Hey Greg, it's Mike Jamison from CGOAB. We've exchanged the occasional message over there in the past. I'm looking to take my journals from CG and add them over here on Cycle Blaze for a variety of reasons (the latest forum conversation on CGOAB being one). Any advice on the best way to do that, as you did here? Simply cut and paste text and pictures by hand, or is there a less work intensive way to manage that? Basically what was your method to get that done? Thanks in advance for anything you can share.

Hi Paul,

Yes, I'm sure it's a pretty common misunderstanding between cyclists and motorists.

On one of my tours I went into a truck stop in Iowa and noticed they had showers and a lounge for truckers only. I thought of going into the lounge, claiming to be a trucker, and taking a nap. I imagined a conversation something like this:

TRUCK DRIVER: So what kind of truck do you drive?
ME: I drive a Long Haul Trucker.
TRUCK DRIVER: Um, is that made by Peterbilt?
ME: No, it's made by a company you probably never heard of, but it's sturdy, comfortable, and is capable of hauling some pretty heavy loads over long distances.
TRUCK DRIVER: Really? I should look into getting one of those. Can we go have a look at it?
ME: Um, that probably wouldn't be a good idea. I gotta go.

“Then the conversation takes an entirely different tone.”

Or ends entirely....

I’ve shared this same reaction. Cheers!

Thanks. It does almost feel like I've just completed a tour. Often I really felt like I was in the moment and I couldn't wait to see what happened to me next.

Welcome home!

Yes. Despite the sweatiness, it was a magical day.

Sounds like a totally brilliant day to me.

Great stories, Andrea. Thank you.

100% real chainsaws. Nobody believed me when I told them this until recently, because, get this: the Portland Timbers soccer team mascot (Timber Jim) saws off a round whenever they make a goal, too, and IN FACT, there is a proudly decorated semi hauling a fresh Oregon log to Atlanta for the finals game. Oh, the humanity.

You just provided three great (and hilarious) examples of weird team names. Seriously, I laughed out loud reading this. And, I'm afraid to ask, were they REAL chainsaws? Scary!

Dig! Dig!

Greg

I love these madcap school mascot names, this one is a good one. My favorite non-threatening mascot name is in Tillamook, Oregon, home of the “Cheesemakers”. Bruce’s Florida high school mascot was the “Sand Crabs”. Their cheers went something like, “Dig! Dig!”. My hometown had “The Loggers” with locals starting up chainsaws after every touchdown or three-pointer.

I remembered that picture of you guys under the big snow bank. It's a classic. So I just now went back to re-read your journal of that trip. Beautiful pictures, but they reminded me once again of all the scenery I missed.

Luckily I have driven a car on Going to the Sun in the distant past, so I still have those memories and a few pictures. But driving a car just isn't the same . . .

Good joke. I had to read it a second time, but then I got it.

On a different topic, I was glad to see you re-posted that vichyssoise (sp?) picture on the forums. I think that one is still the prettiest food picture I've ever seen.

Hi Greg,
Interesting account of "the great unwashed". Maybe that's why our laundromats here in France all seem to close at 10:00 PP.
Seen in the comics a long time ago:
"Sire, the peasants are revolting!"
Lord: "They certainly are."
Cheers,
Keith

That is such. Shame, Greg. I know the feeling of being scared about getting down off a mountain safely in bad conditions. Mostly though it’s a shame that you missed the show. We biked it together, back in 1990, in the first weekend of July. It was the first weekend the Pass was open that summer, and the snowdrifts at the summit were enormous - from our photo of me standing beneath them, they must have been 30 feet high.