Several of you who are reading these posts have asked about why I push my bike so much. Three reasons; 1. I have a balance problem as a consequence of my Parkinson’s and when I get much below 5 mph I wobble all over the place, which makes the drivers coming up behind me very nervous, makes me nervous as well, so when I get down to a low speed because of a steep hill I get off and push the bike. 2. Gives my behind a break to walk a little bit so I jump at the chance, and 3. I get to panting and puffing like a train and sweating like a horse pedaling up those hills so I take a break and walk. As I get more and more in shape I will pedal more and walk less, and it won’t be long before we are on the other side of the mountains and FLAT!

Here are some pictures of camp 8/5/14 at the Brownlee Resevoir at Richland, Oregon. The stuff in the bowl is oatmeal with protien powder, dates, flax seed, and brown sugar.  I have it premixed in zip lock baggies and just pour contents into a bowl and pour in boiling water complements of my little cooker to the left of the bowl. Gasoline in the red can and when I run low I stop at a gas station and say, “fill er up”. Cost is usually .50 cents. I use my tent to dry my riding cloths. Keeps the bugs away from my tent 🙂

Left Baker City this morning right at 6 am wanting to get as much of our goal for the day done before it got killer hot. Right off the bat we found that the road we needed to go on was under construction. When we got to the barrier the worker there said it would be a couple of hours before they got going so go right ahead. It was all rock and mud and super rough. All the bouncing up and down I did really did a number on my sore bottom. I road along yelling ooh, aah,  ooh, aah. John got a flat, and as soon as he got that fixed and going he got a second flat, and latter in the day a third flat. With are delay in fixing flats the water truck spraying the road came by, but thankfully went around us. As he drove by I smiled big for him.

i put on sunscreen good this morning as we started, but it was very hot and when we got to camp I had little water blisters all over my arms. I put a bunch of Aloe Vera on them so hopefully they will be fine tomorrow.

We were excited because the campground here at Richland, Oregon was advertised with showers, but when we got here we found that it took 4 quarters to get them going for 10 minutes. Cliff and I didn’t have any quarters so I phoned Mary Anne, her and John are staying in a motel about 2 miles away, and asked if she could bring us 8 quarters which she did.  Cliff went in first and found out the machine wouldn’t take Canadian quarters, which we had 2 of. So I called Mary Anne again and she brought us some more quarters. She is heading back home in 3 or 4 days so we will be on are own after that and John will have to sleep in a little tent in a campground, along with me 🙂

Headed to Cambridge, Idaho tomorrow, 66 miles and two big killer hills. That will be a long day. I hope it isn’t as hot as it was today. We are going to stay at some people’s house who let it be known that they would keep bicycle riders.  They are bicycle enthusiasts and like to visit with people doing what we are. They have two guest rooms which John and Mary Anne will get one and Cliff and I the other, Cliff gets the couch.  They texted us and said they would have dinner for us.

Even with the rough road at the beginning and the heat I had a better day. Bottom is getting tougher and legs are getting stronger. Love you all.

Rest to recover is a basic human need, and I have never been more aware of that than today. So much enjoying resting and recovering today from the last 6 days of traveling 300+ miles on a bicycle. Reading extra in my Bible and praying for everybody as I lay on my soft bed propped up by 4 pillows with the thermostat set on 65 degrees.  We will be back on the road tomorrow at 6 am with an easy day of 44 miles to Richland, Oregon. A few small hills and mostly flat and gradual downhill as we follow the powder river to The Snake River and Brownlee reservoir. We will be camping at Huett Park right on the Powder River arm of the reservoir. I am really hoping and praying that the super sore spots on my bottom will have healed and I will enjoy riding without so much pain. Love you all.

Got to Baker City and checked into a Best Western Motel! Thermostat is set on 60 degrees and I am standing in front of it. Feels sooooo nice. When I get good and cool I am going to sit in the hot tub! They have a rec room with a stationary bike, I can ride on that! (Just joking 🙂 )

this is our 6th full day of pedaling and we have come 320 miles so we are averaging about 53 miles per day. That average needs to come up to 70 per day but it will be easier to do when we get past the hills and I get in shape.

i am going to sleep in to 10 am in the morning and really work at getting fully rested as we resume our trip on Tuesday morning. Weighed and I have lost 6 lbs so far even with all the eating we have been doing. That is 1 lb per day. If I keep that up I will lose 60 lbs on the trip. You all won’t recognize me!

My brother, Cliff and John and I are all very hard of hearing and our conversations are about 50% “what?”. Takes awhile for the three of us to figure out anything. John’s wife, Mary Anne joined us today and as we sat  at “Subway” eating lunch she was our interperter. Thanks for praying for us. I actually think today that I might finish this adventure. Love ya all

We left Mitchel this morning at 6 am and I pushed my bicycle for 6 miles up mostly 6 % grade. John pedaled his the whole way up, he is an animal! At mile 58 John took off ahead of us getting tired of waiting as we rested every mile. We are staying in John Day tonight at Brandon and Melaney Smith’s place, John’s son and daughter in law. Well, when John got to there place he and Brandon came back and picked up Cliff and I in Brandon’s pickupI. I didn’t complete the entire route today, but I was so tired and sore I really didn’t care. I will make a visit next year and bike the part I rode in a pickup in. Brandon barbecued chicken for us and then we walked down to Dairy Queen and had blizzards for dessert. Tomorrow the destination is Baker City and we are going to stay in a motel and take a rest day. Sleep all day on Monday  except when I am sitting in the Hot Tub. Patty was going to come spend the day with me but she got very sick and won’t be coming over. That reduced the motivation to pedal hard tomorrow! Love ya all

My biggest problem right now is the pain in my backside. Today I needed to stop every two miles to recover. I have a large tube of “Butt Butter” which is supposed to help. I put it on often. I will get used to it soon I am sure but in the mean time it seems like torture that I am putting myself through. We biked 41 miles today and  are staying at the Mitchel City Park. Tomorrow we are going to John Day and will ride 68 miles. We start right right off going up about 2000 ft in 6 miles over Keys Creek pass, then the rest of the day will be relatively easy except for the heat. It was 98 degrees in Mitchel today.

Left camp this morning at 6:30 am and pulled into Ochaco Resevor camp sight at 5:30 pm. 11 hours on the road and it was in the mid 90’s from 11 am on. Cooked my brains out. Road 65 miles. We were in the saddle for 7 hours of that. We stopped in Sisters and had a big Coke and rested, stopped at Redmond at McDonalds and had Chicken McNuggets and another big coke with lots of ice. Stopped again in Prineville at Dairy Queen and had a large chocolate Sunday with peanuts and another big Coke with lots of ice! Not sure I would have survived without those stops, but one of my goals is to lose 32 lbs. if I keep this up I will come back 32 lbs heavier! We had planned on riding 70 miles tomorrow, but have decided to change that to 40 miles in that there are some steep hill climbing. Enjoying myself in camp each night reading and studying and writing. iPads are wonderful. Love ya all