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| RDP Ride Roundup |
| by News Item |
| Wheel Issues November 2009 |
| HUSS BIKING SUMMER 2009
PART I: FREEWHEEL Joanne & Bob Huss were pleased to be able to participate in several weeklong bike rides this summer. The rides were spaced well throughout the summer and around the country. Unfortunately we did only two complete-week rides, but did enough of two others to say we had been there. FreeWheel OK was our first ride. Due to scheduling issues we could not start until Wednesday, but it was still special because our 13-year-old granddaughter and one of her friends agreed to give it a try. We started in Butler at Wednesday’s lunch stop determined to ride the remaining 30 miles of the day’s route. The girls were comfortable because Grandpa promised that they could quit anytime they wanted and because Grandma was their personal SAG. The skies grew dark and angry and Grandma could not be reached by cell phone. It started to rain just as Grandma showed up and picked up the girls. I continued riding and got drenched, but it felt good. We were prepared for bad weather that night in Thomas because it had happened the last time FW overnighted there. Nothing happened, and the next day dawned cool and foggy. The girls prepared for the ride by getting everything just right. Their plan was that they would at least ride the 30 miles to the lunch stop in Canton. My secret plan was that once they ate lunch they would be ready to ride more. Their plan won. Once we arrived in Canton, they immediately got off their bikes and declared the day done for them. I rode on to Fairview, and we all enjoyed the evening in the nice campgrounds. The bike races were even exciting for the teens. The next morning started out flat and nice, but a big ugly cloud built right in front of us. It really frightened the girls, and Grandma again magically appeared in the nick of time. Grandma took them through the cloud and I rode on and even stayed dry. The girls did ride again later that day on their own which gave them a chance to chase boys without Grandpa. That afternoon they experienced the largest swimming pool in Oklahoma in Alva. The next morning the girls were up early because we promised them a McDonald’s breakfast if we were ready to go and at the McDonald’s when it opened at 6 AM. We made it and had no lines, but the cyclists were there in large numbers shortly after 6. We headed out with the Kansas border as the girls’ target for the day. As luck would have it, there was a steady headwind and the girls were ready to quit at the first rest stop! Again Grandma to the rescue. I rode on by myself hoping to see them at the next rest stop, but they had ridden on without me. I finally passed them a few miles before the KS border and told them I would await their border crossing with the camera. They made it with smiles under the “Welcome to Kansas” sign and loaded their bikes onto the car. They had reached their FreeWheel goal! Ok, so it was only about 30 miles a day for the girls, but they seemed in good spirits and we hope to get them on this or other rides in the future. Next month: The Huss’s experiences on RAGBRAI. A BIT OF C2C YOU DIDN’T SEE FROM ME I know I (Susan W.) sent reports to the RDP group e-mail, but I didn’t start doing this until several weeks into the ride when three of us followed the Northern Tier while the rest went south to RAGBRAI, taking with them Tim Woods and his blog accounts of our days. So, now that I’ve put my journal together, here’s my account of the third day of the tour, when we pedaled the Cascades from Diablo Lake to Mazama. On this day, I am beginning to get my touring legs. I managed to climb Rainy Pass and then Washington Pass today—without B.O.B., granted, but still a feat for me. I had to stop often to rest, and I pushed the bike and B.O.B. up some of the steep parts. Bill Upton and I were riding together on Rainy Pass. Not only did it rain on us, but it hailed on us too—pea-sized hail which only had us laughing at our luck, or lack of it! Most of the time my speed was no greater than 5 or 6 mph, so it took a long time—over 7 hours—to reach the summit. The ever present waterfalls and wildflowers did much to divert my attention away from the grinding climb, however, and every time I stopped, I’d snap another photo—or use snapping a photo as an excuse to stop. Bill U., my age, who had done very little training and who had undergone bypass surgery 17 years before, was walking a good deal (and I with him sometimes), and he was counting his steps. He’d push his loaded bike uphill for 50 steps and then rest; then push uphill another 50 steps and rest—slow going but going nonetheless. After our 32-mile climb up Washington Pass, we had a 20+-mile downhill, the first miles steep, twisty, and at the edge of the mountain. Bill Hickman, afraid of the sheer drop-off, rode against traffic. My BOB is way overloaded and unstable and so is Kevin Mussett’s. We have to descend carefully. I stopped twice to cool my rims. A big truck passed and its draft caused me to shimmy and dance with BOB dragging me around, but I managed to get stopped and stable. Of course after so much climbing I loved the descending. I sang to myself: “Oh Yes, I’m the great descender. . .” to the tune of the Platters’ “The Great Pretender.” Here are the lyrics that I fitted out after I got home: Oh yes, I'm the great descender Descending I'm doing so well; My speed is such; I descend in a rush It scares me, but no one can tell. Oh yes I'm the great descender, Just cycling and speeding downhill I pretend to be a racer you see; Hell I'm wearing my brakes half way down Descending from mountain to town. Breathtakingly beautiful with snow-capped mountains, snow along the road, waterfalls, tall green forests, moss, roadside flowers. We threw snowballs, and Diane Richardson made a snow angel. I am enjoying the cool. We were scheduled to camp in Early Winters CG on the other side, but it looked sad and fly-filled, so we hung a left into Mazama to find the Mazama Country Inn, a small motel in the woods that is busy with cross-country skiers and hunters in the winter, but in summertime puts up strays such as we. The room rented for $52.11, so once Diane and I split that cost, it was not too expensive. Here we did our first laundry. Bill H. and Kevin insisted that I do my laundry with theirs—the result being gray underwear and snagged bike shorts. Of course the men threw everything in together and did not close the Velcro on their gloves. Oh well, I’ll probably throw or replace all my clothes before trip’s end anyway. We all enjoyed a buffet BBQ dinner, Bill H. and Kevin getting slurringly happy on the house beer and wine. Bill H. paid $11 or so for one glass of wine, and wondered aloud to the waitress (a large tattooed type) where the bottle he paid for was. We invited Peter, a cross country Canadian cyclist who is heading for Ottawa, to join us at our table. He is a tall, thin, guy on an Italian steel racing bike and carries only a small Deuter backpack. We were all envious. Peter hopscotched us and camped with us the next evening in Okanagon. I’ve been counting bird roadkill. Brought a roadkilled evening grosbeak into camp at ride’s end to confirm its identity. There were actually two evening grosbeak roadkills today. The motel owners have a sweet tabby cat that is very friendly. I got some loving in on it to make up for being separated from Ted and Paddy. |
