Memoirous

Sunday June 7, 2026, 57 miles (92 km) - Total so far: 229.5 miles (369 km) What a day!!! Pretty much all good. Last night at the hiker biker Scott and I chatted. He, too, had a daughter named Grace and lives off the grid in a trailer. I'm not off the grid, but live in a tiny house. He kept saying over and over that I was riding my ass off. He meant it nice. He was just shocked at how many miles I was doing and the various tours I've done. Today, I felt like I was riding my ass off--not right away. The first 30 miles were easy. Hardly any uphills. A few steep inclines as I was off the 101. The Adventure Cycling maps had me on quiet back lanes. After leaving at 7:30 ish, I crossed the state line within an hour. Fun! I arrived at Fort Dick, a gas station, around 10:30. I stopped because there were picnic tables, where I could eat the last of my Subway (from ). I'm thinking I'll see if there's a Subway in Crescent City when it hits me: there's picnic tables here bec...

  Day 2, Sunset Bay SP to Humbug Mt. SP, 62 miles Saturday June 6, 2026 Today was a hard, beautiful, majestic day. Really I'm in awe of where I am and what I'm doing. Before I left I tried to talk some unsuspecting co-workers into coming. I thought just because they were young they could likely do it. I think today's climbs would totally shift our relationship and they'd end up hating me. Seven Devils Rd. lived up to it's name. All day, though, there were climbs. Seven Devils was intense. The climbing began immediately and steeply. I barely had time to get into my low front sprocket--which performed like a charm all day. Over an hour I did 8 miles of climbing. Intense. At the "top" there was a break in the foliage and I got a pic of how high I was. Definitely not the coast,sea level. I made it to Bandon around 11 and went to Subway for another foot long. The two halves last me all day. Or in this case--I finished my half from yesterday at the top. They sta...

  Day 1, Florence to Sunset Bay State Park, 60 miles Thursday June 4, 2026 Oh boy, what a day! All so good, but also terrifying. Sam saw me off this a.m. I left around 7 a.m. for the Lane Link, where for $5 I can ride to the coast. As I was loading the bike on the front rack a woman appeared out of the bus to lend a hand. Chloe had also just arrived in Eugene and while her sister finished up work in Blue River, Chloe planned a day at the coast hiking. Very smart. Well, as we chatted I learned we had a dozen or so connections. She's from Michigan, grew up in the same small area as my son-in-law (very random), and now lives in Chicago. She is a sustainability geek. We chatted the whole way to Florence so I forgot to worry about things blowing off my bike. Which, btw my trip computer was not clicked in all the way and fell off as I was unloading. Chloe helped find it in the bushes. She watched my stuff while I ran to the bathroom. Always an issue. Anyway, I finished putting all the ba...

 It's been five years.  But as soon as I stepped outside of the airport, the smells came back to me. The magical year I spent here, getting better physically, mentally, and in my soul. Getting here. There's been some naysayers, not saying who, but mostly folks wishing me well on my "adventure." I like that category. It's not a trip or vacation or a bucket list. It's life plus. I took the Michigan Flyer to the airport, which takes about 2 hours. I've always had luck in the past grabbing a curbside cart. No dice this time. I left the bulk of my stuff by the bus to look for one (remember I'm doing this solo, one of the negatives is no one to watch your stuff). I ended up renting a cart for SEVEN DOLLARS! A little shocked, but again a necessary expense. I rolled up to Southwest counter where the agent said you can't fly with that. My heart dropped but I collected myself. The bike policy states I can. She read it through in front of me, jumped over the ...