Prologue
Our cross-country ride begins in
Astoria, Oregon, where the
Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean.
Coincidentally, in February during a ski trip to eastern British
Columbia, I happened upon the source of the Columbia:
Training:
June 5: Today I
rode the Sierra
Century, 103 miles and 7500 feet of climbing. While we have some
longer days on the cross-country tour, none have more climbing as far
as I know. It wasn't too bad, though the rough roads did cause me
to limit my speed on some of the downhill portions for fear of putting
my wheels into an unexpected pothole and either getting a pinch flat
(been there) or dinging a wheel..
I've been working up to this, beginning in April with the Bike Around
the Buttes, an 88 mile essentially flat ride; in May, the Delta
Century, 100 miles equally flat and the Lodi Sunrise Century, 100 miles
with perhaps 2,000 feet of climbing. In between I've ridden our
twice weekly after work rides, 25 miles with just a few small rolling
hills, and filled in some other workdays with some 35 mile rides.
On the weekends, I've ridden routes with longer climbs, chiefly near
Lake Berryessa. Memorial Day weekend, for example, I rode two 90
mile routes with 2,000 and 4,000 feet of climbing.
I'll still need to settle into the routine of riding up to 9 days in a
row, but I'm starting to feel ready for the tour.
June 11: Today I saw the IMAX movie about the Lewis and Clark
expedition. Our tour's path crosses theirs in Astoria, where they
put up for the winter and again near Pierre, South Dakota, where they
had a tense encounter with one of the many Native American tribes that
inhabited the northern plains; without the help of various tribesmen
and women their mission would have failed.
June 19: Flew to Portland and then drove to Astoria today.
Flight was uneventful. The Portland Airport was under
construction the last few times I've been through there but now appears
to be done and quite nicely at that.
You're probably curious how I get my bike up here. It has S and S
connectors in two of the tubes. They allow it to come apart and
fit into a standard size suitcase. Here's what the bike and case
look like before disassembly:
and after its packed into its case:
Putting the bike back together takes less time than packing it.
Once I got into Astoria, I dropped off my luggage at the hotel, which
has changed due to construction and a movie crew that stayed in town
longer than expected. We were originally supposed to be at the
Red Lion, and our orientation and other events are still there, but
we're staying at the Shilo Inn, approximately 2 miles, including a long
bridge, away. When I dropped off the rental car, another rider
was dropping off his car; we chatted during the 14 block walk back to
the hotel. Along the way, I snapped these shots of the Hwy 101
bridge that crosses the Columbia, which is quite wide along here.
I picked up my
orientation materials from the tour staff. From the preliminary
roster
it looks like we have about 70 riders, half of whom are going coast to
coast. The other half are riding one or more of the segments that
make
up the full ride.
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