Whom you meet on a bike

Mia

Been a couple long days since I've posted. It's tough finding wifi out here. But I'm back for better or worse.

I've been playing phone tag with the MDA to raise my goal, since all my generous friends have broken through the $5,000 I first set. So, until I get it changed, let's just say it's $10,000. Ambitious! If you've already given, don't feel obligated -- and if you haven't given, likewise, don't feel obligated. Let's just see what happens. Here's the button: JON'S MDA DRIVE.

I was written up in the Lewiston Tribune the other day: https://lmtribune.com/northwest/jon-olson-just-keeps-pushing-on/article_5ea8a78d-6027-51d3-839e-cf1e8b4df47d.html

The article has an MDA link, but it's not MY link, so if you give, use the one above!

I had a couple of long days. I was advised at the bike store back in Lewiston to stay off the Lewiston departure route my maps recommended, so, two days ago, I went to Winchester, somewhat south, instead. It brought me through Nez Perce territory, where historical markers along the road tell a story that probably the Nez Perce themselves wouldn't tell, a story emphasizing white men who knew the Nez Perce, the arduous task of building tunnels for the railroad, and other notes that featured few Nez Perce. I didn't see one that mentioned Chief Joseph, who led a brilliant running retreat to save his people from annihilation by the U.S. Army in 1877.  There may have been a plaque like that, but I didn't see it.

Saturday's ride featured a pastoral morning -- easy, interesting riding -- followed by a brutal, 13-mile climb up a mild grade that just never stopped and killed me by inches. Yesterday, after heat and hills, I had a thrilling 9-mile descent into the nice little town of Kamiah, where I am now. The road was like a country lane that wound among the trees in beautiful, graceful arcs.

In the Winchester state park, as I was getting ready to go yesterday morning, Mia (above) and her father Omar came to visit. Omar said they'd seen me in the paper and he asked about the trip and was impressed with the MDA effort. We chatted, and then when I was leaving, Mia and Omar and her mom, Jana, met me on the way out and gave me the purple shirt, a shirt from her school. So nice of them -- and I needed a new long-sleeve shirt! Maybe they noticed the putrid state of the white one I'd been wearing. They met me again at the store at the entry to the park and bought me rolls and orange juice. Omar said they lived in Lewiston and often came to the park.

Lin Tull Cannell

The day before,  I'd stopped at a marker about William Craig, a pioneer who married a Nez Perce woman in the late 1830s and settled among her people. A car parked behind me and a couple approached. The woman said she'd seen me in the paper. They were Lin Tull Cannell and her husband, Merk. She's written a book on Craig: "The Intermediary: William Craig Among the Nez Perce" and was doing further research, looking for his grave. (See the book at  https://www.amazon.com/Intermediary-William-Craig-Among-Perces/dp/0945648456/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=lin+tull+cannell&qid=1560782629&s=gateway&sr=8-1) They were from Orofino, the major city within the Nez Perce reservation.

Bob Blakey

I met Bob Blakey at the Lewiston bike store, and later he rode out to the campground. He had a lot of information about bike routes, all of which bore out. He rides an electric bike -- said he'd lost a lot of weight riding -- and, as a member of the Lewiston City Council, had fought for electric bikes to be recognized as non-motorized vehicles so they could be used on the bike trails. He wished me well and rode off home.

Rick

Rick was my driver to and from downtown Lewiston on laundry day. He had called me on the way to the campground saying he'd be late because barbed wire was pulled across the road. It wasn't just barbed wire -- a car parked in the lot above had come too close to the edge and tumbled down the steep hillside and come to rest against the guard rail, pulling the wire fencing with it. They were still wrestling with the car when we returned to town. Rick seems to like his job, and was looking forward to a Saturday shift when he would bring a group to the Spokane airport -- for him, a lucrative trip. His employer is Canters Cab -- three drivers and two cars. In a land where Uber and Lyft have yet to make serous inroads, Canters does the job.

So that's it. The Lolo Pass looms ahead and commerce becomes sparser. I'll be back when I can.