Our ride leader, Mike Munk, says that the fantasy and the reality of a cross country bicycle trip are quite different. Since I believe everything that Mike says, I must believe this too. But by golly, today was a whole lot more like the fantasy than the reality. The weather started cool- maybe 55-60 degrees, but sunny- a vest and arm/leg warmers were plenty.
Later in the day we got into the 80's, but low 80's and gosh, it was nice to alive. The ride was glorious.I sat on the Miller Family Train again today (that's Mike Miller on the right and yours truly on the left) and we boot skoot boogied to the first sag,.. Just prior to that we crossed a serious bridge over the Columbia that was just fantastic. The bridge had to be 300 feet above the river and we could see for miles and miles...if you had guts enough to divert your eyes from the road- no bike lane and lot's of folks trying to get to their miserable jobs on a Tuesday morning. Much of the morning was spent gliding along a bike path that ran along the Columbia.
At one 
point I wondered aloud what the poor people were doing. Now that ain't right and I know better, but still, sometimes you wonder. We rode for a few minutes and then someone (who shall remain nameless) said "They're probably fixing our rooms up right now". I think she thought better after she said it, but it was too late and I was already choking with laughter.I peeled out of the vest and arm/leg warmers after the second sag and then the climb started- nothing heroic, but about 1300 feet vertical in 12-15 miles. The worst grade was 8%, and that was only for a very brief pull. Most of it was loooong 2-3% grades. Then the show started when Mt. Hood really started to become visible.
Mt. Hood has a way of disappearing for miles and then suddenly it appears- a little bigger than before, with more detail and definition. It is a majestic thing- all covered with Glaciers and such. Now those who know me will tell you that I don't say the word majestic out loud. Ever. I'm willing to write it, but never say it. But I might just make an exception in the case of Mt. Hood.
"Boys and Girls, this hunk of rock is Majestic."
There, I said it. They tell me that it will lurk around the corner during most of tomorrow's ride- and that's just fine with me. Sometimes you need something majestic to help you deal with everything else- like that miserable waitress at Calamity Jane's, but that's a story for another time.
Tomorrow's ride starts some of the big boy climbs- in fact, we'll start out climbing about 2400 feet vertical (by the way, the Empire State Building is 1200 feet tall) over the course of about 10 miles. So, lot's of feet upward, but really, not so steep- just a grind for probably an hour and a half. So while you're watching Oprah re-runs, I'll be slogging it out climbing this hill. The climb will take us to about 4,000 feet above sea level (remember that's where we started). I think it will be a grind, but pretty doable- check in tomorrow and see if I'm right. Bye y'all.
