After leaving the Idaho Biker Bunnies I went to Big Twin BMW in Boise to get an oil change. While there I met up with four other cyclists going to the BMW Owners Group Rally in Redmond (15 miles from Bend). We rode like the wind through the beautiful rolling canyons along the Malheur River trying to beat the clock to a safe hotel before sundown. This was my first experience riding in the post-sunset hour, which is when wildlife is most active. Fortunately, we all made it intact to an old-fashioned motel in Burns, Oregon just as the gleamings of sunlight vanished for good. Here’s a video of the five of us over breakfast the next morning.

TV interview

The next day (7/14/10) I rode into Bend to be greeted by my co-author, Matt Davio, and a news reporter from the local NBC affiliate. Still working on getting a “free” copy of that. Also in on that interview was Dr. William Schmitt, an oncologist with Bend Memorial Clinic. He talked about how important breast cancer fundraising has been in the fight against ALL cancers, saying that scientific discoveries made on breast cancer had informed other treatments. He observed that because breast cancer most often strikes women, who are the center of family life, it is an emotionally-laden disease and ripe for fundraising. I was pleased to learn this because I do hear the occasional grouse that breast cancer fundraising somehow crowds out fundraising for other diseases.

Meet Matt Rich

My spouse , Matt, joined me in Bend for most of the visit and we had a nice time relaxing in each other’s company — something we haven’t done without our children in tow in five years.

The Trading Desk

Also joining our merry band of travelers in Bend is a friend from SC, David Buffalo, who is also a financial trader (like Matt Davio). David and I were guests on Matt’s TV show, The Trading Desk and here’s a section where I talk about the book, Tradeoffs:

Cascade Cycling Classic

One of the highlights of the visit was participating in the Cascade Cycling Classic as a motor marshal! Now you first must understand that I didn’t know the official name, motor marshal, all I knew from being exposed to professional bicycling was that all the races used BMW motorcyclists to run with the chase cars and I thought that would be cool to do “a little something” for the scrapbook. When the organizers asked me to carry a passenger I took a mental gulp and said I would if they could find a skinny one (I’d never carried one before). So they said I could carry the “whiteboard gal,” assuring me she weighed no more than 120. This video takes it from there:

Bend’s lava fields

At the top of the climb we came to the famous Lava Fields — my first real encounter with them. In Idaho I saw thousands of miles of it, but that’s for another blog post!

Next up, another tour of Idaho with the Biker Bunnies.