Hey y'all. I managed to get another flat tire today. This is number three. But is it my fault though that the "bike lane" in Silverton, OR has more debris scattered on it than the aftermath of a hurricane? I ran over a shard of glass that punctured my tire and tube so that was a tedious, expensive replacement. Let me tell you a little about Portland and then I'll move on to plans for the upcoming days.
Astoria to Portland was my first century (100+ mile ride) ever. I rode a total of 102 miles that day to cap off the most intense week of my trip thus far. From Vancouver last Sunday around the Olympic Peninsula, down the Washington coast and into Oregon, I logged a total of 567 miles in 7 days. Wooooooohoooooooo!
Riding that much destroyed me though. Seven weeks in, my legs are sore for the first time. I can fully manipulate my thumb and index finger on my left hand again, but my pinky loses sensation for hours after a ride. Also, my hair is too long so I get hilariously awful helmet hair now.
Anyway, I took the day off in Portland. I feel bad for not exploring more than I did, but I was really tired. I went to the unofficial largest bookstore west of the Mississippi and read for hours there, ate some amazing street food, and just wandered for a while. I bought a shirt with an octopus riding a bike on it and a gypsy tried to sell me shrooms in front of a doughnut shop. Portland is a wacky place.
My days are still plagued by clouds though so I wanted to be on my way. I left this morning at 9 AM for another 100 mile ride that ended up being cut short by the tire issues in Silverton. I made it 75 miles. I got caught trying to stay at this campground without paying. The man was really nice about it, but paying $22 to sleep somewhere for the night is absurd. It was the only option though so I guess it's fine. I took an unreasonably long hot shower to get my money's worth.
It's been 49 days since I left and I'm ready to come home. The feeling is brought on by a mix of the fact that I haven't seen another touring cyclist since Montana (seriously), I have 5000 feet to climb to Crater Lake in the next couple of days, and I probably don't have enough time to make it to the southern California beaches that I wanted to go to really badly. Ugh. I think I'll feel better when I make it to Crater Lake, but there's a lot of work to be done between here and there. Besides, the closest airport Southwest flies out of is San Francisco so I have another 700 miles minimum regardless.
I'm off to beddy bye bye now. I bought a camera tripod in Portland finally so I can look like a true badass in all pictures from now on. Good night.
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badass or simply exhausted? The picture of you on the forest boardwalk is sweet but you look pretty wiped out on that bench there :P
ReplyDeleteya thats nice
ReplyDeleteAadil