Anyone that knows Tim knows of this numerous food allergies. This affliction makes it difficult for him to eat on the road (especially when traveling through non-english speaking countries). To alleviate this issue he carries a large amount of MREs (meals ready to eat). MREs are all in one, freeze dried meals that you simply add boiling water to, wait a few minutes then eat. Although this may not sound real tasty they are pretty good actually. Tim had pre-ordered his MREs before we left and we needed to swing by the warehouse in Tangent, Oregon to pick up the goods. We will be gone about 170 days and Tim had ordered 60days worth of food…60days X 3 meals a day… that’s 50 lbs, yikes! After half an hour of shuffling things from bike to bike and packing, and repacking we had it all stuffed in and on the bikes.
About 3 months ago I was in a car accident and my back hasn’t been 100% since but it’s been pretty good for the last few weeks so I didn’t give it much thought before leaving on Sunday. Since the 2nd day of our journey my back has been giving me grief. After a few hours of riding I have a stabbing pain just under my shoulder blades. It’s made riding very un-enjoyable. After 4 days of this annoying issue I was starting to wonder how it would affect the trip and if it may lead to a shortened trip for me. I was losing sleep thinking/worrying about it. While riding this afternoon I began thinking that I shouldn’t assume the pain was caused by the accident. Things have been great for several weeks so no reason to flare up now. I was trying to think of things that I had changed on the bike since the last trip that maybe an issue and I realized my handle bar position was rotated slightly forward. I figured I was grasping a bit thinking that maybe the cause but stopped and I tweaked the bars a couple degrees and viola! Problem solved. I spent the rest of the day wondering how different the trip could have been if I wasn’t grasping at straws! I also spent some time wondering what very small adjustments I could make in my regular life that would net me big improvements. I’ll keep you posted should I come up with anything ; )
We were hoping to make it Grant’s Pass Oregon this evening but it was getting late and traffic was moving slow on Interstate 5 due to an Oregon Ducks football game (Ducks, really??). Since neither one of us is a big fan of riding at night we grabbed a camp spot at a nearly empty state run park in Pass Creek, Oregon, complete with a gazebo and pond full of Canadian Geese.
Tomorrow California coast via Hwy 101 and Hwy 1.
I saw how much gear you had when you left on Sunday and can't believe you could still get rid of that much! Glad you got your handle bars figured out. I suspect many of us could make small changes with big benefit.
ReplyDeleteI have tons of room on the bike now! Tim picked up his food and is loaded up like last trip. It seems there's always something else you can toss. If we weren't camping we could dump 3/4 of the rest!
ReplyDeleteCory