All along my plan had been to hitchhike from my in-laws in Martinez to Oregon. There really wasn’t a better way. I rode Amtrak from Lamy to Martinez, California, and that worked well. But both bike and trailer had to be partially disassembled and boxed on the train. As it turned out, I was scolded for the weight of the boxes — turns out the panniers and gear isn’t supposed to go in the box with the bike… So I would not have been able to easily box things back up for the train.
So I used a combination of pedaling and my thumb to make around 180 miles today, 29 of those by bicycle. It took six rides to make it out of the urban Bay Area to Willits, up in the coast range redwood country. The last 5 miles was up a long, steep killer hill, to the rural homestead of a man who was my main boss in my first love and trade, as a bicycle mechanic in a small bike shop in Felton, California, from around 1974-1977. Ray sold the business and homesteaded off grid around 1977. I remember him showing my his solar power system — when, maybe 1982? – long before the inverters were reliable, system design was well understood, and there was an industry. By the early 90s the grid was available on his land and his solar power was history.
On the other hand, seeing his system was one of the life events that led to my interest and eventual decision to make a career of it. I wanted to see Ray after 30+ years, acknowledge his early gift, and let him know how the decades hence had turned out. I thought I had located him via the internet, and had hone numbers to call if I made it up here. But when I called, it was the wrong Ray Hansen. No working number for the right one, so I had no choice but to ride 5 miles up this killer hill to his homestead, hoping he’d be there and I’d be welcome. Turns out he hadn’t sold the place, but nobody’s home. I have spread out my sleeping bag and pad under the stars and will have to leave a kind note if no contact by morning.
I have four days – now three – to make it up to Albany, in the central Willamette Valley of Oregon. I lived in Albany from 1979-1982, in my first (training) marriage, and the community college there is where I got my A.S. in Construction Technology – the entry-level trade skills to become a carpenter. From Albany I’ll ride 50 miles up into the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, where Donovan Yoder and his wife Kelly have a cabin. They’ll arrive there around 9 pm on Friday, and Don and I will start our tour across Oregon on Sunday.
This is a great side-story: I taught a community college class in bike touring in 1980; we spent a week on tour in the San Juan Islands of Washington state. Don met his wife on that trip, and they remain together there with their own grown children. I haven’t seen Don in over 30 years, and next week we’re going to ride across Oregon together. Most of the route will be the TransAmerica Trail, the BikeCentennial route I rode 1,100 miles on on my last long bike tour in 1976.
Enough for now. It was a good day, and I look forward to a night under the stars.