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Hey Dude, you're over the hill... August 15, 2008Leave a comment  View More Images I know, I know... a lot of you are out there saying, "hey, he's almost 50!" I can hear my friend Ed Quesada saying the Dude part. All I can say to Ed is that I will never be as old as you! Ha ha.. My hill today it Snoqualmie Pass, on the backbone of the Pacific Crest Trail. I left Terri and Mike's house this morning and made a quick jaunt over to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Well, not exactly a quick trip. Maybe in a car, but not so on my bicycle! Maneuvering the roads of Seattle with a GPS that doesn't care which hill lies in front of you. Only the shortest roué, hills included! I met Bonnie Dunbar, former astro and the current President of the museum. Her administrative assistant, Linda Kennedy came from the Johnson Space Center Astronaut appearance office and handles a lot of the events. She gave me a call the other day and asked if I could stop by and speak with the students attending an aerospace summer camp. I spent about 30 minutes talking about my background and answering questions. Great group of kids and staff. Thanks for sharing your time with me. From there I used Bonnie's directions to navigate through Renton and up between two mountains to Issaquah on I-90. I had a hankering for Vietnamese food, so I used my GPS for what I have found is an excellent feature! Search engine!! Pho Hoa, only .39 miles to the east. Yee haa. Grilled pork with vermicelli and a bubble smoothie!! How decadent. From there I located a local bike shop. LBS for those that like acronyms! And all of those at NASA are saying, "yeah man, give me more acronyms, we don't have enough!" The guys in the shop gave me good advice about going up the pass and using the shoulder I-90 some and side roads as they occur. Never used the bike trail as I was told it was dirt. Didn't even bother looking for it! The side roads were excellent and afforded me the opportunity to get away from the interstate traffic! Not scary, just way too loud. Ear plugs would be nice! Lots of rocks and assorted junk on the side of the ride. I have been fortunate so far not to get a flat, considering how much stuff I have run over. Watch what will happen to tomorrow, I will get a flat. Jinx... The ride up the pass wasn't as bad as I anticipated. The grade was relatively shallow, mostly around 2-3%. Here's today's math tickler... how do you determine the grade of a road? How many vertical feet per mile do you have to climb to achieve 1%, 2%, or 10%? I jumped off the interstate at every possible point and still heading in the general direction of the pass. I came through the town of North Bend on Hwy 202. Great flat stretch of road. Gotta run and get my laundry. More to follow.... I stopped a few times and got some pictures of the bike at strategically scenic spots (i.e. in the shade and a place to sit). The temperature peaked at 100 today! Ultra yucky! Anyone remember the line from Good Morning Vietnam? "It's hot, *amn hot! Hot and wet." It was hot and I was wet! Soaking wet. I bought one of those little gizmos called a GUTR. A little rubber sweat band with a gutter in it. It's meant to keep the sweat out of your eyes by letting it drip out the ends rather than down your face.. Whoever made it must not have ridden a bicycle, because it does a great job of funneling the sweat right into your eyes in copious quantities. It seems that hanging your head in a riding position is not optimal for the gadget to work. I made a stop at the TA truck stop about mile marker 38 and met a trucker from Romania. Must have driven a long way... ;o) Great guy. We sat and discussed politics, owning your own business, why a nut like me is pedaling across the country... If you happen to catch my blog, please drop me a line and give me your name. Something Gregori, or the like... Nice guy! Prior to that I met a gent riding an old mountain bike, carrying a huge climbing pack. It seems that his seat was no longer staying attached to the seat post and kept swiveling on him. "You wouldn't happen to have an allen wrench would you," he asked. Why yes, I am carrying just about every tool known to the cycling world right here in my little panniers! We chatted a bit and then off he went to the trailhead on his bike. I continued up the pass and found a bunch of folks on a side road taking advantage of a huge water fall and deep pool. I took their picture, and any other time I would have joined them, but I was trying to get up the pass before night fall. My intent was to stay at Denny Creek campground, about 3 miles from the summit, but they were FULL!! You know what it feels like when you at the top of a 60 mile day, still another 3 miles to go with the sun setting and you have to pass up an idyllic camping spot, because everybody and their brother has crammed their motor-home into every available spot? Not good! And the remaining 3 miles were all up hill. Another math question: If I was at 1600 feet at the Denny Camp Ground and I still had another 3 miles to go, with the final elevation being 3200 feet, how many feet per mile must I climb? What grade is that? Luckily at the summit I found a room at the Summit Lodge. No AC, no cable, no problem! Just a bed and a power outlet, that is all I need. I did meet a very nice guy, Bill Marsh (like the swamp, he says). Works as a fireman and EMT for King Country. chopper pilot in Vietnam, ski area builder , all around nice guy. He had heard about my ride on the radio in Seattle and poof, there I am. He asked what he could do to support and I told him to open up a dialog through the blog with hopefully others in the Seattle area that have a passion for education. Think of creative ways we can bring math and science to the classroom. Real world examples of everyday problems and how they are solved using math and science. We can do this collectively if we can first concentrate on our own communities. GET INVOLVED! One last really weird gotcha for the day. When I checked in to the Summit Lodge, Kirstan at the desk promised to find me the best room possible, given that the AC was down. Guess the number of the room she gave me? 113! And we hadn't even discussed what I did! Wow, I flew on STS-113 and whoa, this is too freaky... Have a wonderful night and keep on keeping on. Bone Oh yeah, stats for the day... Total distance: 61.58 miles (hey, it was uphill!) Total time: 7:44:29.55 Avg pace: 7:32 / mi Avg speed: 8.0 mph (hills, lots of hills) Max speed: 31.6 mph Total calories burned: 4884 Avg heart rate: 120 bpm Max heart rate: 151 bpm (conditioning, YEAH!) Avg cadence: 64 rpm Total ascent: 5215 feet Total descent: 2329 feet More Images:              9 Comments
Aug 16, 2008 11:16 pm - Bill Marsh The guy from 'The Summit' wrote : Dear John! Just kidding! Looks like you are progressing well. I can't tell you how inspiring it was to meet you Friday evening. God has blessed this earth with the gift of 'you'! My entire family, as well as many of my fire service buddies will be following your progress. They all wish you well! "God speed!" Your friend! Bill Marsh like in swamp PS - Please let us know if we can be of assistance.
Aug 16, 2008 5:18 pm - DannyO wrote : Excellent work, man. Thanks for taking us along on your journey. Go goat-boy, go!
Aug 16, 2008 4:41 pm - The Barrett Boys wrote : Hi John! It was so cool to meet you today at the Thorpe fruit stand in Ellensburg! What an awesome journey you are on. We read your mission and blog today and can't wait to follow your daily travels. I can't wait to work on the cool math problems tonight with my Papa! Oh, and 13 is one of our family numbers! 4 is our other favorite Thanks for the sticker! Cade Barrett, 9 Washington Cade Barrett, 9
Aug 16, 2008 10:16 am - TJ wrote : Hey John, Im right behind you, but first i'm taking the family to wildwaves on Saturday. Then we are going horseback riding in Leavenworth on Sunday. Heather and the kids say hi.
Aug 16, 2008 10:04 am - Alicia wrote : beautiful pictures! just like a motorcycle fiend, putting your bike in the foreground of all of them ;- Can you describe the little solar panel set up you show in your pictures for us in your next blog? We're eagerly following your journey and can't wait for the next post!
Aug 16, 2008 9:30 am - L-A wrote : Bone - Max heart rate 151? You were way above that on EVA1 - before we ever went outside! Seriously, it's great to follow you on this terrestrial adventure. You're inspiring a lot of people in many ways; keep up the great work! p.s. You ought to measure your VO2max when you're done and see how it compares to your exercise pre-breathe prescription.
Aug 16, 2008 8:23 am - Joe Huwaldt wrote : John! You rode through my old hiking grounds. I know that valley well the I-90 corridor . At least everything should be downhill tomorrow today . Joe
Aug 16, 2008 8:21 am - ALaura Gilliland Askins wrote : We are so proud of you John! I could think of no better person to represent our Native American People and the wonderful United States of America. Your mission to educate our young people across the United States and encourage them is outstanding! Add a comment: |
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Bone - Great progress! I could almost HEAR that waterfall. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for the "problems" I'll probably fall asleep NOT! trying to work out in my head!!! Grrrr... : Ongwamisin, little bro.