Just like the first half of this adventure, my wife dropped me at the airport early this morn and bid me farewell. Harvey and most of my gear left via FEDEX last week and have already arrived in Tillamook, Oregon waiting patiently for me to get there. I flew to Dallas and had to endure a 2-hour delay in my next flight as they decided the plane needed new front tires before our flight. Fortunately I had a 3-hour layover scheduled on my 3rd flight, so the 2-hour delay in Dallas was tolerable. From Dallas I flew to San Jose, CA, and from there I flew to Portland, OR, my destination for the night. I'm staying near the airport in a Residence Inn; this will possibly be the nicest hotel I stay in during the entire trip as I will mostly be in very small towns with "mom & pop" motel lodgings from now on (if I'm lucky enough that the town even has a hotel; otherwise I camp). Tomorrow I will take the Portland light rail downtown to the bus terminal, and from there I'm taking a coastal commuter bus to Tillamook. If I can reassemble the bike in time I will ride to the coast and get the obligatory beach picture tomorrow afternoon, then commence the cycle journey in earnest on Sunday morning.

My challenges for this half of the continental crossing are many and range greatly in extreme. The weather along and near the OR coast should be nice, although it can be a bit chilly at night. I will have some mountain passes to climb commencing on the 4th day of riding, and some of these will be quite demanding of my abilities. And then there's the 8 miles of steep switchbacks near White Bird, ID; but I'll save that discussion for the proper time (NOTE added after the fact - the White Bird climb was more like 13 miles of steep upgrade!). And oh yeah, I will have a bit of the Rocky Mountains to climb as well, as I cross the Continental Divide 9 times. So there will be some climbing to contend with, and I expect to get plenty of exercise.

Once I cross over the Cascades at McKenzie Pass, the climate will become high desert, hot and dry. And it's been VERY hot recently, with temperatures of 100+ quite routinely. There will be several mountain passes I have to conquer while dealing with the heat. The extreme end of the heat is expected to occur when I traverse the Hell's Canyon region on the border between Oregon and Idaho; the valley floor there commonly reaches 110 and other cyclists have recently reported 120 degrees as they traveled through. So I may have to contend with a little heat.

On the other end of the weather extreme, it's already snowed in Montana! Hopefully it won't happen as I travel through, but I do expect some cool nights and chilly morns on the bike. I'm having to carry cycle clothing to handle both the extreme heat and to ride in freezing temperatures; so I've had to pack more bulk and a bit more weight in clothing than before. Others have reported experiencing days of cold rain in the Yellowstone area as well. I don't mind a little cold, and I can handle an occasional rain, but a few days of continuous cold rain could really put me off my schedule. It's no fun to be wet and cold and have to set up a tent in the rain and try to keep your gear dry enough so you can survive the night; I've been there before and hope to not repeat the experience. I do have good rain gear, and it will protect me during the routine afternoon showers, but nothing will give you complete protection if you have to cycle all day in the wet. So I may have to contend with a little cold weather, and maybe even a bit of cold and wet weather.

I sat next to a very interesting lady from Oregon on my flight from Dallas to San Jose this morn. She lives in southern Oregon and mentioned that there had been wildfires causing smoke issues just south of my route. I am aware of recent wildfires in Montana; so dealing with smoke pollution from fires may be another challenge, not to mention having to avoid the fires themselves, of course. (NOTE added after the journey; dealing with the smoke and fires was my greatest challenge, and almost torpedoed the adventure!)

Headwinds may present a significant obstacle in Wyoming. My path across the state is a southeast course, and the dominant winds in Wyoming come from the southeast. Headwinds are always a challenge for cyclists, but in Wyoming, especially in southern Wyoming, the winds commonly reach 40 and even 60 mph velocity. That kind of wind can literally stop a cyclist from being able to make any forward progress. I've experienced cycling in 40 mph winds once before; you have to pedal hard even while going downhill. So that possibility makes my "both ends to the middle" plan not so appealing. Anyway; I may have to deal with some wind. (NOTE added after the journey; indeed, I had a few hard wind days, including 1 day that I barely got through!)

Others have had problems finding an available tent site in the Yellowstone area. By the time I reach there, schools will be back in session, so I'm hoping that maybe it won't be so crowded. Just traveling through Yellowstone on a bicycle can be challenging, because you have to share narrow roads with inexperienced RV drivers. The Yellowstone area may present several interesting challenges.

Speaking of interesting challenges; no fewer than 5 tourists have been injured by buffalo in Yellowstone this summer! Of course, these people were idiots and I'm not. But they can run to the safety of their vehicles, and I can't hide inside a steel cage like they can if I cross a ridge and come upon a herd of buffalo wandering along the road. And there have been incidents with bear as well, but I'm not too worried about that unlikely possibility. I may pick up some bear spray before I reach Yellowstone. Smaller creatures are more likely to cause me harm. A father/daughter duo on a tandem bicycle had their tent damaged by a mouse that chewed a hole in the floor to get at food. Others have had similar experiences with chipmunks and such. So, I suppose I have to add animal concerns to my list of challenges.

By the time I ended the first half of this adventure, I had cycled from sea level at the Atlantic Ocean in Yorktown, VA to about 5500 feet elevation in Canon City, CO. Since I'm starting again at the Pacific Ocean, I've given up that 5500 feet of elevation gain! Maybe this plan isn't the best.

Because of the possibility of encountering wildlife, I am bringing along a telephoto lens for my DSLR. So I'm adding a bit more than 1 pound to the camera gear. May as well make it challenging for me I suppose; but I would hate to miss some good wildlife shots if I get the chance. If things get too tough on the hills, I can always mail home some weight like I did 3 times during the first half.

A big challenge this time may be loneliness. I expect to be totally alone on this half of the trip. Anyone who was riding across the country from west to east would have already left; most leave around the 1st of June for that traverse. I will probably encounter westbound cyclists who are finishing their continental crossing, but I don't expect to encounter any eastbound cyclists other than possibly some who may be taking a short tour. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Getting late, that's enough for now. I will post when I can this trip and will try my best to do daily updates or nearly so. Please feel free to post a comment as a way of leaving a message for me (you have to register with the site to do so, but it's easy to do so); getting such messages is quite encouraging and reassures me that people are actually reading what I write. Good night...