Category: Bike Ride of a Lifetime (C)

June 18, 2018,  🚴🏿 Day 1 – Astoria to Saint Helens, OR 🚴🏿

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” — Chinese Proverb

And a bike ride across the country starts with a single mile.  Today, the real journey begins.  But first, we all got together for our group photo beneath the Astoria Bridge.  Don’t we look MAH-vel-ous? 😂

So, we started out in the fog for an 81-mile ride with 4,500 feet of vertical climb.  The fog burned off pretty quickly, the sun came out and we all had a magnificent day of riding to begin our trek.

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The road was tree-lined and cool in a forested tranquil setting.  We did have a couple of tough climbs, and truth be told, I could have done without the last one.  But we all made it to Saint Helens without incident.  After a catered meal of pasta and pizza, we were all pretty beat and hit the hay to get ready for Day 2.

June 17, 2018 – Astoria, OR

After all the planning, all the waiting, all the packing and all the worrying, we start today with a short but very important bike ride.  It’s our ceremonial wheel dip in the Pacific Ocean, to be followed (with some good fortune) by a wheel dip in the Atlantic Ocean 50 days and 3700 miles from now.

So, after a relaxing morning, Jon and I headed out for our 26-mile round trip ride to the beach.  The weather could not have been better and when we got to Fort Stevens State Park and got on the bike path to the beach, it all finally became real.  We carried our bikes on the long walk to the water – no sense getting our gears full of sand – and did our thing.  Pulse rates were elevated, and not just because the water was cold.

Turns out, there is also a skeletal remnant of a shipwreck that was featured in the Goonies movie.  So, of course, Jon had to memorialize that as well.

Check out the pictures of the day, along with some descriptions.  Much more to come, so check back here, y’all.  I will try to post every day.  You can also sign up to get an email report (on the off chance you don’t get enough junk mail already.)

…Jeff

Today is bike reassembly day in Astoria, Oregon.   We checked in and registered today and met our wonderful support team from America by Bicycle:   Mechanics: Rob and Robin, and Support Team: Pam, Karen, Judy and Deanna.  They are extremely professional and very well organized.  Clearly this is not their first rodeo.

It was a bit of controlled chaos when opening up my bike case and seeing how the gorilla TSA agent moved everything around.  Nevertheless, the bike survived – as did all of its parts – and my heart rate slowly returned to normal.  About an hour later, the bike was reassembled and ready for the mechanics check.  Went for a very short ride (6 miles) just to spin out the legs and get the last tweaks and adjustments done before tomorrow.   Flew down route 30 going west and then battled the headwind coming back.  Man, oh man, am I glad we’re riding west to east!

We’re chilling out in a beautiful city here on the Columbia River at the mouth of the Pacific.  On Sunday, we start – Day 0 – with a short ride to the Pacific Coast and our ceremonial wheel dip in the Pacific Ocean.

Stay tuned for more info about the bike ride of a lifetime.