Old Men On Bikes

Vernonia, Oregon to Astoria, Oregon Our 70th and last day on the road was about as good as cycling can get. I had perhaps the best night of sleep of the entire trip in a comfortable bed under a couple of blankets because the temperature dropped so low. When we hit the road the temperature was in the low 50s, I think. In the early morning we were not getting much sun on the trail and I enjoyed being cold after all the days we had spent in the heat of the high desert. From the farmstead we rode the mile or so back to the Banks-Vernonia trail, and completed the last two or three miles into Vernonia itself. Vernonia is a cute little town I would like to visit again, because on this early Sunday morning most things were closed. Fortunately for us Black Bear Coffee was open so we did get coffee and sandwiches. We could have headed directly northwest from Vernonia directly toward Astoria, but Liz and Austin had warned us how bad the roads were, how hilly it would be, and just how ...

Portland, Oregon to Vernonia, Oregon I rolled out of bed at 5:30. John was already dressed and packed and making coffee, apparently excited for our penultimate day. Hai did not get up to see us off. We rode a few blocks to the Willamette River and up the Eastside Esplanade. Contrary to the beliefs of people who watch only Fox News, Portland has not burned to the ground. It has its problems, but it is still a beautiful, lively city. Planning the trip I had hoped to ride over the Tillicum Bridge, Portland's newest bridge that is restricted to pedestrians, cyclists, and buses, but we had to content ourselves with viewing it from the Esplanade. Our route took us instead across the Hawthorne Bridge, up through Goose Hollow to Washington Park where we had the big climb of the day over the west hills. We climbed past the International Test Rose Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, and the Oregon Zoo, but I was too busy climbing to stop and take picture...

Welches, Oregon to Portland, Oregon We woke up to cool rainy weather on the west side of the Cascades, but there was not enough rain to force us into rain jackets. We just wore our long-sleeved shirts and got on with it. After a day of rest, and with the cool weather, both of us remarked about how great we felt. There were a couple of small climbs early in the ride, but at this point our legs were conditioned for them and we hardly noticed. It was a fast 17 miles to Sandy, Oregon. We planned to have breakfast in Sandy and stop by the hardware store for some Loctite. I needed it to secure the bolts connecting my front bags to the fork. We hoped the local bike shop would be open by then, but we made such good time we were still 45 minutes too early. We were about to press on to Portland when I noticed a light in the bicycle shop. John  rode over and peeked in the window and the owner opened the door. John told him what he needed and he agreed to go ahead and fix his brake...

It was a little strange to wake up in my own house after so many days in the road, but I made coffee and did Wordle just like I used to. For once we did not have a lot to do on our zero day. Probably the most pleasurable chore we had was sorting through our gear to see what we could leave behind. We had only two more nights to go, with places to stay both nights, so we ditched our camping gear. Tents, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, cooking gear, and food for hot meals were all left behind. I also left some cold weather clothes, a few tools, extra gloves, and several inner tubes. I even removed my front rack, swapping the front panniers for a couple of smaller bags that attach directly to my fork. My bike had been making squeaking noises in a few gears for quite some time, despite generous lubrication of my chain. Another chore was to take my bike up to Mt. Hood Bicycle to have my friend George adjust the derailleurs. Some time in the late afternoon, after the two bike shops had closed,...

Madras, Oregon to Welches, Oregon We survived the night under the pavilion at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds without getting swamped. To my surprise, towns and counties in the high desert leave sprinklers running all night, and Jefferson County is no different. One end of the pavilion was wet from runoff when we went to bed, and apparently John spent the night anxiously wondering if he would find his sleeping pad had become an island. It is unclear why he did not just move to the other end. When we walked to dinner the night before we saw a 24x7 cafe, so that was our first stop in the morning. We needed a good breakfast for the day ahead. Our plan was to ride 57 miles to Frog Lake on the south side of Mt. Hood. That would set us up for very short ride to my house in Welches, Oregon the next day. Fifty-seven miles would be a relatively easy distance for us, but there would be almost 4000 feet of climbing. The temperature would not be too hot, but for long stretches we woul...

Mitchell, Oregon to Madras, Oregon Dana, the host at the hostel, had coffee for us in the morning. We needed it: we had yet another big day ahead of us. The morning was cold but promised to warm quickly as the sun rose over the mountains. Fortunately, most of the climbing came early. After a nice little descent out of Mitchell we began the long climb to Ochoco Pass. Maybe the fatigue from the last few days of climbing in Oregon were getting to me. This one seemed longer and steeper than the rest. It was 12 miles averaging 4% gradient, but the last half was a good but steeper than the first. Fortunately our friend Ty, who we meet in Dubois, Wyoming, had given us some good advice: "Keep on pedalling." We did, and after what seemed like hours we reached the top of the pass.  Our tentative plan was to get to Prineville and see how we felt. Fortunately, the road was all downhill. We descended quickly, and as we did so we got our first views of t...