Day 5 – Salem, OR

Miles – 4

Ave Riding Speed – 2-20 mph

Hours Start to Finish – .25

Weather – Mostly Sunny 84

We spent the day in Salem, OR with Kim’s cousin Leslie and her husband Seth. We woke to warm chocolate chip croissants and coffee around 8:30am and great conversation around the kitchen counter as we gazed out to the quiet and large backyard garden patio. Kim threw in a load of laundry for a fresh set of clothes when we get back on the trail. Leslie mentioned to Seth that since Kim was having some issues shifting the front chainring into low we should see if a bike shop was open. Seth recommended Santiam Bicycle downtown.

I called Santiam to see if they could look at our bikes and they said to bring them in. Kim and I rode our bikes down into town around 11:00am. Downtown Salem, the capital of Oregon, was bustling as we walked into Santiam Bicycle and met Troy. Troy immediately asked what issues we were having and hoisted Kim’s bike on the stand.  He proceeded to give me a short overview of how to make the adjustments and then put my bike up on the stand and went though some more gearing options and fixed my wireless odometer setup. As he was pumping up our tires he asked where we were riding to and we gave him our story. Troy asked if we had a timeline in mind to be finished and we said we don’t have one. He also asked how many miles we are riding a day and I mentioned that we did over 75 yesterday. Tony looked at us, said that was to many and gave us some advice.  He said that he had done a similar ride in Europe many years ago and that while on the ride he had a revelation. The revelation was that we should take the time to enjoy the experience, you may never get an opportunity like this again and that 35 miles a day was a good number to plan for each day. With that he said there is no charge for the adjustments. Troy then said that we could leave our bike in the shop and we should walk the town a bit and enjoy the day.  With that Kim and I walked to a local coffee shop and had a protein smoothy on the sidewalk seating area.  Leslie soon joined us for more great conversation. 

Soon we went back to retrieve our bikes from the shop and loaded Kim’s bike in the back of Leslie’s vehicle for a car ride up the San Francisco style looking roadways.  Leslie came back and picked me and my bike up as I rode closer to home. Our bikes are currently parked in the foyer of the house.

I pulled out to our tent and laid it over some outdoor furniture to dry it out from the previous camp out.

Seth is an amazing cook and we enjoyed his spaghetti and meatballs for dinner on a table clothed outdoor concrete ping pong table on the garden patio. Not having a place to stay last night and hoofing it another 30 miles meant that we got to spend real family time together. This past 24 hours I enjoyed the girls rehashing old memories of growing up and, in some respects, all us of getting to know each other again with some depth. Pretty awesome.

Now we’re busy gathering up our gear that has seemed to have found itself strewn around the house as we get ready for an early departure. It was a great day!