Pictures

June 8 and 9

June 9th..........Doug Gardner. Again, I will try to recount several days. Computer problems again, and fatigue have kept me from doing a blog sooner. We spent the night of the 6th in a nice but inexpensive hotel. We ate breakfast at a great place beside the motel.........best blueberry pancakes yet. We set out for Redmond, via a beautiful town called Sisters for the 3 similar mountain peaks that lie at its feet. We ate at Bronco Billy's in Sisters then pedaled some more to Redmond where we stayed in a campground at their County Fairgrounds.........great showers and laundry.

June 8th..........We awoke early and set out for Mitchell, OR. We passed over a difficult Ochoco Pass, stopped at McDonald's in Prineville, OR where we tried to send WiFi pictures, but my Blackberry began giving me problems so I could not blog. We are also finding that many areas do not have cellular service. The next location we hoped to stop in for a meal was closed so we made do on trail mix, crackers, beef jerky, etc. Because the place was closed, we had no water source, and when we found our self running low on water, we had to ask a roadside rancher for access to his water. On our descent from the pass which was many miles downhill in a steep fast descent, Jordan's bike drifted over into mine while he was watching scenery, and he had a wreck creating no more than roadburn, very fortunately, and we had to take off his mangled front fender, which we have since repaired with duct tape. When we arrived in Mitchell, it seemed a dry dusty town, out of an Eastwood movie, as the first buildings did not seem open, but we quickly encountered a cafe, and the Oregon Hotel, where they actually kept a Hostel, and we all piled into a cheap room. The service was great and we enjoyed the innkeeper's kids, Austin and Abigail. We also encountered "Juniper Guy" in Mitchell who made great furniture from Juniper wood including an over sized chair that we found humor in.

June 9th.............we tried to get an early start, only to find that all the breakfast joints (2) were closed on Wednesday. So once again our meal was relegated to grocery muffins, bananas. We immediately jumped into a long difficult ascent over Keyes Creek Pass, but that always seems to lead to a fun fast descent. The scenery is beautiful and of course ever changing. It is amazing how quickly the topography and vegetation change. We had planned to stop in John Day, but pushed it on another 13 miles for an 80 mile day so that we would be closer to tomorrow's destination, Baker City. My wife is flying into Boise City tonight where she will rent a car, drive to meet us in Baker City. I will then drive Jordan, Amy and our 13 yo James who flew out with her, back to Salem, where Jordan graduates on the 11th. Then we will pile back in the car and drive back to Baker City so Jordan and I can resume the ride with Alex and Howard on the 12th. Since we are`13 miles closer, we should have an easier day than originally planned.....3 passes lie in front of us tomorrow. We have had lots of laughs, and we are strengthening the legs and lungs, but there seems to be no remedy for the sore butt. Hope to talk to you again soon! It is 11 pm and the others are already snoring and I need some sleep.

June 6

June 6th.........60 miles today in a ride notable for two downpours that soaked us to the bone. When it was clear, it was noteworthy for its beautiful scenery and the wildlife we saw......several wild turkey, ospreys, and many colorful songbirds. We eat big pancake breakfasts and hamburger lunches and eat lots of trail mix. Tomorrow will be our toughest day yet with a climb of 3500 feet over 34 miles, but then a long descent to Redmond, OR.

June 5

Hey and so sorry I have not been able to keep up the blog as I had wished, but it has been a whirlwind of activity leading up to the first ride day and time is limited now that we are on the road. I will try to recount the trip thus far since leaving North Carolina, and hope that if time allows I can get back to some of my experiences in preparation for the trip. I flew from Charlotte on June 1st, and met a fellow rider, Howard Smith from Richmond in the Dallas airport, where we waited for our flight to Portland. Howard is great and I really am enjoying his company. He is a farmer from Virginia, and he has many great stories. We arrived in Portland where we took a train with my panniers and Howards as well as his bike( disassembled and in a box) to a location where we got a rental truck that we would use to transport our bikes to the beach. We got in early enough to meet my sons Jake and Jordan, get to South Salem Cycleworks where I picked up my long haul trucker brand touring bike, and adjustments were made to both bikes. The second of June saw us hoping to ride but bikes still required adjustments as Howard decided he wanted another gear ring enabling the hill climbs to be a little easier. It also was raining terribly hard. We had a farewell party for my son Jordan who is riding with us and finishing his senior year early so that he could begin riding with us. There were maybe 30 of his classmates,his family, and some school teachers and coaches present. We drove back to Portland late that night where Alex's plane arrived from Houston, his bike also disassembled and in a box. We dropped from fatigue as soon as we got back to Salem as it was 1 am Pacific time, The morning of the third we were up early assembling Alex's bike and then back to the bike shop to tune it up. We were determined to get a taste of what Pacific riding was to be like so we drove over to find our starting point which we changed to Pacific City as we were captivated by the beauty of the place as we drove upon it. We unloaded our bikes and were only able to ride along the coast for 2 hours before we had to head back to Portland. We were retracing the route we were to ride the next day from the coast so we got a feel for what to expect. We arose at 6 am on the fourth and my son Jake drove us to the coast in the rented king cab Dodge Ram with our bikes in the back. We took some pictures of the ceremonial dip of our tires in the Pacific, and began our journey. We rode 79 miles with some good climbs and terminated back at our motel in Salem. We did not carry all our gear the first day as we returned to Salem. We hustled so we could get Jordan back to a end of year Luau at his school. He was a little late but made it nonetheless. This morning was busy as I had to drive the rental to a drop off in Salem at 0730, then Jordan's mom was kind enough to take us back to the motel where we loaded all our gear on the bikes for the first time and set out for our second destination Coburg, ORr where I am typing this from the laundry room on my blackberry at a small campground. We rode 70 miles today, pitched tents, got showers, and did laundry. The others are asleep and have been so for over an hour. It is about 1030 Pacific time, but I really wanted to get this out. Jordan's brother Jake came and picked jordan up as we are about an hour drive from Salem, so that Jordan could attend a graduation party his family was having for him. He is to be back here at 8 am ready to ride again. We rode part of the ride this morning with some new friends, Mike Wolfe, SouthSalem Cycleworks owner, and coworker, Katie. They rode tandem, and Tom accompanied them. They took us on very scenic route, but we found that a ferry they planned to take us on for a river crossing was closed due to high water. We had to take an alternate route, and actually crossed through about a foot of water where the river was flooding a roadway. Lots of beautiful country! I think we are all faring well, but our butts are sore! We ride tomorrow to the foot of a mountain pass, about 56 miles, but will have to wait until the following am to try to cross it as we would reach it too late in the day to safely cross it. We have been forced to take the Santiam alternate route as the usual route is closed due to snow. Needless to say, we expect to see a real drop in temperatures soon and the heavy sleeping bags and warm clothing will be a necessity. That is it for now. I am having camera problems but will post pictures as soon as I can

Can you hear me?

The 2010 Ride

Well, a new year, a new author, and a totally new adventure. Hi, Doug Gardner here. I am proud to Ride for Jim this year, and for all my friends and your friends, who like Rima, are waging their own war with cancer. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Excited at the opportunity to help others in their fight against cancer, but nervous in the unknown open road, just how steep are those hils, and can I do it again and again, day after day. I hope our team can do the job, and I hope you will follow us and tell your friends to do the same. Your support and feedback will keep us enthused! Just getting on this blogsite was a new experience for me, and I am excited to try my bluetooth enabled wireless keyboard with my blackberry tomorrow to send that blog post, as that is to be my method of communication on the open road. Over the next month, leading to my departure, I will try to tell the story of the evolution of my involvement in Ride for Jim, and what my experiences have been in training. Then on June 1st I set out to Oregon and will post frequently from the road, the story of 5 new friends, joined in two common goals, conquering the span of this great nation, and furthering the fight against cancer. Our trials and tribulations along the way will serve to remind us of those encountered by our friends with cancer, and we hope we can persevere riding on the strength of our stricken comrades and their families. Together, with your support, we can close the span of the Great Divide, assuring better outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer. By the way, Rima is a dear sweet patient of mine diagnosed with leukemia recently, who is deep in the midst of her treatments. Please pray for her, this adventure, and for the defeat of cancer. Join my team, Rima's Dreamers,with your donation, and let's show her our love!