Don's Writing Reboot

 I loaded up my bike with all the bags that I will be using for bikepacking and went for a training spin on the cold wet roads.I found the loaded bike rode very comfortably and was surprised that there wasn’t more sluggishness. Maybe when I add water bottles and food and a few other odds and ends I’ll find that it’s a little bit more cumbersome but so far it rides like a charm. Well almost like a charm. This morning I went for a ride and before I even got out of Gearhard there was a traffic jam on the highway. I slow down and rode beside the cars on the generous bike path trying to pass them. When I got to the front car that seem to be stalled in the in the traffic lane, I discovered the reason for the slow down.  Standing in front of me was an elk. When I say standing in front of me I mean literally standing in front of me, about 6 feet away. I stopped and stared him in the eye he looked skittish but was not interested in my bicycle and was not interested in the bright green ...

 I have been getting ready for the Trans American bike race (TABR) for the past two years no make that four years. At first it was laziness and busyness and too many things going on in life and not wanting to ride my bicycle all that far, but then when I decided I really wanted to do the ride it was Covid and the pandemic that stopped me. Once I had decided that I was really going to do TABR once and for all, I found that I was living in limbo and I didn’t want to train I just wanted to ride. I finally settled on training in the northwest at the site of the start of TABR. My friend Pat lives in Gearhart  and she invited me to stay at her house while I was getting ready. So I find myself in Gearhart  getting in shape by riding  every day and fiddling with my bike to get it tuned so that it feels road ready and I can chase the pack (the lead pack) on the 2022 Transamerica bike race. In two weeks we will be starting from the Maritime Museum in Astoria. I am looking forw...