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Day 1

We're off...and rolling...well, almost all of us

ROUTE:  Astoria to St Helens OR DISTANCE: 69 Miles WINDS:  NW 5-10   Mostly tail...sweet
WEATHER: Overcast and fog at start, cloudy at finish, 63 degrees for a high TERRAIN:  A bit hilly I suppose...good warm up TOTAL CLIMBING: 3470 feet

DAILY REPORT:  Well, another ride is underway.  My crew arrived in Astoria on Thursday evening and Karen, Barb, and myself got there about noon on Friday.  It was wall to wall prep until the riders got here.  We spent all day Friday getting the vans ready and setting up for the registration.  On Saturday we spent the morning arranging the vans, doing staff training, and doing the last minute preparations.  We were expecting over 70 riders so we anticipated that we wouldn't have much time after we started working with them.  With so many riders, we set up an early registration on Saturday afternoon and were able to process just over 40 which made Sunday's official registration/bike assembly/orientation day a little more palatable. 

Day 1 minus 1 (Sunday) wasn't without it's hiccups as the best laid plans always go awry at one time or another.  Mike D's bike didn't show up as planned.  It was in a warehouse somewhere in Washington state...and of course it was a Sunday.  He spent the day arranging for his bike to be expedited today so he could stay behind and put it together and catch up with us at some point during the day.  Well, they (DHL) didn't come through again and didn't get it to him until after noon.  From there he put his bike together and got on the road.  Deb went back and intercepted him at about 12 miles  with the van after we finished supporting the rest of the riders to St Helens.  She got him in...everyone got to ride.  Love it when a plan comes together.

Well, it seems to be another fine group of cyclists.  After yesterday's orientation, I'm not sure if any of them want to ride...some of them said they thought they signed up for the downhill ride!  Fooled them didn't we?  Or didn't they read the brochure?  During orientation, we talked about hills, rain, and headwinds...you know the normal stuff that they will encounter on a ride like this.  But, all of them showed up for breakfast, and then they all loaded their luggage, so I guess they are going to give it a go.  Of course I'm kidding about them thinking about not riding...I couldn't keep them off the road if I used an army.  They were ready to meet the challenge head on so off we rode into the unknown...to Portsmouth AND BEYOND!!!

We started out early and planned on taking our customary photo under the bridge...a beautiful backdrop for our group photo.  The next thing to go awry was the weather.  It was extremely overcast at photo time and there was a drizzle in the air.  I decided to cancel the group photo for today and try to get one in a couple days when we get to the desert...that should work...we'll see.

After departure, I spent the morning doing the usual...driving up through the riders fixing flats and checking over bikes.  There's always a few minor tweaks after putting bikes together as we did yesterday.  There's always something loose or a derailleur that doesn't quit work as is should.  Will R and family, who ride a triple, broke the ice and had the first flat on the road...2½ miles into the ride.  Let's see, at that rate, they are projected to have about 1400 flats before arriving at Portsmouth...let's hope their luck gets better.

The ride today took us along hwy 30 all the way to St Helens.  It as a fairly busy state road but usually it had a nice shoulder to ride on and plenty of beautiful scenery to keep everyone entertained...even a glimpse of Mt St Helens at one point. It is hard to imagine the devastation that must have been here when she blew her top years ago. We never saw any signs of it today...maybe when we get on the other side we might.  That will have to wait until tomorrow.  Most of our route took us along the Columbia River and the several times we popped out for a view, it was gorgeous.  The thing I like about this area is that everyone up here is used to seeing cyclists and seems to give them room...even the logging trucks. I got several friendly waves from them throughout the day...at least they seemed friendly.

The best news of the day was that we got everyone in safely on the first day...one down and only 49 more to go. I think most everyone was in before 2:00 so they had time to relax and get to know one another before going to dinner at the Village Restaurant next door to the motel. We had the usual small problems at the mechanics' van: squeaky drive trains, loose screws, and minor adjustments to derailleurs, but all in all it was a pretty easy day...a good warm up for what's to come in a day or two when we hit the high desert and some long days.  See you tomorrow. "

 

DID I REALLY SAY THAT?: 

"These hills weren't on the route sheet."
"No, they were on the road."

"Did we have the first flat?

"Are we there yet?"

"I could almost hear the conversation between Lewis and Clark when they called prez Jefferson about their progress...'Hey Tom!  Glad we finally got cell coverage...You won't believe what we found...highways and signs everywhere pointing to the northwest passage!  It is much easier than we thought!'"

"Did you see the tanning salon that also offered to sharpen your chain saw?"
"Yeah, brings new meaning to the term "cutting edge technology."

"Now that I've signed in, can I do the bike put togethering thing?"

"That was a great Mexican restaurant, but everything smelled like fish."

"Boy, it must have rained a lot last night...the water's up higher than yesterday evening."
"The bay is tidal dude."



 

 DID I REALLY DO THAT?:

Max gets the Magellan award today...seems his mother found his route sheet in his motel room after he left.  Guess he had burnt today's route into his brain.  Young people can still do that...but, if he can't remember his route sheet, can he remember the name of our motel that's 69 miles away?  Time will tell.

Gary gets one too...we have a 35 pound limit on our luggage bags and he was found to have a bag that weighed 40 pounds...busted.  He told Barb that he thought he might get by with it...Nope!  Then he admitted he was carrying a couple golf clubs in his luggage to play golf with on the days off.  Barb asked him if he enjoyed carrying them in and out of the motel every day.  "Well, I'd rather not," He said.  "Well then, why don't you take them out of  your bags and keep them in the truck until you need them."  She suggested.  We still love you Gary.

Tonight Steve went to the bathroom just as Barbara announced it was time to get in line to eat...BUT, no one can get in line until after you sign in.  Steve came back just after his table had gotten up to get in line...he spent the next several minutes trying to chase down the sign in sheet while others were signing it...NOT A CHANCE.  Good lesson in "Snooze you lose."

I guess I get one today too...I picked up a screw in the rear tire of the van today and it was clicking pretty loudly as I drove down the road.  I checked it and found it not to be leaking but I figured I needed to get it fixed before long.  There's not too many places that just let you walk in and get a tire fixed on our route so I stopped in a Napa Auto Parts store and picked up a plug kit just in case.  After leaving the Napa place, I stopped in a auto shop and asked if they could fix a tire for me..."no, but we have air if you need it," He said.  I told him, I didn't need air, the screw was plugging the tire and I thought I could probably drive it for awhile before I got it fixed...so I left.  I drove about 10 miles out in the country and stopped to take a photo and I heard something...psssssssssssssssssssssssst.  "Uh oh," I thought.  By the time I got the plug kit out, pulled out the screw, and put the plug in the "tire wound," the tire had lost all but about 10 pounds of air.  What to do?  I could put on the spare...but I'd already patched the tire.  Oh!  Use a bike pump!  About 3000 pumps later and I had the pressure up to about 45 pounds...just 35 pounds shy of the tire rating.  And I was just at an air pump about 10 miles ago...and he'd offered...maybe I should have pulled out the screw in sight of the air compressor.
 

 

DID I REALLY SEE THAT?

Take your eyes off those bikes for just a minute and see what happens.

Since Jeff is a carpenter in real life, this is the only "bike tool" we can trust him with.

The latest style in comfort facilities.

Love it!

I don't know why Lewis and Clark had so much trouble finding the way to the ocean...their route is clearly marked with signs.  I think they should have gotten a new guide...or maybe they should have used MapQuest rather than Sacagawea. 

Which way did they go?
   

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