Cars, Planes, Trains, Vans, and then we finally get to the bike

[pbray]

On Thursday, August 9th I dropped off the finished manuscript for THE FINAL SACRIFICE at DHL, worked a half day that turned out to be 6 hours not 4, came home, packed, then drove to Connecticut. Stacey and I reviewed lists of what we were bringing, agreed our suitcases were too damn heavy, and set our alarms for 4AM to catch our early flight.

The next day started off with a bit more excitement than we'd hoped for--we got a late start which meant that we were at the airport a mere hour before our flight was to take off--only to find that there'd been a malfunction with the security system which meant that the screening line snaked its way the length of the terminal and back around again. It looked like it would take more than an hour to make it through screening, but the TSA screeners assured everyone that the airlines knew of the problem and all flights were being held.

They weren't.

Nor were the screeners making exceptions to let people line jump as their flights were about to take off. We heard our names being paged as we stood in line behind a woman who couldn't understand why she had to give up a 10 ounce shampoo bottle if there was less than 3 ounces of liquid inside. Finally we made it through security and ran through the terminal, carrying our shoes in our hands, only to find that the gate was retracted and the aircraft about to push back. We pleaded with the Southwest clerk on duty who initially said that they couldn't reopen the plane, but then another clerk said "Yes" and amazingly we were allowed to board. The second miracle here was that there were still two empty seats--out of the four planes that we took there and back, this was the only one that wasn't oversold and completely filled.

We were still on edge when we landed at Midway, only to find our connecting flight was delayed for nearly two hours, which gave us a chance to grab food. Luckily we arrived in Portland with no further problems, and after checking into the hotel, we took the light rail into downtown Portland and explored the city. By now we'd earned our beers, so one of our first stops was Bridgeport Brewing, where I had the sampler (mmm!).

Dropping by Powell's I was thrilled to see a large display of THE SEA CHANGE on an end cap in the science fiction section, and after talking to the information desk to secure their permission, I signed all of my titles that they had in stock. The staff at the store were quite friendly, and the store itself is amazing--I only meant to look, but somehow I wound up weighing down the infamous suitcase with yet another reference book.

As we ate breakfast Saturday morning prior to being picked up for the tour, Stacey and I kept staring at the two men seated at the table next to us. They looked so familiar.... turned out it was Steve and Floyd, whom we'd met on a bike trip in the Finger Lakes in 2003, along with their friends Dick and Fred. We were on a different coast, touring with a different bike company, and yet here we all were. Well, almost all of us. Fred arrived a bit later, without luggage, but that's his tale to tell.

We met the first of our guides when the van arrived to pick us up--turned out there were three guides and nineteen guests. That's the largest bike tour group I've ever been on, but it was a surprisingly compatible group, and the fact that we already knew four of our fellow travelers helped make it easier to learn everyone's names.

There were numerous logistical difficulties on the first day, including a broken support van, but eventually we made it to the starting point for the tour, and after being fitted to our bikes took off for a short (30 mile) warm-up ride. At the end of the ride was a steep climb, and I found myself struggling. Stacey passed me, and I cursed, wondering how I could be this much out of shape. I knew that I'd skipped some training while trying to finish the book, but I didn't think I was this bad. I put my head down, persevered and arrived at the inn--where Dave, one of the guides, informed me that my rear tire was flat. It must have gone flat as I was climbing that hill, and I hadn't noticed. Oops.

Luckily this tour company keeps a cooler of adult beverages on hand for the end of each riding day, so as Dave took my bike to fix it, another guide handed me a cold beer, which eased the pain of my stupidity.

The next day's cycling was along the Aufderheide Scenic Byway, and we stayed at cabins by the McKenzie river. Our cabin had a deck overlooking the river, so folks congregated there for the post-biking beers, before scattering to shower and change for dinner.

The following day we biked McKenzie Pass, then into the town of Sisters where we had ice cream and visited the quilt shop. Once everyone had arrived, we were rounded up and transferred by van to the resort where we would spend the next two nights.

If I have one quibble with this company it was the number of van shuttles--other companies tend to have fewer shuttles so you truly bike from inn to inn, while Bicycle Adventures designs their trips to cover more geopgrahical distance by having you ride only the good parts and then shuttling you through congestion or less scenic areas. It's not that the daily rides were any less challenging than other tours I've been on, but having to sit on a van for an hour (or more) stiffening up isn't my idea of fun.

The next day in Sunriver was our "off" day--Stacey, Larry and I took a two and a half hour walk around the resort, then had lunch. Stacey and I did laundry, then went to the pool, which was overrun by small children, as one would expect in this kind of place. That night we joined the others for a wine tasting that turned into an impromptu pizza party at Stacey's instigation.

The following day we cycled along the Cascade Scenic highway, broke for lunch, then took a shuttle (see above comments) to the park entrance, for the ride up to Crater Lake. The ride to the lodge was grueling, and there were numerous spots where there's nothing to protect you from a sheer drop-off, but the views were amazing.

On Thursday we cycled around Crater Lake. When planning the trip I'd been thinking lake=flat, then later realized that Crater Lake=Volcano=Decidedly Not Flat. The 35 mile ride is rated one of the top one-day rides in North America, and I could see why. We kept stopping to take pictures from every possible vantage point.

Friday we checked out of the lodge, then biked down out of the park. It was a cold morning, and the rapid descents made us even colder. I hadn't realized how steep the climb up to the lake was until I was biking it in reverse. We biked around Diamond Lake and wound up at the Umpqua forest for lunch. After changing into clean clothes (but no showers!) the group split into two, climbing into vans to be taken back to the starting point. The van ride back was over five hours, which was harder on my body than the day's riding had been.

A bunch of us were staying at the Courtyard Marriott that night, so Dick, Floyd, Fred, Steve, Larry, Stacey and I got together for one last dinner, and then we went our separate ways.

The flights back to Connecticut on Saturday were uneventful, and Sunday I left to come back home. I realized that this might be my last trip to Connecticut--all my family has left, and Stacey is moving to New Hampshire later this month. So before I left the state I stopped by the family graves to leave roses for one last time.

Then I returned home. My house was supposed to be painted while I was away, and at brief moments when I had cell phone coverage jennifer_dunne and I had been exchanging text messages such as:

ME: What color is my haus?
Jennifer: striped.

ME: What's new?
Jennifer: Dave is ripping out your garage. RRRRRIP!

Since ripping down the garage was not on the agenda, this caused a bit of panic, but returning home I found that the house was no longer striped, but was in fact white, and that Dave had rehung the garage door in addition to painting it. Phew!

In the end a good time was had by all. It was a true vacation--days without daily cares, or even a sense that there was any larger world outside our biking group. I made new friends, read a good book, and made copious notes for the new project.

I'm already looking forward to next year.

Comments

[janni.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lovely vacation!

Forgetting the larger world is one of my vacation goals, too. :-)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

And it's getting harder to leave the world behind. Several members of our bike group had blackberries, iphones or mini-laptops, all of which allowed them to stay connected to their daily lives back home (whenever they could find a signal). Which, IMO, is not necessarily a good thing.

I'll admit, I was briefly tempted to beg the loan of a laptop when we stayed in a place that had wireless internet service, but managed to fight back the temptation.