Day 44: Seattle, WA (by Houston)

Mission Control, this is Houston, reflecting on the last week's adventure. I'll also be posting some photographic evidence in the near future.

We certainly had our challenges... unfortunately, the cold-flu that greeted me in Colorado was slow to subside and made it difficult both physically and mentally to put in long days in the saddle. Also, as the Wounded Duck alluded to, hotel accommodations were in surprisingly short supply as we ventured north. The weather, sometimes predictable (like the endless winds in Wyoming) and sometimes just crazy (like snow in Colorado in mid-August), is always a factor. But maybe the biggest obstacle was simply the remoteness of some of the towns we found ourselves in. Sometimes it felt like we were the involuntary contestants in a twisted version of the Amazing Race TV reality show where the goal was to get bodies and bicycles from A to B using any available means of transportation. One example, you need to get from Baggs, WY to Jackson (350 miles to the north). Sounds easy, right? Our solution: hitch a ride, rent two cars and drive them a total of 1100 miles, requiring two days. Whew.

Despite this, we also shared some great memories. We met several amazing folks on the way, like Virgil (our host in Frisco), Mike (TransAm rider from New Jersey), and Helen (proprietor at the Chicken Coop B&B). We experienced a couple famous mountain resort towns (Steamboat Springs and Jackson). We spent untold hours in hotel rooms of varying quality watching the Beijing Olympics and cheering on team USA. And we returned to our former glory as two guys from Idaho, anxious to take in all there is to offer in smalltown USA, at 13 mph.

Wounded Duck, I was honored to ride with you, if only for such a short duration. Your willingness to throw yourself into new experiences, not to mention your perseverance to make it through this trip, are inspiring. Good luck with the remainder of RR2 and I hope we can do it again soon. Houston signing off.