#RickToPortland

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RTP #126/Days 22-31 - abled (dis)

have been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be 'able' to do something versus being 'disabled'. over the past few weeks on the bike i've continued to meet amazing people who through a variety of circumstances might not seem to have the motor skills, full intellectual capabilities or the economic means to tackle some of life's challenges. when i reached Sacramento, i stayed with my cousin Angela, who is in her early 40's, yet i've only seen her on 3 occasions in my life (2 weddings and a trip to CA as a teenager). she's been trying for years to get the job/career she finally landed with the State of CA - helping people with extreme disabilities to find jobs. she's got a very cool daily mission if you ask me. some of her clients have physical challenges and some are mentally impaired, either from birth or due to an accident. shared with Angela the video "Svefn-G-Englar" by the band Sigur Ros (who i got to see in concert for the 6th time last Saturday night at Berkeley's Greek Theater w/ my Amazing girlfriend Claire). the video features adults w/ Down Syndrome and it makes me cry every time i watch it as it's an amazing love story. so after we watched it, she said she wanted me to meet her next-door neighbor Max, who is 22-years old and he's similar to those in the video. as i suited up to ride on the American River Parkway bike path, i met Max outside her house on a sunny Sunday afternoon with his mom. he saw my neon-yellow riding bike socks and immediately smiled and said, "oooh, cool socks". then he saw my neon-yellow cycling shoes and smiled again, "oooh, cool shoes too". he helped me to put them on and i showed him the unique closing system. he liked the shoe's click-n-twist button, much as my brother's son Quinn did four days later when Mr. Q and i did a show-and-tell in front of his 5th-grade classroom. Quinn also has Down Syndrome and during my week-long visit to Benicia, he read a book out loud to me for the first time ever. (he usually reads to himself) back to Max, who is supposedly 'disabled'. showed him my ziploc plastic bag that i use for a wallet and he got very excited and said "i have a better wallet than you do" and he went running into his house to get it. he brought out a cool leather wallet with two metallic snaps to keep his money and IDs secure. showed me his transit card that he uses to ride the bus. he kept asking very insightful questions about where i slept at night, what i ate for snacks when i was riding and if i got sore from the small seat. in other words, the same questions as "able" people had been asking me for weeks. he was curious. before i took off on my ride, he helped me tie a friendship bracelet onto my top tube. i told him that i'd ride across the US with that bracelet and he could look for it in my update videos on the RickToPortland FaceBook & Tumblr pages. kept thinking about him that afternoon as i rode along the river and how it would be cool to ride a bike with him - maybe a tandem if his motor skills need help. later that week, as i took time off to visit my brother William and his family in Benicia, as mentioned, i got invited to do show-and-tell to my nephew Remy's 3rd grade class and Quinn's 5th grade class. 40+ kids over 2 hours asking about flat tires, how i managed to ride in the rain and if i got sore from the small seat (which is turning out to be a recurring question from all ages). Quinn & Remy were clearly proud to be in front of their respective classrooms wearing my hi-vis-yellow jackets. both took items from my panniers to show their classmates. Quinn has been immersed into the regular school classes for all of his 10+ years and my brother and his wife Katie are pursuing ways for this continue for him in middle school. the phrase they have latched onto, that they got from my son Sam, is "access=opportunity". give Quinn or Max some access, and they will have a wider range of opportunities. makes sense to me. and so that's what i've been thinking about over the past few days as i've been riding through the Napa & Sonoma wine country. i am able to ride. i am able to show how my touring bike differs from a road bike. i am able to share my cross-country bike ride story with strangers. and all of these strangers are sharing their stories with me. and some of them, some of them given an opportunity, will show me their cool wallets with two metallic snaps, which are way cooler than my ziplock bag wallet... rick

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RTP #123/Day 17 - Mike Tyson

just before my RTP journey started, a friend told me a quote by the boxer, Mike Tyson - "everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face" well yesterday Soma got punched in the face and my plans changed in a big way. woke up at 5:20 and felt queasy for a few hours till i walked a mile under cloudy skies to a local diner for some oatmeal w/ a side of bacon. was the only one there at first and i got there when it opened at 8 (they had no website so i was guessing about their hours) when i came out it was raining, again. the couple i met during breakfast (Rick & Patty who are celebrating their 36-yr anniversary today) gave me a ride to the motel. geared up and headed out around 10am and that's when things went off track. Soma was making ear-splitting squeaking and rubbing noises like the sound effects in a haunted house. rode a mile to the 'drive-thru-redwood' tree and the rubbing turned into a near-constant screech. first major 'mechanical' of the trip. a guy in a pickup stopped (one of the few people who i didn't ask their name) and he had a quart of oil. we tried dabbing the oil on the chain with a stick that kept breaking, in the rain, while my son was calling to get my new Verizon pin-number to switch from low-coverage-AT&T and things, well things weren't going well. the rain got heavier as i rode up another huge hill with the prospect of an easy panoramic ride into the next town, where i might be able to get the bike checked. i found the panorama turn-off but 2 miles in there was a big metal gate across the road w/ a Closed sign. now it was decision time. should i ride past it, hoping it was just a downed redwood? i met 3 young hikers (Hannah, Landon, Rebecca) with tats & piercings and they liked the RTP story. i thought it through out-loud with them and decided against going down the abandoned road. usually i have cars going by me and 3 times i've successfully hitched a ride in a pickup. now Soma was acting up and i could be in a real bind if i broke down in the forest on a closed road. so i went back to the main road, stuck out my thumb and the 1st pickup passed by. turns out Robby turned off at the next exit. looped around and came back to get me. he's a rancher w/ 35 head of cattle and has lived here his whole life. i had planned to stay in Trinidad but the nearest bike shop was 16 miles further in Arcata, a college town. Robby dropped me at Revolution Bikes and Dillon stopped what he was doing to outfit me with new brake pads, a new rear disc brake (torn up from the metal-to-metal grinding) and a new chain, which got hammered in the 15 days (out of 17) of riding in the rain. turns out my brother William has a friend in the antique business who lives in Arcata and she was boarding a plane to Germany when he called her to see if i could stay with her. she called her 82-year old boyfriend, Jack, who has lived here for 35 years and now i'm writing this in one of his kids bedrooms. lastly i was going to eat at a Mexican place for dinner. Jack said he'd only been there once in 35 years and he recommended The Plaza Grill on the main square. when a cool 82-year old guy, who has lived in a town for 35 years, tells you his favorite place, that's where you go eat dinner. pretty easy choice. so i munched on sturgeon and met Jenny, the soon-to-be-retiring-schoolteacher who wants to do a cross-country birding-tour (and who gives good hugs). when she left i met Joe, traveling from Chicago w/ 2 of his 5 kids, who was back to the Redwoods for the 1st time since he was a kid (and who also gives a good hug) so, despite the punch in the face, the day turned out to be pretty darn good... rick

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super cool bike hostel at Bike Newport- free showers, free laundry, local beer for sale and a hang-out lounge - i'm the 20th touring cyclist to pass thru this year

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RTP #127/Day 39 - parade of friends

haven't been able to keep up with the written posts lately typical day is to ride for hours, get to my friends or relatives house, take a long hot shower, eat an amazing home cooked meal, have a beer or two, catch up with them for hours, go to sleep early repeat repeat some amazing stories have happened along the way but i'm deep in the non-motel phase so i'll catch up some this weekend and next when i stop riding for a few days some quick stats have ridden just under 800 miles two out of every three ride days it's rained 70 mile ride yesterday was my longest ever w/ weight no flat tires so far temp is usually in the 50s back on the Coast for a few days headed towards LA (but 1st another weekend w/ Claire in Santa Barbara w/ cousin Daniel Brennan carried a free bottle of wine on the bike for 5 days - that was heavy have ridden over dozens of bridges, (Golden Gate rocked), thru one tunnel, on 11-12 named bike paths/trails (way more than expected) consumed a bunch of Advil consumed a few beers have almost destroyed my shoe booties due to rain and having a hell of a good time. rick

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RTP #125/day 23 - RTP on TV - Redding; RTP on TV - Portland

in my whole life of 55 years, have never been on TV. in the past 3 weeks, have been interviewed twice on local TV stations in Portland, Oregon and Redding, CA. kind of weird to get recognized twice so far on the road from these interviews. 1st time in the Coyote Café at breakfast and the 2nd time on the side of a road by a cool looking goateed-bearded guy named Dusty. both wanted pictures with me as they said, “you’re that guy…you’re that guy on TV” … again, not words I’ve ever heard before. Portland, Oregon TV interview from KGW8, live at 7pm (on March 10th, the day before I started my ride) http://www.kgw.com/entertainment/television/programs/live-at-7/georgia-man-to-embark-on-six-month-bike-ride-from-portland-or-to-portland-me/421640199 Redding, California TV interview on KRCR (as the sun set on a warm Friday afternoon) http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/shasta/georgia-man-rides-from-portland-oregon-to-portland-maine-on-bike/427486038 in the next few days, will share some cool things I’ve learned from living on a bike for three weeks straight. have gotten a little spoiled for the past 4 nights by staying with 2 cousins who are sisters in Redding & Sacramento (Michelle Kreider & Angela Putnam)…both made home-cooked meals for me; it hasn’t rained; got my first full rest day yesterday after 21 days; and had my first fly-fishing lesson last night in a river with Angela’s husband Jeff…(my, oh my, how patient he was with my erratic casting) ‘night everybody – onwards on the pedals tomorrow to Davis, CA, the ‘cycling capital of California’…can’t wait to see what that means… rick

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RICK TO PORTLAND - KRCR

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RTP #124/days 19-21

so the basis of RickToPortland is to see as many of my friends & family as i can on my Christmas/holiday mailing list. yesterday it began as my Uncle Carl rescued me off the 299. that's the most unfriendly-bike road i've ever ridden on. was OK right up the peaks to the summits (though they took hours to ride up with multiple drink/food breaks). but the downhills were impossible. no road shoulders to ride on. lumber trucks. blind corners. don't want to end this ride in a ditch due to crazy roads. so i hitched from Willow Creek to Junction City - Sean/Shawn of the Bigfoot Motel (where i stayed) gave me a one-hour ride. super cool guy to take me that far in his station wagon w/ my front wheel off in his back seat. then i hung out (2 days ago) in a roadside cafe that Shelly from WC had recommended. Russell, a cool 23-year old raft guide from Montana, gave me a ride to my 4-room motel, that he had driven by 100 times and never noticed. cause it's in a hollow. and it's dark, and it's foreboding and there's no restaurant for 4 miles. it's not very metropolitan you might say. and the 2 guys on the porch who were head-to-toe in cammo were the least inviting people I have met on the trip and they were high as hell. up here they call them "growers". it was time to get off the 299. called my 2 cousins in Redding/Sacramento (Michelle & Angela) and they sent in the calvary the next morning, their dad, my Uncle Carl. he picked me up, took me to breakfast and then back to his house to see his wife, my Aunt Sharon. let me use their computer, made a turkey sandwich for me and i took an hour nap. i was within the bosom of my family and it felt good. met an anchor of the local TV station at 5pm and filmed my 2nd piece on the trip. watched that tonight on the 10pm news. Cullen & Michelle Kreider (she's my 2nd cousin) hosted me last night and tonight. she's a pharma rep for this region and her mannerisms remind me of my mom, my sister and the women of my family. she's great. she took me to a bike shop today, gave me lots of great hugs and her smile could light up any room. i spent the afternoon at the Fire Station HQ as her husband is the Deputy Chief for Redding (with a radio scanner turned on on his kitchen) w/ 30 years of firefighting experience (his area gets 14,000 phone calls a year). he got some cool local IPAs for us to share and if you combine his smile with his wife's, you will need shades. Aunt Sharon made lasagne tonight and we watched UConn lose their 1st game after winning 111 straight. rough loss - good game. it's time for the family & friends California segment and i couldn't imagine a more perfect way to begin than with the Kreider's & Gosloviches... from Redding CA rick

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RTP #122/Day 16 - silence

it's hard to describe what it's like to ride a bike for 16 days straight and to be alone most of the time. my mind wanders. it can't wander too far or i'll miss a small rock in my path that can cause big problems. i try to stop frequently and observe where i'm at. beaches. small towns. abandoned buildings beside me. road signs that imply an upcoming hill or rapid descent. am getting a chance to see America, up close and personal and i'm lucky. lucky to be able to meet so many cool people who are living their lives in these little sanctuaries. today i rode uphill for 2 hours straight into redwoods. amazing trees. amazingly quiet when the cars weren't around. fewer 18-wheelers since it was a Sunday. went past 4 'slides' where they have installed temporary traffic lights to get cars through short gaps of one-lane-only. the latest happened just 2 nights ago and i saw crews out today in the cold rain cutting steel to fix the road and i just saw the same guys again tonight at 8:55pm in the only convenience store in Klamath doing a coffee-run before the last store closed at 9pm. everybody here knows when the road closes cause it changes their plans if/when tsunamis hit. i was warned today that the 299 over the mountain might be closed to get inland. when i called the Bigfoot Motel, where i have a reservation in 2 nights, they told me bikes can get through. they track road closures here like they track rain in the midwest (no need to track that here since it rains every damn day) yep, i'm in Bigfoot country. this is the town where he's been sighted the most. maps everywhere of sightings. Cindy (who made some amazing homemade chili for me today for lunch at a convenience store that she said "it's so good you will write home about it" - she's right) told me she believes in him but Missy, who served me an elk-burger at the casino next door, said "nope, i haven't seen him". silence. in my typical day in the past 2 weeks, i'm probably in a situation where i can have a conversation for only about 2 hours a day with another person and it's usually when i stop for meals. so for the rest of the day i'm in my own head. have stayed in about 6 motels but haven't turned on a TV yet. am not riding with music down the west coast cause i want to hear the ocean at every opportunity. so it's just me, with me. i think of people i miss seeing in person. my two sons Ben & Sam and my Amazing girlfriend Claire. and my parents and my family and my friends. but that's where this trip is different. that's who i am headed to see on my Soma bicycle. family & friends. i'm headed to see most of you who are reading this. and that powerful thought is what powers me up really steep hills and lets me ignore the fact that i can't feel my hands due to cold and eat in restaurants 2-3 times a day and take a pee standing over my bike as i realize that i need to drink more fluids and dry my cycling clothes over tiny motel heaters and embrace, embrace the silence. because soon enough the silence will be broken with conversations and hugs and smiles with all of you. and that, to me, is pretty cool... 'night from Klamath, California (home of Bigfoot) rick

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RTP #121/Days 11-15 - OR/CA randomness

basic routine for previous 4 days 7:00am. wake up, hear water & think the people next to me are taking a shower - then realize it's raining again. again. 8:00-10:00 - hide out in a restaurant/coffee shop waiting for the rain to slow/stop (clearly i'm delusional) 10:05 - check the weather again...rain till 5pm - damn 10:05-11:00 - pack up in my AirBNB (a boat that sailed around the world in 6 years; a comfy bed in Florence), Warm Showers (last night & tonight in the back of a church w/2 Canadians also riding South; one night in Marcus's living room in Lincoln City and one night at Wade/Deborah's place in Dallas OR), a Motel 6 that a couple i met at lunch paid for) 11:00-5:00 - ride my bike. sweat. swear (occasionally at the rain), stop at gift shops to warm up my hands as i keep losing feeling due to temps in the high 40's, FaceTime my parents or sons, trade texts w/ Claire about logistics for next few days, eat lunch alongside the road, take pics w/ the cool people i'm meeting (go to FaceBook and RickToPortland now to see some short video & pics) 5:00-7:00 - decompress where i'll sleep w/ a nice craft beer purchased in the last 2 miles; shower; shower for a long time; squeegee out all the water from my cycling clothes that joined me in the shower 7:00-7:10 - consult Yelp & Trip Advisor to see possible dinners (filter on those closest to me w/ 3+ stars...i'm not too picky at this point...i'd eat my cycling shoe if you put hot sauce on it. 7:10-7:20 - ride on Soma to dinner and lock her up with the 1.2 pound lock that Brian Molloy (of Hub Bicycles in Athens) so wisely suggested (he's also helped me out this ride with a 'front-wheel-noise-video-diagnosis'...more brake issues) 7:20-9:00 - meet cool people at restaurant 9:00-9:15 - ride 'home' sleep till 7:00am and repeat overall, good ways to spend a day RANDOM THOUGHTS -my fingers are chapped and sore from the rain so typos in this note are due to it's hard to hold onto something after 15 days of gripping handlebars -Oregon brew pubs rock. so do NorCal breweries -slept last night in the back of a church w/ a Canadian couple on bikes - their destination "we're riding South" (Kelly & Seb - short for Sebastian) -used a laundromat today for the 1st time in 33 years since i was in college - 32 minutes & $6 -rumble strips in OR are in the middle of the road which are super bike-friendly...i can hear cars coming up as they move left to avoid me -am wearing hi-vis, head-to-toe, bright yellow top, pants, shoes and waterproof booties -have been given so far on the trip: two free beers at the brewery; free breakfast at Coyote Joes, an allen wrench, a wisdom rock necklace, an agate found on the beach today in Crescent City, and a 4-leaf clover sheathed in plastic to keep me safe on the ride - very cool gifts -have seen groups of sea lions 3 times so far; no moose or elk yet -didn't like to hear the account of how Northern California mountain lions like to chase cyclists cause they think they are prey...especially since i'm in NorCal -shipped 8-10 pounds off my bike 4 days ago as i've decided to not camp in CA - freezing rain in 46 degrees with no place to dry clothes would possibly end this trip quickly - solution is $50 motels -this update isn't about the people i've met - many (but not all. are captured on RickToPortland on FaceBook and Tumblr) -have now had 2 home-cooked meals in 20 days - i want to cook w/ some friends -wearing the same clothes every day after i get off the bike is kind of odd - i miss my jeans -confirmed that next weekend i'll be at Michelle & Cullen's house (my first friends/family visit)...first i have to ride up almost 17,000 feet of climbing (Mount Everest is 29,000) -have used duct tape once, to mail packages to San Diego (camping gear) -chafing is minimal - waxing everything 'downstairs' helps and lastly. today was a rest day. only rode 14 miles around town. caught up on email. laundry. groceries. logistics at my 5th library. and got to talk to Claire a few times. she's at my favorite music festival this weekend in Knoxville - Big Ears Festival - wish i was with her, but also wish she was with me - think we've both had good weekend. 15 days in to RickToPortland and 400 miles in and it's evolving as i'd hoped... rick

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Max & Conrad - surfing and car camping their way down the coast

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just met Branden working at Rite Aid - he wants to 'surf-bomb' all the way down the Pacific Coast

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just had a nice cold chocolate milk w/ Lynette & Lucas at Nesika Beach Market

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RTP #120 - Day 10

today was wind all day wind in my face i normally ride 16-17mph on my road bike today 6.8mph for 4 hours in the rain heavy rain ended at Redfish restaurant where i met Angel, Rose, Tyler and his girlfriend and now i'm beat tired at 9pm wind wind wind today rick

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RTP #119/days 9-10 - got stoned last night (1st time) - PG13

i got stoned last night for the first time last night w/ Robbie in his 41-foot boat in Coos Bay. didn't smoke when i had cancer 8+ years ago. didn't smoke 37 years ago when i had 3 drug dealers on my freshman floor at Uconn. didn't smoke on multiple visits to OR, CA and CO in the past 5 years. but last night i got lit up, a little. only took 2 'tokes' (is that still the verb?). thought it might happen on this trip. there's going to be some turns, and i'm going to take them. last night was one of them. it's a trip of exploration. -people who are super cool (many are attracted to the hi-vis clothing) -places that have amazing vistas -restaurants w/ amazing menus -mini-psychotherapy sessions as people tell their stories to me (in confidence) and occasionally there's the offer that's hard to refuse: Doug & Wendy paid for my hotel room last night in Coos Bay Dan gave me an Allen wrench in Lincoln City which saved me on the downhills again as my brakes are acting up and last night, after a few IPAs, Robbie asked "do you smoke weed?" for the first time in my life, i said "yep, i'll try it" he's been sailing up and down the West Coast for the past 2 years after owning a bike shop in Portland for 10 years. has a bulldog on the boat who has learned how to take a shit over the side of the boat when he's underway. he's got a workshop on board and made his own bookshelves. very cool. so we did a shot of rum and while he had two joints he cautioned me "you're a virgin - 2 is enough - he was right super cool guy. living on his boat with his bulldog. odds of me meeting him - slim to none - but when you wear hi-vis yellow pants and a jacket, people get curious. the ride home from the boat was 'interesting' but i made it late at night and rode again today in the rain for the 8th day out of 10 days. 297 miles done in 10 days - my high-level goal is to do 30 miles a day to get to Portland Maine before it snows. from Bandon Oregon (and not stoned) rick

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what a great Italian meal at Alloro restaurant in Bandon tonight-Sue (the owner/chef) and Meara (great waitress) rocked it