DAY 02
St Helens to Welches
June 17
Distance: 74 Miles Climbing: 3200 feet Winds: Calm until afternoon, the NW 5-10
Weather: Overcast most of the morning and early afternoon, sunny later in the day. Terrain:  Hilly at times

Today's Report: 

Is it day 2 already?  I guess it is since we are in Welches tonight.  Today's 74 mile day started out a bit on the cool side, but the afternoon was in the upper 60s  so we were pretty cool and comfortable all day...light tailwinds, sunny skies by ride's end, and beautiful scenery.  Everyone still seemed to be feeling pretty perky...life is good.  It was almost a picture perfect day as beautiful views of Mt Hood greeted us as we neared our destination.  Hopefully, we'll have some clear skies tomorrow...it's always a treat when we can see Mt Hood while we are climbing to the desert. 

Today's route left St Helens on Hwy 30 and crossed the St John's bridge in Portland.  Everyone made it across without incident and made it to the first SAG in good time.  From there the route went right by the Portland Airport and followed the Columbia River for quite some time varying between streets and a nice paved bike path that was right next to the river.  One thing I like about this part of the country is they have bike paths or lanes almost everywhere.  You can go just about anywhere downtown in the major cities and be on a published bike route.  I wish my state, Alabama, would figure out how to do that...but it may be too hot to ride your bike there in the summer.

We passed an area of "houseboats" (right) that really looked like floating houses.  It looked just like a little neighborhood from Leave It To Beaver complete with flower beds, shudders, and hanging plants.  Probably a good way to save on flood insurance...build your house on a floating bottom.  Hmmm, I wonder what this neighborhood looks like when they all go out to sea?  Just an empty dock I imagine.

It's always a challenge on the route sheet when we get onto bike paths and today was no exception.  I sent Karen out to paint directional arrows on the road to guide folks through Portland, but in spite of her efforts to clearly mark the route (which she did an exemplary job), several riders still wandered off into the wild blue yonder around the airport.  They finally remembered during RAP that Karen had told them the airport would be on their right and the river would be on their left so when they saw the airport was on their left and the river was no where to be found they realized something was amiss.  One of them said that Karen had forgotten to tell them to follow the pointy end of the arrow...oops our bad!  Nevertheless, by the time they got turned around and found where they'd taken the wrong turn, they were no longer the front of the pack...such is life on the road.  Everyone seemed to appreciate the easy navigation (at least the one's who saw the arrows and followed the pointy end), but they better not get used to arrows everywhere. 

Most of the riders arrived in Sandy OR shortly after noon so lunch was in order...the prime spot was Calamity Jane's...a burger joint that almost everyone stopped at.  They even let us wheel our bikes through their restaurant to the back patio for storage while we ate...great place.  It was really hard to get back on the bike after chowing down there.  Luckily, it was only about 15 miles to the motel and most of it was downhill so a stomach full of burger and legs minus the blood it takes to keep them moving wasn't too much of a problem.  Anyway, this place had a ton of different burgers...some of which didn't even sound appetizing like one that had whipped cream, ice cream, and fruit along with lettuce and onion...items on the burger, not on the side.  If you can think of it, I'll bet they'd put it on a burger.  Quite a place...just the topping on a great day.

Tonight's dinner is at Panda Panda, a Chinese restaurant where we also had route rap.  Tomorrow we start going up...when I told them that, everyone was curious what we'd been doing for the last two days...wasn't there a lot of UP on those days?  Well, yes, but not much...I hope everyone is ready to do some real climbing tomorrow...they'd better be.  The road to Kah Nee Ta is a beautiful ride and I'm definitely looking forward to it...of course, I get to ride again!  I told the riders that the toughest climb on this first leg to Boise was the last 150 yards to our motel in Kah Nee Ta...it sits right on top of a BIG climb away from a river...hope they can make it.  Maybe we should drop off their walking shoes at the bottom of the hill...hmmmm.  See you tomorrow. 
 

PHOTOS AND SUCH

IT MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING I SAID:

"To do this job, you need to be qualified in CPR."
"Well, that let's me out, I can do the C, but I'm not so sure about the PR."

"I'm like a Volkswagen...I leak all over the place, I lose parts everywhere, and I go slow...but I get there."

"Hills are your friend...do you know why?"
"No, why?"
"They are the cornerstone of cardiovascular fitness."
"I'll pass."

"An optimist says the glass is half full, while the pessimist says the glass is half empty."
"Yes, but I'm a consultant and I say the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."

"Mike, come help...I have a flat."
"You lost all the air in your tire?"
"Yes, it all leaked out."
"Well, I'll be right there, but while you are waiting on me, see if you can find the air that leaked out and have it ready to put back in when I fix your tire...see you soon."
"Will do...?"

I tried the best I could to get a good photo of Bill...but he's 5' 20".  My viewfinder is only so big.

Here's the top part. 

In order to get a good group shot, we had to place him horizontal. 

Riders that got in early missed Mt Hood breaking through the clouds.

After a little jaunt around the airport, my little ducklings are all back on track.

I think Calamity Jane's was a big hit...at least the burgers were big!

Everyone was a little skeptical at how early Norm got in yesterday...this morning we all knew why!

Tom came to Denise's rescue when she was calibrating her computer, but their efforts were foiled when they realized neither one of them could read Japanese.

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