Traveling and ordering a new bike.

We were brain and butt dead by the time we arrived in Baker City at 8 PM. It was a long, uneventful drive. We hadn't been this direction since our 2016 Canada trip. Reliving memories of cycling through certain areas along the way helped pass the time.

We had deja vu of Marble Canyon because of the time change. We were a fair distance over the time zone, but none of our devices recognized that. I resorted to googling 'current Pacific time' - yes, we were correct, time had changed. Neither phone or the computer changed times. We did some calculations and checked them twice. We certainly didn't want to be late to our appointment at Rodriguez Bikes.

We had a mediocre Chinese food dinner and fell into bed. Why is sitting in a car all day so tiring?

Saturday morning the alarm went off at 6 AM and Jacinto didn't complain. You can tell he's the one getting a new bike! We crossed the wheat fields of eastern Washington, climbed up Snoqualmi Pass, and dropped down to Mercer Island, crossing in to the city. This piece of the drive was new territory and interesting. We saw many wind turbines doing their thing. We were happy not to be riding. It was raining slightly at the top of the pass. I speculated that this was very nice weather for the area. It was barely 60 degrees in Ellensburg. We have toured through here before and remember it being extremely hot.

We had a productive 3 hour session with multiple people in the Rodriguez shop. Their fitting process is thorough. Smiley has been a bicycle fitter for many years. His experience shows. The owner, Dan, spent significant time with us also. Jacinto ended up ordering a Rohloff hub, belt drive touring bike with front and rear racks. Now his coffee percolator will get it's own pannier! Dan thought that it was an outside chance, but we should check with them at the end of our tour and see if the bike is ready.

Rodriguez has 20 sizes of stock bicycles. To my surprise, Jacinto fit one perfectly. A woman, Kate, came in while we were there. She was smaller than 5' and was riding Surly's smallest bike, which was still too big for her. After some discussion and fitting, Smily told her that the Surly will never fit her because the top tube is by far too long. They ended up sending her out the door with a Rodriguez bike to try for the weekend. I did not see a credit card taken for security or anything, they just gave her the bike and told her to put some miles on it. I felt comfortable enough to ask Dan if he just gave her the bike, yes, he did. He wanted her to really try the bike out. Dan added that as small as she is, they have five smaller stock sizes of bikes. Rodriguez has been in business since 1973. They obviously have a business formula that works.

We drove 2.5 hours back to Ellensburg to spend the night. We've put in such long hours on the road that 2.5 hours seemed like a trip across town. This time we had taco truck tacos for dinner.

Jacinto has made two pots of coffee this morning, both disappointing. He prefers half and half to powdered creamer, but the half and half here is pre sweetened. The first coffee, he added sugar (not knowing the creamer was pre sweetened). The second pot, he used only the sweetened creamer, and it was still too sweet. He is mourning the waste of actual coffee. He’s carrying a 16 oz. can of Cafe Dumonde from New Orleans . . . . we are killing time at the motel, watching the women’s soccer team. At the moment they are ahead, 2-0.

In the meanwhile, Jim and Genny are making their way by train to the start. Amtrak left on time (amazing) and they are in Chemult, OR. They have an hour to switch trains in Portland and will arrive in Spokane after midnight. At least they can walk around on the train.

We liked the taco truck in Green River, Utah enough to stop there as we drove through. Oren recognized where we were!

Baker City, OR is on the TransAm Trail. Does this sign mean our Motel 6 is bicycle friendly, or the town in general?

We made it to Seattle. They have back in, angle parking. The drivers in Seattle must have better than average skills. Jacinto parked like a pro. It probably helps that it is exactly how he has to park the school bus.

The car parked next to us has significant front end damage. Perhaps not everyone is good at the parking system? The owner did find a cheap and effective solution to keeping the hood closed.

This seat on Jacinto's fitting bike at Rodriguez has measurements for exact placement. Why don't all seat manufacturers do this?

Dan says they sold quite a few bikes in Colorado after the Seahawks bet a custom Rodriguez bike and the Broncos bet a pair of skis on who would win the Super Bowl. Seahawks won.

Seen in Moses Lake, WA. It looks like an upscale town with the most expensive gas of the trip, $3.30.

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Scott AndersonSo this is when that Rodriguez was born! I hadn’t realized it was still just a baby.
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3 years ago