Living Well With Diabetes

Now that my tour is nearly over, I should probably introduce you to my riding partner on this tour. My apologies for not introducing him earlier.

I met him on July 12 on my ride from Prineville, Oregon to Welches, Oregon. That ride took me about 4000 feet up Mt. Hood. I had just started climbing at the base of Mt. Hood when I met him. I had stopped for a rest in the shade and to test my blood sugar.

I was just getting ready to leave when I saw him. He was face down in a puddle and didn’t look well at all.

I decided to give him a new home and on the way there, I’d take him to Alaska. So, I picked him up, brushed him off, and took him with me. That night, I ran him through a wash cycle and then I dried him out. He’s been dry and attached to a pannier zipper ever since.

He doesn’t say much, but the goofy look on his face keeps me smiling so I keep him.

I had to do some surgery on him the other day. The “hair” (that’s singular) on his head is how he’s attached to the pannier zipper and his hair was wearing out. I got out the sewing kit I purchased in Ketchikan, Alaska to repair the strap on my camera. A few stiches to hold his hair on better and we were good to go.

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I rode 95 miles today! Early in my tour, I rode from Twin Falls, Idaho to Mountain Home, Idaho in two days. Now, on my return to Salt Lake City, I reversed that Twin Falls to Mountain Home route and did it in one day instead of two. Tonight, I’m staying in a KOA just outside of Jerome, Idaho which is about 7 miles north of Twin Falls. So, I didn’t do exactly the same route, but pretty close. I’m tired, but pleased to know my fitness level seems to have improved over the course of the tour.

Near Bliss, Idaho today, I met some people in a support van for a fund-raising bike tour which was taking a similar route as I was today. The ride, in its second year, is raising funds for something called the Genesis World Mission. All proceeds from this ride go towards underwriting dental care for the less fortunate in the Treasure Valley (essentially, the Caldwell, Idaho area) and launching a dental center in Kenya, Africa.

They invited me to lunch, but no offer of free dental care. Oh well. I guess that means my biike tour hasn’t been too taxing on me…or my teeth.

Lunch was just outside of Hagerman, Idaho, where they were spending the night. They seemed like a fun bunch of people. It was a small tour (maybe fifteen riders), but people from all over the country had come to Idaho to participate. Being a free lunch and a free lunch with cyclists enjoying the great outdoors and working for a cause they believe in, I couldn’t refuse. I didn’t stay long though because I still had about 35 more miles to ride today.

Here are some photos from today:

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I had just arrived in Mountain Home, Idaho when a pickup truck pulls up behind me and starts honking at me. Not really knowing what was going on, I pulled over and stopped. I thought maybe the driver was trying to get my attention because I dropped something.

The driver got out of the pickup and walked over to me. He asks me “How far do you go on that thing in a day?” I was a little annoyed that he had stopped me on a busy street with no shade (I don’t like standing around in the sun these days) just to have a friendly conversation, but I tried to be a good bicycling ambassador.

“Well, it depends on the conditions and today, with the tailwind, that’s quite a ways. I started in Caldwell this morning, so I’ve covered 77 miles now.”

He wasn’t really interested in these details. He interrupted me.

“I saw you near the rest area on I-84 when I was on my way to Boise this morning.” He said this as if knowing it might jog my memory and I would then recall having seen him. (His white pickup would probably be one of a hundred or so white pickups I’ve seen today.)

He went on. “That was two hours ago and I’m just getting back from Boise. Now you’re in Mountain Home? There’s forty miles between where I saw you this morning and here!”

“What can I say? There’s a good tailwind today and that really helps.”

That was basically the end of our conversation. He asked where I was from and where I was headed. I asked him where he was from and whether he knew of any good campgrounds in Mountain Home.

I’m not sure what motivated him to honk and get my attention and insist that I speak with him. Maybe he thoguht I must have hitched a ride and by stopping me, he could get me to confess? Maybe he wanted to warn me about going too fast on a bicycle? I’m not sure, but clearly, my presence in Mountain Home had impressed him.

And, actually, now that I think about it, I’m impressed too. I averaged 14.2 miles per hour over the five and a half hour ride from Caldwell to Mountain home. Usually, my average is more like 11 or 12 miles per hour. In between Boise and Mountain Home, I could feel that tailwind pushing me along and it seemed like I was cruising along easily at close to 20 miles an hour. That’s the power of a tailwind. Doing it in moderate temperatures (highs in this area are in the mid-80’s) allowed me to do it without feeling drained.

Here are my favorite photos from today’s ride:

The one second from the right titled “Trucking for Jesus” cracks me up.

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The last two nights, I’ve been camping. As a result, I haven’t had internet access. Tonight, in Caldwell, I checked in to a motel for some relief from the heat (it reached 103 in Caldwell, Idaho today). It also is a chance to catch up on posts to the web site.

Besides the heat I’ve been experiencing for the past week of riding (ever since I left Leavenworth, Washington), I’ve had a headwind on my ride yesterday and today. I think this is a good thing. Actually, while I was riding in it, it wasn’t such a good thing, but the 15-25 mile per hour winds from the south today is a sign that the weather is about to change. Sure enough, they’re saying tomorrow (August 19), the high temperatures in the Boise, Idaho area will be about 15 degrees cooler than today and the winds will be from the northwest. Both of those are very good news to me.

Last night, I stayed at the Farewell Bend State Park in Oregon. I stayed in the “Hiker/Biker” campsites which was $5 a night instead of $15 and up for a full service campsite. I woke up several times at night to see a full moon and to hear coyotes howling and yipping in the hills around the campground. It was worth the $5 admission.

As I was unpacking in the motel today, I found half a dozen or so moths had stowed away in my panniers. I hope they like Caldwell, Idaho better than they liked their old home at the Farewell Bend State Park.

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In between Pendleton and La Grande sits Cabbage Mountain. It starts just outside of Pendleton and rises from about 1000 feet in elevation to about 4200 feet. I elected not to take the Interstate, instead opting for County Road 937 and later something called the “Scenic Frontage Road.” It wasn’t as steep, but it was about 10 miles longer than taking the interstate.

But either way I went, it was hot. High temperatures today in Pendleton were 102. By the time I reached the summit, I was running short of water … and energy. I picked up water at the campground at the summit. I would have stayed if I had had groceries for dinner. I didn’t so my only option was to continue on to the Hilgard Junction State Park twenty miles further. Except there was no store there either. The camp host there offered me a can of beans, but after a long day of riding, I was looking for a bit more in the way of dinner. I ended up in La Grande where, once again, I could not find a campground. There were a couple of RV Parks, neither of which had any facilities for tenters. So, I stayed at the “Mr. Sandman” Motel near the center of town. I wasn’t that disappointed about not being able to camp — it was very hot outside.

I should mention that my plan for many days leading up to Pendleton was to turn south there on Highway 395, rejoining in two days time the route I took on the way up to Alaska. Well, to make a long story short, I realized I could save two days of riding and see some new terrain by following I-84 the rest of the way into Idaho. Oregon has a wonderful state map made specifically for bicyclists that helped me make this decision. It showed a green (low traffic volume) road paralleling I-84 most of the rest of the way to Idaho. Plus, except for today’s sufferfest on Cabbage Mountain, it looks to be relatively flat.

I’m afraid I don’t have many photos to show from today’s ride. The heat has made the riding difficult for me. When I climb on the bike at 6 AM, my focus is entirely on getting to my destination as quickly as possible so as to avoid the ugliness of riding in the afternoon heat. Still, here are a couple of my favorites from today’s ride:

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