Long Haul Trucker

Update 10/9/06 -- He Made It!!!

Total time in saddle: 295 hours, 30 minutes
Total miles ridden: 4,190 miles

Ryan arrived in Olympia, Wash., on Saturday, Oct. 7. He's now headed to Moab, Utah (in a car), where he'll race in the 24 Hours of Moab team relay mountain bike race this coming weekend.

Ryan had one dramatic episode between Portland (his original destination) and Olympia (his final destination). He needed to go across a bridge over the Columbia River that someone had told him had a sidewalk, but when he got to the bridge he found no sidewalk and absolutely no room for bikes. "It was a deathtrap," he said. So he rode back into town and hung out in a coffee shop parking lot. "I figured I'd look for a truck with Washington plates and ask if they were headed across the bridge and see if I could throw my bike in." His plan worked fine, except for that after he hopped in a truck with a painting contractor and they started rolling, Ryan realized he was totally drunk and was continuing to drink. After a scary ride across the bridge, Ryan got out unharmed. But he forgot his helmet and B.O.B. trailer flag in the truck, and the touring girls from Scotland who he met earlier in the trip had signed the flag, so he was sad that he lost that.

He hoteled it that night and when he woke up the next morning it was raining. His rear blinkie was broken and he had no helmet. He needed to ride about 70 miles of strip-mall and McDonald's-laden access road to reach Olympia. "I road about 5 miles in the rain, and started to feel like 'I don't want to be on this road.' Visibility was low, and all of my visible things were gone. So I scrapped it, turned around, and got on an Amtrak train." He arrived in Olympia on Saturday.

He's enjoying the rest days. He gave his touring bike a try without the B.O.B. and discovered that he can't keep it under control without the trailer now because he's so used to it. I suggested he hook it to his mountain bike for the 24-hour race.

This is my last installment in this series, unless Curtie himself wants to load up some post-trip anecdotes after he's back in Athens.

Those of you who want to continue following his journey at the race next weekend should tune in to www.grannygear.com for real-time results. They post lap times in real time while the riders are on the course -- we can see how his legs feel riding around the clock after they just finished riding around the country!

— Meredith

> Back to the main Where's Curtie? page