Made It!

57 miles up Whidbey Island. Camping. Beautiful day in the PNW! Now it's time for beer.

I'm off! 1000 Miles From Nowhere.

Headin' out this morning. Ridin' on a high, gonna be 75 today in the Puget Sound. Last night set the tone - saw Dwight Yokum in concert! Gonna dedicate my trip to the song "1000 Miles From Nowhere" by Dwight. Corny? Nah. Apropos for bangin' the pedals, on your solitary journey. The concert was awesome. OK enough about last night - gotta go now!



I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
And there's no place I wanna be

I got heartaches in my pocket
I got echoes in my head
And all that I keep hearing
Are the cruel, cruel things that you said

I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
And there's no place I wanna be

Oh I, oh I, oh I, I, I, I
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dwight+yoakam/1000+miles+from+nowhere_20806698.html ]
I've got bruises on my memories
I've got tear stains on my hands
And in the mirror there's a vision
Of what used to be a man

I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
And there's no place I wanna be

I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
And there's no place I wanna be

Oh, I

I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere
I'm a 1000 miles from nowhere

Go, no go? Go.

Have passed the point of no return this evening. Have made the necessary commitments, scratched the proverbial noggin a few times, asked the dog for feedback and have checked the 5 day extended forecast. 'Tis a GO! This Friday will see the Salsa Fargo and me, sloggin' up Whidbey Island, camping Friday night and then heading north to Anacortes for another night of camping. This is not technically a "bike overnight" or an S24O- but pretty durn close. This will be the first time for me with camping gear on the bike. As you might recall, my Grand Tour - that silly ride I did three months ago, was all hotel supported. This ride is tent, bag and pad supported! It also is supported by my ever capable, terminus support crew - my S.O. and Luna, the slap-happy wonder dog. They will be meeting me at the Saturday night camping spot - we'll light a fire, hoist a dram of bourbon and celebrate the trip! As I said the weather is supposed to be in the 75-80s and not much rain in sight. Magical September weather for the PNW. So- I may post a few updates if I can get my phone to blog. But more than likely - I'll recap when I get back and post some pictures.

Cheers Slogger Mates!

Taint' Gonna Do It!

I ain't gonna lay over and play dead this fall. I will ride, I will explore. Something is a brewin', something is a stewin'. I keep hearing in my head - go man go. Go man go!

Yessir, I am planning a new ride for mid September. A long weekend, somewhere local - bust outta my front door, ride and ride some more.

In the mean time, until I have more details - enjoy a pic my venerable sidekick, in all things sans hellish, epic, two wheeled journeys into no man's lands, took while we sat at a pub in Seattle. Had to chuckle on this one for sure.

(In case you don't know what the taint is in reference to bicycling ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taint )

Great, funny story. What's the point of riding long on dirt roads just to reach a lousy convenience store? Exactly.

http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/lost-and-found?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Story-_-lost-found

Mount Rainier - Sunday Ride Up To Sunrise

Goes without saying - this ride has been on my ride list for more than a few years. I just never seem to get my grit together and make the two hour drive south toward the mother of all lahar making machines - Mount Rainier. Sunrise, at an elevation of 6,400 feet is the highest point that can be reached by vehicle at Mount Rainier National Park. Notice I said vehicle. Technically speaking a vehicle can be any manner of legal conveyance - including the lowly bicycle. The road to Sunrise starts in the NE corner of the park and from the White River entrance to the park, at 3500 feet - climbs steadily, up to the top at 6,400 feet. I'd say there is never any grade bigger than 6% and the total distance is about 15 miles. Not too bad really. It was a beautiful day and even though it has been 6 weeks since my tour - I felt I was still in pretty good shape. Anyway - please enjoy the pics - I even through some in that I was trying to be "artistic" on.

Cheers!

Click on any pic for a larger size.

The One Song - Tour Tuneage

On my solo bicycle tour - I ended up using music quite a lot as I pounded the pedals. It helped cut some boredom out of the "long parts", was motivating on the "steep parts" and fun on the "down hill" parts. But more than that, I think music pairs well with adventure touring on a bike. Some of the terrain I rode was like the dark side of the moon - and sure enough, I had some Pink Floyd playing at the perfect times. Now, I made sure not to over do the music thing. I made a post a while back about the sounds of crickets along the road - music would have made it tough to here these little buggers. At times, my music seemed to add a surreal experience to my ride. I felt a bit disconnected from the ride experience - like my head was rolled up in cotton batting, with just two eye holes and two ear holes with inserted speaker wires with a direct connection to my primary auditory cortex. I guess that is the point of ear phones - especially my fancy, noice cancelling, high fidelity (is this term even used anymore?), micro ear buds. The other thing I find utterly facinating and very cool - is music has this uncanny ability to remind you of a certain time or event in one's life. I was wearing my Ipod the other day, mowing the lawn and the music playing took me right back to the tour. Instead of struggling with the oft not fun lawn-mowing chores, I was transported right back to riding the bike. Good stuff man!

Anyway- the song below is from Grand Funk Railroad's 1970 Closer to Home album. It is the one song that reminds me of the tour so much. The words just seem to resonate with far away exploring, being homesick and a threat of mutiny by your crew (on a bike, by yourself, with no crew... the mutinous devils could be one's own self doubts!).

Cheers!

Everybody, listen to me,
And return me, my ship.
I'm your captain, I'm your captain,
Though I'm feeling mighty sick.


I've been lost now, days uncounted,
And it's months since I've seen home.
Can you hear me, can you hear me,
Or am I all alone.


If you return me, to my home port,
I will kiss you mother earth.
Take me back now, take me back now,
To the port of my birth.


Am I in my cabin dreaming, or are you really scheming,
To take my ship away from me?


You'd better think about it, I just can't live without it.
So, please don't take my ship from me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah ...


I can feel the hand, of a stranger,
And it's tightening, around my throat.
Heaven help me, Heaven help me,
Take this stranger from my boat.


I'm your captain, I'm your captain,
Though I'm feeling mighty sick.
Everybody, listen to me,
And return me, my ship.


I'm your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.


I'm getting closer to my home ...
I'm getting closer to my home ...
I'm getting closer to my home ...
I'm getting closer to my home ...
Ohhhh ...


I'm getting closer to my home ...
I'm getting closer to my home ...
I'm getting closer to my home ...
I'm getting closer to my home ...
Repeated to fade