Long
Haul Trucker
Update
10/4/06
-- Change of Plans!!!!
Time
in saddle as of 10/4: 285 hours, 30 minutes
Miles ridden as of 10/4: 4,047 miles
So
on Friday (9/29/06) I was driving with Joey to Huntington, W.V.,
for a race and I decided to use my free time (Joey was driving) to
check in with Ryan. He had left me a couple of messages, but I hadn't
yet had a chance to call him back. I spoke with him and
got an update of where he was on Friday (headed for his trip terminus,
Portland, expecting to reach there Saturday).
After
I got off the phone, Joey was like, "So Bernie lives in Portland
now?" (Ryan was riding to Portland to meet up with Bernie.)
And
I said, "Yep, that's where Ryan's headed."
And
Joey said, "Oh, I thought he lived in Olympia, Wash."
Well
gues what? Bernie DOES live in Olympia, Wash. So even though Ryan
successfully reached Portland, his destination since he left Virginia
on Aug. 8, his trip was not over. "I talked to Bernie on Friday night
and found out he doesn't live in Portland, but in Olympia, Wash.,"
Ryan said when he called me on Tuesday 10/3.
At
that point (Friday, 9/29) Ryan decided to go visit his friend Liz
in Corvallis, Ore., since he was planning on seeing here while out
west
anyway.
On Saturday (9/30) he hopped on a train from Portland to Corvallis,
and got his bike fixed there on Sunday (10/1, he had blown up his
rear wheel).
He took Monday completely off, and was back in the saddle again yesterday
(Tuesday, 10/3) when he called during his "snack break." If this
itinerary is hard to follow, it's because it's really hard to get
it all straight when he calls! He talks super fast.
So
as of yesterday he was en route to Olympia, which is going to be
an extra 200-400 miles, depending on which route he decides to take.
On Monday he'll hop in the car with Bernie Miller to drive to Moab,
Utah, to race the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race. He expects
to be back in Athens (arriving via car, driving with his friend Steve
from Utah to Ohio) around Oct. 18.
When
I asked if he was still having fun, it was his most strained/tired
response yet. He thought for a long time before he answered: "Yes,
I'm ready to be done though. I'm kinda tired, and it's gotten redundant.
And, since I rode with people [a couple of weeks ago in Yellowstone]
I don't like riding alone now. I really want some rest days, my legs
are just fried. They don't ever feel like they wake up. That's why
I want to get to Olympia to take a break before I have to get in
a car."
Overall,
he's still enjoying the journey: "I'm still having fun with it, otherwise
I wouldn't still be out riding, because there are other options."
He
described what sounded like an awful trip into Portland -- someone
he suggested he take a not-yet-completed bikeway, which ended up
dead-ending and he had to Portage his bike and B.O.B. trailer separately,
in two trips, "up a fairly decent hill, across railroad tracks, across
one lane of Interstate, through thorns, trees, etc. Then I had to
ride the Interstate for a couple of miles."
His
last comment has to do with Sasquatchfest, a party planned at Marco
and Christina Deshaies' house for this weekend (Oct. 7). "I'm looking
for someone to step up and get drunk and pass out in the yard at
Sasquatchfest,
like I did last year."
Any
takers?
— Meredith
> Back
to the main Where's Curtie? page
Click on the thumbnails below for larger images.
Caption
info from Ryan (verbatim):
> Row
1, photo 2: Scottish girls
> Row 1, photo
3: I would leave messages for the riders behind me in banana
> Row 2, photo 3: I have no idea how I killed it. But it's dead.
> Row 3, photo 2: So cold I froze my water bottles.
> Row 5, photo 3: I found this in a ditch.
> Back
to the main Where's Curtie? page
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