On my previous tours last year, I'd got a little blue on the final days: stuff about leaving a group of people you'd come to regard, the finale of the occasion etc. Although it's still a little sting, this time I felt good, focusing on the positives rather than what I'd really miss. One thing on this trip I'd learned is that occasionally, amazing things happen, and you get to see people you admire and appreciate again: the appearance of Steve and Amy, my friends from the 2007 Glacier Tour testified to that. If you read this Amy and Steve, my eternal gratefulness for your presence on tour: it was such a bonus to have you there.
OK, that morning I'd decided to cement my immortality (or some such foolish notion), and follow thru' with an earlier idea that Steve and I had had re: swapping jerseys. I'd spied a jersey that Steve had worn several times thru' the tour – a great looking iradescent white, green/yellow one I'd admired from afar. We decided we'd swap and I'd give him one of my Perth specific ones.
So that morning at breakfast, I took my 3 Perth-specific ones down to breakfast and let Steve choose which one of mine he wanted. Murray, another cool guy on tour, decided to get in on the act, and wanted to exchange one of his unique ones for mine! Cool!
So, Steve ended up getting my 2007 Perth Great Bike Ride jersey, a 53km cycle around the Swan River foreshore from Perth to Fremantle and back – check out the website below:
Perth Great Bike Ride Website.
The cool thing about this jersey is that it has a map of the route on the back – so not only will Steve have a jersey which no-one he's ever likely to ride with in future has ever seen, but he can market Perth to the world! In return, I got his gem of a jersey which commemorates the 2007 charity ride from Tiberias to Jerusalem in Israel for the Children of Alyn Hospital – a wonderful prize.
Murray scored my 2008 Perth Freeway Bike Hike jersey, another great ride in Perth along the freeway system – website is below:
Perth Freeway Bike Hike.
Murray reciprocated by giving me an extremely unique jersey for the Harrisburg Bicycle Club - awesome! Turns out this one has done a fair bit of travelling with him, so I promised that whenever it travelled again, I'd take pics to show its journeys are continuing!
Finally, because of all the help he'd been to me on Tour with chasing down some equipment (plus being such a nice all-round fun guy), I gave guide Wilder my 2007 Freeway Bike Hike jersey. He'd already payed me – his continuous outrageous flirting with female wait-persons had shown me techniques with the ladies I'd never dreamed of! (Unfortunately, I doubt they'd work without the user also possessing Wilder's boyish charm and personality!)
I've resolved from now on to try and make this exchange a tradition – hopefully it will continue!
So, exchanges and brekky over, we saddled up for the last day's ride, which nicely, was almost all downhill! (Lucky for me, as I was starting my next tour, The Volcanoes of Washington, the very next day!).
I took a last look around the Crater from the first pull-in near the Lodge and then set off downhill after the others. The following 24kms rolled very quickly under our wheels – after an initial few little climbs around the Rim road I think I might have pedaled casually once or twice, but only to remind myself that my legs were still attached to the cranks.
Most of us stopped at the sign indicating the North entrance to the park – below is a pic of Steve, myself and Murray in our exchanged jerseys (obviously I'm only wearing one of mine – Steve's – as it was a little hot to put on two!). Also below is a pic of me holding my bike over my head – a tradition with me. Exhibiting rare intelligence, I'd removed my water bottle from my bike prior to this feat – the last time I'd taken such a picture ( 2007 Glacier Tour at the Canadian Border), the bottle had detached and bounced of my head!
Turning right off the main road, we transferred to the bike path running around a beautiful body of water named Diamond Lake. The pace slowed right down and we pleasantly ambled our way around the lake, stopping at various points like a boat ramp, and a little stream:
It was all lovely forest/meadow style growth – an excellent way to wind down the tour.
At one point , we came across three men in camouflage gear with huge bows: fortunately they weren't hunting cyclists. They told us to 'watch out for the bear' – Umm, OK? Later we learned from Karen that she had had a baby bear cross the bikepath right in front of her – of course, she wondered where 'Mummy' was!
After trundling around the bike path to Diamond Lake Lodge, we exited the path and hopped onto the last 16 kms of roads we'd travel on this Tour, our destination the lunch spot and finishing point of Clearwater Falls. Those last 16 kms were pretty much another downhill fang, so the Falls came up pretty quick. Here's a pic of me at the falls in my newly acquired jersey from Steve:
One final lunch (as per usual delicious), a quick trek around, and then the 'Graduation Ceremony'! In a lovely surprise, Head Guide Mark handed out a commemorative 1859 Crater Lake quarter, minted in 2005 and encased in plastic. Wow! Here's the guides at the Falls – (l to r, Wilder, Stevie and Mark):
So, just like that, it was over! We still had a van ride back to Eugene and then Portland, where we'd drop off various guests and say our goodbyes, and I was in fact staying in the van all the way to Olympia, Washington for an overnight stay in preparation for my pickup the next day for the start of my 'Volcanoes of Washington' Tour. (I'll cover those details in a following post). But, that was it!
Doing this blog is such a great way of recalling all the great experiences I had on tour – during the hectic days on tours, things tend to blend and blur into each other, and the chronology and details of the various tours get swapped around and generally inter-raveled. Viewing my and others pics (thanks to all those who put up their pics online) clarifies the events, and brings many memories into life that are otherwise missed. Of course, I'm not saying I can accurately recall EVERY detail of the tour, and a certain license is employed occassionally, but I think what I've outlined is a pretty accurate description of the great times had and wonderful people met.
To ALL those on the tour, thank you so much for the camaraderie and good times: the group experience is what makes the tour so fantastic. Special acknowledgments to my roomy Robb – you are the man! - and to Amy and Steve for their friendship and presence: it meant so much to have you there!
Also major thanks to the wonderful guides Wilder, Stevie and Mark: the tour was the success it was because of your tireless work, cheerful dispositions and unique personalities.
Finally, thanks to all at Bicycle Adventures: 4 down and a lot more to come!
If you want to find out more about the Crater Lake Tour, any of the tours Bicycle Adventures does, or the company itself, head to their website! I sincerely believe you won't forget a moment you spend on one of their tours!
Bicycle Adventures Site.
Coming up – my hazy recollections of the "Volcanoes of Washington" tour!
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