Lost and Found

We zoomed through the Columbia River Gorge so fast, I hardly knew it was there! After a rustic night camping outside the Legion Hall in Carson, Washington, we had a hot and hilly ride to Maryhill State Park, near Goldendale. Among the highlights, we stopped for lunch at Horsethief Lake park, and hiked down the hill to the near the river's edge, where there are hundreds of wonderful petroglyphs. Missed the cutoff to the lake and ended up at the wrong parking lot, so we had to do a small backtrack to where Pat had already set out our lunch. Let is suffice to say that every mistake we make on the road becomes a learning experience.

The last 20 miles to the campsite were almost unbearable long and hot, except for the finish, a high-speed descent, and the showers at the end of the ride. Here's a picture that Pat took of me enjoying an "adult beverage" while the boys were off having their showers:

The campsite was right on the Columbia River. I was able to post a Facebook update, but we had no Internet, so no blog. 

First thing in the morning (we originally planned to get up by 4 am, out by 5 am, but weary bones need a bit more sleep, so first thing in the morning happened at 6:30 rather than 5), we left camp and started up the hill that we had descended at over 35 mph the day before. By the time we had completed half an hour of riding, we had already climbed over 800 feet, and actually saw the sunrise peaking through stones at Maryhill's full-sized replica of Stonehenge. Then we had another superfast downhill ride, followed by a quick-paced ride out of the Columbia Gorge and into the desert area farther up the Columbia River. It was a long ride, and we knew it would be hot again, so we stoked our inner furnaces, and for awhile, averaged around 25 mph. Over the course of the entire ride, we averaged better than 15 mph. Unfortunately, the Strava app on my cell phone stopped working because the location services would not work in the middle of nowhere, but I have accurate numbers from the day on my Garmin bike computer.

Had an early lunch because we needed to break up the ride into smaller segments, and everyone appreciated the shade of the car, since there were no trees in sight.

Judging strictly by the mileage, we anticipated arriving in Umatilla (pronounce "you" matilla) as early as noon, but the heat started taking its toll, and we had more frequent breaks. Here are the three boys chugging along on a hot stretch of pavement:

Everyone is starting to ride more strongly, and throughout the day, each one of us had our moments of strength, and our moments of fading. But eventually, we found our way across the highway bridge and into Umatilla. Unfortunately, the church where we are staying for the night is on Columbia street, and the GPS maps don't work very well in Umatilla. The map neglected to tell us that there were two Columbia streets, several miles away from each other, and both of them up a tough hill. So what was supposed to be a ride of just over 80 miles turned into a ride of 90 miles and lasting nearly 6 hours. The good news ... riding from the east end of Umatilla cuts off several miles on tomorrow's journey to Walla Walla, where we get to spend two nights! Looking forward to a day of rest and recovery. 

The Garmin says we covered 90.3 miles in 5:54:52 at an average speed of 15.27 mph, with a top speed of 35.26 mph. We burned approximately 5,389 calories today, and ascended a total of 2821.5 feet, partially negated by the 2460.6 feet of descending. And we are approximately 305 miles into our 3521 mile journey. We will sleep well in the air conditioned church hall at the Umatilla Baptist Church, have a good breakfast cooked on a real stove, then cycle through the vineyards and farmlands towards Walla Walla. It sounds so romantic, so French. But we know this ... it will be hot. Voila Voila! (Just teasing a few "Whitties" who follow my blog).

For those who just can't get enough from my blog posts, I urge you to also follow along on Bryce's video journal at http://biketripamerica.com.

Trial By Fire

After two short days on the road, today (just the third day into our trip across America), we were tasked with riding from St. Helens, Oregon, through northern Portland and along the Columbia River gorge to Carson, which barely shows up on the map. It is 90 degrees (about 15 degrees warmer than the second day) and 84 miles distance, plus nearly 3000 feet of climbing, with another 2800 feet of descending. On paper, given that it is only our third day on the road, I think today may have been one of the toughest tests on the road.

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!

Cliff knew the best route through Northwest Portland, and soon we were on Marine Drive headed towards Governor's Island and our first State boundary, crossing from Oregon to Washington. But before we got there, I was in for a huge surprise.

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 be much different. For one thing, our support driver Pat decided that Annie, our black lab mascot, would not be happy on the trip, due to the stress of constantly changing locales, no guaranteed place to play, and a big daily worry for Pat. So, Annie has been dropped off at her favorite doggie daycare for the summer. Everyone on the Bike Trip America team will really miss her.

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.

Long Story Short

We are going to be averaging about 60 miles a day on our trip across America, but we are starting off slowly. The first day, we rode as far as Clatskinie, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, and today we rode to St. Helens, a mere 35 miles.

That being said, we took a local's advice, and took a long way around, leaving the back door of Clatskinie, then winding around a gorgeous few miles of Oregon forest, past Beaver Falls Trail -- where Ryan and Jonathan did the half-mile hike to the falls -- then found our way to Highway 30, and a steep and fast hill into Ranier. Thanks to that hill, we averaged 15 miles per hour for the day's ride, in spite of over 1100 feet of climbing.

We had three firsts today. For about 15 minutes, we had our first (and hopefully last?) ride in the rain. Needed to wipe the bikes down after we reached St. Helens as a result, but other than that, no problems riding. Walking, though ... next time I go on a long ride, remind me before hand what poison oak looks like. 'Nuff said. It was either that, or a bee sting on my leg. A bit of anti-itch cream, and soon, I'll be fine. We had our first campground showers, as well. Wonderful! And a fourth first, if you will. Camping. We'll be camping across the country, so we've got to get used to it. I have a nice little REI one-man tent, which is too small to get both me and my gear inside at the same time, but it will have to do. It makes a great drying rack, and hopefully will get me well rested for tomorrow's 80+ miles to Carson, Washington. There, we will again be hosted by the American Legion.

A short ride, so a short post today. You can also pick up some of the flavor of our ride by following Bryce's video journal on Bike Trip America.

TaDa ... We're on the road!

No more teachers, no more school ... On the road again ... Yep, that's me, standing on the beach in Fort Stevens, west of Astoria, Oregon. We had a ceremonial sendoff from the park, with our American Legion and Boy Scout sponsors, our support vehicle, our wonderful support driver Pat Wollner, her mascot dog Annie, and four riders. Three of the riders are 16, and one is not. While two of the boys will celebrate their 17th birthdays on the road, I'll be celebrating the 53rd anniversary of my 17th birthday. Don't even do the math. Anyway, here's our crew and a couple of our sponsors standing by the American Legion truck that escorted us through Astoria.

And just so that you know that we really started all the way at the Pacific Ocean, here's a picture taken by our half-time Hawaii friend Sue, who came to see us start off.

That's Jonathan on the left, next to Ryan, then Bryce (who organized the trip), and yours truly, the friendly neighborhood blogger. I'm not wearing a wet suit...that's my bicycling outfit for the cold coastal Oregon weather.

We rode from Fort Stevens to Astoria, had lunch at the Legion hall, then rolled out of town accompanied by the escort truck shown above, our support vehicle shown in a recent blog, the vehicles of a couple of parents, and reporter / photographer crew who will try to drop in on us periodically to see how we're progressing. The legion is trying to set up a big welcome when we get to NYC, and have mentioned possibly getting us onto GMA, Fox News, etc. They are excited, mostly because 100% of the funds we raise on the trip go to help wounded veterans. We ended the day's ride in Clatskinie ... first two days are warm-ups for the longer days that are coming. Today, 48 miles, tomorrow 35, and the day after that, 84 miles with 3000+ feet of  climbing along the Columbia River Gorge, to Carson, Washington.

We are truly on the way. And if the Legion continues to feed us the way they did in Clatskinie (I promised I wouldn't say anything, but I'm not saying, just telling) we'll end up putting on 15-20 pounds by the time we reach NYC. Lasagna, salad, salad, salad, warm freshly baked buns, butter, Lasagna, salad, and salad. That should get us through 35 miles without too much problem.

And again, thank you to Sue Saville Lucas for the wonderful pictures featured in today's blog.

Counting Down - One Day Left

Tomorrow's the day! Everything is packed, and everyone is (hopefully) relaxing. We meet at the Astoria Legion Hall later this afternoon for pictures and last-minute briefings, then tomorrow morning, we congregate at Peter Iredale beach in Fort Stevens, dip our tires in the Pacific, and start rolling eastward.

Yesterday, I did a final 35 mile training ride from Gearhart, Oregon down the coast to Arch Cape ... 1800 feet of climbing, and 1800 feet of descending along the way. It was a great ride. And today, I've been packing my panniers for maximum efficiency, in other words, taking out anything I can do without.

One of the highlights of my days in Gearhart have been the morning and evening walks with Annie, our black lab mascot. In the mornings, we go along the beach and throw tennis balls. This morning, there was a special omen on the beach walk. The tide was way out, leaving almost a quarter of a mile of hard-packed but still wet sand. As we got closer to the edge of the ocean, there were sand dollars galore!

A pocketful of change to spend on the road

Not a pocketful of change, but miles of sand dollars, enough to create a good-sized bank account. That is a lot of good luck to bank for our bike trip! And there's Annie in the bottom left corner, tennis ball all slobbered up and ready to go!

Tomorrow morning, the fretting will be over. The ride starts for real. My next blog post will be from on-the road ... hopefully a post every day, but there are no guarantees once we hit the road. That is when serendipity takes over. Que sera, sera.

Counting Down - Three Days to Go

We got the van (Chevy Suburban) loaded during our packing party yesterday afternoon, with duffel bags in place where they can be easily gotten out at the end of the day, and tents in a waterproof bag under a bungee net on the roof, since tents won't be required on many nights. Once everyone was gone, we decided that the truck with all the gear should go into the garage. There are still a few things to go into the roof rack, but as it is there is only one inch of clearance, so the roof gets packed after the truck is out of the garage!

Then, near disaster! Pat drove the truck and stopped just shy of the garage door, then turned off the engine and handed me the keys so I could unlock the door. I was going to stand outside and ensure that there was clearance on top. The door was open, and Pat turned the key to start the truck. Tck tck tck. We could hear the solenoid, but the engine wouldn't turn over. After several tries, the starter finally kicked in, and we successfully moved the truck into the garage. One last try, just to make sure that the truck would start in the morning, so we could take it to the garage for a battery check. Tck tck tck. Tck tck tck. Tck tck tck.

One nice thing about the Gearhart / Seaside area, the garage makes house calls. At 9:00 am, they pulled up, and the mechanic immediately confirmed that it was the starter that was failing, not the battery. He pulled out his little silver hammer (we had to look it up, but it really is the name of a Beatles song), crawled under the truck, and pounded on the starter motor while his wife turned the key. Eventually the truck started, and they drove off towards the garage in Seaside. Two hours later, the truck was parked back in front of the house with a new starter, and a gratis top-up of all the fluids, plus a check of the electrical system. That wind blowing out of Gearhart today is being created by a big sigh of relief. The truck is ready. The bikes are ready. No more tck tck. Instead, you might hear "Check. Check."

Another serendipitous find came from an article on my FaceBook feed. The article was about great bike rides where the wind is usually at your back. And in the article, they mentioned Wind Mapper (http://windmapper.com), a site that shows the current and forecast wind speed and direction, along with detailed weather forecasts for the road ahead. Wind Mapper will certainly become a regular part of our evening preview of the next day's ride. Not only can we have a good idea of when the wind might pick up or change direction during the day, but we will be able to see approximately when we can start anticipating the possibility of rain and lightening, if at all, and when the temperatures will reach an unbearable level. A great tool for plotting our road strategy for the next day ... something we will be doing nearly every evening for the next 59 days.

What would a long bike ride be, if there weren't a little bit of adventure along the way? And out of our first small adventure, we now have the assurance that our support vehicle is ready to go. Now, come Thursday morning, I just hope that all of us are as ready to get started as the Suburban is.

Counting Down - Four Days to Go

The excitement is palpable. The dining room table where I'm staying until the ride starts is now stacked with cookies, water bottles, snacks ... there's a large route map on the wall, and a donation jar is out, anticipating the generosity of those who come to our open house "packing" party today. In addition to the riders and their parents, there will be folks from the neighborhood wandering by to wish us well, and to meet the riders (they want to see who all is foolhardy enough to venture out on a 3521 mile bicycle journey).

All the riders will bring their duffel bags to be stowed in the support wagon, and last minute needs will be noted. The plan is to have everything packed in such a way that there is good visibility out the back window for Pat, who will driving along with us as we ride. And in a pinch, there has to be room for up to four cyclists, four bicycles, plus all the gear and the dog. "A pinch" means bad weather, an unavoidable road hazard (such as a washed out bridge), or exhausted riders who need an extra day to recover while we keep to our already-arranged tight schedule.

Yesterday, I spent some time going over the mechanics of the boys' bicycles, and checking off the gear they will be carrying with them, either on their bikes (spare tubes, patch kits, rain coats, etc.) or in the car (a floor pump, a spare tire, chain oil, spare bike parts, etc.). I think everyone is realizing that we'll be on our own as far as bike mechanics are concerned, and as Pat keeps reminding everyone, it is not one epic ride, but 59 one-day bike rides, and we have to be ready for each day's ride, come heat or cold, come smooth roads or rough roads.

At Bikes and Beyond yesterday, I ran into a handful of riders who were going to dip their tires in the Pacific today, and will be leaving Astoria tomorrow on a fully-supported bike ride...motels and all...headed towards Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Maybe we'll see them on the road sometime in the next few weeks.

We are looking forward to a big send-off. Hopefully some of the riders who couldn't sign on for the entire Bike Trip America will be able to join us. And I heard from Hawaii friends Sue and Bob, part year Portland residents. They have a B&B in Astoria the night before we leave, and they plan on being at the beach waving a Hawaii flag as we begin our first of 59 one-day rides. At lunch in Astoria, I'm hoping that my cousin Ken can join us for another send-off.

Four days to go!