Dad is desperate to become a celebrity so he wants to write today's blog-
I (Dad/Ralph)woke up from the best nights sleep at Dan and Melissa's. They treated all of us like kings from the moment we arrived to when we left! This morning Dan made custom made omelets for each of us while Melissa made home-made Banana Bread (very, very yummy). While Dan was making omelets I had the chance to have a deep conversation with Hagen. He wanted to know where I was going, and being a smarty, I told him I was going north to the North Pole. Of course, he asked if I could ask Santa for a "pirate telescope".
We started to get ready for the day and as we were packing it started to rain and it continued to rain for most of the day. Which leads me to the real reason for my portion of the blog. To this point I've thouroughly enjoyed my son John's blog, every time I read the daily blog I see that John has a gift with his writings and his humor. But, John hasn't had the chance to sit in the saddle and with that I have the following good and bad list:
Good list first:
1. It's been great to ride with Zach. I've gotten to share this trip with him and rely on him to carry me many times. For example when we were climbing the last (3) miles of the Cascades over to Ashland, Oregon I needed Zach to take the lead and set the pace, or I wouldn't have made it over the top. It's nice to see Zach growing up into a young man.
2. The wind. For the most part (with the exception of the first day) we have had either light wind or the wind has been at our backs (when you're riding into the wind you have to work that much harder to get to the end of the day and visa vera).
3. John. John's been at our beck and call. When our bike broke down during a rain storm near Dunsmuir John picked up the bike, gave us the backup bike and drove to Redding. He had the bike fixed and back to ride within (2) hours. And that's the dedication he has had with everything related to our adventure.
Bad List:
1. The saddle. Sitting on that seat hour after hour leaves you with a sore bottom and blisters. Everyday before I ride I have to apply new band-aides on my bottom and "bottom butter" to keep everything sliding on the saddle.
2. The rain. Both Zach and I have waterproof caps over our helmets, waterproof jackets, waterproof pants, waterproof booties over our shoes, and fenders for our bike (you get the idea). But hour after hour in the rain, the water seeps in and we not only get wet but sweat a lot because of our gear. And wind is a lot like rain, it slows you down, and seems to slow down time (depressing).
3. Aches and pains. After riding (7) days my right knee has hurt for the last (4) days and I think I've strained a tendon in my left leg. I've iced up my legs nightly and twice a day when I stop for break and during lunch. Zach has done the same.
I'm very glad we're doing this ride. It's been fun watching the boys interact and it's great to have done this adventure but I don't think I'll try this long of a bike ride again. Three days left and counting!!! I look forward to finishing and getting to the Lummi reservation and meeting my family on Thursday.
Best to all:)
