The team is now in Oregon, the penultimate state in our route across the country. As the days until we reach our final destination in San Francisco fly by, we’ve learned to lean into the mindset of taking the ride one day at a time. Lately, we’ve been marveling at the abundant bicycle infrastructure in the nation’s second-most bicycle-friendly state and the incredible natural beauty that surrounds it. Many of us have expressed the desire to move out West, good-naturedly grumbling under our breaths at the soon-to-be-true prospect of returning to the reliably flat Midwest (in all seriousness, “I-L-L!” for life). In the meantime, we’re doing our best to cherish these last weeks together — an easy endeavor, when we consider the gorgeous scenery and generous people we’ve been encountering.

Ride Overview, Day 63

Mileage: 76.7

Elevation: 4,268’

Ride Dedication: John Perpich, Izzy’s uncle who is fighting prostate cancer

Points of Interest: Oregon (!), Pacific Northwest Best Fish Co Cafe

Quote(s) of the Day

“It was cold enough for Izzy to swim over to me and beg me to pee on them.” - Maaike

“Poop now, ask questions later.” - Emma

“Wait, was that a real person?” - Logan, after his whole group said “hello” to a mannequin in someone’s front yard.

tales of the trail, day 63

The morning air of Day 63 was hazy with anticipation — we were to roll into Oregon that day, one of the most anticipated states of the ride. Not only is it home to the iconic Crater Lake National Park and other nationally-renowned landmarks, but it also means we’re one step closer to the end of the ride.

There was no better way to process the sheer distance we’ve traveled than Joey’s morning activity. He created a photo album of the team cycling through different landscapes and had us guess where each picture was taken. Going on a journey such as I4K’s deepens your relationship with the United States in ways more intimate than merely driving a car, and we surprised ourselves at our ability to accurately put names and memories to so many different points around the country. To our readers — see if you can guess the destination of each picture below:

The day’s route put our Midwestern legs to work as we followed a particularly spiky elevation map up windy climbs and curvy descents. A lot of us have reached a point in the ride where our progress as riders has become a tangible source of motivation. We’ve patiently pedaled through endlessly rolling hills and determinedly ascended literal mountains — we know we can reach the top of nearly any climb, just as we have all those other times before. 

A routine Dutch Bros stop, clam chowder lunch, and blackberry-picking session later, we arrived at our stayover at the beautiful house of Malinda Carlson, our amazing host for the night. We were warmly greeted by the Portland Illini Club, a familiar sight from home in the midst of the West, Malinda’s neighbors, and Jackson the adorable dog, who all went above and beyond to make us feel welcome (cut to Jackson giving anyone with food in their hands the sweetest puppy-dog eyes). 

We had the delight of camping in Malinda’s backyard, where we were treated to a mouth-watering dinner of beef and salmon burgers, Oregon-originated Tillamook ice cream, and much more than we could every imagine. Before we ate, we participated in a local tradition – singing in a circle. We clasped hands with each other as our hosts led us through a short verse of a song, whose lyrics truly captured the essence of the night:

From you I receive,

to you I give,

together we share,

from this we live.

For the third time on this ride, the team was treated to a live band. This time, the melodic, understated strums of folk music rang out into the cool evening air as we chatted to our hosts about everything from environmental conservation to the 2,000-rider-strong Cycle Oregon bike ride. A massive thank you to Malinda for coordinating another Portrait for us to collect, without which our organization would fall flat in its mission. 

We retired to our tents in Malinda’s lovely backyard, our hearts full with the generosity of the people around us and their remarkable life stories.

Ride Overview, Day 64

Mileage: 59.3

Elevation: 1,609’

Ride Dedication: Mark, the brother of our stayover host Malinda, who passed away from brain cancer

Points of Interest: The Kroc Center, Gresham Japanese Garden, Clackamas River Trail

quote of the day

We woke up to our stayover hosts already bustling around, preparing what can only be described as a cornucopian breakfast — we fueled up on everything from freshly blended smoothies to homemade cinnamon rolls. As we packed SAV with donated baked goods, trail mix, and orange juice, we could not even begin to express our gratitude to Malinda, the Portland Illini Club, and members of the Corbett community for the unending support and generosity they have shown us since we arrived in the state. 

The morning began with a bizarrely vague yet surprisingly fun morning activity by Kavin. We were told to pick an object and, in his words, “do something with it.” The team got creative and built a somehow stable tower of our chosen items, of which Kavin approved. 

From there, we rolled out into the last of our time with Portland. Under the cover of some misty and light rain, we happily followed the city’s bike-friendly infrastructure out into the pretty, peaceful backroads of Oregon, whose greenery grew deeper with the wet weather. Fewer miles to cover and feet to climb meant a more relaxed day, and the team made it to the stayover with relative ease. 

We’ve been looking forward to our stay at The Kroc Center since the beginning of the week, and it did not disappoint. As soon as we arrived within its expansive walls, the team dispersed to the center’s hot tub, warm showers, game rooms, and beyond. Fun fact: Maaike has never watched “Cars,” which meant we of course had to watch it and learn the origins of — another fun fact! — Olivia’s bike, who is named after Sally, one of the characters in the movie. 

A huge thank you to Olive Garden and Jersey Mike’s for donating dinner to us, and a big shout out to Izzy and Neal for securing those donations! Post-eating, the team is now taking some well-deserved rest in preparation for another day of riding, whether that takes the form of some alone time, calling loved ones, watching Deadpool at a local theater, or playing Clue together (watching “Cars 2” was strongly considered, but our impending bedtime ultimately left that for another day). 

I will end this journal entry with some apt words that my wise chore partner once said: “I love biking with my friends!”

Cyclist’s Corner

Today’s Rider: Logan Maurer

How are you feeling today?

I’m doing really well! It was a very nice ride, reasonably short, and although it rained a little bit, I stayed mostly dry. The temperatures were low, so that wasn’t a problem at all.

Which chore have you been doing for the team during the ride? Can you share your process doing this chore?

So my chore is mechanic — that essentially just means I fix people’s problems that they have with bikes. On a day to day basis, what that actually works out to is if people run into a problem, or if their bike isn’t acting the way it should, they come to me, they give me a brief rundown. I’ll try to work with them, get the bike up in the stand and try to address their problem. But it also means trying to teach people, trying to teach them how to fix their own flats, and how to do very basic stuff if they’re up for it. Otherwise I can also just give advice, I have a bit more experience with cycling than most of the team. So if people just need help, or need a person with more familiarity, I can help them out… I like it, because I think bikes are cool, and I enjoy working with them anyways. So now, rather than working on my bike, I get to work on everyone’s bike!

What’s the best food you’ve eaten on the ride so far?

The smoking mule burger was really good. It was fun because we went with a lot of people, and a lot of people tried different things. I also really liked the burritos that we had in the middle of nowhere in the Wisconsin Sparta-Elroy trail. We just came across this random Mexican place and got extremely large ten dollar burritos. I ate way too much and kind of felt sick afterwards, but it was good, and worth it. 

Do you have a favorite team memory?

It was fun, the Chicago stayover, having everyone over at my house. It was also cool because we got to meet some past members, and also a lot of family members of teammates. A couple of us went to the Chicago botanical gardens, and that was really fun just walking around the gardens for a couple of hours.

Is there anything you’ve learned during the ride that you didn’t expect?

An easy one is I didn’t realize people were so nice! It’s been great to see so many people who are just willing to give you food, or give you a place to sleep, or even just give you a wave or cheer you on when you’re biking on a busy road or something, people willing to give you space. That’s been great. I also didn’t realize how diverse the West was. We’ve seen so many different landscapes, especially in the National Parks. Badlands felt like we were on an alien planet, and then Mount Rainier is just this beautiful mountain surrounded by wildlife, and flowers and trees everywhere.

What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?

First thing is probably showering and sleeping in my own bed. But I am looking forward to a haircut, it’s getting a little long in the back. When the road gets a little bit boring, I kind of think of designing things. So it’s going to be fun to have access to a computer, and make some stuff in CAD. I’ve been thinking about that whenever the scenery gets a little repetitive.

Anything else you want to talk about?

I really hope Crater Lake works out. I was really looking forward to it, and I’ve heard amazing things, but I also know that fires are really rough in that area. I’ve also heard that it’s high enough elevation-wise that it might not be a problem, but I’m really really hoping that works out.

(A reminder that any unfamiliar terms can be found in our handy I4K dictionary.)