i keep wondering if i am on track........ and then something appears in front of me to answer the question. enjoy the moment in front of you. slow down! easy to say.

the campground was less than 20 miles away so i wasn't in a huge rush to get peddling this morning. the one thing i wasn't looking forward to again was getting on the freeway for another 10 miles or so. least favorite part of the trip so far and it was uneventful.

leaving the dalles to get on the freeway, joe citizen cop pulls up beside me and starts lecturing me. *i try not to put my life in danger anymore. i certainly don't put my life in anybody else's hands. i don't willy nilly blow through stop signs while riding my bike.* so it's still pretty early on a weekday and not much traffic on the backroads to the freeway. i have a loaded bike that takes a little effort to get going from a stop. add a hill to the equation, and it gets even harder. so i am climbing up a hill and in the middle of it is a stop sign. as i approach the 4 way, i look all around and there are 3 stop signs between myself and a car. i continue to pedal. no danger to anybody.  

well that car had citizen cop in it. i didn't think anything of it. i am just observing my surroundings and getting comfortable in the cockpit. i was adjusting my mirror and noticed a car was behind me and wouldn't go around. some people are afraid to pass and it makes me nervous when a car is hanging out right behind me. i hug the curb a little more. nothing. won't pass. ugh. i go another block with the car following me and then pull off in a driveway and stop, expecting the car to keep going. it didn't.

this man starts telling me everything i have done wrong for the last half mile. *shut up miguel. you don't have to say anything. great job!* just to let everyone know, i should have gotten a ticket for running the stop sign and impeding traffic. impeding traffic because i 'left the bike lane 3 times.' count it. 3. i am sure i did to avoid something. whatever. it sure seemed like i ruined this guys day. i have been a shit head like that before; made sure the other person knew they had done something wrong; even having done the same thing hours before im sure.

something to think about for an hour while peddling down the freeway........

i love my life when i don't always have to be 'right.' and i am not perfect! i did something wrong that was seemingly minor to me; it was a big deal to someone else. was it an over reaction? it seemed like it to me. maybe the guys kid was hit by a cyclist who ran a stop sign? i don't need to know why this was such a huge deal. I just need to have compassion and empathy for this person. nothing more, nothing less.  bottom line is i was wrong.

i got off the freeway onto a country road parallel to the freeway. it is so much more peaceful and enjoyable. it was another couple miles to deschutes river state park. i was excited to be close to the water tonight. i was riding the loop, looking at which site I wanted, and noticed a huge moving truck. as i got closer i could see a nice camp kitchen setup. 4 industrial propane griddles, food warmers,  everything. they saw my bike and flagged me down.

they were the caterer's for an Adventure Cycling Ass. fully supported tour. the food smelled great. we bsed a bit and let each other know what was going on. i am using the Adventure Cycle maps for this trip. only a couple days into a 3 month trip. they started over 20 years ago; cooking a meal here and there and fell in love with the community. now it's like 6-10 full tours a year, all over the western states. they told me dinner was at 6 and check in with the girls down at the group site. sweet!!

i was greeted with 2 huge smiles and "oh, a real tourist" ???? they were unloading riders luggage from a uhaul and wanted to know everything. they reiterated to setup anywhere in the group area and dinner was at 6 and breakfast at 7. sweet. one of the women had done P2P and wanted to know more about my rando bag from swift industries. soon cyclist on nice, LIGHT road bikes started to show up from the days ride.

what a neat setup. for a while i was trying to figure out how to tour on my carbon fiber 'race' bike. this is how you do it. pay a little money for sherpas. here is their routine: repack your large duffel bag with clothes, tent, whatever else you brought and set next to uhaul. coffee at 6.30. breakfast at 7. start riding when you are ready. map of the day's ride all planned out. chaser vehicles with bike racks. bike mechanic on crew. lunch packed for you. most days are 50 miles. one 80 mile day. reach camp and locate your duffel. shower. setup. etc. eat dinner. 'map meeting' for next days ride. more or less you just need to worry about riding. this is awesome!

i got to talking with one man that had done 4-5 of these tours. he said the food was the best so far. i had gotten some fresh food i had to cook so i was a bit bummed.

we each have our own way of doing things, and the most important thing is that you are doing it!

running into the ACA group was great and i got nothing done i wanted to. it was great talking bikes, life, bikes, touring, etc. i wanted to work on my website the last couple nights and got to my stopping point exhausted and needing to do the life supporting things like shower, eat, tune up bike, eat, eat, etc.

went to sleep listening to the river and looking at half moon and stars!! decided to wake up to a day of rest!!