Greyhound policy is, no box, no bike. They simply will not put a bike on their buses without it being packed in a box. Trouble is, the one bike shop in Baker City was closed when I got there and would still be closed while the next two busses came and went. Two busses out of the two that come through. It was pouring and I had nowhere to stay (nearest camp ground was two miles out of town and I wasn't exactly mobile). In a stark contrast to the instant helpfulness of the smaller towns, the eastbound driver answered my request to take the bike before I opened my mouth. Seeing I was standing next to a bike and was about to ask him something, he said, "Nope. Gotta be in a box." End of discussion.
So I decided to go drink.
I thought I had gotten out of the worst part of the bind but Baker City felt more like a step backward. Nothing comes or goes in Baker City but Greyhound. You can't buy a ticket online and the desk was closed. The only busses are at 9am and 11pm. There was a 50% chance I couldn't buy a ticket (maybe from the driver?). And there was a 99.99% chance they wouldn't let me on with the bike if I could. Baker City is mediocre at best and the truck stop/bus station was several rungs below that.
Hence the drinking. It wouldn't give me an answer but it might make me feel better about the problem.
After a couple rounds at the pub, and giving my server a list of places to go on her visit to SF next month (La Trappe, Golden Boy, Zeitgeist, Philz), I went back to the truck stop and got enough cash for the ticket to Portland and some more to bribe the driver for my bike. I waited there with a great guy with a couple teeth who, despite his severely disheveled appearance, was clearly a loving husband and was very sweet when talking to his wife on the phone. We waited and 11pm came and went, as did 12 and then 1am came along and kidnapped 2am and they all left without bringing a bus. 3am stumbled in a little late (possibly worried about 2am's kidnapping) and I started to wonder why I was still sitting there. But shockingly, around 3:15 the bus showed up.
In possibly the luckiest single episode I've ever experienced, the bus driver was totally new to the job and he didn't know that I wasn't allowed to take my bike as it was. So he said, "yeah, I think we can make that fit." Brilliant.
Greyhound, of course, sucks. $80 to get from Baker City to Portland, it's 4 hours late, packed with severely sketchy antisocial people and impossible to sleep on. But then and there, no Greyhound and no novice driver and I'd still be there. So. Yay?
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