Update #1: to Oregon
Yesterday I drove from Tacoma to Summerville, Oregon. Regular solo road-tripping vibes, I suppose.
Strong winds over the Colombia River:
The route finished going from county road to county road, passing through the mountains of north-eastern Oregon, and the moon rose large and vibrant through the thickening forest. I wish you could have seen that moonrise, but I did take a little windshield picture for you:
Camp dinner:
Sunrise [and moonset] on Summerville, Oregon:
I went for short (probably three miles) bike ride to the top of the host's property, and then around the neighborhood on the gravel roads. All quite nice, though I did hit a large rock in the road on my way back which gave me a flat tire....this might be a re-occurring theme—we'll hope not.
Oregon morning notes:
- Woke with the the sun just hitting the hill across the valley, clear, crisp morning
- Quite cold, glad I had the wool blanket over my sleeping bag
Floral notes:
- Found yellow moth mullein! (first sight since white moth mullein in PA):
- Other flowers pictured:
Aviary notes:
- Saw a number of magpie, back in magpie country!
- I think I saw a vulture
- A large hawkish bird of prey, dark on top, mixed white on bottom, and reddish tail (red tailed hawk? seemed big)
- A few brown starling-sized birds, flight a little reminiscent of swallows (?)
- A few sparrows
Update #2: an introduction to Salt Lake City
Early in Utah:
Notes:
- Metro Salt Lake city is huge
- Mild California vibes...probably just the bare mountains surrounding the sunny city
- AirBnB cozy and pleasant, though with almost no natural light, making it a weird place to wake up and get moving
- Salt Lake City has at least one excellent coffee shop (Blue Copper). I had a Tanzania single origin espresso, served proper :)
Update #2: race climb test run
After writing the last update in Blue Copper Roasters, I went to a bike shop for a few needed supplies and back ups, and went to the race starting/finish spot for a test ride! I found that the long and steep climb for the race is on pavement, which makes my road bike functional for the race (phew). Riding at high altitude did not seem to be too much of an issue, it basically meant I was tired out about eight minutes into the ride, but then sustained almost that same level of tiredness through the rest of the ride. I think I have the Stadium stairs to thank for the anaerobic training.
Up, up, up the stairs we go, until: the tunnel!! ...oops, no tunnel... nor was it really stairs...it was just a lot of slow climbing. Thankfully, there were no giant spiders at the top. It was actually quite beautiful. After I passed the shrubby oak tree portion of elevation, it was lots of aspen forest, and then closer to the top there was a clearing and everything was subalpine conifers, with the evening sun striking a bit of magic of the hills. I passed through that lovely cool shade with the rich aroma only subalpine conifers provide.
I made it to the top of the race in good enough time to know that I should have to issue finishing the race (they pick up the riders that won't finish in time, and thus they don't get to finish). I did not ride the downward part of the route, because is was soon to be dark, and the way I came was mostly paved. Needless to say, it was a very fun descent. Blasting down the hills, leaning into the constant turns—oh yes.
Oh! I almost forgot to mention the livestock! There were a couple herds of cattle, but the big deal was the huge flock of sheep free-ranging in the alpine top of the ride. Lots of sheep. I definitely had to nearly stop while some forty of them crossed the road in front of me, since I had spooked the ones that had been in the road. Haha, silly sheep.
Notes:
- Smoke was almost non-existent, clear in Salt Lake, with slight haze over the racing grounds, though there is a little in Salt Lake this morning
Floral Notes:
- There have been wild sunflowers almost everywhere along the highways since passing into Idaho
- There must have been four different thistle type plants on the ride. First, the tiny ones that also grow around Tacoma here and there, only noticed these once in a field. Second, some that were quite like the standard thistle, but the seed heads look flattened. Third, a thornless, stiff stocked, smaller one, that probably isn't a thistle at all. Lastly, a softer stalk one with extra thorns, magenta petals, and broader spiky sepals.
- I spotted indian paintbrush in one meadow, all over in between the sagebrush shrubs. only in that meadow, however.
- A little purple fleabane
- Some other little purple daisy things
- A delightful white geranium that looked very much like a wood anemone
- Plenty of lupine leaves! only saw a few in bloom at the top of the ride. their blooms were quite tiny—whether that is due to the high elevation, or just the species, I do not know
- Lots of false hellebore, all gone to seed, not much green left on them.
- Lots of cute little three-lobed leaves which I assume belong to a columbine species
Aviary notes:
- Saw a handful of brown swallows dancing around with a few magpie
- One vulture fairly early in the climb
- Somethinig that may have been a stellar jay, but perhaps just that size and colour
- A wood pecker that looked like a northern flicker, without the spots, and probably without the red. So, not a northern flicker at all.
- One hawk thing (hawk? falcon? who knows) closer to the top of the more forested part of the climb (9000ft?)
Update #3: mainly touristing (that is, thrifting and sipping coffee)
Well, I suppose my clever title has already told all I did today.
In other news, there was an electrical storm tonight, with a little rain, that was quite nice :)
I would like to make some comment the aforementioned "sipping coffee": I went to Three Pines Coffee, and had an excellent espresso, and great coffee conversation. Three Pines is a multi-roaster, primarily serving Heart Coffee (I had a Kenya coffee from Heart this time), though they currently also have Brandywine Coffee Roasters in stock. They were playing music on a record player, playing records from The First Aid Kit when I was in. And one more note: the barista gave me a list of other shops to check out while I'm in town, with comments on each one :)
Update #4: plot twist!:
Is a story teller supposed to, so directly, forewarn of the upcoming plot twist? Perhaps not, but you still don't know what's twisting.
To start, I headed over to Honeysuckle Coffee, where espresso options were an Ethiopia-Ethiopia blend (a Yirgacheffe and Sidama (one washed, one natural), or another Ethiopia single origin—now that's my cup o' tea. The espresso was well pulled, and the room was quite pleasant :)
Next on the to-do was to go up the race climb again, but this time with my camera (and another water bottle, being as it was the full heat of the [moderately hot] day. My goal was to make the climb with the extra weight, but spending plenty of time gathering photographs, and pressings of the featured flora. I started my way up, but then I didn't really want to stop (I did make a couple stops for the following photos, but that was it). I took less breaks than my previous attempt, and finished the climb faster.
Now, near the top of the ascent, I had this thought: What if I read the cue-sheet wrong, and I am following this map backwards? ....
... ....
...
At my next little break, I analyzed the cue-sheet and compared it with the route map. Um. Well, I just practiced half of the route backwards. And have now done so twice.
So, instead of making the descent down the wild dirt and gravel roads, I continued on the backwards route a mile or two further, before turning around, and flying back down the mountain. That little bit further on the route has me excited and nervous for the race. It was super fun terrain to ride, but that wild terrain with all the steepness of the asphalt I had just ascended? This is indeed more of what I was expecting in coming here, and I might really mess up my wheels, but hey, I was expecting that too. I actually think I may have made my wheel a little too out of true had I been riding the route properly in these training rides.
So, here's to wild challenges, and hoping to finish before time cuts me off from the line!
Update #5: race day
Well okay; almost race day. There's another day in between. I hit off the afternoon with some coffee and lunch at Publik coffee. More good coffee, I dare say, and this classy, gluten free, salmon powered toast:
After coffee, and editing pictures, it was time for pre-race check-in. I arrived feeling rather awkward, and a little out of place, but hey, I had already decided to do this. It was a long little walk past all the vendor booths and dial in and clean-up stations all the way to the check-in table. It was all brief, friendly interaction...and now the nerves really set in. I mean, holy crap, lots of nerves. I start walking past all the booths, but a little closer this time, and the rep for the bike company putting on the event initiates a conversation. We chatted about the race, probably some random other things, and about my bike being a road bike. This was great, and at this point I felt welcomed (thanks Josh☺). I might not finish the race, but maybe I could, and I was welcome to it. I went back to my car with nervousness not at all lessened (though it was also a lot of excitement now), and had a good phone chat with a friend, by the end of which I was in a safe-to-drive state of mind.
Back at the Airbnb, prepped for the race the rest of the evening. I also ground coffee for the morning with the backside of a knife, since I had forgotten my grinder—it was functional.
About the first mile was on asphalt, so I obviously had the advantage for this little stretch, and kept an easy warm-up effort, passing into the front half of the riders (then my slow pace would at least have a head-start, right?). The gravel portion started a little thick and sandy, so our first number of climbs were rather difficult for my 28mm tires, and mentally said "See you later" to the the riders passing by with my first few slips and foot plants. The ascent continued onward, and there was usually a good single track of better packed gravel, good enough for me to get going fairly well. I caught up to most of those who passed me, and until the last few miles of the ascent, we kept passing each other. So that was cool. I kept going pretty strong. I only got off the bike when I was slipping to much to stay on it, or was cramping too much to pedal, and only made a full stop twice going up, just for a minute or two—walking was more effective than standing. Getting up towards the top, the road was very rough and rocky, but very well hard packed, so I dropped most of those riders I was hanging around. At the top of the climb was the aid station, and few impressed people. A couple people asked to take my picture, and several commented surprise an respect. haha
I only stayed at the aid station for a couple minutes, and started the descent. I had practiced this part. Twice. So I took those drops and curves wit hall sorts of speed, passing a couple riders at the top, and then seeing no one else until the last three miles or so, when I saw about five riders up ahead. I was able to pass them just under a mile out, with the exception of one rider up quite ahead of them.
So there it was! I finished just ahead of the middle of everyone, and seventh in my age bracket. The bike made for a fun conversation starter for a while. I had not plugged in my phone the night before, and it was just a couple minutes from dying, so I found some event staff and we searched around until we had a charger and got that plugged in, so that was nice. I sat with Josh and another Ventum rep by there booth for about an hour. The rest of the six hour wait for the awards was rather dull so I went to a local coffee shop for an hour or so.
Me, just after the race:
Update #6: homeward!
Well, that was that, and at this point it's all over and I am ready for home. I Salt Lake City the next morning (with another stop at Publik Coffee), making my way to camp out in eastern Oregon.
I got to the farm at almost 10:00p, and set up quickly, but had the Milky Way catch my eye, as it was showing more brightly than I think I have ever seen it. I laid on the picnic table for fifteen or twenty minutes gazing, and counting shooting stars (got up to five).
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