Portland in the House

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Damian

Since I need to have my bike fixed ASAP, i decided to ride 90 miles to Portland…I was able to temporarily fixed the spoke. I know this fix will not last long, so I need a bike mechanic…

The first 10 miles of today’s ride were a little bit though – lots of hills. Something I am not used to since I live in texas…

so i was very happy every time I saw this sign..

I finally got to Oregon thru the Bridge of the Gods…

And I got my first lunch in Oregon before riding my last 42 miles…Behold the Chilli CheeseBurger!…It is disgustingly good…

So I asked the waitress in the restaurant what was the easiest way to get to Portland…she said the highway…I told her that I was in a bicycle..so she said the highway!…apparently here in Oregon it’s ok to ride your bike in the highway, even though it is kind of scary…

So i had to ride my bike in the highway…I’m telling you..that chilli cheese burger did not felt good on my stomach during this ride….but i had to do it..it was the fastest way to get to Portland.

So the plan for tomorrow is to get the bike fixed and ride some miles after that…I have decided to hit the Coast…Pacific Coast Highway here we go!

Posted in Day 5 | Leave a comment

Front Wheel Hates me!

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Damian

It was a tough day for the bike….Three Flats and one broken spoke…

The morning ride was really nice..I was able to see a few Dams along the road….

Almost at the end of my 50th mile, I had my first flat..which was an easy fix…

Right after I started riding again, I heard a sound in the front wheel – like if it was hitting or rubbing something…i looked down, and I saw the wheel wobbling…I immediately knew this was not and easy fix…I had a broken spoke…

I knew i was in trouble…I did not have a spare, I was in the middle of nowhere, and it was sunday morning…It was amazing…

I tried to ride it again, but i could not get over 7 miles/hour…this was not good since I was 50 miles away from the campground…
I knew the next 10 miles was going to be a hell of a climb (from 1000 ft to 4500 ft). At this speed, I was not going to finish on time…so I did the expected…I cry for help!…

I was able to get a ride on the back of a truck with my new best friend Eric…I ask him to take me to the highest point (4500 ft) which was 10 miles away…after that i could just go down hill (40 miles) and hopefully get to the campground before dark…

well…He did…the only problem was that he dropped me off 4 miles away from the highest point..Crap!…when i realized that, he was long gone…so I had to walk/ride the bike…

while i was getting to the top, I had my next two flats – one on the tube and one on the tire. A small rock punctured the tire and the tube at the same time…

To fix the tire, I used the most amazing product created by human being…Duct Tape!

The top was suppose to be an overlook to Mount St. Helens…but due to the weather, i could not see anything…

The ride down was rainy, foggy, cold, and lonely…I was ready for a hot shower and some Food!..Could not complain about the scenery… it was just amazing…

I even had a chance to get some fresh water…Bear Grill’s Style!

Finally I was able to get to the campground just before dark…the owners -Sterling and Nancy – a married couple where very happy to see me… since I was their only guest of the night. Sterling told me that a campground was 20 dollars and a Cabin was 40 dollars…I said…Hell yeah..give me the best cabin you have available! …

They also had a little store with a computer that had some stickers that made me smile!

and yeah..I finally saw a Cougar…but it was dead…

So finally in the cabin doing some cooking and getting ready for the next day…

Posted in Day 4 | Leave a comment

MT. RAINIER!

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Damian

Could not complained about the climate today!…zero rain, skies where clear, sun was up, and the temperature was about 71 degrees … perfect for a 65 mile ride…

early start around poverty bay south of Seattle:

The best part of the ride of the day is that I could see Mt. Rainier for almost the entire day..

Had my first “malfunction” with one of the clips of my shoe…luckily nothing i was not able to fix…

Before finishing my day, I decided to stop at clear lake and enjoy the view while having a late lunch….

Not bad for a picnic in the outdoors!

Oh yeah… in case you haven’t noticed, I have worn the same clothes for the last three days.

Posted in Day 3 | 4 Comments

Tough Morning-Awesome Afternoon

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Damian

well…as expected the weather was not my friend in the morning…rainy and cold…also, lots of trucks…they were fast and furious!…

The best part of the morning was Lunch…Mr. Carlos cooked me up 8 Tacos al Pastor for a ridiculous price (9 dollars total) – I know, i was hungry as hell….

The afternoon got a lot better – Sun came out and Trucks disappeared, so the ride was more enjoyable….

The last 20 miles of the ride were awesome!..i had the chance to ride thru Bellevue…which is east of Seattle, and it looks like a really nice college town..(I hit another pole Sovs!)…

I then hit some of the trails south of the town to finish my 85 mile ride!…Awesome day.

Posted in Day 2 | 1 Comment

So It begins

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Damian

well…today was an awesome day. Even though I was not planning on riding, I ended up doing 68 miles…

The Guys from REI had my bike ready to go as soon as they opened the store at 10 am…

After buying a couple of last minute things, I hit the road towards Sumas (US/Canadian border)…The 25 mile ride was not fun…rain, cold wind, and trucks made the ride not enjoyable…so at that point, I was certain I was renting a room in Sumas for an early star tomorrow, but I changed my mind as soon as i saw the town!…Sumas is the typical Border town – boring, sketchy, and it lacks of charisma.
So after taking a few pictures at the border and – of course! – after being stopped by the border patrol, i decided to begin riding south.

It was funny because the patrol guys stopped me just after i was done taking pictures…they were yelling at me telling me to stop and asking me how I crossed the US border… I just started laughing and said : “well, i never went to the other side…i’m an american”…so i had to show my ID and passport.
Good thing i have my passport – i never know why i always get stopped or hassle by immigration…jejejejeje.

The ride was really cool. Even though it never stopped raining, the roads and the scenery were beautiful..Actually the area looks just like my hometown – a huge valley surrounded by mountains- or like we call it back home : El Valle del Cauca!

So now i’m resting in this little town 43 miles south of the border called Sedro-Woolley …Getting ready for a another awesome (hopefully not wet) ride tomorrow!

Posted in Day 1 | 5 Comments

Bike and trailer delivered!

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Damian

Ok. So I was able to find a cheap way to deliver the bike and the trailer to a town close to US/Canada border- Bellingham, WA.

I was so happy when I found out that REI could deliver my bike and trailer to their store in Bellingham for almost half of what FedEx or UPS charges. Not only that – the guys from REI will take the bike apart, pack it, and assemble it once it gets there. I just need to show my ID to pick it up and then hit the road.

Posted in Pre-Race | Leave a comment

The Beginning

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Damian

Hola,                                                           [Scroll down for english]

Gracias por unirte a mi próxima aventura. He creado esta página para mantener a mi familia y a mis amigos  al tanto durante mi aventura en bicicleta.

Aunque puede ser corta para algunos ciclistas aventureros, es un poco larga para mi.  La idea  es recorrer 2,380 millas durante 27 días a través de la ruta de la Sierra Cascades.  Esta ruta es más o menos paralela al Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail  y recorre las cordilleras Cascade y Sierra Nevada, empezando del borde de Canadá y terminando en el borde de México

Si mis calculos no me fallan y todo sale bien, tendria que recorrer un promedio de 85 a 90 millas diarias.  Seria muy bueno culminar esta meta,  pero si no la termino, al menos quedo con la satisfacción que trate.

Como la ruta corre muy cerca de la Costa Pacifica (Pacific Coast  Trail- PCT) estaré tentado a cambiar entre las 2 rutas. Las 2  alternativas parecen ser increíbles y ofrecen diferentes tipos de paisajes, esto podría añadirme mas millas a mi viaje, pero tendría oportunidad de apreciar mucho mas (esto me daria oportunidad de cruzar el puente del Golden Gate que va a san Francisco el cual es parte del PCT).

La meta de este viaje  no es solamente ir de borde a borde en bicicleta, pero también de tener nuevas aventuras, conocer gente en mi recorrido, apreciar diferente tipos de paisajes, y sobre todo poder ver el mundo desde otro punto de vista.

 Así  que espero que disfruten leyendo mis aventuras, del mismo modo yo disfrutare escribiéndolas.

Damian  A.

Mt. Everest

 

Hey,

Thanks for joining me on my next adventure.  I created  this site in order to keep family and friends posted through out my adventure cycling trip.  Although it is a short one for some of the hardcore adventure cyclist out there, it is a long one for me.  I will be biking 2,380 miles for about 27 days through the Sierra Cascades Bicycle Route.  This route runs roughly parallel to the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail along the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.  I should be able to finish the route if I average 85 to 90 miles per day (that is if everything goes as expected!).  It will be very cool if I finish the entire route.  But if I don’t, I guess I will be happy that I tried. 

Since this route runs really close to the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT), I might be tempted to switch back and forth between the two.  Both routes seem to be amazing and offer different type of scenery.  This Might add more miles into my trip, but I would have the opportunity to see more (I wouldn’t mind biking over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco which is part of the PCT).

The whole point of this trip is not just to bike from border to border, but also to have some new adventures, meet people along the way, see amazing scenery, and most of all take the world from another point of view.

So I really hope you enjoy my daily updates as I will enjoy making them.

Damian

Posted in Pre-Race | 3 Comments