Along Way from Portland (May 31, 2012)

Other than for 30 minutes during my ride from Lakeview, WA to Astoria, it has been a relatively dry ride. But this morning as I sit in my tent in Whalen Island County Park listening to the rain fall, I fear it will not be a dry ride today.

It feels so good to be back out on the road and putting in the mileage daily. So far my “couch training” method seems to have been sufficient. Granted the road has been fairly flat, but my body seems to be able to handle what few climbs I’ve had to get up and over.

Since last posting, I have put in four days of riding, and am now just north of Pacific City, OR. The ride from Portland to Lakeview (57 miles) was relatively uneventful … nice ride heading northwest along SR-30 with a nice gentle tailwind. The first 13 miles took me through Portland, east-to-west across town from the Airport area to St. Johns Bridge. If you are going to ride through a major urban area, there is probably no better time than a Sunday morning on a three-day weekend.

Lakeview to Astoria/Fort Stevens State Park (60 miles) was not an easy ride. I had had a conversation with a touring cyclist back in Stevenson, WA about the ride from Portland to Astoria. His comment was that there was one serious climb and then some rollers. Since the Portland-to-Lakeview (across the river from Rainier, OR) had been fairly flat, I knew I had a climb and some rollers on this leg. Just north of the bridge at Rainier there is a serious climb. Once cresting this climb, I figured the hard riding for the day was pretty much done … I was pretty much wrong. Add coldish wind and 30 minutes of rain and I was pretty much not a happy person upon my arrival to Astoria.

Astoria brightened my day. At the Safeway I had the opportunity to talk with Dee and Rog Sims. Dee and Rog are British and have been touring different parts of the world for the past two plus years. After completing my shopping, I headed for the Blue Scorcher Bakery. A friend in Tucson, Ian Johnson, had raved (yes, raved) about this wonderful bakery/restaurant that he recalled from his touring days. He was right … it was the perfect place to relax and enjoy quality food and a warm, comfortable atmosphere (think in terms of a bakery in Jerome, AZ). After achieving a high level of contentment, I headed on the Fort Stevens State Park and met up with Roger Simmons. Finally have to pull the tent, etc., out and camp … damn!

Roger and I rode down to Nehalem State Park (38 miles) along Hwy. 101, camped, then on to Whalen Island County Park (48 miles) … where I now sit listening to the rain fall on my tent. Yesterday we briefly met up with Frank Preston in Tillamook (the third member of our cross-county travel squad). I say briefly because coming out of Tillamook, Roger and I chose to take the scenic, non-climbing route … Frank opted for the scenic CLIMBING route. He was to meet us here, but unfortunately he managed to slice his finger somewhere along his route and returned to Tillamook for stitches. The plan is to meet up today.

One of the surprises of touring is what I call the “small world” event. Over the past three summers of touring, I have had several occurrences where an individual to whom I was talking turned out to know a person in my life. In Northern Utah I talked with a guy who went to high school with Sue McFadden … in the Michigan Upper Peninsula I talked with a guy who knew of my oldest brother from high school days in Scottsdale. This trip has already offered up such an event … riding south along 101, just north of Seaside, I saw a couple walking to their car from a store … thought I recognized the guy. Turns out it was Eric (last name does not come to mind), who I rode with many, many times with the Saturday morning riding group in Tempe. Very small world.

So, other than the current rain fall, it has been a delightful ride. We will be heading inland today toward Corvallis and Eugene, then on across central Oregon to Baker City (birthplace of the guy who founded the Air Stream Travel Trailer company … learned that several years ago when passing thru Baker City).

Wet day ahead.