Las Vegas - My Ride So Far

After updating on the first day I gave up trying to think of something witty while pretty well exhausted from full days of riding. Posted a few pictures on Facebook I had taken along the way. Jeannette joined me in Vegas for the weekend so I finally have  little time to update my ride.

Big picture, I rode my planned route with few exceptions. I left Washington last Sunday, made my south with stops in Medford, OR, Woodland, CA and Barstow, CA before turning more east. The last two days of riding were spectacular in Arizona, Utah and Nevada. I made it to Nevada on Friday late afternoon in the heat of the day. Here's the ride mileage so far:

Day 1: 650 miles - Home to Medford, OR with a lot of back and forth across the interstate for bonus stops. Can't really say there was a highlight this day - I have ridden these roads several times before.

Day 2: 537 miles (1187 miles total) - Medford to Woodland, CA with side trips to see a few dams in southwest Oregon and northwest California. Highlights included Trinity Dam and Shasta Dam stops. Lowlight included riding through central California rice paddies at sunset. The bugs were like rain. And they are still on my bike :(

Day 3: 564 miles (1753 miles total) - Woodland to Barstow, CA with a lot of riding along the Sacramento River, a trip out to the middle of nowhere, CA for a bonus and dinner at In N Out. The side trip was exciting because it was 25 miles of open range cows (and their associated droppings on the road). Once I arrived and snapped my picture I quickly realized the road led to nowhere and had to backtrack through the cows and poop. Needless to say, it was slow going. Turns out that cows have the same horrible survival instincts as deer and will run directly in to you path when spooked.

Day 4: 576 miles (2330 miles total) - Barstow to Lake Havasu City, AZ by way of Yuma. Finally the trip gets more interesting. I have ridden the area around the Salton Sea before so was ready to just get it out of the way. Knowing I had a long day ahead of me I was eager to get an efficient start but struggled to get any momentum. Seemed like every stop lasted twice as long as it should have and I got a bit discouraged. There is always a plan, however, and the early morning snafus resulted in my arrival at Lake Havasu at sunset for some spectacular sights! Always keep the faith.

Day 5: 482 miles (2812 miles total) - Lake Havasu City to Flagstaff, AZ. My shortest planned day had me start near sea level in Lake Havasu City and make my way to over 7,000 feet in Flagstaff for the night. Crazy, especially when you consider there was never really anything I would consider a "mountain pass" to make the elevation gain. Just a long steady climb up and up and up. The scenery was fantastic and I enjoyed the entire ride. Only one small mishap while I was putting on my rain pants and almost got robbed, but a State Trooper showed up at the right time. Story will be shared over a beer upon request.

Day 6: 662 miles (3473 miles total) - Flagstaff to Vegas. Highlight segment of the trip with planned stops in Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend and along the outskirts of Zion and several other state and national parks. Unbelievable! Knowing i wanted to get to Vegas before dinner to meet up with Jeannette, and that this was my longest planned day, I left my hotel at 3:30am and headed north for Monument Valley. No traffic and i got the just after sunrise. The stop at Horseshoe Bend is a must-see if you are in the area. Relatively simple hike out and back, and a few people to contend with, but the vistas are so worth it. I made it before Jeannette, too :)

I'll write more about our Vegas adventure (it's not done, yet) when I get home. I have panned my return trip to make the shortest mileage, which has me going north through Nevada into Idaho and then west through Oregon back to Washington. I have a plan to complete my second IBA sanctioned endurance ride, but also have scoped out hotels along the way incase traffic or my aging body disagree. I'll still have the same Spotwalla page if you care to follow along. My plan is for a 4am start, but we'll see how I feel after our trip out to Zion today.

Instead of putting more copies of the same pictures in this blog entry, here's the link to the Flickr album I have been updating.

Tim's Big Ride Adventure!

That's it for now I think. More to come after I get home.

Day 1 - Medford, OR

I got an early start this morning because I knew it would be one of the longer days mileage wise. Also, since it was supposed to rain I decided to allow for more time off the bike to dry out and warm back up. It worked out well and I managed to pull in to my hotel by 8pm. It was a good days of riding but the clouds and rain made for few pictures. I was able to visit a couple new dams and a few of the bonus locations were at interesting places. Oregon has a lot of covered bridges and my ride took me past several of them today. Many of the covered bridges are historic and not functional any more, but you can drive across a few still.

Today's mileage - right at 650 miles. 2 pairs of gloves - hopefully they both dry out tonight - and everything else held up to the rain just fine.

Here's my trip link again. Day 1 is there and you can choose the data you want to see. Click on the ride name in the upper left and select "Adjustments". That will allow you to choose how much data you want to see. My Spot transmitter updates every 5 minutes.

Monday is a bit shorter day mileage wise, but quite a few more bonus stops along the way. Hoping to get to my hotel by 8pm again to catch The Voice final. :)

One of many functional covered bridges in Oregon.

One of two dams in Oregon I visited - this one is Fall Creek Dam.

Another covered bridge - this one was a bonus location and was a picture match.

Visited an airport in Oregon and found this cool mural.

Dorena Dam.

Snapshot of my trip today. Was hoping for a better average but hard to do with so many stops.

Las Vegas - Let's Do This!

So off I go again. I am headed down to Las Vegas by way of most of the west coast for the Big Money Rally banquet. My trip plans take me south near I-5 almost all the way to Los Angeles, and then I am planning to cut over to the east for a look at Grand Canyon and Monument Valley in southern Utah. Jeannette is meeting up with me in Vegas for a few days of fun and sightseeing and then I plan to head north through Nevada and Oregon to get home. Should be a pretty fun trip.

This is a link to my Spotwalla page.

You can follow along on my Spotwalla page as my trip progresses. Nothing will show up until Sunday morning.

This is a link to a Flickr album I will periodically update.

Not sure how often I will publish pictures - some days will be longer rides than others. The map below represents the basic route i will take. Two days will be in Vegas with Jeannette - no riding those days, just touristy stuff. I actually plan to spend more time OFF the interstate than on, but this map will give you a general idea of my plans.

Basic Route