The Process Begins

Things are starting to happen- the riders are beginning to arrive-in fact, I met several of the folks in the hotel lobby and had some fun getting to know them. They are from all over the U.S.- and I think there are some folks from other countries as well. I went through the registration process and had my bike inspected (a slight glitch was pointed out to me in terms of how I routed the brake cable I discussed earlier- OK, so I'm not perfect. Sheesh.), got my ABB jersey, etc.

Earlier in the day I rode around town a bit, concluded that I had the wrong clothes on for the weather (50's and light rain), went back to the hotel and fixed the wardrobe. I then decided to head down the coast and ended up in a little beach community called Seaside (appropriate enough). Had lunch at a spot near the ocean and then came back to Astoria, logging around 40 miles. The total feet climbed was- get this- around 400 feet. Flat as a pancake. Got a real case of the heebie-jeebies crossing a bridge over the river- really narrow with a wicked cross wind and a ton of traffic. Not for the faint of heart.

The weather man was working OT today- we had overcast skies, light rain and then blue skies. Since then we've had wind and more rain- I'm expecting snow, hail and Vulcan lightning balls by morning. Not really, but the weather really keeps you on your toes here. Could make dressing for the ride a challenge.

While riding to Seaside (I was on Highway 101) I met a guy who, together with his female companion, was riding from Seattle to San Francisco- self supported. Looked like an interesting way to go. There are camp sites everywhere and the weather has to be pretty moderate. Talk about scenery- forget about it! This guy annoyed me somewhat- I passed him while he was on the side of the road doing a wardrobe adjustment. Several miles later he pulled along side of me riding a fully loaded touring bike. Hey man, do you have any idea what that did to my ego. Couldn't you at least have appeared to be winded??

I'm in Astoria

Yesterday, I flew from Atlanta to Portland and then drove to Astoria along Highway 30. The drive was beautiful and it ran parallel to the Columbia River for about 100 miles. The area is so lush and green. It clearly gets a lot of rain here- unlike my native Georgia which is languishing under a drought of biblical proportions right now. The hillsides are densely covered with evergreens that appear to be rain forest dense and are that rich green that you only find on brand new plant growth.
The photo above was taken directly behind my room at the Holiday Inn Express. The hotel is literally on the banks of the Columbia River, which at this point has nearly finished its trip to the Pacific and is forming a wide bay here. The hotel sits directly below this bridge which crosses over into Washington. Astoria is a very scenic town, albeit a bit depressed economically. The town seems to be full of 50 year old Victorian homes that look like they need a visit from Norm Abrams and the crew from This Old House-lots of potental, views galore, but teetering on the edge of being saved or "it's time to go".

The crew from America By Bicycle was arriving about the same time as me and I met a couple of them- they were pretty fixated on getting things unloaded and set up. Fortunately I was able to locate my bike box, drag it to my room and assemble it- almost. I had abit of trouble with how Joe got the brake cable out of the brake assembly with the cable end piece still on. Finally figured that he uncrimped it, slid the cable out and then recrimped it. I reversed the process and voila, the bike's assembled. (Did I spell Wah-lah right??)

The picture to the right is also behind my hotel room and is facing the Columbia River upstream. Several times yesterday I spotted huge cargo ships traveling up and down the river. I noticed on the drive yesterday that there are a ton of chemical plants along the river (what a view killer) and a couple of times I caught the whiff of paper plants- yuck!! Memories of my time in Monroe, LA which was blessed with the jobs the paper mill brought, but was cursed with the every day, sour smell that was part of the bargain.

Today, I plan to re-tighten the bolts on my bike and then take a short shakedown cruise out the route that we'll be on Monday morning. Oh yeah- almost forgot- on the drive in yesterday (which I believe we'll be following as we start the ride) I saw several touring cyclists- one guy pulling a trailer and another couple on fully loaded touring bikes- all headed east. One good thing- there was a bike lane, with generous proportions the entire way from Portland to Astoria- never seen anything like it. It even had the bike lane symbol painted on every few miles. Very bike friendly place.

The weather is a real treat- the high today is 65-70 degrees and very low humidity. There does seem to be a constant wind, but I get the feeling that it's coming off the ocean and so that helping hand will be appreciated if it holds 'til Monday. The boys in the bike shop said an 80 degree day is a warm one here, but all that changes when you get 15 miles inland. Reminds me of the Bay Area- big weather changes in very short distances.