Blog – just a little dab…

Day Eight – Lewiston to Kamiah

August 28, 2025No Comments

As I rode today, I thought about the key elements to manage on this ride – or any ride. Of course, given that we are spending hours on a bike, we have nothing but time to think about these things.

I realized that there are four key elements to manage. There are several other uncontrollable elements like the weather, road conditions, etc… But, if you can focus on those within your control and establish a system of managing them, it makes the ride manageable and comfortable in spite of its challenges.

Day Seven – Walla Walla to Lewiston

August 27, 2025No Comments

Today’s ride was a bit intimidating on paper. It was 99 miles with three uphill inclines. There were only 4 climbs, but the last climb was punchy at mile 97 running through to mile 99 after a long day. What was on paper, however, and what happened in real life…

Day Six – Hermiston to Walla Walla

August 26, 2025No Comments

On paper, some days don’t look terrible. But paper doesn’t always tell the story. Today was a 71 mile ride from Hermiston to Walla Walla. The ride was mostly uphill with a few small climbs. Overall, not a bad day. I didn’t feel great by the end of the day as we rolled into Walla Walla for the last 5 miles. I’m not sure what it was but I felt spent and tired. My stomach didn’t feel great. Will need to do some tweaking of my eating tomorrow.

The childlike perspective

August 26, 2025No Comments

We had a realization that there is a very childlike element to what we are doing on our Portland to Portland trip. In some ways… a child’s dream. It would go something like this if a child were blogging. Today we got up early. Like really early. I had…

Day Five – Condon to Hermiston

August 25, 20251 Comment

The theme of today that stood out most was cycling as a team sport. Many think that cycling is an individual sport and that you hop on your bike and ride alone. In many cases, that is true. There are times on this ride that this is how the day plays out. We all have different strengths and abilities. Oddly, there are times when you feel surprisingly strong or surprisingly tired for no reason. What we each understand as individual riders on this trip is that you ride your own ride. If someone rides ahead or drops back – that’s okay. You will meet up or catch up at the next rest stop.

Day Four – Hood River to Condon

August 25, 20252 Comments

Today’s ride was to be one of the hardest we will have. No question. It was 94 miles of hard. The elevation map above tells the story. We climbed 7800 miles today with most of it in the second half of the ride. It was hot. It was uncomfortable. It was a ride to test one’s fortitude and grit. I’m pleased to say that I finished this ride in spite of it being the hardest 94 miles I’ve ridden in my life.