We were up by 5:30 am, ready to roll at 6:30. We had a visitor, Cliff, who showed up on his recumbent. He had communicated with Bryce, and said he would have joined the ride if he had known about it earlier. He would have been an excellent addition to the team. Cliff lives in St. Helens, and was going to a cookout at his son's house, which was no more than 30 miles away from our destination. So five of us hit the road, again escorted by a local who knew all the best ways to get out of town, and through Portland.
We saw a dead deer beside the road, then three very alive deer as we zoomed along the highway between Scappoose and Portland, then we cut over the St. John's Bridge, and along a slough that branched off the Columbia River. That is where we stopped to take the picture below, which shows Mt. Hood rising like a ghost on the horizon, on a very clear day! Perfect way to start our ride, in spite of the early hour!
Another biker asked if the fellow on the recumbent was John. I answered "No," but jokingly invited him along, because we were headed to New York. This was somewhere near the Portland airport. A minute later, a female rider pulled up beside me, and said, "I remember you have a three-letter name, and you're from Honolulu." I was wearing my Hawaii Bicycling League jersey, but still, it was quite a surprise. I looked over, and it was Deb, a girl who had ridden with us on our Monday and Thursday HBL rides a couple of months before. She had been in Hawaii for two weeks, and I think I had been on three rides with her. She was a good friend of John, another Portlander who had frequently challenged us with his fast riding pace. Anyway, for those of my HBL riding friends, who so faithfully helped me ride myself into shape for this coast-to-coast trip, here is a pic of me with Deb, posing where we parted ways as I headed for the Columbia River crossing on the 206 bridge:
We followed an OLD road along the Columbia River, and soon found ourselves being followed closely by a dark van with its lights on. I thought maybe the "men in black," or maybe the police were there to cite us for riding recklessly, but no ... it was the parents of Jonathan, our youngest rider. They followed us into Camas, Washington, where they met us for lunch. I had been to Camas before with my friends Sue and Bob, who coincidentally had seen us off in Fort Stevens State Park three days earlier.
After lunch, we dropped Cliff, who had ridden with us all day long, then did some serious hill climbing along the Columbia gorge. If you haven't seen this part of the country, it is spectacular, and well worth a visit! Here is a picture I took from the Cape Horn lookout, looking in the direction we would be riding later in the day, towards Cascade Locks, and Carson.
When we reached the Bonneville Dam, we knew we were on the home stretch ... less than 20 miles until we reached our night's destination.
In Carson, one of the Legion members took the boys swimming in the Wind River. Probably not the hot springs they were hoping for, but they seem to have enjoyed it!
Tomorrow will also be the day that we find out how quickly the boys' legs recover from a hard ride! (And the old man's legs, needless to say). But the ride is "only" 57 miles through hot countryside, and we will pass by a forest fire that just started today on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. Extra water, extra wet towels, extra sunscreen!
For another thing, it will be the summer solstice, and we will end the day at Maryhill, where the fantastic museum features a life-sized replica of the original Stonehenge! What a place to spend the solstice! Until later, I leave you with this image from the Maryhill museum website.
Sorry to hear that Annie has had to stay "home" at the doggie day care, but I know Pat was very concerned about her wellbeing on the trip. Probably the best decision.
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