The TransAmerica Bike Trail
May-July, 2003

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Email 4

Hello one more time.

This is email 4 of 3ish.  In it, I will reveal to you the wonders of Idaho, Oregon, and the Pacific Ocean.  This is the final issue, and I will finally tell you what your points are good for as well as award you more points.  Also in this issue, more supersoaker jokes!  Read on!

QUICK SUMMARY
     We made it.  The cold, cloud-covered Pacific Ocean greeted us one week ago in Newport Oregon, ending our 4,500 mile journey across the country. When you last heard from us, we were heading over the Bitterroot Mountains into Idaho.  From the Idaho boarder, we meandered 400 miles southwest through Idaho, enjoying the cleanest, most scenic rivers in the country.  Dipping into Hell’s Canyon and over the Snake River, we cut into the dry mountains of Eastern Oregon, and then crossed the Cascade Mountains near Eugene, Oregon.  A final ride over the Coast Range of Oregon, and we were at the Pacific.


IDAHO
     Idaho was marked by large evergreen forests as well as the cleanest, most scenic rivers we've seen on this trip.  After crossing Lolo pass, we enjoyed an 80 mile downhill along the clear Lochsa River.  Crossing over mountains, we biked the dry Salmon River Canyon, and then later Hell’s Canyon, home of the Snake River.  Extensive testing has proven all of these rivers to be highly satisfactory for swimming.
    The Idaho terrain alternated between lush forest and dry desert.  The forests  supported a logging industry, and I talked with one log truck driver at a bar  in Cambridge, Idaho.  The driver described in detail how the limp body of a deer flies off the road when he hits it with his truck.  “You drive around a corner, and then suddenly there is a deer.  Pop! It flies off the road and I don’t feel a thing....I suppose a bicyclist would be exactly the same.” He then continued to drink his beer.


DON’T BE A NATIVE AMERICAN LIVING IN THE 1800’s 
     We followed the Lewis and Clark trail into Idaho, which was also a trail used by the Nez Perce Indians to escape the US army (the government was trying to force the Indians onto a reservation).  The Indians fled into Montana, and almost made it to Canada before being caught (why didn’t we just let them go?)  Roadside signs told the tragic story of slaughter and located the battlefields.   I will not recount the entire story here, but it was sad to follow the same trail and overlook the old battlefields.

ROUGHING IT, RV STYLE  
     Large RVs and bicycles were not made to share the road together.  We passed through Oregon around the 4th of July, and we encountered far more RVs than during any other section of the trip.  I have learned to accept the smaller RVs, but the large RV busses will always be a source of fear and disgust. These behemoths are the size of a regular bus and usually have at least an SUV in tow.  No special license is required to drive them, and it is usually an older American behind the wheel.  The names of these vehicles are also offensive.  There is the ‘American Dream,’ the ‘King of the Road,’ and, I am not making this up, the ‘Intruder.’  The same trucker I talked to at the bar in Idaho complained for 10 minutes about the 'yahoos' who drive the largest RVs.
      At most campsites we stayed at in the west, RVs outnumber tents by about a ratio of 3:1.  By the Snake River in Hell’s Canyon, I asked a woman how long the batteries in her RV lasted, if they chose to camp where there is no outlet.  She replied that they used to go to campsites without outlets, but no more because they were “Done roughing it.”
     This woman was younger than most RV owners, as she had a 5-year-old daughter.  Uninvited, the young five-year-old walked over to my campsite, picked up my supersoaker, and asked me if she could squirt my father (who was sleeping on the grass at the time.)   Later, I had to literally wrestle the supersoaker away from the girl.  (Of course I said she could squirt my father.)

PARTY TIME ON THE ROAD
     We have met a number of fun people who were also biking across the country and following our same route.  Through Idaho, we teamed up with 3 other folks,  all of whom were originally riding independently.  There was Al, a 45 year old  truck driver who periodically quits his job to bike tour.  Al has spent 4 of  the past 20 years bike touring.  There was also Keith, a retired Englishman  who slept in a hotel every night of his trip, even though he carried a tent  and sleeping bag with him the entire way.  And there was Stefan, a 25 year old  with two bachelor degrees.  Stefan paid for the trip with a combination of  waiting tables and credit card debt.
    We enjoyed the company of these other cyclists, but they also supported my  hypothesis that people who bike tour (I suppose that includes pops and me) are  not sane.

HAPPY 57
     My father turned 57 on July 7th.  We were staying in a community church in Eastern Oregon that night, and I gave pops two brownies with 57 lit candles on them (a water bucket was handy). 
    For his birthday, I wanted to get my father a dead bird, but he already had one.  So, in a burst of originality, I purchased him another supersoaker.  I figured he was finally mature enough to carry one himself (I’ve been carrying his other supersoaker).  So far, he has proved me wrong.

OREGON
     The geography of Oregon varied greatly in our travels from east to west.  The state is divided by the Cascade Mountains, a string of snow and glacier covered mountains that sit near the western side of the state.  To the east of these mountains, it is dry and hot, as well as significantly mountainous. Sagebrush covers the valleys and Ponderosa Pines line the mountaintops.  To the west of the Cascades, there are rainforests of Douglas Firs and rich irrigated agriculture can be found in the valleys.  A low coastal range prevents easy access to the ocean. Climbing into eastern Oregon from Idaho, we crossed the old Oregon Trail, where you can still see ruts from wagons in the rocks and sagebrush.  A large national interpretive center housed a number of talking manikins dressed up like pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
    It was hot in eastern Oregon.  The heat eventually got to Pops, and we had to take a day off because of what he claimed to be 'sun poisoning.'  I told him he was just getting old.

THEY SURE KNOW HOW TO MAKE TREES IN OREGON
     Wow.  The trees in Oregon were large.  The Ponderosa Pines of Eastern Oregon and the Douglas Firs of the coast were by far the tallest trees the entire trip.  The eastern Ponderosa were well spaced and had an odd reddish bark. Some of the Douglas Firs were enormous.
    They also know how to cut down trees in Oregon.  We saw only a few stands where the trees were allowed to reach the height I described in the last paragraph.  From the Cascade Mountains to the coast, the land is a patchwork of clear cuts of different ages.  In the coastal range, we stopped at the house of a logger who offered to fill our water bottles.  The logger has worked in the forests for 30 some years, and told us that he is now harvesting some stands for the second time.  The logger explained that trees older than 30 years are no longer desirable to cut down.  The mills are not built to handle larger trees anymore.  I suppose this is good, because not many more old trees will be cut down.  On the other hand, though, there seem to be few large trees left.

THE OREGON COAST
     After crossing the Cascades and the coastal mountains, we arrived at the Oregon coast, where we spent two days biking south along the ocean before calling an end to the trip.  Although the first day at the coast was cloud-covered, windy, and cold, the skies opened up the second day.  The coastal mountains rise directly out of the Pacific, making for steep cliffs, sea caves, and rocky overlooks of the Pacific.
    I have always preferred mountains to the ocean.  But, other than maybe the Tetons, this short section of the Oregon coast was the most beautiful section of the entire trip.  If you can handle the excessive number of large RVs, the Oregon coast in the late afternoon is one of the most scenic places in the country.

ALL DONE SINGING
     The ‘dawn chorus’ of birdsong is significantly more muted in July because all the birds are done making babies.  My father would wake up early, and then complain that ‘nothing was singing.’  I dealt with this tragic decrease in birdsong by sleeping in.

REVENGE OF POCKET WORLD
     The Pocket World in Figures made a cameo on this trip thanks to a care package from my mother. Don’t worry if you don’t know what I’m talking about, but you do get 3 extra points if you know the number of cell phone subscribers per 100 people in Bulgaria.

MORE POINTS FOR YOU!  YES, YOU!
     Reading of this entire email entitles you to 30 more points.  Yeah! Partial credit: let’s say if you read half of it you get yourself 15 points.  Cool?

YES, I WILL FINALLY TELLYOU WHAT YOUR POINTS ARE REDEEMABLE FOR,
     100 points: (you read everything):  One trip with me anywhere in the world, as long as I am already going there, and you are paying your way (and possibly part of mine).

    75 points:   One trip with me anywhere in this country, same conditions as above.
    50 points:   One trip with anyone you want, as long as they want to join you.
    25 points:   One trip by yourself, wherever and whenever you like.
    5 points:    One cup of fruit.
    3 points:    1 game of Pocket World with me!  (Pocket World can be played via email!)

In any event, that is all for Kroodsma and Kroodsma cross-country bicycle adventures.  I hope you have enjoyed your vicarious cross-country experience (and I hope you redeem your 100 points).  This country is big, diverse, and beautiful.  It does not exist on the interstate; there was a significant difference between towns near interstates and towns on their own roads.  Driving across the country will not let you see close to what my father and I saw.  If you are remotely considering an adventure like this, I strongly encourage you to go for it.

That is all.  Drop me a line if you get the chance.  If you missed any of the emails, and would like me to send you them, let me know.  I will be in Amherst the next month with plenty of free time to hit the reply key and twiddle my thumbs.  A slide show will be ready to go soon for more vicarious enjoyment.

Take care,

--David

BY THE NUMBERS:
     Total Miles:  4,500
     Days on the bike: 67
     Rest days: 5 (two for health, two for mechanical issues, and one for fun)
     Mean Distance Traveled Per day: 67 miles
     Mean time on bike per day: 5.9 hours
     Average Speed: 11.3 mph
     Wheel Revolutions: About 3.6 million