Day 3 - Welches to Kah-Nee-Ta (65.3 miles)

Last night I stopped in the bar at the hotel in Welches and asked if they had a good margarita. This young lady said that all the ingredients were fresh, and proceeded to create a great margarita using fresh lemons and limes. After all that work for one drink, I had to get her picture.

Today's ride started with a 13 mile long climb towards Mt Hood. It was really hard to concentrate on keeping a straight line with all the breathtaking views in every direction.....

Then after a few nice decsents, along with a couple more tough climbs, we made a turn, and all the lush vegetation and greenery turned into sage brush and desert. Apparently between the coastal mountains and the cascades there is a very dry stretch here. Still some very nice scenery though.

Then after a screaming descent into the valley (yes, on this one, I really did come close to screaming) we even saw some wild horses getting some shade a couple of miles from the hotel. I'd have a picture of the ride down if I'd been able to take my hands away from the death grip I had on the brakes.

Day 2 - St Helens to Welches (77.62 miles)

Back through Portland today. They seem to have a really nice bike trail system there. Here are a couple of the views along the trail. Pretty cool looking houses all along the river.

An old rusty boat along the trail....

....and look at this....could've saved two days of riding. Oh well, I paid for 'em.....I'm gonna ride 'em.

Here's Sandy trying to find out which way we need to go for our our first detour.

First veiw of Mt Hood made all the riding worth while. Just a warning.....the veiws are so spectacular, that I'll probably have quite a few pics of the mountain over the next couple of days. Please bear with me. We'll be out of sight of it in a couple of days.

Forgot to put down the distance yesterday. I'll try to remember to add that from now on.

Day 1 - Astoria to St. Helens

Always read the warning signs before starting the day............

Nice veiw headed down the hill.....but it was a coooooold ride to the bottom.

Survived the day, but had a small mechanical problem. Lucky again as Mike just happened to be right in front of me when it went. Loaned me a wheel and got me back on the road. Here's a shot of Jim repairing my second broken spoke on these new heavy duty wheels I bought just for this ride...got to start wondering about them.

Day 0 - Just a day at the beach.....

.....just a couple of pictures today.....

Woke up a bit early with the time zone change. This was the view from my hotel around 4 am this morning.

Once the excellent mechanics here got my bike all back together (even loaning me some parts that somehow didn't get packed in the box until I could get to the bike shop), a group of us headed out to make the 30 mile round trip to the Pacific Ocean for the ceremonial wheel dip.

Sounds like tomorrow will be back up the highway we drove in on yesterday (remember, the one with the long climbs). Luckily we've been told that the route is fairly easy to follow. Stay on highway 30 stopping at the SAG stops along the way, and then look for the hotel......no turns....no other roads to figure out which way to go......heck, even I can figure this one out.

Well here we go................

Well, I'm here now.......

Have to say, driving up here to Astoria from Portland it sure seemed like we were going up and down a lot, and for long stretches. Leaves me a bit worried about my conditioning (or lack of it). Oh well, I figured I better get out and site see a bit with Mom and Sharon while I could still stand and point my camera, so here are a couple of shots from Astoria, and one from the drive over to the ocean. Enjoy......

Almost ready.....

Finally see my bike in Oregon on the UPS tracking website. Whew! It left Portland early this morning, and is scheduled to make it to the hotel today. Was starting to worry a little bit since the last update only showed that it had left Chicago a few days ago. Bags are almost completely packed and ready to go....

Now that it's getting so close I have to ask myself....."What in the world was I thinking?"

.....just kidding. I can't wait to get my bike back together and start riding. 

2 more days!!!  

Getting close....fast!

Only 10 days left until I leave for Oregon. The bike’s been dropped off for shipping, so any more riding will be at the gym on the spinning bikes or on the old comfort bike. Right now I’m feeling severely under trained, but I was able to get some really nice rides in the last few weeks, and meet up with some great local cycling groups.




Went with the Ozark Roadies group on a ride out from Fayetteville down to Mountainburg and back (that 9 mile climb back out of Mountainburg really had me thinking about the mountains ahead). I also met up with the Bella Vista cycling group on Memorial Day for a short ride. Had hoped to get a few extra in after the planned ride, but broke my very first spoke 14 miles in. Had to limp the last 10 miles in on a very wobbly back wheel. For my last good ride out, I rode in to Bentonville to meet up with the “Big Ride” at the square. Went out to Hiwasse and back, and then decided to try to get in a few more miles before the free cookout downtown, so went out Vaughn Road and back. Nice day to ride and lots of other cyclists out and about. After the cookout, I headed home through Bella Vista to finish off the day. Took one more quick 35 miler in the park on Sunday to finish off the weekend.

I'd like to thank all the riders I've talked with on these rides for the encouragement and camaraderie out there on the road. I've had a great time meeting so many other cyclists around here.

Wow!…….only 10 days left……….