The Columbia River Valley

Funky Fish Stand

On Your Mark...

Greetings from Astoria, Oregon!!! Thirty years of dreaming, one moment of decision, 14 months of planning, 10 months of training and I'm finally here. I spent this morning walking around Astoria exploring and more than once I had to remind myself that I am actually here.

Yesterday, Dad, Cousin Cherie, and my sister-in-law Laura G flew out to Oregon from Detroit. How blessed I am to have family who are so supportive.

Before we left for the airport yesterday, Dennis and I went to 6:30 Mass at St. Joseph's in Tiffin. Patty H and Linda C surprised me by coming to Mass as well. Fr. Joe mentioned me and the trip during the prayer of the faithful as well. What a perfect send off! How comforting it was to have my friends and community holding me in prayer as I set forth on this adventure.

I met Dad, Cherie, and Laura at the airport and except for a few bumps involving spilled m&m's on the airplane, forgotten credit cards, and discovering my driver's license expired last week, the trip west went smoothly.



While knocking about Astoria this morning, I came across this old river tug converted into a fish & chips concession trailer.

Turtle Trike Pic

The Turtles (Linda, me,and Patty) enjoy an easy recovery ride on the trikes.

Malabar Farms Pic

Here's a photo of the "Billy Babes" on the way back from Malabar Farms.

TOSRV Tales

Last weekend was TOSRV (Tour of the Scioto Rover Valley) which is a very well know ride in the Ohio cycling community. The ride is always held Mother’s Day weekend and goes 104 miles from Columbus to Portsmouth on Saturday and then returns the 104 miles to Columbus on Sunday. This is high mileage back to back especially this early in the cycling season.

People often ask “Have you done TOSRV?” and what they are really asking is “Are you a casual enthusiast or a committed fanatic?” I have never done this ride before although I have heard many tales of the tortuous mileage and extreme weather conditions. I decided this would be a great year to cross the line of "committed fanatic" and get TOSRV under my belt because the mileage would be great practice and I have so many miles in already this season. I asked Karen Z to drive my car with the bike rack on and meet me at the rest stops as my own personal support team.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and Karen dropped my off  in downtown Columbus. The next 104 miles were relatively uneventful. There were a few challenging inclines and I was grateful that I had enough strength and technique that I didn’t have to walk up any of the hills. When I met Karen in Portsmouth I felt like I had paced myself well and had plenty of “leg” left to complete Sunday’s ride.

Sunday morning, we awoke to POURING rain. There was a solid band of rain stretching from Portsmouth to Columbus and the radar showed that it was going to be with us for the entire day. Yikes!

I told Karen that I was committed to completing the ride and I would meet her 30 miles later at the first rest stop in Waverly.  Just six miles later, I pulled off the side of the road and started calling her to come pick me up. We finally connected 12 miles into the ride and I accepted my first ever SAG to bail from a ride. I was cold, I was completely soaked, and I was sobbing. “How can I ride my bike across America if I can’t even ride to Columbus in the rain?” I wailed to Karen.

“It will be different then,” she replied. “Let’s go to the Tim Horton’s in Waverly, you go into the bathroom and change into dry clothes, then we’ll get coffee through the drive-thru and all will be well.”

There were hundreds of cyclists in Waverly and I was glad we were not stopping long because the Tim Horton’s was full of soggy cyclists and I felt like a wimp for bailing. When I walked back out to the car after changing my clothes, I noticed there were now two bikes on my bike rack. We had picked up another soul who was calling it a day.

Our new friend’s name is Michele and her entrance into the story at this point is another sure sign of the hand of God. Michele started to share her story with us as we began the hour long drive back to Columbus. Turns out, she went with America by Bike from Maine to Florida 20 years ago and still keeps in contact with the people she met on that ride. She helped me to see that I have been thinking of the trip like it’s the Tour de France and forgetting that it’s a bicycling vacation. She taught me that there’s no shame in getting SAGed in (cycling term for rescued) if conditions aren’t safe or if it’s just not your day.

Michele said, “America by Bike will take great care of you. You’ll ride what you can, walk what you can’t, and at the end of the day if you’re not back to the hotel in time they’ll come pick you up. You will have so much fun and meet amazing people.”

What a great perspective! Once again, I am guilty of over-thinking the situation and making everything too important.

A wise priest once told me, “When you are up to your neck in alligators, it’s easy to forget that you came here to drain the swamp.” I have been so busy trying to manage every minute detail of this trip and my training process that I forgot that the purpose of the trip is to have fun.

There were 6,000 riders on TOSRV and Michele knocked on my car window and brought with her the exact words of encouragement and wisdom of perspective that I needed at that precise moment.

Wow. What are the odds of that!?!

 I am truly blessed and truly grateful.

Tuesday Turnaround

The past two weeks have been very strange. As you could probably sense in the last few blogs, I have been experiencing a growing sense of fear about the trip. The focal point of the fear was the thought that I am not athletic enough to do this trip. It seemed like whenever I rode the bike, I was struggling to get up a hill or being passed by more powerful and fit riders and I began to wonder if I really had the stuff necessary to meet this physical challenge.

Then came Tuesday.

 

I started the day by having breakfast with one of my cousins who also happens to be one of my favorite people. We were talking about the trip and I shared with her my growing anxiety. She asked me, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Well”, I replied, “the worst that can happen is that I won’t be able to make it and the SAG truck will have to haul me to the hotel and then I won’t be able to say that I truly rode my bike across America.”

“Hmmm. That sounds like your pride talking and we know that pride isn’t real. It’s just a story that you tell yourself about yourself. Tell me Janel, why do you enjoy riding your bike?”

“Because it’s fun!!!”

“Well then, maybe you should stick with that idea and not your fearful pride.”

 

Yikes! That’s great advice!

That afternoon I took my bike for a spin on the North Coast Trail from Elmore to Lindsey. I didn’t think about pacing, or technique, or mileage. I just sat on the bike, pedalled and enjoyed it. It was absolutely liberating!

The plan was to hook up with the Toledo Bike  club for their Tuesday night ride out of Woodville but the weather didn’t cooperate so we ended up having tacos at the Speed Trap diner instead. I ended up sitting by a woman named Donna. Turns out, Donna rode her recumbant bike across America in 2006 unsupported (way more difficult than what I am attempting). I asked her if she had any words of wisdom for me and she said “Riding across America sounds way more impressive than it actually is. Ultimately, it’s just getting on your bike and riding.”

 

I’ve been making this way more difficult than it needs to be. I have been obsessing over the details and comparing myself to others and in so doing, I lost my sense of fun and created a lot of fear. What a waste of energy!

It’s time to give Yertle the Turtle (my bike horn) a few good squeaks and get back on the bike only this time, I am going to be sure to bring along some Joy and Fun!