Zipping Along
A Poem By G-2
The cyclist I am
Fearless and fearful at the same time
To confront that big ol' river
COLUMBIA!
Onward to the monstrous dam
GRAND COULEE!
To the arid loess hills,
PALOUSE!
Beyond that, I don't know.
Oregon? Idaho?
Leg muscles pumping,
Knees alternately extending and distending,
Faster than the beats of my cold, cold heart.
On two wheels
On a road
On a road with a dotted line
A straight line
Like a zipper
Smoothly zipping
Along a lubricated zipper-toothed track
A zipper
That opens a pannier full of discovery.
***************************************
Against my better judgement, I decided to allow my cartoon alter-ego to post his poem on my page. G-2 and I don't always get along, but in this case I thought some of his verses did provide a little extra context to our upcoming tour. Also, he did a pretty good job in making his words sound as obscure and as pretentious as some of the greatest poetry in literary history.
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Scott AndersonHey, I finally found the rest of your journal! Somehow it jumped tracks and landed on a site I can’t comment on, so I’ll drop a few comments here.
I loved your journal, and learned a lot from it. We biked up as far as Walla Walla and Waitsburg a few years ago, but we’ve never biked the real Palouse. We’ve talked about riding from home to Spokane for a long time though, and coincidentally I’ve been scoping out a possible tour next year and was looking at the Spiral Highway. Nice to see a first hand account!
You’re right - as you suspected, you missed the best of Oregon. I’d plan another tour out here some year. Eastern Oregon is every bit as spectacular as eastern Washington, with the same dramatic, open vistas and roads.
I was surprised to see that you stayed at Sun Lakes. My family vacationed there for two summers when I was in high school, 55 years ago. It was the destination of my first overnight bike ride, when I biked there from Seattle to meet up with my family. I was 15, I think, and went on my own. After biking over Snoqualmie Pass, I slept in Vantage in the middle of the sage brush, on a blown over billboard. It felt like a big adventure, but it was pretty lonely - roads were even quieter then, and I didn’t even have a toon for company.
5 years ago
I loved your journal, and learned a lot from it. We biked up as far as Walla Walla and Waitsburg a few years ago, but we’ve never biked the real Palouse. We’ve talked about riding from home to Spokane for a long time though, and coincidentally I’ve been scoping out a possible tour next year and was looking at the Spiral Highway. Nice to see a first hand account!
You’re right - as you suspected, you missed the best of Oregon. I’d plan another tour out here some year. Eastern Oregon is every bit as spectacular as eastern Washington, with the same dramatic, open vistas and roads.
I was surprised to see that you stayed at Sun Lakes. My family vacationed there for two summers when I was in high school, 55 years ago. It was the destination of my first overnight bike ride, when I biked there from Seattle to meet up with my family. I was 15, I think, and went on my own. After biking over Snoqualmie Pass, I slept in Vantage in the middle of the sage brush, on a blown over billboard. It felt like a big adventure, but it was pretty lonely - roads were even quieter then, and I didn’t even have a toon for company.
5 years ago
Gregory GarceauTo Scott AndersonThanks Scott,
Yes, I was very conflicted as to which site I'd write the real-time version of my journal on. I prefer the look of Cycleblaze journals, but I'm not the most competent computer guy and I've had some technical problems here. I always get them figured out eventually, but Crazyguy is just so easy and so familiar to me. Anyway, I've started the process of entering the journal on Cycleblaze too.
I think you told me about that sleeping on the billboard adventure before. That had to be such a great experience as a 15-year old. And two days from Seattle to Sun Lakes? That's some mighty impressive mileage.
5 years ago
Yes, I was very conflicted as to which site I'd write the real-time version of my journal on. I prefer the look of Cycleblaze journals, but I'm not the most competent computer guy and I've had some technical problems here. I always get them figured out eventually, but Crazyguy is just so easy and so familiar to me. Anyway, I've started the process of entering the journal on Cycleblaze too.
I think you told me about that sleeping on the billboard adventure before. That had to be such a great experience as a 15-year old. And two days from Seattle to Sun Lakes? That's some mighty impressive mileage.
5 years ago
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