Today we road 66 miles from Waldport to Reedsport. The ride was gorgeous along the Oregon coast, rarely beyond the ocean. It was sunny, not too hot, with a nice tailwind all day long. There were quite a few hills, and we mainly went up a hill or down, but only two long ones. I got up to 40 mph going down one hill. Today’s riding was very comfortable, with a minimum of an 18-inch shoulder and often up to three feet most of the day. There were no dog encounters, no grumpy drivers, no bugs, no rumble strips, no flat tires, and, once again, no rain.

We are staying at Eric and Penny Duke’s house tonight. Eric is my nephew, Cliff, and Kathy’s son, and they have four of the best, well-mannered kids, two boys and two girls from 13 to 9 years of age. We had a feast of a meal and sat around a big fire and visited for much of the evening.

There was some bike mechanics that took place on Tom’s bike. He won’t know until he gets riding tomorrow whether he fixed it or not.

One of the interesting things in life is the passage of time. We count it in years, months, weeks, days, hours and minutes. On this trip we count it in miles ridden. Sometimes time goes by quick and other times it seems to crawl. Sometimes we are grinding up a hill at 4 mph and other times we are screaming down a hill at 40 mph. I am getting close to being 75 years old and I think a lot now about the end of my life, how much longer will I live, how will I die, will I see it coming or will it be sudden. My main focus in my thinking about the end is how am I going to do at the Judgment Seat of Christ?

We were looking at photos on my IPad tonight of previous bicycle trips and telling stories about them. The pictures have the date it was taken at the top and I was surprised to see some that were 13 years old. It didn’t seem that long ago, but it was. In 13 more years I will be 88 years old. Man, if the next 13 years go as fast as the last 13!

It makes me wonder about what I should be doing with my time. In Ephesians it says to “make the most of your time.” I wonder how I am doing? Whether God is pleased? How do bicycle trips fit into that? Fishing trips? Hunting trips? I am not sure, but I do love the Lord, and I am pressing on to becoming more like Jesus every day. I will keep pondering and seeking and trusting the Lord to lead me into His perfect will for my life.

We rode from Lincoln City to Waldport today, 44 miles and only one hill. The weather was sunny but cool, with a tailwind the entire day. I was anticipating that we would be riding in a lot of rain when I planned a ride down the coast in May and June, but looking at the forecast for the next ten days, we may complete a month-long ride with zero rain; that will be a first.

My legs were killing me when I rode into camp today, even though we only rode 44 miles, but I took a bunch of ibuprofen, then went and took a shower, turned it on to as hot as I could stand it, stood in it for 15 minutes, and then took a two-hour nap in my reclining camp chair. When I woke up I was feeling good.

For dinner tonight, I ate two cans of sardines and a can of asparagus, and now I am getting ready to pop a bag of popcorn; it doesn’t get much better than that!

We are managing pretty well in our motorhome. Paul sleeps in the bed over the cab, Tom sleeps in the bed in the back bedroom, I sleep on the bed that is the dining room table in the daytime, Ray sleeps on a foam pad that is on the floor, and Cliff and Kathy sleep in the trailer that we are pulling on two cots, we call it the honeymoon suite. Every time someone rolls over, the motorhome rocks like a boat on the ocean. Ray and Paul wear a sleep apnea masks and sound like Darth Vader, Tom and I snore. But despite all that, everyone seems to be getting a good night’s sleep; we go to bed at 8:00 pm and get up at 6:00 am.

Everyone is being faithful to reading their Bibles every day and having a great time with the Lord during the day while riding. There is something about getting away from all the usual stuff, exercising hard, and spending hours thinking, meditating, and praying that is very renewing.

I lost two more pounds of weight which brings me to seven pounds down in total. I check my heart rate all through the day and it stays between 100 and 120 bpm with an occasional jump to 140 on steep hills, so as long as I don’t splurge on ice cream and stick to my sardine and vegetable diet I should keep losing. When I open up a can of sardines I get a bunch of rude comments from everyone else in the motorhome.

I had a rest day today as I drove my bike to a shop. Yesterday it wouldn’t shift right all day and kept skipping teeth on the sprocket. The bike shop mechanic said my chain was stretched so much that the chain didn’t mesh with the sprocket anymore. He put on a new chain and a new sprocket cassette in the back and it works perfectly now. He said this chain is worn so much it looks like it went across the U.S.A!

Everybody else had a 70-mile day with one big hill in it. It was nice and sunny, but not hot and there was a nice tailwind all-day.

We are in Lincoln City tonight at Devil’s Lake RV Park, a nice place. Kathy’s brother and sister-in-law joined us for four days and Tom Zilverberg joined us tonight for the rest of the trip, so for the next couple of days we will have eight in our group. Kathy’s brother and wife are staying in a motel and Cliff and Kathy are going to join them. Cliff was all excited because now he has a television to watch the first NBA championship game.

We are officially 1/4 of the way done with our trip. Seems like we just got started yesterday. I always am sad when these bike trips are over, they are very enjoyable. We met a guy a couple of days ago that was riding for four months straight. He had no plan where he was going, just decided in route each day. He doesn’t even know at the beginning of the day where he is going to camp at the end of the day.

Today we started at our daughter Hannah’s house in Naselle, Washington, and road 60 miles to Paradise Cove RV Resort in Rockaway, Oregon. We crossed the 4.2-mile Astoria bridge that had no shoulder and lots of traffic, and we went through a tunnel, which had no shoulder, it was dark and very noisy!!! and incredibly spooky!! We also went up three very steep, monster hills, super monster hills, each one with about 600 feet of elevation gain, and did I say that it was super steep!! Monster hills!! The scenery was awesome, amazing, incredible, and super!! I did pass two other bicycle riders on the second of the very steep hills, one was walking pushing his bike and the other one was grinding it up the hill. As I passed them I said, “Steep, huh!? and their response was “Super steep!!” Made my day to pass them 🙂

Cliff had a flat today, first flat of the trip. While he was fixing the flat he noticed that the flat tire was almost totally worn out and he saw a sign for a bike shop two blocks away so they went there and they put on two new tires for him. The sprocket for my high gear is worn out and the chain keeps skipping which is very aggravating when you are pushing hard and it keeps jumping a tooth. I called a bike shop tonight and found one that has what I need so I will drive the motorhome tomorrow and go to the bike shop right after they open at 10:00 am and get my bicycle fixed.

I had some really good news this morning. I carry a little portable scale with me so that I can weigh myself on the trip to see if I am losing any weight. I weighed the day before we started and I weighed 231 lbs and this morning I weighed 226 lbs. Five pounds in five days!!! Wow!! I have to try and keep that pace going. We stopped at Mo’s in Seaside as we rode through and I had three pieces of halibut and a big bowl of Clam chowder.

Today I got the crank for my bicycle, which fits and works perfectly. Because of Memorial Day, it wasn’t possible to get the part shipped to my daughter Hanna’s house before Wednesday. Sam, the fellow I have been talking to on the phone to get the crank ordered, said he would drive it halfway to Hanna’s house, which was in Kelso, Washington if I could meet him halfway. It was a 100-mile round trip for him, and he charged me no extra for a $33 part. I was more than impressed with the service and the desire to help me get back on the road again. The name of his bicycle shop in Portland, Oregon, is Cyber e-bikes, and I am giving them five stars, so if you are interested in an e-bike, I would check out their store. You will get excellent service for sure. When I picked up the part, Sam was super friendly and asked a bunch of questions about our trip and said he would read my blog. I am going to text him the address for the blog as soon as I finish here. In our day, the way the culture has gone, when you run into that kind of “go the second mile” service, it is very encouraging. I hope his business goes well.

The Bible has a lot to say about that kind of service. Jesus didn’t come to earth to be served but to serve and give His life for our salvation. He says that those who make themselves a servant to others that God will exalt them. I don’t know where Sam and the others in his store are in their relationship with Jesus, but I pray that they discover Him and that I see him again in heaven.

I drove the motorhome today, but everyone else road 70 miles with some pretty steep hills to climb. Tomorrow we are riding across the Astoria bridge into Oregon which I hear is a bit scary. It is four miles across with no shoulder and traffic both ways. It sounds like it will be an exciting day for sure.

I biked today even with my floppy pedal. We only went 42 miles so pretty easy. Great weather, no bugs, no dogs, no wind, no rumble strips, no grumpy drivers, no close calls, no monster hills, about as good as you can get sitting on a hard bicycle seat pedaling your guts out.

Game seven between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat is going to be on a big screen at a Sports Bar up the road from our camp about a ten minute walk so we are going to walk up there and watch it, that should be fun.

We are at Elma, Washington tonight at Elma RV Resort, a very nice place.

One of the things that I like about bicycle trips like this is that I get in lots of reflective thinking time, thinking about who I am, what I want to improve on and grow in, and how I will do that. I do a lot of talking with the Lord about my life and what He wants me to do, trying to decern what His will is and what He thinks of my life lived for Him to this point. I am probably more critical of my character and accomplishments at this point in my life than He is, at least, I hope that is the case.

I am sitting in the motorhome at the table typing this blog, and it is 7:54 am. Ray, Paul, Cliff, and Kathy just took off on today’s ride of 62 miles to Lillwaup, Washington, on Hood Canal on Hwy 101. The name of the campsite is Rest-A-While RV Park, and it looks like from the website that it will be a nice one. I am driving the motorhome today instead of Ray because of my broken bike. I will ride my bicycle tomorrow because it is a short day of 42 miles, and I should be able to manage my floppy pedal. The bicycle shop in Portland that I called yesterday to try and find a new crank for my bike was super helpful and spent a lot of time finding the part and working today to get it mailed for me so it comes in time to my daughter Hanna’s place in a couple of days. They have my business from here on out.

I can’t check into the next campsite until noon, so I will sit here in our present site until check-out time which is 11:00 am, and read and write; a lovely day it will be.

This is the tenth long-distance bicycle trip that I have done, and they all have one thing in common, everything that can go wrong does. I plan them out in great detail and think of everything that needs done before we go, but it makes no difference. A fun part of these kinds of trips is dealing with and solving the various problems that come up. We have every bicycle shop on the route identified with phone numbers because malfunctioning bicycles are the number one problem that we face. Because the course we are riding is sanctioned by the “Adventure Cycling Association,” there are a lot of bicycles and, thus, a lot of bike shops along the way.

The book of Proverbs says, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Jesus Christ is Lord of my life, and every morning I present myself to Him and commit myself to obeying Him and following His leading as I see it. So whatever happens I know that the Lord is holding my hand and guiding me into His perfect will, broken bicycles and all.

The highlight of the day was the six mile ferry ride from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend.

There have been lots of bike trails in two days of riding and this one went across the bay.

Riding across on the ferry.

Today was about 46 miles bicycling and 6 miles on the ferry. There were lots of very steep hills that maxed me out getting to the top of them, and we had a headwind most of the day but no dogs.

Last year I had some major bicycle problems that I thoughr that I got fixed. The crank on the left side needed to have some welding done on it so that the pedal would screw into the crank. Evidently the heat generated from the welding caused the crank to lose it’s temper so it is bending as I push on it. It was bad at the end of yesterday but after today it is bent so much that I can hardly keep my foot on the pedal and my left knee and hip are killing me tonight. I called a bike shop that sells my brand of bicycle and they have the crank in stock and they are going to ship it to my daughter Hanna’s place where we are supposed to stay in three nights. I probably will need to drive the motorhome instead of ride the next three days so I don’t wreck my knee and hip.

Today we went about 50 miles mostly along the ocean as we began our 2000-mile trip from Canada to Mexico. The weather was sunny but not too hot, breezy but mostly a tailwind, not too many hills, and not a single dog. it was a very beautiful scenery and a comfortable first day. My legs didn’t hurt and weren’t to tired, my butt was not hurting, and everything on the bike worked great.

Tomorrow we will bicycle most of the day on Whidbey Island and ride a ferry for about 6 miles to Port Townsend, where we will camp after having ridden about 60 miles. This Memorial Day weekend, there has been lots of traffic, and probably will be more on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The ferry is going to be so busy that they recommended that we make a reservation for the motorhome, and the first available spot for it was at 6:00 pm, so we will be at our camp spot several hours before our motorhome gets there. We will probably hang out in an air-conditioned restaurant and drink Diet Pepsi.

We will be in camp each evening around 2:00 pm so I have a lot of time to read, study, and write and inside the Motorhome it is comfortable at the table if the table outside is uncomfortable or in the sun. Also many of the campgrounds have a restaurant close by that has good WiFi and I can sit in there and eat an order of chips and salsa as I read and write.

So, I am trying hard not to eat sugar on this trip, but Paul just came into the Motorhome with a half gallon of ice cream, and I can’t resist. He said that he would deny it if I put him in my blog, that is, Paul Risinger. What are friends for if not to bring a little temptation into your life?

It is 9:00 pm Wednesday night and we have our bicycles in the trailer tied down well, with all our food, cloths, sleeping bags etc packed in the Motorhome. Tomorrow morning at 6:00 am five of us are taking off on a one month adventure, with a sixth person joining us in one week. Tomorrow we will drive to a campground just a few miles from the Canadian border, sleep there overnight and then Friday morning, bright and early, we will hop on our bicycles and pedal South. Our destination is the Mexican border and we will ride most of the trip on Highway 101 and Highway 1 in California. The total trip is approximately 2000 miles and we will average about 70 miles per day and be home on May 23rd just in time for me to preach on the 24th and 25th at JBC.

In the past years of doing these trips we have mostly camped in tents, but this year we are going to stay in the Motorhome every night. We have every day mapped out, with each days map on our cell phones with verbal instructions at all of the turns. The mapping program also shows us a silhouette of each days ride with expected elevation climbs and descents. The campsights are all reserved, and they all have hot showers! We usually average 10 to 14 mph and take a butt break every five miles.

Breakfast for me will be a bowl of granola ceral with oat milk on it with two cups of coffee. We snack along the way on dried fruit, nuts, energy bars, and cookies. Sometimes we will stop for lunch, usually at a “Sub Sandwich” place that happens to be at the right place at the right time. Dinner for me is usually a can of stew, pork and beans, or something similar with a can of vegetables, usually beans, and then for a bedtime snack we will eat some microwave popcorn. I drink a lot of water and some sort of electrolyte sports drink all day long.

This is our tenth long distance bicycle trip. We have done two trips to Fairbanks, Alaska, three coast to coast trips, the northern route, Southern, and one through the middle of the United States, each of those was about 4,000 miles. We did a trip to the Grand Canyon, then up to Yellowston, and then home which was close to 4,000 miles. We did one around the State of Oregon and a number of others that started at home and went out to Montana and around and back home. At the beginning of everyone of the last five trips I have assumed that this is probably the last one of these that I have in my old body. We will see how I feel at the end of one month, usually I feel 20 years younger, that is why I keep doing these darn torture trips.