Our First Half-Century Ride

8/25/2006: Day 6, 52.4 miles; Total 195.4 Miles

We slept well in the motel last night. The TB got up and went for a three-mile walk through the streets of Cascade Locks, and feels real good about it. I slept until 8 AM and started riding at about 9:15 after he made me two bowls of oatmeal and a cup of Cappuccino. He hung around the room until 11 AM and it was good for relaxation. Of course he tidied up the van and is proud of the new muffler.

I pulled out of town by riding back up onto Exit 44 and Interstate 84. We had reviewed all the maps and decided to go for the 97-mile exit or 53 miles. This would include passing Hood River, the wind surfing capital of the world (yes, on fresh water not salt), and “The Dalles” a yuppie town with the Dalles Dam, which was built for navigation and hydroelectric purposes. The dams on the Columbia were built with fish ladders so the returning salmon could swim up over the dams and continue up river. Fresh salmon is for sale all along the route.

I made an average of 12.0 mph today, and had no mechanical problems. The TB came along and met me at Hood River some 20 miles into the ride and we decided to go at least to The Dalles, about 44 miles for the day and perhaps onto exit 97 for over 50 miles. As I ate my sandwich at this stop a tractor-trailer pulled in so I asked the driver about services at Exit 97. He said he drives this route every day, but had no idea! In order to keep the TB off the roads we decided to get a room in The Dalles at the mile 87 marker so I could see the Steelers play the Eagles on Friday night football. So he went on to get the room and I continued to ride toward the 97-mile marker. What a relief it is to have the bike functioning well and to know I can get him by cell phone so he can get off the road and away from the stress and strain and boredom of much of the day. As I road through The Dalles he was hanging over the I-84 fence from the access road in front of the Motel-6, shouting we had a room! He was “pumped,” and I was too to know he would get some rest and I could continue on for a later pick up.

As I rode down a hill I saw an Oregon State Trooper spotting radar, so I pulled in to check my speed. He was embarrassed that he had not shot me (radar I hope) and we talked for 10 minutes thus saving several people from tickets! He said he gives 20 or 30 tickets a day “depending on how fast they go.” I would have never guessed! He was a nice guy, like all the cops I ever met, and was wearing a bulletproof vest. I hope he doesn’t need it. About 15 miles down the road I was taking a BOBB (butt off bike break) sitting on the guardrail and he came by as I waved and he gave me a short blast of the siren! I love this stuff!

During the morning I had 1300 vehicles per hour passing me, half in my east bound lane and half west bound. In the afternoon there were 1500 per hour. I did a 6-minute sample count so I suspect this is pretty accurate. In spite of the traffic count, I suspect the interstate is safer than the secondary roads will be as the I-84 mostly (not always!) has a 10-foot smooth paved shoulder.

I continued on to the 97-mile exit and thus completed 52.4 miles for the day. We have now completed roughly 200 miles out of 4000 or 5% or 1/20^th of the trip. It sounds so easy. It is so much different from hiking the Appalachian Trail. For one thing I am not nearly so filthy at the end of the day, although we have had a shower every day so far. Also, I have essentially no aches and pains and absolutely no blisters. I am taking one aspirin per day and Aleve 200mg twice a day. I usually take Aleve 400 mg twice a day when hiking or in the old ultramarathon days, but am feeling good on half a dose currently. We’ll get back to camping after tonight. We needed the room last night, and I had to see the Steelers tonight.

Cimarron the Trail Boss just came in from a shopping trip out to the Fred Meyer Store. Earlier he had actually found a Wal-Mart at Hood River and was disappointed that they didn’t have “anything.” He never did find any diet soda. “They didn’t have any in the whole store,” he said. I said, “Did you ask anyone?” He said, “I didn’t need to ask, they didn’t have any!” He also could not find any long underwear or stocking cap. Fred Meyer has managed to keep most of the Wal-Mart’s out of the North West so tonight during the Steelers game he went over to Fred Meyer in The Dalles. He claims it was worse than the Wal-Mart, but he did find the long johns but no cap. The long johns are too small, but he won’t take them back. He now just opened a Coors Light Beer his first beer of his 85^th year. He didn’t have any beer at all in his 84^th year.

We have 71 more miles of I-84 and then will cut north into Washington and pick up route 12 which will take us all the way to Missoula, MT, and the headquarters of the Adventure Cycling Organization. The flat interstate riding will be over for the whole trip. Tomorrow we will shoot for another 50 miler along the interstate.

By the way, I see that Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship last week and is leading the tournament this week. Although none of the current pros can whip Tiger; I'd like to give notice that Tiger's days are limited, as my grandson Gary, III, turns 14 in a month. He has the best swing coach in his Dad, Gary, Jr., a driven manager in his mother Ronda, and a new sports psychologist, Dr. Robert Winter to supplement grandpa's work. He weighs 88 pounds and hits his drives 250. He was student of the year for his grade in middle school last year so he's smarter than Tiger also. Mark my words.