I need to tell you about one of my crazier cycling friends, Daniel Telep from New Hope, PA. Dan is 80 something; last year he organized a team of like-aged gents who participated in the RACE ACROSS AMERICA, one of the best-known and longest annual endurance events in the world. French TV picked up on this and produced a video. To see it, copy and paste the following link in your browser. (Or maybe you can CTRL+Click on the link)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pgqi_8U8qpE
Photo on the left above is “Bridge of the Gods”, the goal of Cheryl Strayed in the book Wild. When we crossed over it we were in Oregon.
Photos above are of the Hood River taken from our balcony.
Two unusual events happened at dinner last night.
- I got a cramp in my left calf. I haven’t had a cramp in probably 25 years so this shows how wiped out I was after the past two days rides. And no, I’m not going to drink pickle juice.
- Craig found a gold tooth crown in his food. There was plenty of jokes about whether the café should comp his meal and was this worth more or less than the gold crown. This morning he discovered it was his crown which had come out. Good think he kept it.
‘Walked to downtown Hood River this morning, about a 5 mile walk. I think cycling is easier; at least you have gears!
Not looking forward to tomorrow’s ride; it’s only 46 miles but has more climbing (5,370 feet) than the last two days. The climb is about 34 miles with 125 feet per mile. That’s not too bad for an average but there will surely be steep sections. And it’s the steepness of a hill that is the most problem to cyclists.
Hey, John,
ReplyDeleteWe're enjoying reliving the trip through your words and photos -- we scouted it last year with Alison and John. (It was a light scout, though, as the four of us shared one sag vehicle and so only had to ride 3/4 of the distance each. Plus, we cheated on a few details like that nasty final section into Hood River. And, we only rode to the Oregon-California border. But other than that…)
Anyway, the long climb tomorrow is remarkably well graded. So, yes it is long. But if you are blessed with no head winds you'll be fine.
- Bill Nazaroff and Ingrid Hamann (from Alison's Tahoe-Yosemite ride a few years back)
Good to hear from you Bill and Ingrid
DeleteI think I crossed that bridge while riding the Seattle to Portland ride a few years back. I remember it as a very windy crossing!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your 46-mile ride tomorrow. That's a lot of climbing for the distance! Put lots of salt on your food. :-)
Barb
Hope you can relax and just enjoy the day tomorrow! (A dear departed cycling friend of mine once advised me that, when cycling, he'd never met a hill he couldn't walk!)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful country you're in - thanks for sharing the photos and thoughts. And thanks for sharing the link to the film about Dan - he is a marvel and an inspiration!