Day 70 – Beaverton, OR to Portland, OR

August 8^th:

Oh boy.  The final day.  The final blog post.  I think I subconsciously postponed writing this for a week because I knew it would make me cry and make me face the reality that it’s really over… but all good things come to an end, I suppose.

I don’t feel like this day started out much differently than most.  It was strange because I was truly in denial about this being the last day of the trip, catching a flight home to NC the next morning, and starting my second semester of pharmacy school just days later on August 11^th.  We woke up, ate a breakfast provided by the host, and talked to some of the church members about what 4K for Cancer is and what we’d been doing all summer.  We threw all of our belongings into one van, since the other had been taken from us by Maeve, a 4K for Cancer director who flew in to help us with last-day logistics.  A few alumni who live in the Portland area had come to drive the van for us so that no one on our team would have to drive.  Plus, they were all Team Portland alumni, and they knew where they were going in Washington Park.  Turns out it’s a huge park and we probably would have gotten ourselves lost.

We decided to ride the last day in the same ride groups as our first day.  It’s funny to look back and think about Day 1 and how incredibly irritated I had been.  Having done this type of thing before, I now recognize that had a biased perspective.  Bike & Build was my first adventure of this sort, so the first couple of weeks probably panned out the same way that 4K did – slow, disorganized, and with plenty of room for improvement – without me even realizing it.  When I started 4K, I came in with different expectations, thinking everything would run smoothly from the get-go, and that is simply unfair to my teammates and to the organization as a whole.  Things obviously got better after the first couple of weeks, once everyone’s cycling abilities and confidence improved, and we became more accustomed to the lifestyle we’d adopted for the summer.  The journey turned out to be amazing, despite the fact that it was always hard to not compare it to my B&B experience two summers ago.

I think everyone was slower to get the dedication circle going this morning because we were trying to drag out our time together.  Sean laid down on the pavement of the church parking lot, and suddenly we had a spoon train going, as if to desperately cry “don’t make us leave each other!!”  There was lots of hugging going on too… even more than usual.

I should go ahead and let it be known that many of these photos were not taken by me.  Many of them were taken by Brady Stroh, a 4K alum who captured our last day for us… Thank you, Brady!

Our dedication circle was very long this morning, but we planned for it and expected it to be.  Everyone dedicated their rides to the loved ones they initially dedicated this journey to, whether that be a parent, family member, or friend who had been affected by cancer.  And of course, in addition to those people who were their inspiration for taking on this cross-country bike challenge, everyone dedicated their ride days to our entire team.  Tears were shed, both of laughter and joy, and we thanked one another for an awesome summer.  Kellie read a hilarious list of quotes from teammates that she’d been secretly keeping, and we laughed hysterically because we could picture each of these teammates saying these things.  To know your teammates so well – their tendencies, their mannerisms and tone in conversations, and their sense of humor – is a beautiful thing.  Martha shared a quote from Gino from Day 3, which was actually about me and my antsy-ness: “She just wants to ride her bike.  It’s her life.”  I cracked up and couldn’t help but nod my head in agreement.

We took a couple of photos as a team before we left our last host for our last ride.

So, first day ride groups!!!  Turns out I had a kick-ass group that I didn’t fully appreciate on that first day.  It was me, Patrick, Jessie, Hannah, and Zack.  Remember how Patrick was the first to fall off his bike on Day 1?  To jog your memory, as we were pulling out of the 4K for Cancer office parking lot in Baltimore on our way to the inner harbor for our back tire dip ceremony, Patrick did not unclip in time at the stop sign and proceeded to fall over… probably less than 100 yards into the trip.  We never let him forget it… BUT since he’s got such a great sense of humor about it, he decided it would be funny if he also fell over as we came out of the parking lot on Day 70.  He planned it this time, though, and made sure he fell onto a nice pad of mulch and onto the non-derailleur side of his bike.  He then took a selfie with us, post-fall:

It was only a 10 mile bike ride to our end destination in Washington Park, where we’d be greeted by family and friends at the finish line.  The ride itself was nothing too exciting – we did get to ride through some pretty neighborhoods, but we rode on a blocked off bike path alongside a major highway for much of the 10 miles.

We got a lot of snapchats from teammates who had hilariously decided to stay in granny gear all day – “All day, you guys!  Gotta make this sh** last!!!” they’d be saying in their videos.  They peddled out of control, with their low gear providing them with barely enough resistance to stay upright on the bicycle.  It was the last desperate attempt to draw out the time we had left on this epic adventure.

Washington Park was beautiful!  The final 2 miles were all downhill – almost TOO downhill, considering my brakes had seen far better days.

We stopped to wait for everyone about half a mile from the finish line so we could ride in as a team of 29.  We stopped at some picnic tables and began to feel the rush of adrenaline kick in, knowing that we were about to complete the journey we started 70 days ago.  We started dancing and singing… initially without any music, but Brady came by and started blasting songs from his car for us.

If this photo doesn’t make you feel all happy and giddy inside, then I think something’s wrong with you and you should go get that checked out.

We celebrated once everyone got there, and then decided to roll out one final time.  We shouted and cheered as we coasted quickly downhill, only to be abruptly stopped by cars ahead that were trying to figure out the parking situation (the park was quite crowded, as it should be at noon on a Saturday).  Our “WOOOO!! YEAHHH”’s turned into “Stopping! STOPPING!!!!!” as we warned our teammates behind us that our final downhill coast was being interrupted.  So even the last half mile presented itself with some setbacks, but it wouldn’t be a 4K ride without an obstacle or two.

I held hands with Julia for several yards as we rolled in to be suddenly surrounded by parents and friends, cheering and holding up posters to congratulate us.  I was greeted by two of my best friends, Jill and Briana!

Rhani’s parents had made posters for those of us who were “orphans” – meaning those of us who had no family members to greet us at the finish line (I was lucky enough to have a couple of great friends, but I was still considered an “orphan” anyway).  All the orphans took a photo with our much-appreciated posters!

We also took an orphan bike lift photo, but Martha kind of screw it up… 😉

We took some team photos at our finish line!

We spent some time sitting around the park, listening to Halle play her songs for us one more time.

We even sang our “Wagon Wheel” parody, which we’d made up to embody the 4K experience.  Some of our teammates had made up another parody to a song from the Disney movie, Mulan, and they sang that for everyone as well.  Click here to watch!

Then we went into the presentations, where our ride directors Kendra and Zack presented everyone with a 4K for Cancer flag to commemorate our accomplishment.  Before giving them to us, they spoke about each of us individually, which I thought was so sweet and meaningful.  It also gave the families and friends in the crowd a chance to learn a little more about each of the teammates and get a sense of the relationships we’d formed with one another.

We then took an obligatory photo as a team with our new flags…

…and with the sign that Flora’s mom had made for us.

Somehow, I was still in denial about this being over.  I don’t even think I formally said goodbye to everyone, which is sad because even though we went out later that night, not everyone was able to join.  It felt sort of hectic and a little bit surreal, and I remember feeling scatterbrained when talking to Jill and Briana.  I think they understood though – it’s a strange feeling to see such an incredibly journey come down to its final moments.

I stayed with Julia and her mom that night in a hotel in downtown Portland.  Julia and I went to Bite of Oregon, a huge food festival that was going on.  We drank a couple of beers as we listened to live music and waited for Jessie and Hannah to meet us there.

From the festival, we ventured to a brewery called Base Camp to meet up with as many teammates as we could get to meet us there.  Even after being separated from the team for just a matter of hours, I was ecstatic to see their familiar faces when I walked into the bar.  I was thankful that I could say one last goodbye to most of them before I left the next day.

The following morning, Julia and her mom drove me to the airport.  I’m glad I got to say bye to Julia last.  I extended the hug for as long as I could, going back for one more before I picked up my things and walked into the airport, completely on my own for the first time in 70 days.  It was a long day in the airport and on planes, and it took every ounce of strength I had to prevent myself from ugly-crying around complete strangers.  I did get to take a photo of the infamous PDX airport carpet, which was a highlight of my day.  I’m still not clear as to why this carpet is so famous or why there was an uproar of resistance from residents of Portland when they decided to remove the carpet (and then did so, but I guess they left it in a few places around the airport), but it was exciting anyway.

When I arrived home at 10:00pm Eastern time, I was greeted by my family with a “welcome home” sign that triggered slight PTSD, as my dad thought it’d be hilarious to draw a picture of a goose on this sign.  It was pretty funny…

Suddenly, I was back to reality.  Looking back, it was a meaningful and rewarding experience, to say the least.  I can’t believe I biked across the country again… hell, I still haven’t wrapped my head around the fact that I did it the first time.  If the hopeless wanderer and adventurer wasn’t solidified in me before, it certainly is now.  I’ve learned to recognize the qualities that I admire in people and those that I seek in friendships.  I’ve found that as long as I keep seeking out those with adventurous, daring, and curious souls like mine, I will always feel a sense of fulfillment in my life.  I know that my happy place will forever be on the seat of a bicycle, and I will always put forth the effort to channel the carefree and peaceful outlook on life that I seem to have harnessed in several moments like these along my journey…

Thank you to those who supported me in this endeavor and have followed me along the way!

Day 69 – McMinnville, OR to Beaverton, OR

August 7^th:

The last “real” ride day.  By this, we meant that it was the last time we’d have a very usual morning routine.  We’d have members of our team drive the vans, whereas on Day 70 we’d have alumni drive so that none of us were left driving the last day when we reached Portland; we’d have to pack up the vans in the usual fashion, with duffle bags going in the host van and backpacks in the water van, whereas we’d stuff all of these things in one van on the last day and say goodbye to one van, which was being taken back to the rental place early;  we’d have this last day where we were on our own schedule, whereas on the day into Portland, the schedule required us to arrive at a certain place in Washington Park at noon to be greeted by our family and friends who were meeting us there.  SO – this was the last day!

We obviously went to get coffee, and let me tell you what, we really dragged this one out.

The only strange thing about this day was that everyone was considered to be “going rogue” on their own.  No groups were assigned, which to me felt more like Bike & Build, where groups were never assigned.  I had no intentions of riding on my own, but when I jokingly rode down the street away from my teammates who were hanging around outside the coffee shop, Sean yelled to me “TYPICAL BIKE & BUILDER!!!”  They all know it infuriates me when they make fun of B&B, calling it “Build-a-Bear” instead and finding other ways to pick on me about being on both of these teams, so he was obviously trying to get me riled up.  Anyway, they followed behind me shortly after.  I rode with a cluster of people, who initially started together and then broke up into two groups within the next several miles.  We unintentionally reconvened at a gas station, where we spent entirely too long trying to figure out which nearby winery to detour to.  The group was split on what to do, so we shuffled and reorganized the two teams based on who wanted to go where.  I was with Jessie, Kyle, Julia, Martha, and Lizzy as we headed out as our own group to Copper Mountain Winery.  It had good reviews, the scenery looked enjoyable, and it was at least in the same general direction as our ultimate host site in Beaverton.  However, no one seemed to bat an eye at the fact that it was called Copper MOUNTAIN winery, and suddenly we found ourselves unnecessarily climbing in the heat of the day.

It’s fine, we made it, and we enjoyed drinking white wine at a picnic table underneath the shade of the tall trees and the view of the grape vines alongside us, as well as hills and mountains in the far distance.

We spent probably a few hours here.  We chatted and seemed to forget how close we were to the end of our time together as a team.  I spent some time sleeping in the sun while my teammates ordered another bottle of wine for us to share.  Overall, it was a great afternoon spent in the company of some of my favorite teammates!

We later arrived at the host, where we soon departed for our last van ride to showers.

We decided to go out to a Mexican restaurant as a team.  It was delicious, and luckily we didn’t seem to irritate our waiter too much, as we are an incredibly overwhelming bunch.

     

Later that evening, we did presented the “paper plate superlatives!”  Mine was Safety Patrol, because I’m always looking out for my teammates and I’m strict (and vocal) about safety in my ride groups.  I wish I’d written them all down, but I forgot to!!  Afterward, we did 4K confessions, a night we’d all been excited about for a while.  I had two confessions with two groups of people.  The first was that we didn’t actually hop a train in Nebraska on the way to Alliance.  We had jokingly told our teammates that we were going to, and it just so happened that we got stuck in a line of traffic behind a guy named Ben, who got out of his pick-up truck during the long traffic stop to adjust something on his trailer.  We made conversation with him, and he asked where we were going.  When we told him Alliance, he said he was going too, and he’d be willing to put our bikes on trailer alongside his 4-wheeler if we wanted to skip the last 20 miles or so.  We couldn’t say no, especially because of the fibs we’d told people earlier about our plans to catch a train (remember, in Nebraska, there was a railroad that was alongside us almost the whole time).  I don’t think many people believed us anyway, but I think I successfully convinced a few, at least.

My next confession was about the ride into Oregon, where we were the last team and we arranged a police escort over the 4 mile bridge.  People were LIVID!!!  I actually could not believe that people were so mad, calling us selfish for not getting the rest of the team in on it when they all had to shuttle.  The bitterness was outrageous.  The thing is, by the time we got to the bridge, all the teams were long gone and had likely made it to the host already.  We didn’t confirm the police escort until seconds before we arrived at the bridge, so it was incredibly short notice and we weren’t sure we’d pull it off even when the cop arrived to see how this would work.  I really don’t feel bad at all about it because any group could have also schemed their way into getting a police escort, but they didn’t take charge of this effort themselves.  Plus, this was the day where my team was left with no food at lunch, and we were far behind the other teams because suddenly “rolling water stops” became a normal occurrence, even though we hadn’t done it all trip.  It was an every-team-for-themselves situation, so we decided to go along with that philosophy by successfully getting OUR whole team to cross into Oregon by bicycle.  Haters gonna hate.  WEE WOO WEE WOO (*police siren noise*)

Anyway, overall a fun night with my 4K fam!

Day 68 – Lincoln City, OR to McMinnville, OR

August 6^th:

I think we subconsciously tried to stretch out these last three days.  We woke up later than usual and had no sense of urgency as we chatted over breakfast and took our sweet time getting out of the host church.  We’ve been “going rogue” (off the queue sheet and finding our own way) more often in our groups as well, so much so that water van didn’t feel the obligation to chalk the route.  Instead, Flora left us this message right outside the church in the parking lot.  (Recall that “Find a Way” is written on the back of our Team Portland bike jerseys and that we’ve been saying this for the past 67 days).

My group of Halle, Gino, Kyle, and Matt all went to go get coffee with Lizzy, Sean, and Patrick.  Did we already get coffee at the breakfast that the host provided?  Yes.  Did we need more coffee?  No, probably not, but screw it, THREE DAYS LEFT.  We do what we want.  And sometimes that means reading the paper OR napping at Starbucks just because you want to.

 

The ride was pretty in the beginning of the day.  I was thrilled about the main road we were on, but it offered a comfortable shade from the tall evergreens that made the ride enjoyable.

It was a hilly day, and again, it was rather unfortunate that my gears were stuck and some of the lowest ones were inaccessible.  We made it to our last summit, called Murphy Hill Summit.  I would like to direct your attention to the irony in the fact that this is by far the smallest sign-worthy elevation I’ve ever seen.

(My last name is Murphy.  I’m really short.  This is the joke.)

We made it to the water stop, where one of the groups had been sitting around for over an hour already.  They weren’t waiting on us or anything, and it wasn’t even that nice of a location to stop, but they just decided they wanted to laze around and goof off with the riders that passed through.  I can’t say I blame them.  I’m glad they stayed so we could hang out with them for a bit!  It was a fairly eventful water stop.  Gino channeled his inner middle school skater boy with a skateboard someone had found on the road a few days back, and then Rhani, who was driving the van, ran over her phone and drove off without realizing it.

The phone was shattered, and as terrible as it is, there was a little bit of humor in the fact that it was Rhani’s phone.  This poor girl has had THE WORST luck on this trip.  Seriously, I don’t know if she got a defective bike from Trek, but the girl has had so many mechanical issues on top of falls off her bike that it was comical (and almost predictable) that this would happen to her.  Jessie couldn’t help but laugh.

The rest of the ride was nice, but for a while we were back in wheat lands.

We stopped for coffee in the afternoon, once again.  It wasn’t so much for the coffee as for the quality time to be spent with a group we saw ahead of us as they went in.

Just a photo of a mural that I liked in this small town:

About 15 miles after the coffee shop, we made it into McMinnville.  We dropped our things off at the host and then I walked to the downtown area with Lizzy, Kyle, and Jessie.  Three of us decided not to change, while one of us decided to be different.  Can you tell who that was?

We found a winery called the Naked Winery and decided we needed to go.  We got a flight of wines to try.  Each of the bottles had a description of the wine, each overloaded with sexual innuendos that made us laugh and sometimes cringe.

We spent the night hanging out at the host, either working on the paper plate awards for the person we’d been assigned to present the superlative to or laying around in the parking lot under the stars.

Day 67 – Tillamook, OR to Lincoln City, OR

August 5^th:

Our favorite photographer, Don, took some more photos of us this morning as we packed up and got our bikes ready to leave our wonderful host in Tillamook and head to the next town of Lincoln City.  He took a lot of photos that I never think about taking myself – photos of us around our bikes as we pump tires, lube chains, or do other bike maintenance before our ride; racking the bikes of the people who are assigned to the vans that day; the huge pile of duffle bags that builds up before they’re packed away in the van; holding hands in dedication circle.

We even had a future 4Ker riding through our dedication circle this morning!  What a cutie.  Notice in the background of this first photo that Martha, our team physical therapist, is giving Kellie what I believe is an IT band massage – OUCH.  I hear it’s painful.

The morning started off cloudy and kind of chilly.  I rode with Patrick, Lindsay, Amanda, and Gino.  It was on the first climb that I realized many of my gears were not working – by that I mean no matter how hard or how long I pushed the switch on my handlebar to change gears on the back wheel, it didn’t budge.  This would be a problem, as we had many long hills to climb before reaching Portland.  However, I seemed to have enough to get me by as long as I didn’t lose momentum at any point.  If that were the case, I’d just fall over.  This poor bike has been through more than it probably ever dreamed of.  At times, I even apologize to it, especially as it rattles over gravel or creaks up winding mountain roads.  It never asked for this life, but it’s suffered all along the way, right there with me.

The ride was pretty as we rode along some intercostal waters.  We even saw some people in the sand bar, possibly looking for oysters, but we’re just guessing.

After a hefty climb at a gear two over from “granny gear” (my cyclist friends will know what I mean) because that’s all my bike could give me, we had a beautiful overlook of the beach!

We climbed a little more before the downhill.  Honestly, the downhill was not that rewarding.  Had the road been free of potholes, it would have made for a more joyous ride.  Instead, I was holding on tightly to my brakes (which also have seen much better days) as I dodged hole after bump after crack, trying desperately to listen to Patrick and Gino far ahead of me doing their best to yell out these obstacles, as the sound of the downhill wind in my ears drowned them out.  It was also a rather shady section of the road, so you only saw these holes when you were right up on them, just in time for you to make a split second decision to swerve around.  It was more stressful than it was fun.  Afterward, we suddenly found ourselves in a land of sand dunes, which was quite the change in scenery from the evergreen-filled mountainside that we’d just departed.

We continued on through beach towns and alongside the ocean for a little while.

There was another pretty outlook after another climb, and we stopped to take pictures.  The sun had come out and it was turning into a gorgeous day.

Later, we found ourselves back in the forest.

At the water stop, we talked about a potential detour that could be taken.  Our queue sheet called for us to get off the main highway we’d been on and go off to a side street.  This would add more miles (not many, maybe 4) so we were given the option of taking that detour or staying on the road.  We all though “eh, what the hell?” and decided to take the extra miles on.  I’m SO THANKFUL that we did!!!!  It was a fairly long climb that was still manageable, and if I’m being honest, I enjoyed the challenge of added gears on my back cassette, when normally I would have likely dropped down a couple more.  On this segment, I remember talking to Gino and Patrick about all the towns we’ve been in.  They astonished me by their ability to recount every town, from Baltimore all the way to Tillamook.  We’d name a town and say a few things about it to jog our memories of the brief time we spent in each place.  We’d been so many places!!  What an incredible way to spend a summer.

When we got to the host, we headed straight down to the beach, which was walking distance.  My group and another hung out there together as we waited for the other groups to arrive.  Some teams had spent a very long time at the brewery in Tillamook… so they were running behind.

Later that night, we got the whole team to come to the beach and we made a campfire.  We used this time to think of superlatives for each member of the team.  One by one, we sent teammates away from the circle so that the rest of us could talk about what that person’s superlative should be.  Then, the teammate who was assigned to that individual (we’d drawn names out of a hat earlier) would create a sign on a paper plate to be presented to them on Day 69, which would be our last night before Portland.  It was fun to talk about the shenanigans that people had gotten into along the way and give them awards to commemorate the qualities we loved most about them.  Overall it was a great night, but it was sort of a haunting reminder that our time together was growing shorter.

Day 66 – Tillamook, OR Tire Dip Ceremony

August 4th:

We woke up to a delicious breakfast served by our host family, Bob & Elva.  We got to sleep in until about 8:00am and then meet up with the rest of the team at the church, where we would then bike 10 miles to the beach at Cape Meares.  It was a strange feeling having to bike on our designated “rest day,” but since Jessie and I didn’t get to ride the day before, we were alright with it.  We had to pack along our shower stuff and a change of clothes for after the ceremony and before dinner, so we made fun of Patrick for his excessive load:

Somehow, it was decided that we would ride out in a pack of 29 all the way to the beach.  This was the worst decision made yet on the trip.  It was nearly impossible for cars to pass, and even though we were on a road with very little traffic, it was evident that the few drivers that did pass by were irritated.  The ride was beautiful, though.  It took us to a more secluded area that had only a couple streets of beach houses.  We were directed by Pastor Jerry, the most welcoming host we’ve had on our trip, to a community center, where we were fed a huge feast that was probably not deserved after just 10 miles.

They had a keg of beer from a local Tillamook brewery ready for us to tap into.  BEST HOST EVER!

After we feasted, we headed down to the beach for the ceremony!  Many of the photos I’m sharing with you come from one of the community members, Don, who has a fancy-shmancy camera and so generously took photos for our team.

The first order of business was to bury our ride directors, Zack & Kendra, in the sand.  It’s my understanding that this is some sort of 4K tradition.

      

Then we lined up with our bikes and headed down to the water to dip our front tire in the Pacific Ocean!!!

We then got in a huddle and did our morning cheer on the beach…

…and afterward, we sprinted into the FREEZING COLD Pacific Ocean and celebrated with cheers, hugs, and laughter!

We took many photos to commemorate this epic day.  It was so awesome to celebrate with the team and it helped me forget about how left out I’d felt the day before.  Jessie agreed that it made up for our terrible host van day.  Everything about this moment was so happy!

The beach itself was beautiful and it was the perfect spot for our celebration.

After things settled down, some people left, but I chose to remain on the beach, basking in the sun in the company of my teammates.  A couple of hours later, those of us that were still there left in a pack of about 10 to head back to the church where the community was serving us another huge and delicious meal.

At the end of it all, Jessie, Hannah, and I rode back to our home stay house.  Elva & Bob, our host mom and dad (or maybe it’s more appropriate to refer to them as our host grandparents), picked us up and drove us back to their home for one more night of sleep in comfortable beds.

As happy as I was to know that we weren’t quite finished with our journey, it was sort of a strange feeling to make it to the Pacific Ocean and still have a few more ride days before we got to Portland… which was now technically EAST of us.  Anyway, I wasn’t complaining.  I was grateful to spend more time with my 4K family!

Day 65 – Astoria, OR to Tillamook, OR

August 3^rd:

NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO BE IN THE VAN ON THE DAY THE TEAM ARRIVES AT THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 

I was assigned to the host van with Jessie this day.  Host van is debatably the worst van to be in because not only do you have to go begging around town for food, but you are also separated from your team for much of the day.  At least in water van, you’re chalking the route, making water stops along the way, and seeing your teammates often.  You feel more connected in water van than you do in host van.  Unfortunately, Jessie and I would be missing out on the team’s arrival to the Pacific Ocean on Cannon Beach, a beach I’ve wanted to go to for a very long time.  In fact, upon first signing up for Bike & Build, my first choice of route was Central U.S. which ends on Cannon Beach (no regrets on getting NC2SD, though… obviously).  We received snapchats all morning of the team celebrating on Cannon Beach, which infuriated us.  When we arrived to drop the food off there, as they had spent about 2 hours on the beach and decided to just have lunch instead of going any further before eating, we honestly could not even look them in the eye.  How do you know that you’ve officially biked across the country?? WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE PACIFIC OCEAN.  How is it at all fair that some people get to take part in such a glorious and meaningful moment when others are confined to the smelly, cramped, and somehow always wet interior of the van??  Not fair at all.

Anyway – when we got there, we got out of the van, handed the keys to someone and told the team to get the food out of the van themselves.  We had every right to be bitter.  Sure, our team had decided that we would not dip our tires officially until the following day, when we’d have a more formal celebration at the beach in Tillamook, but we were still angry.  I think everyone could understand that.  Jessie and I grabbed some freshly baked bread and a bag of grapes that we’d had donated to us and marched down to the beach ourselves, where we spent about an hour relaxing and trying to forget about it.  It was unsuccessful and we were still angry.

We tried to take some photos and fake happiness:

^^^Notice that we put on our jerseys so we at least kind of felt like we biked there.

We missed out on an extremely gorgeous and hilly (again, I LOVE climbing so this was also tragic) ride alongside the Oregon coast, with many scenic overlooks along the way.  We stopped to take photos at these overlooks.

When we drove by members of our team, we waved out the window and tried to act happy when we most certainly were not.  We arrived at the host and spent the first hour or so dodging our teammates as they came in and talked to the host church members about how incredible the ride was and how awesome it was to finally arrive at the Pacific.  We couldn’t handle it.

We were assigned to home stays, and luckily, Jessie and I were assigned along with Hannah to the same home.  Jessie and I had decided it would be so hard to be separated and to have to listen to our teammates continue to tell the home stay hosts about the ride.  We were glad we were together so we could be bitter for just one night and sleep it off until the following day.  Hannah was admittedly a little frightened to be with us, given how upset we’d been all day, but if anyone had to be with us we’re glad it was Hannah.

We spent some time with the cows that live “next door” to the home we stayed at.

We called it a night early and tried to become more excited about the following day, when we’d have our front wheel dip ceremony as a TEAM!

Day 64 – Centralia, WA to Astoria, OR

August 2^nd:

Our final century day of the trip!  I was in a group with Kyle, Sarah L., Sam, and Vadim.  It was also an exciting day because we were going into our final state – OREGON!!!  At the beginning of the day, we saw an interstate sign, showing that Portland was one direction and Seattle was the other.  We had another laugh about going to Seattle the night before so we could say we beat 4K for Cancer’s Team Seattle there.

The morning was pretty but I remember feeling like it was hard to get my legs going.  It likely had to do with the fact that I hadn’t ridden in two days.  Rest is good, but when you skip biking days, it feels as though you lose momentum.  We were on a road which was showing us every single mile marker, and it was driving us crazy.  This is exactly the reason why I do not own a bike computer – I would look at it far too often and it would mentally defeat me, especially on long rides.

We started off as a fairly quiet group, until Sam said “AHHH we need to talk about something!  I can’t do this!!  I’m going crazy!”  Talking definitely gets your mind off riding for hours on end, and the silence was causing all her focus to be placed on the spinning of her legs.  We talked about Jehovah’s Witnesses… or something… who knows where that conversation went.  All that mattered was that we were able to take our minds off biking for a bit, and before we knew it we’d arrived at the first water stop.  The second water stop seemed to come about shortly thereafter, and we began to see signs of the Pacific Ocean – some swamplands, bays, and harbors.

The water van chalked some funny messages for us that day, including one at the second water stop that indicated a sleeping spot for Flora, our teammate who can sleep anywhere and everywhere, and does.

At this second water stop at mile 60, we recognized that we were running low on food in our snack bins – extremely low, actually.  We rationed so that every person had one peanut and one raisin.  Just kidding – but we definitely did not have enough food considering we had 100 miles of riding that day.  My group stopped at a grocery store and grabbed a small bite to eat before heading onward.  This meant that even though we were the second group initially, we were quickly passed by groups behind us that didn’t spend much time at the water stop.

The afternoon ride was what I always pictured Oregon riding to be like.  There were beautiful evergreens along the winding road, with mountains still surrounding us.  We’ve been surrounded by mountains for quite some time now, and it’s probably a site that I’ve begun to take for granted.  I will be sorely disappointed when I return home to the piedmont region of NC to see a horizon void of these gorgeous mountains.

When our team got to lunch, we found that we were extremely far behind the other teams.  Only one team remained at lunch, and they were on their way out.  This was in part due to the fact that I’d gotten a flat during this stretch of ride.  Unfortunately, host van hadn’t been too successful with acquiring food donations that day.  They did get some food from a grocery store, but the teams ahead of us had not rationed the food well.  There was nearly nothing left when we arrived.  Kyle picked up some rocks in his hand and jokingly said “KIM!  Here’s your lunch!  Some delicious rocks!”  We sent this to the GroupMe so that everyone could see the consequences of their savagery.

We were told by the water van drivers that the teams ahead had to be shuttled across the four mile bridge from Washington into Oregon.  I’ve certainly mentioned this before, but a huge fault in this route is that we’ve encountered very few state signs.  People often begin this journey thinking of the art work they can make afterward with the photos they’ve taken.  Usually this includes the highlight moments of crossing into different states.  So of course, everyone was upset that they would miss the opportunity to snap a photo while riding bikes past our FINAL state sign.  Vadim, however, was determined to cross that bridge.  It was unsafe, we were told, because it’s a fairly narrow bridge with no shoulder and a huge, steep hill in the middle.  He suggested that we seek out a police escort.  Our group was totally on board, but we let him sort out the logistics of finding a police officer willing to do this.  He called the Oregon police department a couple of times, getting our hopes up and down as the officers he spoke to gave him different information.  One officer was willing to help, as he was a cyclist himself, but his shift ended at 4 and we knew we wouldn’t make it in until closer to 4:30, if not later.  He told us he’d pass the message along to the officer who would be beginning his shift at 4:00, and we should wait to hear from him.

We’ve decided that Kyle’s hair makes him look like George Washington from the profile view.  It was photo-worthy.

We passed by tons of cyclists who were partaking in the Ride Around Washington annual event.  They were going in the opposite direction, and I found it funny that they, too, were sporting the same safety triangles that I wear on my Camelbak and that I have mentioned are reminders of Bike & Build to me.  We spoke to a rider and a SAG driver (a support vehicle much like the vans we have on our trip) about what we were doing, and inquired again about the bridge awaiting us up ahead.  No one really seemed to know, as their route hadn’t taken them on the bridge.  So we continued onward in the hope that something would work out and that the timing would be just right for an officer to escort us.

We could see the bridge in the distance, and the water beside us on the road was beautiful.  You could see the town of Astoria on the other side.

Suddenly, Vadim got a phone call.  It was a police officer calling him back!!  This officer told him that he would be able to escort us and he would be on the Washington side of the bridge shortly.  We got to a pull off at the entrance of the bridge, where our van drivers were ready to shuttle our team over.  We told them we wouldn’t be needing a shuttle, as we had arranged an escort!  Jen and Matt didn’t seem to believe us at first, until the officer arrived minutes later.

We talked about the plan and how long we estimated that it would take us to cross the bridge.  We guessed about 20 minutes or so.  So we hopped on our bikes with the police car following behind us with its lights flashing.  As we got on our bikes, Kyle exclaimed “WEE WOO WEE WOO!” mimicking the sound of a cop car, which put us all into a state of hysterical laughter.

Jen took this photo from the van, which rode behind the cop car for a bit before passing.

The Oregon state sign was small, but we were glad we still got to bike by it!

Just as we got to the hill in the middle, the officer got on his speaker and said “okay, let’s try a flying V formation up this hill.”  Honestly, I still don’t really know if he was kidding or not, but we did as told.  Vadim was at the front of our flying V, but he kept screwing up and going too far to the right.  We blamed this on his Russian nationality, which obviously has nothing to do with it, but we blame most things he does incorrectly on this heritage.  Anyway, it was such a rush to be the only team to bike into this state.  We kept it a secret from our team until our confessions night on Day 69, and many of our teammates were actually quite angry that we “selfishly” did not get an escort for them as well.  OH WELL!!  Maybe they won’t leave us behind all day AND eat all the lunch next time…

We later went to a brewery in Astoria and then spent some time out on the riverfront, where we watched a beautiful sunset and began to acknowledge that the sun was beginning to set on our journey as well.

Day 63 – Packwood, WA to Centralia, WA

August 1^st:

First day of August!  Where has the time gone??  I was upset that I was assigned to be in the van on the day that Bike & Build designated as a “chalk in support” day for Patrick and Bridget.  The idea was that riders would chalk messages on the road, sidewalk, or greenway for these riders and for the ME2SB15 team.  The B&B community showed an incredible amount of support with these chalked messages, and it made me even more proud to be part of such an awesome group of young adults.

I dedicated my day to Patrick and Bridget during the dedication circle that morning, and I definitely broke down during it.  Many of my teammates also chose to dedicate their rides to them, some even dedicating to me as well because they knew how hard I was taking the news.  I have an incredibly supportive 4K team!

Kyle was my van day buddy, which made this duty much more fun.

The first thing Kyle and I did was go to the coffee shop – DUH!  The team would be on one road for about 30 miles, so there were no turns to chalk until after the first water stop.  We spent some time talking to Pacific Crest Trail hikers, who were in Packwood for a few days.  The Pacific Crest Trail is one that spans from Canada down through Washington, Oregon, and California and into Mexico.  It’s a trail that takes several months to complete.  It takes a very outdoorsy, dedicated, and mentally strong individual to complete a journey like this, and I admire those who decide to take on this challenge.  Just to give you an idea of where it goes…

Many of the people who hike the PCT start off alone, as these three guys did, but often find others along the trail to hike and camp with along the way.  It was great hearing some of their stories and sharing some of our own with them.  One of them said he had plans to move to Asheville, NC afterward, and I told him I could have guessed that, as Asheville is a haven for the outdoorsy, environmentally conscious, hippy, liberal, and adventurous.

At the first water stop, we took a photo of everyone in a line with Patrick and Bridget written on our calves.  I stood in the middle representing Bike & Build with my hazard triangle on my Camelbak.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, B&B requires all riders to have a Camelbak (which contains a water bladder that holds 100 fl. oz. of water) as well as a reflective safety triangle, both of which are always with me when I ride.  In a way, the safety triangle on a Camelbak is a sign of a Bike & Builder.

The rest of the ride day was pretty average.  We chalked the route for the team, as is the responsibility of the water van, and we unloaded everything once we got to the host in Centralia.  It had been discovered earlier in the day that Seattle was only a little over an hour away from Centralia.  Since we have a little bit of unspoken competition with Team Seattle, probably stemming from the fact that we’ve seen them four different times throughout this journey, we thought it would be hilarious to go and take a photo in front of the iconic Space Needle as a way of saying “beat ya here!!”  So we did.  We filled up the vans and spent only a little over an hour in this huge city.

Day 62 – Yakima, WA to Packwood, WA

July 31^st:

At a team meeting the night before, where we filled everyone in on the tragic Bike & Build accident that had occurred, we were told by the 4K for Cancer office that we were to take a day off and shuttle to the next town over as sort of a “moment of silence” for the fallen rider, Patrick, as well as for Bridget, who seemed to be doing better in the hospital upon further update.  While I understand this concept and I’m thankful that 4K showed their support of my B&B community, it was rather unfortunate that this was one of the main highlight days of our trip.  It was a climb into Packwood, WA where we’d get a better view of Mt. Adams, which we’d seen far in the distance on our way into Yakima.  It wasn’t our decision to make, though, and it was required that all 4K for Cancer bike teams shuttle day 62.  So on we went, driving a beautiful mountain road which I MUST add to the list of bike rides that I must go back and complete one day.  The huge, snow-capped mountain in the distance would have been the most rewarding site to see after climbing for miles.

When we got to town in the late morning, we walked around and found a coffee shop, where we spent some time hanging out and deciding how we’d spend the rest of the day.

We decided to take the vans to the lake.  It took us a while to get to this lake, though, because it was on a windy, uphill, unmaintained gravel road, and the huge 15 passenger van struggled a bit to get us there.  But once we made it, it was totally worth it.  The lake was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen, and we spent the afternoon goofing off together in the cool water.

Overall, it was a great day.  I enjoyed spending quality time with my teammates and reminding myself of how grateful I am for their friendship.  Although I was a little bitter about not being able to ride into Packwood, I was reminded of how lucky I am to have all my teammates safely here with me.

Day 61 – Richland, WA to Yakima, WA

July 30^th:

We knew it would be a very hot day today, with the heat wave bringing in temperatures soaring up to 104 degrees.  We decided to start the morning off with a quick coffee stop, as this has become the norm, and then proceeded with a group of Gino, Matt, Kyle, and Lizzy.

The morning continued to show the desert side of Washington.  We climbed for a little bit and were able to look back over the suburbia that is Richland.

In the morning, I talked to Lizzy and Kyle about our dogs.  Unfortunately, that morning Lizzy learned from her mom that her dog, Java, had received a cancer diagnosis and things weren’t looking good.  Of course, Lizzy was upset, but when you ride with the “team puppy,” Kyle, your spirits are always lifted.  Lizzy herself is one of the funniest people on our team, if not the funniest.  Her humor is subtle, clever, and unique.  We biked through a neighborhood where many animal noises were heard, and these were not just your average dog barking noises.  There were strange sounding birds and some growls from unknown animals, which caused Lizzy to ask “are we in the Dominican Republic or something??”

I believe we officially dubbed this day a “flat catastrophe.”  In this Washington desert, there were many thorns on the roads that would puncture our tires and tubes.  Before the first water stop at 30 miles, Martha’s team got 4 flats.  All the other teams, except for mine, had at least one flat each.  We had to wait for them at the first water stop for about an hour, which in my opinion, seems to defeat the purpose of waking up early to get as many morning miles in as possible as a means of beating the heat.  Instead, we roasted in the sun waiting for the teams to arrive.  Only after the first water stop were the rest of the stops that day considered “rolling stops,” meaning that teams could stop in for water and leave whenever they wanted to without having to wait for everyone to get in.  This always seems unfair to the first group (which happened to be my group, this day) who has to wait forever at the first non-rolling water stop only to fall far behind the rest of the day after getting flats of our own.

Later on, we biked into a town called Grand View, where we got our first glimpse of what I believe was Mt. Adams.  There are just a few of these gigantic mountains in Washington and Oregon, and when you see them it is truly stunning.  Even from such a far distance, it was an incredible sight.  It’s always hard to take photos of them, though.  I could see the stand-alone mountain in the distance and tried to capture it in this photo, but I was unsuccessful.

Shortly after rolling into town, Kyle got a flat.

The amount of glass on the side of the road in Washington is unreal.  I’ve never had to avoid so much glass so consistently throughout several days.  I don’t think any of the flats we had were due to glass, but it’s shocking that the glass was not the culprit.  Kyle did get another flat, but it was a slow leak and we were so close to the lunch stop that we employed the pump-and-run method so we could ride for just 4 more miles.  The host van had picked out a great spot for lunch in the shade.  There was a local woman who pulled over to ask us what our ride was all about, and then proceeded to tell us we’d picked a terrible time to ride there with the heat wave.  “We know” is about the only response we could give.  I think we looked rather miserable as we all laid in the shade, incredibly tired and probably dehydrated.

Shenanigans ensued, as they always do, as Sean and Kyle began wrestling.  I’m not sure when it started, but it’s not unusual to catch these two acting like children in this way.  It’s hilarious, though, and we all love to watch it.

  

Our final water stop was on a river with a small boat access ramp.  Some of us decided to jump in to cool off from the insanely hot temperatures.  While I would say most of us were clothed, there were others that were not.  When we got out of the river, a police officer pulled into the lot and said “I’ve gotten some calls about people swimming naked in this river.  Was that you guys?”  We said “we were wearing bike shorts without our jerseys, so if that’s what you mean by naked…”  We got away with it this time, but this is probably the closest we’ve come to getting a public indecency charge (let it be known that I was not skinny dipping… on this particular occasion).  Sam’s face says it all in this photo.

It was also at this water stop that I received horrible news from two of my Bike & Build friends.  Two Maine to Santa Barbara (“ME2SB”) riders were hit by a car in Oklahoma, one of whom (Patrick Wanninkhof) was pronounced dead at the scene and the other (Bridget Anderson) who was airlifted to a hospital.  I give this information not to scare anyone about my safety on this journey, but to remind everyone about the importance of safe driving.  The two riders were hit by a woman who admitted to checking her phone when the accident occurred.  We’re likely all guilty of doing this, but it’s heartbreaking instances like this that remind us to hold ourselves accountable for our actions behind the wheel.  The news affected me more than I expected, and I spent much of the remainder of this ride in tears, maintaining my position in the front of the pack so as to not let my group see me crying.  Bike & Build will forever hold a huge place in my heart, and the idea of my community being shattered left me speechless and broken.  I was reminded of how lucky I am to partake in two epic cross-country journeys, and also how uncertain life can be.  I’m thankful that I successfully made it to San Diego in 2013 with my entire NC2SD Bike & Build team.  Knowing that a B&B rider’s life was cut short so suddenly and that he wouldn’t be able to celebrate his accomplishment at the Pacific Ocean with his team made me feel guilty that I’ve done this twice with just a few small scars to show from it.  I’m proud of the Bike & Build community and how they proceeded to show their support in the days that followed.  Here’s a photo of my B&B family on our last day in San Diego, as a wonderful memory of great times with inspirational people: