Johnnie Moss

In May 1994 i was preparing to ride a week long Seattle to Spokane bicycle ride called Trek Washington. I had previously worked as road staff on the ride, and related rides.  I knew many of the volunteers and HAM radio operators.

One of them, Anthony, KB7UQY, announced that he was going to lead a training ride on Memorial Day. Anthony was a great guy and his ride was popular; many people signed up because the ride was up Hurricane Ridge on the Olympic Peninsula.  One of the important parts of riding across the state of Washington, and the most concerning for most people, was crossing the mountains.  In mid-June we were going to ride over the North Cascades Highway: it's two mountain passes at 4,500 and 5,500 feet, so getting some climbing training was important.

Anthony was a monster rider; he once told me that he didn't feel like it was worth going out for a ride shorter than 140 miles. Our upcoming ride, Trek Washington, was on a different scale: 385 miles across the state of Washington in six 60 mile days.

He had planned to start this Memorial Day "training" ride at the Dungeness Spit in Sequim, quite a long way from Hurricane Ridge. When people saw that, many canceled.  I told him that i thought it was because a lot of people were going to have problems with an 85 mile ride that included a 6,000 foot climb.  He told me he thought i could do it. I thought i could too, that wasn't the point.

My friend Dianne and her new boyfriend Micheal decided to ride from Seattle to Port Angeles the day before the ride, camp, do the climb, then ride home the following day.  I thought that was a neat idea!   When i talked to them, they didn't really know how far it was to PA and they were traveling very light, planning on going out to eat while they were there, but they were excited and ready to play it by ear.

I was very excited about the ride. On the morning of the ride an acquaintance named Kirk picked me up in his van and drove me to Sequim. His wife and kids came along in the van, they were going to spend the day having fun, and then meet Kirk at the top.  When we arrived at Dungeness Spit, only a handful of people had showed up.

I was somewhat surprised to see Johnnie Moss (KB7CTI, now a silent key) in the parking lot preparing his bicycle. Johnnie, as well as a committed HAM, was a committed bicyclist. He found it a great way to manage his diabetes, but he also loved it and rode many organized rides with a passion. But Johnnie was a very large man and people who didn't know him were always very surprised to see him on a bicycle.

"I need the training." He told me that morning. Certainly, we all did, but i was still surprised to see him on a ride this intense.  It took quite some effort for Johnnie to get over the big climbs and he was extremely slow.  But he loved to go fast on the downhills. Once, when i met him at the bottom of Stevens Pass after a ride he walked up to me, got right in my face and said "FIFTY-FOUR!"  Johnnie was a challenging person and lots of people had a tendency to avoid him.  I'm ashamed to say i did a little as well, although i felt something of a connection, perhaps just through the Aspergers.

As we prepared to set out from the parking lot in Sequim it was about 70 degrees with bright sunshine, we were all wearing short sleeve jerseys and shorts. I had a pair of tights with me and a heavy fleece jacket for the descent.

Kirk and i rode out together.   But first, i had this great idea, i gave my heavy fleece jacket to Kirk's family to carry in the van for me.  I would get it from them at the top, for the ride down.

It was a gorgeous ride, 35 miles on the old highway from Sequim to Port Angeles, through farmland sprinkled with forest and peek-a-boo water views across to Victoria. Kirk and i quickly dropped back from Anthony's bunch and rode together. Johnnie soon dropped back behind us.  Of course we left the rain shadow, and as soon as we turned towards the National Park in Port Angeles it started to rain pretty hard. Kirk and i started climbing and it kept getting colder. We never saw Johnnie.

The first part of the climb is a very steep, short section that gets you up to about 1,500 feet.  We met Dianne and Micheal pulling out of the campground at 1,200 feet. They looked awful.  They had had a very difficult ride up the night before at the end of the 90 miles from Seattle.  They didn't realize that the campground was a couple of hours ride from town, and up 1,500 feet, so for dinner they had eaten all of their food for the climb, they were heading up with nothing to eat. The four of us rode together in the rain.  The rain turned to sleet as it got colder at the higher elevations.

By the time we got to the National Park ticket booth it was sleeting and snowing pretty hard and i knew i was going to wind up hypothermic if i continued riding.  I wanted so badly to ride this climb, but, sadly, i sent Kirk & Dianne & Michael to ride on and i stopped to wait for Kirk's wife to drive by with my jacket. I stood, kind of dejected, under the overhang at the Park entrance for what seemed like hours and hours, waiting, while tourists in rental cars and RVs drove through, heading for the top.

The rangers kept giving me the evil eye. The snow continued and even got heavier. I did wonder a bit how Johnnie had gotten in front of me, because he never passed the ticket booth. Somehow he must have gotten ahead and was pushing it up the mountain in his typical, surprising, but dedicated way.

I waited a long time.  Almost 2 hours.  Eventually, Kirk's wife and kids came and gave me my jacket.  They also gave me a sandwich.  It was late in the day and she offered me a ride to the top. I had a hard time deciding, because i really wanted to complete the ride, but it didn't seem like the best idea.  I ate the sandwich trying to convince myself to make the intelligent decision and climb in the van.  Finally i just jumped on the bike and took off into the falling snow, heading up the 4,500 climb feet to the top. I don't think i even said goodbye!

I struggled, of course.  I took a few short rests, but i just turned the cranks and pushed on up the hill. It was a hard climb and i was rather enjoying it.  This is a steep road, but there were no sweeping views today, the visibility in the falling snow ranged from a couple hundred feet to maybe 20 feet at times. A few vehicles came up through the snow and quickly disappeared ahead of me, but mostly i was alone in the small bubble of visibility around me. The snow was coming down hard and every time an RV passed me, i'm sure they were talking about how crazy i was. Riding alone is always harder than riding with others, but i really wanted to make it to the top. I had wanted to do this ride ever since i had moved to Washington.  I don't know how long i rode alone, but it was quite a while. 

Eventually a bicyclist sped downhill out of the falling snow, passed me and disappeared below, descending quite fast. Then another. And another. They were swallowed by the falling flakes.  And then the rest of the group came towards me, including Kirk, Micheal and Dianne. They had reached the top and turned around to for the long ride back to Sequim. Anthony pulled up to a stop next to me facing downhill, blocking my path.

We were filling the middle of the narrow mountain the road with a crowd of snow covered bicyclists.  They had been worried about me, they were happy to see me. Kirk was not with them, he had figured the descent would be too dangerous and had thrown his bike in the van and the family had headed back to Seattle.

The group told me the snow got heavier as they got higher. Everyone was eager to be down in the sun again. Micheal and Dianne were wet and cold and hungry and told me they had no food for dinner but were going to huddle in their tent overnight.  They were all telling me that i just HAD to turn around. Insisting that i turn around right there, midway up the climb.

They were right of course. Anthony is a lawyer.  He was making a very good case. Not only would it be dark before i got back to Sequim, but i wouldn't even have a ride home to Seattle. And riding alone, aside from being not much fun, isn't very safe.  Nevertheless i was fighting them, i wanted to get to the top.

While we were arguing i was worried about what would happen if a car came while we were all standing in the middle of the snowy road like that, and sure enough a car's headlights showed through the falling snow as it approached from below us, coming uphill around the curve. Dejected, i pulled to the side of the road and prepared to turn around. The car pulled up, and instantly, without needing an explanation of the situation, Johnnie Moss stuck his head out the driver's window and ended the discussion.

Johnnie looked right at me and said - "GO!  I'm with you."

I was overjoyed, i almost teared up, but i didn't wait even a second, i just started turning the cranks uphill, while the rest of the group continued descending. Johnnie supported me the rest of the way, leapfrogging, pulling into turnouts and even offering me food and water. It took another hour but i pushed it up to the parking lot at the top.

I had never been up Hurricane Ridge before, by bike, car, bus or anything else. The snow was so heavy that i couldn't see across the parking lot, i rolled up to where Johnnie was stopped and asked him, "Isn't there a lodge or something up here?"  It was not visible. He pointed and i rode the 200 feet across the parking lot.  I leaned my bike against the railing and went inside.

All the people in bermuda shorts from the RVs and rental cars stared at me as i walked in, snow dripping off my helmet and ordered five cheeseburgers. One for Johnnie, two (garden burgers) for me and two for my unprepared camping friends. When i came out with the food, Johnnie had already loaded my bike onto his car.   We headed down the hill, stopping briefly at the campsite to deliver food to to a very thankful wet couple in a tent.

Johnnie told me that less than half way to Port Angeles he realized this ride was not for him and he turned around and rode back to Sequim, packed up and got in his car. As we drove back through Sequim we passed a rainbow. Johnnie drove me all the way back to Seattle.

But there is one more part of the story -- after we got off the ferry we were driving north on Alaskan Way when someone ran a stop sign at Clay Street. I looked up and a car was coming down the hill at 40 mph directly at me, it was going to T-bone the car, right at my seat. Johnnie, calmly zigged and zagged through traffic, i honestly don't know what he did, it seemed like magic, to avoid the impending doom.

I told him he'd saved my life TWICE that day.

Off the Freeway

I work at a bicycle advocacy organization. Among my tasks is answering telephone and email questions about bicycling in general and frequently those questions are about possible routes.

Today i got a request from a father in Bellingham (far in northwest Washington) who had a wonderful idea as a parent. His son graduated from high school last month and is heading off to college next month. As a way of symbolizing the rite of passage, and a (possibly last) chance to spend some time together, they decided to bicycle together to his university, WSU (in the far southeast corner of the state). I thought it was a great idea. (He seemed to need my encouragement.)  Neither are serious bicyclists, but they've been enjoying riding together the last year or so and decided to take on this very big undertaking (It's 400 miles or more).

His reason for calling was a routing question. He said,

"I know we go 100 miles down Interstate 5 to Seattle, get on Interstate 90 and go east a couple hundred miles, but i don't know where to go once i get out towards Spokane, can you tell me what turn to take?

There was a long, long pause as i gathered my thoughts and prepared for a nasty conflict.

The route he was suggesting was awful: 5 to 8 days of really miserable riding on Interstate freeways.  This is not that unusual; many people forget to stop thinking like a car when they get on a bike. Still, i was shocked... and nervous. I had a good suggestion for that last day of riding, (there is also a major highway similar to his suggestions) but i also had half a dozen much better routes to suggest for the first week.

I took a deep breath and started in... Stevens Pass, North Cascades Highway, White Pass, Chuckanut Drive, The Skagit Valley, The Centennial Trail, back roads, country roads, bike trails, away from the highways. Quiet roads.

I finished my monologue and prepared for the response. People get very defensive about routes and it's a strangely common reaction to be pretty angry at the suggestion of quieter routes.

I was met with silence. A long silence. A concerning silence. I wasn't even sure he was still there.

Finally he said,

"I'm really embarrassed, i've lived here my whole life and it never occurred to me that there was any other way to get to Seattle except on I-5... of course it would be nicer to ride on some of those other roads."

And why don't more people bike?

I've had the same experience in Seattle with new or prospective cyclists asking me about routes around town, assuming that the ONLY option was the nasty, clogged, smelly, loud, intense, motor filled arterial. Forgetting that the quiet streets, the neighborhoods, the pleasant and interesting streets even exist. Missing the point.

Cyclists need to stop thinking like cars. Actually i think everyone: city planners, drivers, developers, pedestrians, EVERYONE needs to stop thinking like cars, but it's amazing how often i see cyclists stuck in that car-think.   

The Best Sound

The best sound in the world:  rain.

The worst sound in the world: chain saw.

Mark & Emily's new Kayak Trailer!

I have been dreaming about having a kayak trailer for my bike for about 7 years -- at least since the day in the late 90s when i saw a Farington Chariot at a kayak shop in Sitka Alaska. I waffled for a while, but when i decided to buy the Chariot a few years ago, the company was gone. (Val at Bikesmith suspects that they lost the company in an insurance lawsuit because the web domain at one time directed to an insurance company.)

Then for quite some time i tried to build one, or to get someone to build one for me, with no luck. I spent a lot of time researching and planning it. The idea i have in my head is for two 20" or 16" bicycle wheels which are connected with a structure and some way of cradling the kayak, either a fabric hammock or a couple of lateral (running front to back) foam bars. The boat would sit with it's center of gravity on the axle between the wheels. Then it could be pushed or pulled like a cart, or attached to a bicycle. My friend David has talked of building a trailer with a very high axle so that one kayak or canoe can be put on top and the other suspended with straps below the axle.

The big challenge is a connection to the bicycle. I imagine the options to be:
* axle hitch like the BOB uses - i like this but it may not be stable enough.
* chain stay connector - may need an additional front wheel
* something that connects to a rear rack
* seat tube clamp on a rising tongue.

The long tongue connecting the trailer is of course a big issue -- if you have a tongue, it has to run 8 to 10 feet under the boat to the bike and then, i assume turning up to the seat post. The tongue is the key that makes the trailer expensive and awkward. However, i have a 'Sea-Kayaker' magazine which shows directions for an easy to make hitch which attaches to the nose of a kayak, eliminating the need for the long tongue.

But this has all been solved because recently my great car-free friends Emily & Chris got interested and decided to go halfsies with me on pre-made trailer. I was absolutely thrilled to get moving on this!

We very seriously considered this trailer at Bikes At Work, and Jim was very helpful.

After a long discussion we settled on a neat trailer from a great guy named Tony Hoar in Victoria BC. Tony is a brilliant engineer who builds bikes and trailers in his one person shop, Tony's Trailers. He is also a racer who finished LAST in the Tour de France FIFTY years ago (and still races!). I thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and working with him.



So, with great excitement today we assembled and test rode our new kayak trailer!! Although late January, it was a summer-like day in the upper 60s. I quite regretted not wearing shorts.

Assembling it out of the box.

Emily has photos posted too!

Tony's innovative connector

It's very long

Comparing the length with my BOB trailer

One cool thing about this trailer is that Tony made it so that it also converts to a grocery getter model.  You just use the quick release to take a section out of the tongue and drop a Rubbermaid(tm) container on the back.  You can ride it to the grocery store, disconnect it and use it for a shopping cart!

Learning the feel of the trailer on my first test ride.

It has a surprisingly tight Turning Circle

Emily rides by with the trailer on her folder

Already advertising for Tony!

This thing gets noticed! People comment on the trailer. They stop and ask questions about it. We handed out several of Tony's business cards today just while testing it! I'm going to carry a stack of them with me whenever i take the trailer out.

Emily's boat on board, i'm ready to Go on the...

First Ride!!!

We were both a bit worried about how this very long load would navigate on city streets, especially around Seattle's neighborhood traffic circles. But the trailer tracks very nicely behind the bicycle and could get around obstacles pretty easily.

Cruising easily around a neighborhood traffic circle

This is FUN!

One really nice thing about this trailer is that the kayak sits over the axle, which carries almost all of the weight. When loaded correctly the tongue weight is almost nothing, so your seat post, the flexible tongue and the hitch don't carry any weight.

There is a large compression strap which hooks over the axle and holds the boat tightly on the foam pad across the axle. Then another compression strap goes around the nose of the boat to hold it in the Y shaped yoke. A third strap goes around the body of the boat and the tongue. This supports the flexible tongue, keeps it from bouncing (mostly) and transfers the structure to the boat. The kayak itself becomes the structural beam of the trailer!

After getting used to riding with one boat on the trailer, we started thinking about stacking the second boat. I was a little nervous about the weight involved. Emily's neighbor Stella was watching this whole process and so Emily figured she could help.

Stella paddles up Ashworth Ave!

Somewhat reassured, we put my boat on top!

Two Kayaks.

We used an old car rack set up i bought years ago. The two foam car-top frames went between the boats and a bunch of compression straps held the two boats together very well. We put a lot of straps on them, i think we can leave a couple off. We probably only need two, front and back to hold the boats together.

Going up hill wasn't really difficult with one boat, but with two boats it was a bit harder. Otherwise the stacked trailer worked great!

fully loaded

And then i headed off to ride 9 miles on the trail by Lake Union, getting quite a few stares! It was getting dark soon so i didn't get to paddle today, but i rode up to the University and out to Ballard (where i bumped into an old friend, Liz!). 

Off to the lake

I was just getting the feel for the trailer. It rode very nicely... I could tell i had a big trailer, but it wasn't unwieldy at all.


The kayak gear, flotation vests, spray skirts, paddles, dry bags, food, clothing etc get stuffed in the cockpit. I figured i would put a spray skirt over the cockpit when it was on the trailer to enclose the gear, especially if it was raining.

You'd think that with two kayaks and all the gear that the weight (about 200 lbs) and the length (about 24 feet from front wheel to the back of the kayak) would be the biggest challenges, but they were really not that noticeable.

What did require my attention was the width and the bounce. At almost 3 feet between wheels it was sometimes hard to thread through Seattle's very narrow bicycle trails, i almost hit a wheel on a wall, a tree, and a couple of bollards. It would be nice if it had a bar in front of the wheel to deflect such an impact.

And while the weight of the load wasn't a problem at all on the flats (it did make hills really big!) the heft of the thing combined with the long tongue could get a good bounce going if i didn't have a smooth pedal stroke.  On my few attempts to go up a small hill it was the bounce that stopped me before the weight became unmanageable.  I was very glad i had clipless pedals and a full pedal stroke.


And on a personal note, I noticed a very strange phenomenon, a contradiction which probably says more about my personality than it does about this wonderful new trailer.

What i noticed was my reaction to bystanders' reactions. When i rode through a middle class family neighborhood like Ballard people were amazed. They would point and shout 'oh my god he's towing kayaks!'.

My reaction (usually kept to myself) was always: 'What's the big deal? Bikes can do anything. Move along, nothing unusual here.'.

But when i went through a more jaded, younger, hipper neighborhood like Fremont and i found that no one looked up, no one noticed, no one said anything, my reaction (usually kept to myself) was: 'WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TOWING A PAIR OF KAYAKS!?!?! PAY ATTENTION!.