of the way home when I get to Missoula. Missoula's the first third, the Mississippi River's the second third, and the Virginia state line puts me on the home stretch: those are the big three I'm looking forward to. So yeah, Missoula on Friday; with a stop by the Lolo Hot Springs on Thursday! I’m really, really excited about that!
This week should be a nice, easy week of long days with even longer climbs up steep passes. Please keep praying for the joints. Between prayer, easy pacing, and a little coddling when needed, I should be in good shape. You know I’ll keep you posted…
And, as always, for those keeping score at home…
Today: 47.23 Total: 648.69
Well, for as concerned as I was about the joints and getting back on the road, today went pretty well.
I got up around 8:30 and slowly made my way out of New Meadows. It was close to 11 when I actually hit the road. The 36-mile ride to Riggins was a chilly one at first, the clouds had yet to break and there was a pretty strong wind swirling around me. But, after an attempted drizzle, the sun broke through and warmed up the ride into Riggins. The knee did great on her first day back after the scare. I had the ace bandage on it, and was real careful not to go too hard; I averaged 9.9 mph for the day. Another great thing was that the road was relatively flat for me today. It was just a nice day to get back on the bike and feel things out again.
You won’t believe it, but right now as I lay in the tent, I have the ace bandage wrapped around my left ankle. My Achilles tendon has also been bothering me sporadically, since about the fourth day, and when I pulled into Lucile it was my Achilles that was bothering me, not my knee. I’ve been telling people I plan on finding a knee brace in Grangeville tomorrow, now I’ll be looking for an ankle brace as well. I told my Dad I’m gonna be a sight to see with two knee braces and an ankle brace, and I thought my tan lines were going to be interesting before the braces... But I don’t care what I look like, now I’m in the mode of: “Take care of yourself and be sure you’ll have enough to go the distance.” I’m still very early into this; I can’t afford any persistent injuries. Although it is nice to have the flexibility in my schedule to take the time when I need it and rest the bones.
But back to today, I got to Riggins around 3 and got a great sandwich at a little restaurant. I wish I remembered what it was called: shaved turkey, 2 slices of ham, Swiss cheese, pineapple, mayo, and lettuce, served warm on a hoagie style, sesame seed roll. Ugh, It was awesome. I told the lady I wanted something good, something I’d remember – that was it; it was great.
After I recovered from the sandwich, I thought I’d go church shopping to see if I could find one that would be willing to open their doors and let me crash on their floor for the night. No one was at any of the churches, so I set off in search of a spot to set up camp. I’ve been asked by numerous people not to camp in the middle of nowhere again, so I went looking for a nice campground with pretty flowers, friendly people, a fenced in, private campsite, and a 24-hour armed security guard. I asked some locals where I might be able to find such nice accommodations and they said in my mother’s dreams. Then I scaled back the requirements a bit and they sent me up the road.
I ended up going another 10 miles to Lucile. They have a great little RV park, with the pretty flowers and everything, just $4 and I was set. They also had a shelf of used books for 50 cents each and I picked up The Jester, by James Patterson & Andrew Gross, for a little recreational reading. I set up the tent and went up to the restaurant to call home and pick up a sandwich.
One of the best parts of the trip has been all the homemade desserts in these little restaurants and diners out here. I went in and was going to get a sandwich “to go,” and come back and enjoy it with my soda and pretzels I picked up in Riggins. As I walked in, the server, Rachael – who said she’d check out the site and sign the guest book, and also said she saw Chris & Chaz yesterday – was portioning and wrapping up some great looking cobbler, with a nice, thick, cake-like crust on the top… I ended up ordering a BLT, to go, and a warm Rhubarb cobbler a la mode while I waited. And that, too, was amazing. I don’t even know what a Rhubarb is, but so far I’ve had two tastes of it since I’ve been out here, and each time it’s been phenomenal. The conventional thinking is that, after one travels 600 and some odd miles on a bike, that person should be shedding a few pounds – I bet I’ve gained 5 since I started the trip. I’m constantly hungry. And even when I’m not, the rationale is, “I think I’ll eat anyway. I enjoy eating, and I’ve just rode far enough; I deserve a prize – yes, that looks good.”
So today was good. Tomorrow I have the wicked White Bird Pass to scale. On the elevation chart it looks like a wall, roughly 4,500 feet in 6 miles. A local tonight said it’s a 7% grade, should be fun. I think I may have to hop off and walk it for a while. As sad as I am about that, I’m almost pretty sure of it. I don’t want to put the joints through two hours of agony, grinding through the pedals to make it over on the bike just so I can say I did it. Better to walk up a hill and complete the trip, than to hoof up a few hills and bail out in Kansas due to knee failure.
Last thing, I promise. I also charted my week tonight. I should be in Missoula on Friday night, and I’m really excited about that. Missoula has been a marker to me for some reason. I know it’s not accurate, but I feel like I’ll be a third of the way home when I get to Missoula. Missoula's the first third, the Mississippi River's the second third, and the Virginia state line puts me on the home stretch: those are the big three I'm looking forward to. So yeah, Missoula on Friday; with a stop by the Lolo Hot Springs on Thursday! I’m really, really excited about that!
This week should be a nice, easy week of long days with even longer climbs up steep passes. Please keep praying for the joints. Between prayer, easy pacing, and a little coddling when needed, I should be in good shape. You know I’ll keep you posted…
And, as always, for those keeping score at home…
Today: 47.23 Total: 648.69
posted by SuperByron3000 at 6/13/2005
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