Monday, May 20, 2013
Ride Day 88
I rode from Hood River Oregon to West Roosevelt Washington 82 miles and about 3000' of climbing in hot sunny weather with very light winds. The Gorge is known for howling headwinds tailwinds and sidewinder winds but I had no problems today. The rock formations and cliffs were very entertaining to watch evolve as I rode along and at The Dalles there was a clear demarcation of Pacific Coast to semi arid western climate and plant life with the big trees disappearing and turning to tumbleweed and stuff. I started on the I-84 then rode on the old highway for a while but got tired of it and went back on the freeway until I got to Biggs.
At Biggs I crossed the Columbia River which was no fun because there was no shoulder and big rigs were going in both directions. It was way too tight for me. I got off my bike and hugged the rail with my bike. Did not like it at all. Then I rode on highway 14 the rest of the way. After a hot long climb right after the bridge 14 became rolling hills with long slow grades that had me sweating up a storm in the heat. At West Roosevelt I stopped at a cafe and pigged out while talking to the very nice owners. I caught up on my wifi work while I was there too. I did not expect to find wifi until Tuesday night or Wednesday. I still have a little way to ride to get to my campsite at the park just down the road where I plan on taking a nice long shower putting on clean clothes and getting some rest in. The only problem I had today was all the cottonwood fluff in the air. I think I coughed up enough to fill a king sized pillow. My nose was sore and my throat was sore from coughing it all out. Life can be tough on the road but I love it.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Ride Day 87
Today I rode from the west side of Portland through the Columbia River Gorge to Hood River, Oregon 77 miles, 3000' of climbing with light mist in the morning ending with strong winds but sunny. The ride was everything a bike touring bum like me could ask for. The excitement of, is it going to rain on me, just added to the edge. I anticipated a hard ride but I was so interested in the beautiful scenery and things that the ride just breezed along for me. There were lots of waterfalls large and small mixed with rugged mountainous views that were partially blocked by the hazy overcast but I still loved them. I could not see any of the big mountains because of the conditions but what I could see was good enough to make it an excellent day of riding.
I do have a few beefs with the bike trails though. First of all they were extremely slippery and had lots of roots humping through them. Did I say they were rough cause of roots popping up all over them. The second thing is that there are awesome views all through the gorge but the bike paths are like tunnels with trees along the side and overhanging the trail which I admit is very pleasing to the eye and prevents sun burn but after about a hundred yards it just repeats for miles and miles while all the beautiful views are missed. I rode all the way up to Vista House and at the top the road was closed and the view was obscured by the weather. What about a sign at the bottom of the hill saying the road is closed???? The sign at the top where it was closed said no bikes but I went around the roadblock and rode the entire route. I was not going to turn around and go back track adding 40 miles or more to my day's ride.
The other problem I had and I have had this a lot in Oregon is that I am mobility impaired meaning I can't walk very well or very far at all and almost all the sights required walking on rough trails sometimes steep ones to get to see the views or the waterfalls or whatever. Disabled access is not good in Oregon at all. I would like to watch the trail makers ride their trails in a wheelchair without killing themselves. So I missed a lot of good things unfortunately. Sometimes it sucks to be mobility impaired. Oregon could easily make their state more accessible with very little cost or effort so I guess they just don't care enough to comply with ADA. I know it sounds kind of strange to hear a guy riding his bike thousands of miles around the country complain about mobility impairment but riding a bike and walking are two different physical abilities. My bike is my wheelchair. I can ride all day but to walk around the block is almost impossible for me and causes high pain later that gets higher with every step I take.
The day ended with a sprint on interstate 84 to Hood River where I called it a day's ride. I wanted to go further to The Dalles but I was having a few physical problems from trying to walk to see the sights today (mainly high pain). I hope I am better after some good rest tonight. We shall see in the morning when I start my last day in Oregon before entering Washington state to ride the rest of the way to Clarkston/Lewiston. The Washington part of the ride is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere so I may be out of touch and miss a few days of posting here and there but I will do my best.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Ride Day 86
Today's ride was from St Helens to Portland Oregon 30 miles and 700' of climbing in light rain. I packed up my campsite early this morning and hit the road but it started to rain in less than a mile so I pulled into a McD to use the wifi and check the weather reports. The storm was predicted to be past by 10 AM so I waited it out chatting with the local seniors hanging out at McDs. I enjoyed the people. I also met a friendly woman at the laundromat last night so my impression of St Helens is quite good as a quiet friendly helpful town. I enjoyed my short stay there. At 10 sharp it cleared up and I crossed my fingers and got back in the saddle. The ride was easy with a cool temp and very light sprinkles to keep me from heating up. There was not much to see or talk about but I took a couple pics of the road and some bridges. I stopped in Portland and will look for a hotel when I am done with this short update. There are more showers starting right now but they are predicted to stop by morning so maybe tomorrow I will get a good ride in. I am sorry that the clouds blocked some of the views I could have had of the mountains around here. I passed a few viewpoints where they can be seen on a clear day but today was anything but a clear day. Maybe next time.
Ride Day 85
Today I rode from Gnat Creek Hatchery near Westport to St Helens Oregon about 56 miles and 2500' of climbing. It was raining most of the day but just a light rain except for some heavier rain cells that blew over once in a while. I took refuge under big trees when the heavy stuff hit me to try to stay drier. All my camping stuff is wet from last night, my tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad etc and my clothes are all dirty so when I got to St Helens I went straight to a laundromat to wash and dry all my stuff. Glad I did that cause I got a good night of sleep in the city campground last night. At the laundromat I was talking to several very friendly people that were curious about this strange fellow in the bright colored clothes doing his laundry. I talked to one woman for quite a while as she folded her clothes. She told me about how her father had helped a young bike rider many years earlier that was from Holland. The same man came back to see them many years later to tell them thanks for helping him out. There are a lot of nice people in the world if you just get out into the world. When I told her the city campground was full of tweekers she immediately told me I could come over and camp in her yard. I thanked her for the offer but my camp was all set up so I politely declined her offer, silly me. The campground emptied out at dark and I ended up as the only one camping there and I got a quiet night of sleep and stayed nice and dry. The ride was not too hard and at my first breakfast stop I checked in with my pregnant daughter to find that she had given birth two hours earlier on the bathroom floor at home after only 13 minutes of labor. Her sister called 911 and the baby girl was nursing by the time the ambulance arrived. Her sister and twin sister and her husband were all there to help so the birth went fine for one that went that fast. I am happy to have a healthy new grand daughter now. I will post a pic of her later. I had to stop at one point today to allow a wet cell to blow over and I just happened to be in front of a tavern so I went in for a quick one. Unfortunately after the one I went out to check the weather and it had already blown over so I hit the road again instead of having more pints. Here are a few pics but I did not take many because of the rain and drizzle. I did miss some great views of the mountains around here because of the fog and rain but such is life. 
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