Day 16: July 21, 2024 - Rest Day
I woke at 5:30 and got up in order to stay on an early schedule. I wrote and published my blog post for day 11 so I’m up to date.
The air was better this morning than last night but still not good so today is a rest day.
Here’s the view looking west at 8:23.
…and here’s the view looking east, with some patches of blue sky.
In the last week I saw a few signs like the one below. I asked Gabe, who runs the grocery store, about it. He said there’s a movement of people in eastern Oregon who think they would be better represented if they were part of Idaho rather than Oregon. The area is a large part of Oregon, but Gabe said it’s only about 5% of the state’s population. When I asked whether he thought there was any chance of the change happening, he said the states are talking.
See how much of Oregon could become part of Idaho. And it looks like part of California is also included in the discussion.
Four cyclists riding the Trans Am Bike Race route east-to-west arrived at the Spoke’n Hostel today, three men from Holland and a woman from Manhattan. The three Dutch cyclists are all riding bikes loaded much more heavily than mine. Although my bike fully loaded at 62 pounds is the heaviest it’s ever been, in contrast to the bikes of the Dutch cyclist it looks quite light.
I’ve written previously that from Astoria, Oregon, to southern Illinois, I’m following the route of the Trans Am Bike race. I first learned of that race no later than 2018 when I watched the movie Inspired to Ride, about the first Trans Am Bike race. In June of 2018, while visiting Audrey Cozzarin and her husband, Serafino Carri, I told Audrey that someday I would like to ride that route, except that I know nobody along it. Audrey suggested that I asked my friends and family whom they knew along the route, but I knew that they didn’t know anyone along the route. But I thought that maybe I could create a route on which I would visit all my friends and family. That night I started to plan the 90-day trip I took in 2019. But the idea of riding the Trans Am Bike route persisted, or maybe I would ride some other route across the country.
Late last year, my brother-in-law Jim Belilove showed me pictures he had taken of the Avenue of the Giants. I remembered that I had wanted to ride there, and started planning a cross-country trip starting in California that would include the Avenue of the Giants. After a week or so of planning it became clear that the route I had in mind would not work, so I decided to consider another starting location. That’s when I settled on following the Trans Am Bike Race route, except leaving it in southern Illinois for the Blue Ridge Mountains which I had ridden in 2019. So that’s how I got here!
I love staying at the Spoke’n Hostel but I’m getting itchy to ride. There’s been some rain and the sun was out, casting shadows. The air quality index was down to 118, but as of 8:00 it’s up to 175 and to the east, where I’m headed, it’s worse. Tomorrow is likely to be another rest day.
I wonder how the goats on the property next door are dealing with the smoke.
See all of my daily routes here: Cross Country 2024
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