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Old 07-07-22, 09:55 PM
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Doug64
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Trip report: Making a Short Story Long

My wife and I traditionally do a short tour with our daughters each summer. Occasionally we are able to include a longer rides like two months in Europe. It is all a matter of timing. The older one, Lori, is a teacher, who usually teaches summer school, and the younger one, Megan, has a busy work schedule. This year started out different than any previous year and just kept getting more challenging.

We decided on a route that offered some flexibility, and would be about ten days. We would start from our home and make a loop around the upper Willamette River Valley. There is an Oregon Scenic Bikeway at the southern end of the loop that could vary in distance when used as an out-and-back.

Lori called us about three weeks before the start date to tell us that she had tested positive for Covid. She was vaccinated and boosted, but as a teacher this was her second experience with the virus. She was pretty sure she would be well enough to ride on the start date. She is tough, and is a good athlete. She still runs marathons and participates in Spartan races. We looked at options for shortening some of the days, and eliminate hills if necessary.

Megan called two days before the start and told us she had tested positive for Covid. Her symptoms were more severe, and she was still dealing with the effects after we finished. She rooted for us from the sidelines.





At the start we had three days of 95F, which we seemed to handle pretty well. On the third day, I was struggling a little on the hills, but attributed it to the heat. Two days later, with cooler weather, we started heading north. I was struggling even harder on easier hills, and was starting to get worried. The last 18 miles to Eugene really did me in. I could not make it up the last hill. I got off the bike and tried without much success to walk it up the hill. My wife and Lori were at the top watching the struggle. My wife hopped off her bike, rolled it close to Lori to hold, and trotted down the hill. She grabbed my bike and pushed it the rest of the way to the top. I could barely walk up the last part of the hill to the top. Fortunately, the last five miles into Eugene were relatively flat. We had planned on stopping at Lori’s alma mater to see the preparations for the World Championship Track and Field events.

At pizza that evening I started shivering uncontrollably and was running a fever. Lori said that I’d probably contracted Covid, and that riding the next day “would not be smart”. We still had four days planned to get home. Luckily, we reserved two rooms when there were four of us intending to stay at the motel.

The women rented a car for the next day and shuffled some gear and me home. They went back to Eugene to return the rental car, and for the remainder or our gear and bikes. I tested positive for Covid. The other issue was a cut I got on the back of my leg during the early days of the ride. It was a minor incident, hitting the back of my leg on the chainring while moving my bike. It became seriously infected, and my lower left leg had swollen to about twice its normal size. It was hard to sort out the Covid symptoms from those of the infection. The antibiotics seem to be working on the infection, but I’m waiting for my energy to return.

As we headed home we realized how lucky we were to be at a location that we could get rooms, medical care, medications and transportation. Thanks to two smart, strong and capable women things turned out OK.

Last edited by Doug64; 07-07-22 at 10:08 PM.
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