Off soon….

It’s almost the long weekend!! A few more hours before I skip town. I am taking the day off tomorrow and WFH today so that I can leave early and ride down to Astoria. I’ll spend all of Friday wandering down the Oregon coast, enjoying one of the most scenic rides in the United States. On Saturday I need to be in Eugene, OR for a party in the evening (same biker party I went to last year), so depending on where I spend Friday night, I’ll have to find some cool roads to explore during the day.

The party should be great. I’m looking forward to meeting a bunch of people that I made friends with last year and haven’t seen in a while. Last year they had a HUGE bonfire and flaming tetherball, which was good times. ;) Sarah’s riding down from Portland too and between the two of us, you can bet there will be trouble.

Whenever I am ready to get out on Sunday morning, I’ll hit the road again and head up north to ride the roads around the Columbia River Gorge both on the Oregon and Washington side. I’m not sure if I can do both banks on the same day or if I’ll have to split it up to the next day, but I intend to spend the night at a friend’s place in Washougal chatting again about bikes and his big adventure ride from last year. Monday morning I’ll be seeking to find the fastest way home and get back to Seattle mid-afternoon so I can relax and maybe catch a SIFF film.

It strikes me that this is the first time since the summer of 2007 that I will be doing a somewhat long solo ride! While I have ridden a lot between then and now, it has always been with other people – a little strange for a loner like me.

All my bags are packed  and waiting to be hitched to the bike. I’m bringing my tent and sleeping bag as I intend to camp for at least a couple of nights (solo camping! eek! yay!). I’m bringing my netbook and of course my camera and attempt blogging while on the road. Basically I’m trying as much as possible to simulate my upcoming X-country ride on a smaller scale to work out all the kinks and get a better idea of what I need to bring along and what to leave at home.

A few more hours!! Can’t wait… can’t wait!! :D

My long weekend plans…

My brief itinerary for this weekend:

Saturday morning: Leave early and ride to Leavenworth
Saturday afternoon: Ride some of the Destination Highways around Leavenworth
Saturday evening: Check into the Haus Rohrbach and spend the evening in the pseudo-Bavarian town that is bound to be awash with tourists
Sunday morning: Leave whenever and ride to Winthrop
Sunday afternoon: Ride some of the Destination Highways around Winthrop/Twisp
Sunday evening: Check into Chewuch Inn and hang out in pseudo-cowboy town of Winthrop
Monday morning: Leave early and head out to Okanogan Highlands and ride as many Destination Highways as possible
Monday evening: Try to get back whenever and spend the second night in Winthrop
Tuesday morning: Leave early and start the last leg of the journey to ride the northern part of the Cascade Loop to Sedro Woolley
Tuesday afternoon: If there’s time and energy, ride north toward Bellingham and explore some of the rides up there (very much doubt I will do this as I want to get home in time to relax before heading back to work the next day)
Tuesday evening: Relax at home!

I’m trying to leave work early today so I can beat the peak hour long weekend traffic and head to Seattle Cycle to pick up my tailbag and chain lock/alarm. Then back to the Eastside to pick up last minute things for the trip like cash/cigarettes/chocolate/money and to plan out my routes in better detail.

I’m excited! This is the first long journey I’ve taken since last November. :) I’m a bit worried about dealing with drunk tourists and crippling heights with my vertigo, but I figure I can’t let that stop me and not do the ride I’ve wanted to do for so long. And unfortunately, I’m “credit-card camping” so it will set me back a good bit, but it’ll be money well spent.