Originally intended to be a variety show of a podcast, this has mostly just become tales of bikepacking in various forms.
Phil, your host!
Last year I was about to start a major undertaking (medical school), so I decided to embark on a cross country bike trip between leaving work and starting class. You can find journal entries from that trip here.
Fast forward to the present, and I’ve finished my first year (whew!). I’ve already written off any of the uber-competitive specialties which require it’s hopefuls to undertake various perfunctory resume-padding activities such as research and publishing. As far as I’m concerned, at this point, life’s too short for jumping through unnecessary hoops in the name of prestige or competitiveness. I’d rather just ride my bike. So that’s what I’m doing.
In the ~2months I have before going back to school, I’ll be spending 5 or 6 weeks bikepacking through the Pacific Northwest, piecing together the fabled Oregon Outback route and the Cross Washington Mountain Bike route. Come along for the ride.
The route
This is the rough route I’ll be traveling: Oregon Outback route from Klamath Falls to Biggs Junction, then a DIY route to Tri-cities area and then north to Moses Lake, picking up the Cross Washington MTB route. Originally I was going to do the whole XWA route but decided to skip eastern Washington ;-)
Native Land App
It’s important to me to reflect on the history of forced removal and relocation that occurred in the US, especially during the period of westward expansion.
Native Land is an app to help map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages.