The British Man

Oh today was a good day!

As you’ve seen on this trip I’ve been on the receiving end of unlimited kindness. Places to stay, showers, meals, beer and support have all been given to me every single day and I’m forever grateful that I got to meet everyone I met.

I’m overflowing with kindness and this trip has been a massive eye opener as to the importance of it. Today was the day I could finally pass some of it on.

Yesterday I chatted to a girl working in a bar and she mentioned that she was saving up for a bike of her own, today I gave her my bike.

I have really loved my bike as you could probably tell from my photos where he is in every shot. He was an inanimate object that came to life for me, and I wanted someone else to enjoy him as much as I have. You never know, maybe he will come back to me one day, the universe works like that I think.

I also gave my tent and roll mat to a retired bloke who spoke about going out into nature to do photography, now he can set up camp when he gets there.

Being able to pass kindness on felt amazing, jeeze I’m in love with that feeling!

I want to finish this post with a particular quote I like and have seen in action so much over the past few months.

“Kindness is twice blessed. It blesses the one who gives it with a sense of his or her own capacity to love, and the person who receives it with a sense of the beneficence of the universe”.

Preach.

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Hello again,

I’ve been relaxing for the past few days, It’s definitely felt weird and I’ve been a bit of a lost puppy.

All of this time I’ve had one goal, get the front wheel in the Pacific Ocean, and now I’ve achieved it I’m like wtf do I do now.

I’ve met more kind people in Florence. It’s another town where people have enough time to talk and also love to talk. Small town America is my favourite for that, because talking is my favourite hobby by far.

I’ve been trying to decide what I will do for the couple of weeks I have left in this country. I wanted to get a motorcycle and drive it back east, however the rational part of my head has said save it for another journey. I don’t want to risk breaking down or struggle selling it on the east coast. The remaining options I fancy are train or plane.

I’m also actively trying to eat less burgers as I’m not cycling everyday. I don’t want to do an Elvis Presley do I.

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 68 (July 7th)

Distance 48.85 miles

I woke up to clouds this morning and it was actually quite chilly. There were only 45 miles between myself and the coast and I was feeling a bit strange.

Long before I even started the journey I had imagined this moment. I had wanted to do this trip since university and one of the points I thought about the most was the part where I smelt the sea in the air and saw a horizon full of blue water.

For 68 days I’ve been on my own mission. Granted I’ve had my fair share of rest days but even on these days I was restless as I knew that I needed to get back on the bike.

Reaching the Pacific coast was like an approaching exam, every day in the run up I felt like I needed to do something to work towards it.

I cycled through a couple of towns and stopped in each one for old time’s sake. Soon enough the “Entering Florence” sign appeared and I knew I was close. I got into town but still needed to get to the ocean. I asked around and found out it was another 4 miles to the beach.

I honestly think my body knew it was the end of the journey as my knee was now killing me. I took my breaking body and my breaking bike to the beach. I made it to a big sand dune which was now the last hurdle between myself and the Pacific Ocean.

I started dragging my bike up there and it was tough, the bike was still heavy and the narrow tyres cut deep into the sand. The bonus this time is that it was the last struggle, the last climb and the last push across the finish line.

I got to the top of the dune and there it was, Ocean as far as the eye could see. No mountains, no forest, no open plains and no high desert, just bright blue sea!

I wheeled my bike down to the ocean after 10 minutes of just being and put the front wheel straight in the water.

There it was, the trip was complete. The back wheel in the Atlantic and the front wheel in the Pacific. I’m so glad I kept a daily journal as the whole middle bit seems a blur right now.

In the days/weeks/months to come I will continue this blog. There is so much to process as up until this point I’ve had back to back adventures everyday.

I’ve got another 20ish days in the states so the adventure continues, this is just one beautiful chapter.

The title of my Day 1 post was “Go West Young Man”, and it gives me great pride to say that young man did go west, and he absolutely loved every moment of it .

Yours in cycling, always,

Dan

Day 67 (July 6th)

Distance 87.45 miles

Last night I arrived at a campsite that didn’t have a hiker biker rate, so they wanted $18 for no showers no nothing. I said let me go cycle down the road, pitch my tent for free in the woods and then I will have a think about your $18.

As I was cycling down I came across an RV park but it didn’t say if they took tents as well. I popped in and asked and the lady said I could pitch up on the grass for free. Fluke central over here!

Today’s journey was standard to be honest, the closer I get to the finish the longer the cycling takes I think. I made it to a big city called Eugene but went straight through it like a rocket, the more miles I do today the less I have to do on my final day tomorrow.

I continued to pass towns until the sun set, at which point I was ready to pack up shop for the day. I didn’t get to the next town, triangle lake, until 10:30pm and it was now pitch black. Interesting fact, this town was named after its lake, its triangular.

The one shop in town was closed and there was no sign of a campsite. I was like mannnnnnnn the next town is 14 miles away and it could be the same situation there. I started cycling again and kept an eye out for a place to lay my head that didn’t have Blair Witch Project written all over it.

30 minutes later I came across a private campground sign. It didn’t show up on my map but it said “camp” and I was low on options. I walked half a mile down a dark, rocky road and at the end I clocked some white marquees/tents.

I found a bloke sitting outside so asked him if there was an office to check in, he replied telling me that the whole site was rented out by his group for the week.

There was so much space and I could have easily stayed out of their way.

I had no choice but to go on a sympathy offensive as it was 11pm and I was fucked if I was pedalling anymore tonight.

I said “oh that’s a shame, perhaps there is a car park down the road I can sleep in, not to worry I’ll find something”.

I started to pedal off slowly after pissing about with my panniers (stalling activities) and just as I thought I’d have to pedal away from a perfect camp spot the bloke called out to me. “Wait, as we are renting this place we can choose who our guests are, you can stay here”.

I have never used offensive tactics like this to get a place to stay and I would never recommend it, but mate there were only a few tents set up on all of this open space, I had to do what I had to do haha.

Turns out the bloke and his group were a church group on their annual trip, so thank them and thank god for the hospitality, I unrolled my roll mat and fell asleep straight away.

Tomorrow is show time ladies and gents.

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 66 (July 5th)

Distance 51.35 miles

So today was the day I climbed over the final pass, McKenzie.

It was a hot day and the climb seemed to go on forever, every corner revealed a new part of the endless trail upwards.

In time I reached the summit and the lava fields, i’ve never seen anything like it, black rocks covering the whole landscape it was like another planet.

I took my last “summit photo” and it’s the last time I will be at this altitude on the journey. I took a moment to reflect as I looked over the lava fields, this journey has been incredible honestly. But now is not the time to look back, I’m not at the Pacific coast yet!

I want to set the scene right now as a contrast to how I started this journey.

All of my clothes are beyond filthy, my shoes stink of damp, I have a slow puncture that I’m pumping up a few times a day instead of repairing, my front mud guard snapped off, Im overdue a shower, my brakes are shot to bits so I’m flying down hills and my chain has no oil on it.

But honestly I wouldn’t change a thing, I’m definitely ready to make it to the coast now but what an adventure it’s been!!!

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 65 (July 4th)

Happy Independence Day America, you will always be the one that got away!

I got chatting to a lad called Robby last night and I caught up with him again around lunch time today. He invited me to go shooting and after the amount of fun I had shooting last time I said yes straight away. On Independence Day everyone should shoot guns right!?

Second Amendment and all that.

After loads of fun shooting he showed me around an incredible resort he works at that is for the wealthy. We hit a few balls on the range and that finished a brilliant 4th July for me.

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 64 (July 4th)

Distance 52.1 miles

It’s the day before independence Day here in the States. I always thought they were celebrating the day Will Smith scared off the aliens, but I wasn’t completely accurate. There were aliens involved but they were British, and the 4th July celebrations mark the day when the Americans had their own Brexit and booted us out of the country, so hurtful.

Anyway it’s a party so I’ve no complaints, I was told a town called Sisters was decent around 4th July so that’s my destination today.

I cycled through some areas hit by wildfires today so there was quite a bit of smoke and planes overhead dropping water. The fires were a way away so I wasn’t in any immediate danger though.

Mid afternoon I cycled across a bridge and saw people swimming in the river below, I knew from experience how refreshing these rivers are so I pulled over and walked down.

The people were set up on a small bank so I asked if they would mind me taking a quick dip and they said it was fine, so I just strolled in with everything including my cycling shoes.

We got chatting and they offered me an ice cold beer from their cool box which was a dream. After the refreshing beer and dip I said goodbye and squelched out of the river and hopped back on the bike.

I eventually made it to Sisters and went to get food. If it’s any good in town I may hang about tomorrow for the festivities.

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 63 (July 3rd)

Distance 40 miles

The brewery last night was brilliant, they are just starting up but they showed me around and I had fun!

I left Mitchell at 2pm after a double cheeseburger from the café. Before I went I also got my beard cleaned up by Pat, who is also handy with a blade as well as all his other trades. Anyone praying that I would chop the whole beard off, not today!

Today saw me climb my penultimate pass, Ochoco. It was a decent climb and a warm feeling seeing the sign telling me I made it to the summit.

I set my roll mat next to the lake, I’m not even using the tent anymore. I watched the sun set over the lake and as it did I could see eagles gliding high above me. One actually came down and looked like it was ready to grab dinner, so i got the camera out. As luck would have it as soon as I pressed record he circled around, dive bombed and caught a fish in his talons. It was a real Planet Earth moment and I was laughing about my good fortune. Have a look on my Instagram for the video.

After the sun set the bats replaced the eagles and some frogs also came out. The frogs were making such a racket as I tried to fall asleep so I threw a few rocks into the darkness to try put them off, it didn’t work.

It’s another clear night and the universe looks beautiful.

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 62 (July 2nd)

This hostel is incredible, so much so that I’m hanging around for the day. I’ve still got quite a bit to catch up on with the blog, so that’s going to be the task for today.

The café down the road has the best tacos apparently so I will head down there soon, but for now I’m sitting around drinking coffee in the cool.

There’s also a brewery in the town so when in Rome, do as the Romanians amiright!

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 61 (July 1st)

Distance 62.5 miles

I woke up with the sun, loaded the bike and as I got on it I noticed something…a flat tyre! Turns out that piece of wood last night did hit the tube haha.

It’s my first flat on the road so I’m actually happy I got it. It’s like a right of passage and I’m sure I would have felt like I missed out on the experience if it didn’t happen. I unloaded the weight off the bike and took the wheel off.

The culprit was the longest thorn I’ve ever seen and it pierced straight through the Kevlar lining in the tyre.

I got the new tube in and started pumping it up, BANG! My new inner tube exploded and it wasn’t even close to the recommended pressure. I was sitting in the sun and once that happened I got real hot so had to walk off into the shade for 5 minutes. Now I had to return and repair the original tube which I did and everything was back to perfect.

It was now 10am and getting hot so I headed for the open road with my two fully inflated tyres.

Btw I’m friends on Instagram with the hostel I’m staying at tonight and they saw my whole puncture saga unfold on my insta profile, so they messaged me to say they would sort me a new inner tube ready for my arrival, how nice is that!?

I spent 3 hours climbing 25 miles today, about 20 minutes from the top a van pulled alongside me. I looked up from my handlebars and the bloke driving said “are you Dan?”. Gasping for air I said “yeah?” In a puzzled way, who is this person and how do they know my name?

Turns out this bloke is Pat who runs the hostel! He wanted to see if I was getting on okay and whether I wanted a lift. That is the first time someone has done that and I was amazed by such a warm welcome to a town. I declined the lift as I only pay the iron price on these hills don’t I.

He told me how to find the hostel then said “See you soon Dan, you’re almost there!”.

Once I made it to the hostel I wheeled my bike in and looked at my bunk, the sign on it said “Dan, The British Man”, I love this place already!

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 60 (Jun 30th)

Distance 87.9 miles

There were 3 passes to climb today so I set off early.

I completed all 3 and was treated to an easy coast down into the town I was camping in.

As I waited at some traffic lights a mad max convoy pulled up next to me. These vehicles were insane, they were old, covered in dust, beat up, jacked up on off road tyres and just gave off a post apocalyptic vibe.

Inside it turns out we’re American gypsies travelling to a rainbow gathering nearby. This particular convoy travelled from the east coast and picked up any hippies along the way.

The driver I was speaking to was filthy, dreadlocked and covered in weird face tattoos. His van was filled with people sleeping on each other and dogs sleeping on top. It was amazing to see these people, I would have taken a picture but my gut told me not to.

These people were a part of thousands heading for one national park which was to become their home for the next few months until the eclipse takes place in August. The police are aware of it now but no one knew where it was going to take place.

A scouting party of the “leaders” in the rainbow family chose this place months in advance and it was communicated to the rest of them on the down low.

Now the police have set up a base, a mobile court (with judge) and a prison, crazy right!?

Anyway an hour after I first met the convoy I saw them outside a gas station trying to get free gas (petrol) lolz.

In the final 10 minutes of cycling today I thought I rode over a stone that got caught in my tyre tread, it never fell off so I stopped to flick it off. Turns out I have a bit of wood sticking out of my tyre! It’s not losing air so maybe it missed the inner tube, all I know is that I’m not pulling that piece of wood out haha.

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 59 (Jun 29th)

Today I decided to take it easy as my knee was playing up on the way into Baker City yesterday. I’m making sure I listen to my body and it could be said that I’ve taken too many rest days, but with zero illnesses or injuries I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. Also I love rest days and I’m on holiday right!?

The rest day consisted of typing up a good 10 days worth of blogging and eating too much good food in the cool shade. I chatted with other cyclists who were taking off today and really enjoyed telling them how hot it was and how much I’d hate to be cycling today lol.

I met a pastor who was cycling west to east with his young sons. I’ve been waiting a while to pass my bear spray on and this was the perfect moment. I handed the baton over and wished that it would give him and his sons as much luck as it gave me, no grizzly attacks! Ariel your kind gesture has officially been passed on, thanks for keeping me safe!

I also fixed the brakes on my bike today, as for the past few days I haven’t been able to stop on the downhills. I felt so macho after, so macho in fact that I lit a damn fire to sleep next to that night damnit!

Yours in cycling,

Dan

 

Day 58 (Jun 28th)

Distance 58.5 miles

Today was another hot day in Hells Canyon. I left around 6:30am and had a pass to get over straight away.

Down the other side I got the nicest huckleberry milkshake and topped up my water bottles as there is no water for the next 50 miles to Baker City boooooo.

I cycled alongside the river so dipped my shirt in there which really helps to stay cool, I also dipped my patent pending Hells Canyon hat.

The hat is essentially a hand towel I borrowed from a hotel which I tuck into the back of an Adidas baseball cap that I lawfully own. Combined these two components shade my face, the top of my head and my neck. Sometimes I amaze myself.

Later down the road I bumped into a fellow cyclist. Guess who it was…Aurel! Haha we cycled together for a bit during the early days but haven’t seen each other in over a month. It was so funny bumping into him again, he’s looking much more homeless these days with a big old beard.

I stopped for lunch and he went ahead to Baker City. On the way into town I well fancied a Chinese and as soon as I pulled in I saw a Chinese restaurant, text book.

Whilst I was eating I got on the wifi to look for the bike hostel I heard about in the town. As I opened up google a bloke walked into the restaurant and walked straight over my way. He asked if I was doing the Transamerica so I said yeah I was. He then gave me a business card for the exact same hostel I was about to search for!

You must think I make this stuff up but the universe is just on my side.

Yours in cycling,

Dan

Day 57 (Jun 27th)

Distance 103.7 miles

So today was a better day!

I woke up at 4:55am as I slept outside and the light/birds woke me.

I was on the bike by 6am and it was so nice to be alive at that time, it was much cooler and the roads were quiet.

The only interruption in the peace was a logging truck which I could hear approaching from behind for miles on the winding road. Once he made it onto the same straight as me he was on the horn, this is trucker for “I ain’t slowing down and I ain’t going round you” so I promptly made my way off the road. It’s just as well I did as he gave me no space and he was flying.

The rest of the day was calm apart from cycling through a plague of gigantic Mormon Locust. They were covering the road and jumping up when I got near. The whole road was slick from their squashed bodies and guts, vommmmm.

I arrived in my first town of Oregon, Halfway, did I mention that Oregon is my final state of the journey!? I played pool with some locals and found a place to lay my head under a sloped roof of a barn.

Also I don’t know if you noticed my mileage today? 103.7 miles. It’s my second century ride but I’m humble. So what if I’m a hell of a cyclist now? So what if the Tour De France wants me?

Just kidding but boy can I cycle now!

Yours in cycling,

Dan