Going Cyclic

Going Cyclic This page is about my bicycle trek across the US of A, traveling the Trans American Trail from Astoria, OR to Yorktown, VA. Adventures Await!

07/08/2024

Third day started easy with a delicious breakfast at Fern Cafe in Tillamook. We decided to take the longer route around Cape Meares, an extra 10 miles. Halfway around I was humbled by a 2 mile climb of 12%. I'm good for 10%... and then I was pushing the bike. Ugh! Poor Evy kept having chain derailment issues and we took a mental health break at an awesome cove. More hellish climbing and we pulled off at "The Salt Company". I thought it was a restaurant, but it was actually exactly what it's name said. We watered up and ate natural licorice taffy in the shade. Knowing another brutal hill up Cape Lookout awaited, Evy begged a ride from a very nice couple up and over. Somehow I got up and over with the help of Wes. I kept derailing trying to find 1st gear. Very frustrating! Evy was very productive and found us a nice camp site at Raines Campground in Cloverdale, OR. Fellow campers offered me a beer and I was too gassed to accept. We found an awesome pub with terrific burgers and oysters. I slept like a baby. Again, I took no photos but thoroughly enjoyed a challenging day with my son, who helped me up and over.

07/08/2024

Second day was fairly easy, ending at Bay City with a fantastic camp site beneath shady trees along side a babbling creek. After an awesome meal Bay City Kitchen I discovered a group of Pickleballers right next door! 5 games of mostly being humbled the sun went down and I was mercifully allowed to go home. Needless to say I slept very well! Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos this day.

We had a great first day on the road. First stop was the Lewis and Clark Historical Park at Camp Clatsop. On on to Seasi...
07/05/2024

We had a great first day on the road. First stop was the Lewis and Clark Historical Park at Camp Clatsop. On on to Seaside for the 4th of July parade, then Cannon Beach. Evy scored us a free camp at a wonderful man's house, Mr Markham over looking Arch Cape Beach. Wonderful fireworks that I happily slept through! And was so generous that he fed us pancakes to start our day. It's great to be an American!

It's Go time! Our journey began at 9am on the Columbia River. Salmon were feeding right behind us, leaping out of the wa...
07/05/2024

It's Go time! Our journey began at 9am on the Columbia River. Salmon were feeding right behind us, leaping out of the water! On on! Let's see how far we go.

We are at it again! A whole new crew for my next attempt to bike across the USA on the Trans American Bicycle Trail. Evy...
07/05/2024

We are at it again! A whole new crew for my next attempt to bike across the USA on the Trans American Bicycle Trail. Evy, my son Wesley and I at the Portland Union Station heading to Astoria, the official start of the trail. Sandy, my daughters beautiful dog said she wasn't interested this time...

New and old trailer tires. And cleaned Kona Big Rove.
12/28/2018

New and old trailer tires. And cleaned Kona Big Rove.

Doing bike maintenance today. Anxious to get back on the road! This is the bikes rear tire just about bald. The trailer ...
12/28/2018

Doing bike maintenance today. Anxious to get back on the road! This is the bikes rear tire just about bald. The trailer tires hardly had any rubber left, nearly opaque. I patched several tube leaks and replaced 2 tubes as I didn't have enough patches to repair all the holes. When I degreased the chain I was shocked to learn that it is silver... The last repair is the front shifter and I have to order the part. I need everyone of those twenty gears!

Beyond proud of my daughter Samantha graduating from Texas A&M and commissioning in the US Army. Hoooah! And very thankf...
12/23/2018

Beyond proud of my daughter Samantha graduating from Texas A&M and commissioning in the US Army. Hoooah! And very thankful for the bike ride which greatly assisted me in fitting in my old uniform. Go Samantha! Gig'em.

Sandy and I have been busy since reaching Vegas! We bought a truck the night we arrived and hauled tail to Denton, TX. W...
12/11/2018

Sandy and I have been busy since reaching Vegas! We bought a truck the night we arrived and hauled tail to Denton, TX. We followed Hwy 93 which was out route to bike out when we begin again. Thank God I drove it! It's a bicyclists death trap. Scary road. So on trip back out we will recon Hwy 95 which, besides rumble strips, has been good to us.
After visiting daughter Shelby we grabbed up daughter Samantha and booked it to Isle of Palms, SC for the family Thanksgiving. We also stopped at Fort Jackson, SC to visit Sam's first duty station. Pickle ball, Tennis, card games and too much good eating went very fast. Before you knew it we were back on the road to Texas.
Then Sandy and I took off for Florida after loading the biggest truck I could rent. My respect for truckers has gone way up! We were blessed to visit family and friends for a few days. And now we are taking off for Samantha's graduation and commissioning this Friday at Texas A&M. Whoop!
I'm missing the road already. And the weather has me worried. Driving through Flagstaff and Albuquerque we saw snow on the ground... So we have decided to go as far south as we can!
Merry Christmas to All! I'll try to update out status as we figure out what we are going to do. Bike repair is first on the list!

11/14/2018

Sorry for the delayed post. Sandy an i booked it yesterday covering 49 miles in 3 hours! Vegas baby. We went straight to a rental car place, loaded the rig and hotel'd up. Then we headed out to buy a car to get us back to Texas and tow our affects to Florida. We lucked into a great dealership and new friends Mario, Sergio, Jessica and Kimberly. Hitting the road for Denton and holidays/ Samantha's graduation. We will be taking at least a months break before heading back to Vegas to continue our journey. Whoop! Excited to have wheels and a break. The bike needs major repairs. Started the morning with 3 flats...

Monday was the worst riding day of the trip so far. The wind was howling out of the North north east, pretty much in our...
11/13/2018

Monday was the worst riding day of the trip so far. The wind was howling out of the North north east, pretty much in our face. Had a hard time breaking camp because of it. Tried to ride but no bike lane and inability to control/pedal forced me to walk for miles. And my faucet was working really well regardless of how much medicine I take. Cold too! Finally finished thev1,000ft climb by nuclear test site and the Hwy opened up to divided double lane and huge bike lane. Still ate the wind till around 3pm. Sandy was fussing even after many breaks. So we pulled into Indian Springs to eat hot food at the only restaurant in town not on the air force base. I was more of a bar so they let Sandy come in. We shared a great burger, beer and stale cigarette smoke. Getting dark so we hustled out of town and found a great camp on the open range. 48 miles to Vegas! Please no east wind tomorrow....

With the wind at my back and hood bike lane we were booking it. Big Sand Dune was several miles off the road at atvs dri...
11/13/2018

With the wind at my back and hood bike lane we were booking it. Big Sand Dune was several miles off the road at atvs driving all over it, so we stopped to get a photo and take a break. Big mistake! As we were loading back up I noticed a trailer tire was low. Then I stuck myself with a tiny cactus growing out of the travel on shoulder. Sneaker buggers! That's what got the tire. Down to one patch now. Bike rear tire is leaking probably due to hidden cactus. After many miles of traveling south we turned east and our beneficial tail wind hammered us. Near the end of the day we also lost our good bike lane. Luckily we found a good drainage ditch to get off road because it was getting cold and dark.

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