Bamacyclist.com

Mike Monk, our group leader extraordinaire, is blogging our trip with photos on his website. Go to www.bamacyclist.com  then click on "2012 Journals" then click on "Across America North".

Tomorrow's Agenda

Tomorrow (wednesday) we will load the luggage truck at 5:45 am the ride a mile to breakfast. After breakfast we begin with a 13 mile climb up Mt. Hood. Please continue to pray for me as tomorrow also includes several significant descents as well.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is calling for "abundant sunshine" which will be a nice switch from two days or rain.
Today's quotable quote came from Lynne when she observed "This is a nice neighborhood but I wouldn't want to pee here."

Quick Update

I am writing this lying on my back with my feet straight up the wall. They told us to do this to promote recovery.
Yesterday, day one was exciting and tough. We had a 3 mile climb at an 8%-10% grade and it rained all day. At one point we made a steep descent at over 30 mph in a pouring rain. It was cold, scary and exilerhating. I literally wore off half my rear brakes yesterday and will need new ones after tomorrow.
I have connected with a real good group of 5 people and we call ourselves Team Turtle because we are the last ones in the pack and we have the most fun! There's Crist who is a really strong guy and is always out front leading us. Then comes Diane who is Crist's significant other and she is our navigator extraordinaire. Then comes me and I assist with navigation and communication between the front and rear of the group. Then comes Lynne and she is our coach and cheerleader. Then comes Sam who is also very strong and one of the kindest people I have ever met, he sweeps up anyone who is tiring (usually me) and is our safety officer.  We ride in exactly that order all the time.

Trolley Pics

The bumps on the pier are sea lions.

The trolley stop at our hotel.

Inside the trolley

Get Set...

Today's highlight was the registration for America by Bike (AbB)! It felt a bit like getting processed for the army. There was a line and we moved through different stations including medical forms, ID, official ride jerseys, and finally, assembly and inspection of our bikes and our helmets. It was great to get Olivia out of the box and see the ol' girl. She's very shiny after her tune up and cleaning at the bike shop in Bowling Green before we shipped her on my birthday.

I met several fellow riders today and had a great conversation at breakfast with Barb (Mike Monk's wife). She shared with us how safety is a priority for AbB and how it's not necessarily a bad thing on this ride to be the slow and staedy style of rider vs. the speedy hottie. That made me feel tons better. There was another rider in on this chat named Rich. He's from MA and he thinks he will probably be the slowest rider. I've got news for him...he hasn't seen me roll yet!

I met some other riders in the lobby and we decided to meet tomorrow morning at 10:30 am to ride together for our ocean dip. I'm glad to make that trip with others because it will have a much more festive feel and it will be nice to learn how to read the direction cue sheets with more heads than just me.

Dad, Cherie, Laura and I went to Ft. Stevens today and took a military truck tour around the fort which was quite interesting. Then we capped off the afternoon with a trolley ride.

I am looking forward to getting on the bike tomorrow and making the official ocean dip!

Get Ready...

This morning at breakfast, I met some of the staff from America by Bike. Among the crew that I met was Bama Cyclist Mike. Mike is the main guide for this trip and has led many cross-country trips for America by Bike. I have been reading his blogs about the trips for the past several months. Everyone I have met who has done an AbB trip has remarked about their great experiences with Mike and their respect for his skill. I nearly asked for his autograph when I met him.

We spent today connecting with Dad's maritime past and the history of Astoria. We went to the Columbia River Maritime museum and got to tour the retired lightship Columbia. I can't imagine how rough it would have been to be one of the crew on the lightship when she was moored at the mouth of the Columbia in a storm with 40 ft seas. The docent shared with us that even the most seasoned sailors were routinely seasick on the Columbia.

Next, we took a short drive to see where the Navy base was when Dad was stationed out here. We saw the housing for the base which is now a rental community and where the base was across the highway. I'm not exactly sure what the base has been converted into except that it is private with restricted access. They did however let us into one of the buildings where there is a picture of the Navy base. It was great to have Dad show us where everything was and to connect with that part of his/our history.

I took a peek today in the conference room at the hotel where we will assemble our bikes tomorrow. It looks like a freight depo with all the bike boxes (50 or so) waiting to "get the show on the road".

Ships on the Columbia