Walked with Bo
I can see I’m going to have a problem training for the Las Vegas Half Marathon. If I’m going out in the evening, Bo is going to want to come. But his idea of a walk and mine are different. He wants to stop and smell everything, I want to go as fast as I can. I can tell I’m going to have to do some sneaking out when he’s not looking.
Workout:
- Type: Walk
- Date: 09/20/2007
- Time: 18:00:00
- Total Time: 00:30:00.00
- Distance: 2 miles
- Average Pace: 15:00/mile
Filed under: Goals, Las Vegas Half Marathon, Uncategorized, Walking, Workout, fitness, fitness over 40, fitness over forty, male over forty
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Never stand next to a sneezing bear…
and other things I learned on my motorcycle trip.
My uncle, brother and I went on a five day motorcycle trip over the weekend on our Harley’s. Total miles for the trip was almost exactly at 1,400 miles. The trip was mostly through Eastern Oregon. We used the Harley guide on recommended rides to pick the best route.
On Thursday, Mark and I rode down to Portland Oregon from Seattle (where my brother Dave lives). Friday we spent the night in Bend, Or. Saturday it was on to Hell’s Canyon. Sunday we ended up back in Washington, along the Columbia river. Monday, Dave parted ways as he headed south for home and we headed north.
Here are some of the things I learned on our trip:
- Eastern Oregon is beautiful country. Lots of rugged mountains, windy country roads through canyons and along rivers. It really got me present to how little of my own country I have actually seen.
- It’s cold in them there hills. We went over so many mountain passes that I lost count. We also spent two nights at elevation, and it gets cold at night. I didn’t pack well for cold at night. In order to conserve space, I used my 2 man hiking tent - which by the way really only holds one clydesdale. It is light and thin. I also used my summer sleeping bag, good for down to 55 degrees. Unfortunately it was getting down into the 30’s at night. I was freezing! I ended up sleeping in just about everything I owned short of my leather coat and chaps - but they were handy just in case.
- Chewing gum on a motorcycle gives you a sore throat. Not sure what you should do with this information, but there it is. I guess if I kept my mouth shut it would have helped, but nobody has accused me of being able to do that.
- Somehow it just seemed wrong to eat oatmeal for breakfast. I wanted to keep my diet as tight as possible given that we were going to be eating out all the time. But somehow walking into a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, filled with a bunch of farmers and cowboys, wearing leather and chaps - well, how can you order oatmeal? Needless to say, I have some weight to re-lose this week.
- Pretty much everything hurts when it hits you at 70 mph. Heading down to Portland on the freeway, we had a 20 mile stretch where we were stuck behind three dump trucks. No big deal, except that sand was being blown off of the trucks. It was like getting peppered with needles. Bugs aren’t any better - and fingers and foreheads hurt the worse if you are wondering.
- Bad weather sucks on two wheels, period. Outside of Pendleton, OR we picked up a wind storm. It was gusting up to 30 mph. In fact, at one point there was a warning on the highway that said “Warning, high wind and dust clouds covering the road for the next 40 miles”. We rode in the wind for about 200 miles. It wasn’t quite as demoralizing as it is on a bicycle, but it’s not really fun either. The last 50 miles of the day, it also started dumping rain as well. If you’re wondering, rain also hurts at 70 mph.
- Never stand next to a sneezing bear. On Friday (or Saturday), we pulled into Mitchell, Or. As far as I could tell, the only reason Mitchell exists is because it’s the only gas stop in a 100 mile stretch. As we were filling our tanks, we noticed a big cage with people standing next to it. Turns out they have Henry the bear in the cage. He was a black bear and weighed 725 pounds (significant to me only because it’s the same weight as my Harley). Anyway I heard a commotion in the cage and the people jump back startled. I thought maybe Henry had lunged at them inside his cage. Nope! Henry had sneezed. And when this poor woman wearing a nice white blouse turned around, her blouse was covered in snot. She didn’t look happy. We went over to look at Henry, but we kept a respectful distance.
It was a great trip. I am now going to be torn in future years. I love touring on my bicycle, but you can see so much more on a motorcycle. On a bicycle tour I average between 50 and 60 miles a day. On a motorcycle I averaged between 250 and 300 miles a day.
Either way, I love the two wheel life!
Filed under: Harley, Motorcycle, Oregon, Touring, Uncategorized
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