For those who don't wish to read my perfunctory account of my travels, below is a link to the collection of photos I took whilst on the Tour: please gaze at your leisure.
Oregon Crater Lake Tour 2008 Photos.
For details of the trip itself, please visit:
Bicycle Adventures.
Before one gets to ones cycling adventures in the North West US, one must fly from Australia, in a bloody big jet, packed to the cans with stinky, sweaty, smelly other persons...I really hate flying!
Short tale: hop on a plane in Perth, Western Australia and travel to Portland, Oregon, USA via Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan: a journey that takes some 24 hours and 20 minutes (including a 5 hr 20 min stopover in Narita), and robs me of my sanity, respect for the sanctity of human life, and tastebuds!
Long story: it's too long and soul-crushing to relate, but potentially could have involved a psychosis, a rampage, and some chopped liver...
Thanks to the squiggly little Dateline running down the Pacific, I leave Perth on August 3rd , a Sunday night at 11pm, and get into Portland on Monday, August 4th at 8:20 am – Cool, 24 hrs apparently packed into 9! Unfortunately, that meant I had to stay up another 12 hours at least in order to adjust my internal clock!
Well, the info-torial on the plane said “to avoid jet lag, drink lots and get out in the sun”. My thoughts immediately strayed to finding a bar that was outside and getting baked, in both senses.
But, first, the little matter of finding my way to Universal Cycles, the dudes who I had arranged to have my newly minted Dean titanium-framed S&S coupler bike shipped to and built!
Being totally anal, I had all the info at hand! Shuffling from my hotel into the sunny Portland day (mid 30's Celcius and sunny), I followed my Google Maps printout directions and struck out for the joint. A surprisingly short 15 minutes later (well not that surprising – I rang the shop just before I left the hotel and received GPS-accurate directions), I had found the place, and immediately assailed the owner Mike re: my machina. Mike took me to meet Mark, the resident Dr. Frankenstein, and - “It's ALIVE!!!”.
OMFG – it was a thing of sheer beauty! I salivated a lot, mumbled some shit, and generally stared goggle-eyed for about 20 minutes. Coming to (the residents in the workshop had hit me on the head with a torque wrench in order to “reset your circuits dude”), I gradually gained my senses and began to resemble a typical human being.
Spent the next couple of hours getting things squared away fit-wise etc, and was just about to take the thing with me when I discovered a little wrinkle: here in Oz, bikes have their front brake lever on the right side, and their rear brake lever on the left. Well, I wasn't in Oz – I was in freakin' Portland, and things are different here buddy! Mindful that, in a panic situation on-road, my initial instinct would be to grab a handful of rear brake, which would mean front brake under the current set-up, I decided to leave it in Mark's hands to render a swap. I was to be without bike for another day - bleh!
Trudged back to the Hotel, showered, changed into something that wasn't crusted onto my body (yes, I was STILL in my airplane clothes!) and with thoughts turning to the “plenty of drinks and sun” advice, I stiff-legged like some zombie down NW 23rd and into paradise: a paradise known as the Casa Del Matador. A “Tex-Mex” cuisine and Tequila Bar, it kicked my arse more than once during my stay in Portland. This day, I partook of a spicy tomato soup, tortillas, and then, some hours later, a huge plate of nachos! Plus vast amounts of local microbrews. If you're in Portland – go there: it's that simple! (Altho there are absolutely NO matadors!)
Fantastic – I also managed to wake in the correct hotel the next morning! As I wasn't scheduled to get back to Universals to pick up the bike 'till the afternoon, and given that I'd seemed to get 9 hours good (alcohol induced) sleep and appeared to be semi-functional, I decided to walk around Portland to see what I could see. A couple of pics below of some of what I saw:
Five hours later, after seeing what I could see and walking many kms (the river boardwalks are great for this!), I arrived back at the hotel in the early afternoon, showered and put on the cycling gear to go get the new treadly and shake it down!
It was still gorgeous and panting to go! After profuse thank you's to all and sundry, and a pic with Mark the builder (see below), it was off for a leisurely spin around Portland!
Portland is a magic city for bikes – bike lanes everywhere, masses of riders, and car drivers mindful and courteous of bikers. I've said it before and I'll say it again – the car drivers in Perth are egomaniacal morons with god complexes in tin boxes!
Shake down done, I cruised back into the hotel for another shower, sauntered off to the Matador for more gorging, and then back into bed early in preparation for a train trip the next day to Olympia, Washington to...meet a mystery woman!
Well, she will remain a mystery to you, dear reader, but I had chatted some already, and was keen to catch up with this intelligent and witty lady! Plus, Olympia is the capital of Washington, of historical importance, and my inquisitive mind was on a quest to...oh, please!
Biked to the Portland train station the next day, boarded the 'Coast Starlight' and spent a pleasant 2 and something hours chatting to a nice guy from who-knows-where-in-the-US about many things.
Deposited at Lacey, Olympia, I saddled up and headed in the direction of the capital, directions I had again google-mapped in my hot little paws. I arrived at my destination, the Phoenix Inn in Olympia some 40 minutes later with no idea how I got there! I blundered into an urban area, looked for a tallish, square building in a place with very few tall buildings, and found it!
Had a little time to kill before I and ML (mystery lady) met up for a ride, so I decided to catch up with what was happening in the Olympics on tele. As in every other subsequent attempt to garner the least amount of information at all about the world's largest sporting event, I got to watch a shitload of ads, and a bunch of volleyball: this time, beach volleyball. I swear to deity, EVERY time I watched anything on the tour re: the Olympics, all I saw was friggin' Volleyball, beach or indoor variants!
OK – into my cycling gear, onto the new bike (which I was IN LOVE with) and a pedal around the hotel carpark waiting for ML to show up. Minutes later, a sparkling bell-like voice with the cutest accent called out my name, and ML was there. In person, and in cute (seriously cute) cycling gear!
Over the next hour or so, ML dragged my sorry arse around some of the loveliest cycling spots of Olympia, proving herself a fine cyclist and host. I panted and wheezed and generally kept up, and had a great old time!
Afterwards we had a lovely meal and hours chatting over some wine and coffee (well I think so, but I could've been hallucinating) – ML is gorgeous in all senses of the word. Hi you! :)
Next day, I pottered around Olympia on the bike, taking up time before I rode back to the train station for the journey back to Portland, seeing the sites etc. ML and I caught up for lunch – sigh – and then I headed off.
Proving I did actually attempt to see parts of Olympia, here's some piccies:
After a quick pedal back to the train station, I had some time to kill, so sat and checked the bike over. One of the spokes was somewhat loose, so I tightened it. Spin wheel. Hmm – giant freekin' buckle!!! Spent the remaining time before the arrival of the train sorting out this giant buckle and turning it into a very small one, with the further intent of getting it seen to by a professional (which I never did – some more riding seemed to totally straighten the thing!)
After a rather more boring train ride back to Portland (which was punctuated by incessant stops for freight trains) I alighted and biked back to the hotel, got my stuff, and transferred to the hotel from whence my Crater Lake tour was to depart the next day.
That, and more, coming up...
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