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From John and Terre DeVilbiss - Our Rendezvous in the Cascade Mountains

My wife, Terre and I are friends of Chuck and Cathy and have known them for many years. We live in the Rogue River valley in southwest Oregon and planned to meet up with Chuck and Leah four or five days into their trip. We, along with our yellow Labrador retriever, Mardy, would meet at one of the Suttle Lake campgrounds on the Deschutes National Forest after they crossed Santiam Pass and came down the east side of the Cascade mountains. When we arrived at the campgrounds (July 18th, the day before Chuck and Leah were to arrive) all sites were occupied or reserved (it was Friday, after all) except for a few "First Come-First Served" sites, several very steep "up & down"miles off the main highway. We decided to change locations and began driving west to intercept them. At Santiam Pass we were able to catch a cell phone signal and leave a message for Chuck. Within minutes our phone rang; it was Chuck calling. He had not received our message, but was calling on his own to touch base with us. They were having a late breakfast at the Rustic Skillet restaurant and were wondering where we happened to be. They were getting ready to get back on the road so we told them we'd drive west until we crossed paths.

About 40 miles west of Santiam Pass we caught up with them riding along the McKenzie River under clear skies and sunny weather. It was great meeting Leah whom we had not met before and seeing Chuck for the first time in several years since our last trip to Colorado. They were in high spirits and seemed to be taking the miles in stride. After looking at the miles to go and the time of day, we decided to spend the night at the Ice Cap campground in the Willamette National Forest, about 16 miles west of the pass. To make their remaining 20 plus miles easier for them we offered to carry their bags and packs in our VW camper back to camp. Chuck remarked something about the objective for the trip is to get to Bar Harbor, Maine, not necessarily to carry the bags all the way, and agreed to passing on their cargo. It was just as well because within a few miles of our meeting spot, the gradient of the highway began pitching upward, significantly increasing in elevation as they cycled up the west side of the Cascade mountains.

We drove to the Ice Cap campground and claimed one of the three remaining camp sites. Several hours later Chuck and Leah came breezing into camp looking for the cold beer that had been promised them. We had a great time together around camp catching up on their bike experiences and plans ahead. It was interesting hearing Leah's stories, including those of her travels and work in photography. Also, it was a kick hearing about Chuck's twilight hours with the BLM. After relaxing in camp for a while, we took a hike to the nearby Koosah Falls and reservoir on the McKenzie River. Back at camp we started preparations for dinner in the camper as Leah and Chuck set up their respective tents. Dinner was Italian chicken sausage in a tomato sauce, polenta, and vegetables and wine. They brought their endless appetites.

Over dinner and into the evening we regaled one another with stories of our various travels and whatever amounts of road wisdom we had come upon. It was fun comparing the "cardio-vascular" adventure of bicycling coast-to-coast with each of our past experiences from many backpacking trips and climbs in the Rockies and beyond. That lead us to the question: When one cannot hike, climb, or bike any farther, is it the body that can't go farther or the mind that "says" it has gone as far as it can? How can one tell the difference? These camp ramblings had a certain "immediacy" about them as the following morning Chuck and Leah would be tackling their first serious mountain pass cycling on their 16 mile climb to the summit of Santiam Pass. Of course, it was to be just the first of many mountain passes to come.

Generally, we concluded that the mind is ready to call it quits before the body is unable to go any farther. One question lead to another, and the conversation moved on to the challenges of training the mind to avoid or lessen the "mind-games" involved in pushing hard on one's physical capabilities. How does one train the mind to be the "objective" referee between that part of the mind that wants to stop and the body that is capable of pushing on? These musings lead into a discussion of Buddhism, something akin to The Zen of Bicycling Coast-to-Coast. Finally, the miles caught up with all of us, especially the two who did all the work that day, and we turned in for the night.

The next morning after breakfast we took another walk to Koosah Falls for some pictures. Back at camp, Leah and Chuck were ready to go. We offered, and they accepted, for us to carry their bicycle bags in the VW while they made a "sprint" for Santiam Pass. We would meet them at the pass, hand off the bags, and have our farewell. They would head east, and we would turn west.

Since there was no possibility of hitting a cell phone tower along that stretch of highway, Chuck made his best guess on when they would reach the pass. We would wait until about that time, then drive up to meet them. We didn't want to get ahead of them and then not be able to respond if they happened to need assistance coming up from behind. As it turned out, we got to Santiam Pass within minutes of when they arrived. After the handoff of bags and last minute photos, they were on their bikes and headed down the east side of the Cascade mountains. As they went around the first bend and out of sight, we headed west. What we didn't know then, of course, was that within minutes of parting company they would have their blown tire problem on Leah's bike.

It was a wonderful rendezvous in the mountains. Since then we have found ourselves wondering aloud, where might they be camping tonight? We'll continue wondering as they lay down the miles day after day, all the way across America.