July 18, 2005
Cascade Locks, OR - Portland, OR: Climbing on the Columbia.
Ryan had told us last night about the stairs on this section of the parkway. The builders thought to put a groove to place the bike tires in and push bicycles up. However, they didn't consider loaded bicycles. There isn't enough clearance for panniers against the wall. Ryan said the stairs are very steep and it's best to go with someone else to help with the pushing. Ryan and I had a major discussion on co-ordinating departure times so he was there to help me up the stairs, but I didn't slow him up. Ryan was in a hurry to get to Portland to find us a campground on route, as none of us wanted to wander around a big city.
Ryan caught up with me just before the stairs. He always seemed to have perfect timing. We did make one wrong turn and got an extra workout riding up a 12% grade.
The stairs were two flights. They weren't too hard with both of us pushing the bikes. We continued riding together. We came to a washed out spot in the bike path that looked quite extended. We wrote a note for the rest of the group saying we were getting on the adjacent highway. We left the note in the middle of the path. I placed a rock on the note to hold it down. That evening we asked the group if they had found our note. None of them had seen it or reached a washed out section. We had an interesting conversation over the possibility of two bike paths both heading the same direction. very mysterious.
I debated staying on the highway. The parkway was nice, but it had lots and lots of climbing. The highway was a straight shot down river. It was noisy, but the shoulders were wide. Smoker John had taken the highway both yesterday and today. He was nursing a sore knee and didn't want to climb anything he didn't have to. In the end I got off at the next exit to get back on the Parkway. I didn't want to miss anything.
The climb to the Vista House was an extended granny gear climb. It wasn't too difficult of a grade, but there was plenty of climbing. At the top I had a woman come up to me and say, "It looked so easy with you sitting down and pedaling as you came around the curve, but you are sweaty. It must have been hard." I get that reaction quite a bit from people. They think because I'm sitting down riding must be easier.
Recumbent John showed up just moments behind me and we took a few photos. The views were outstanding the entire distance along the parkway. John and I rode together on in to town. I was concerned about the city traffic and John kindly agreed to ride with me. We stopped at a little hamburger type stand and bought cold drinks to go with our sandwiches.
The downhill was nice. Not too steep, just a long extended run. I don't think I held John up much. The roadside areas the past few days were remarkably green compared to the high desert of eastern Washington. Some parts were almost jungle like with thick tangles of plants. I had stopped along the parkway for a bush stop. The soil had such a thick matted layer of dead leaves and organic matter that it was almost springy as I stepped on it. The sight distance in to the forest was short and I was a bit spoked by how close in things seemed. On a different bush stop I almost stepped on a little green snake. That helped my imagination run wild on what other types of creepy crawlies there were waiting for me.
We rode into Portland on Marine Drive. It had a bike path along side. We discussed getting on it. A problem with bike paths is that they are very confusing for out of town people. It's hard to say when they will begin or end. John and I no more decided to get on this path, than it did end. At that point we were on the wrong side of a busy road. It took a bit for us to get back across. From our map I could see we were on the outside of Portland near the airport. I was hoping we would get to the Motel 6 soon that Ryan had found. Perusing the map showed that we still had to cross town before getting to the motel 6.
We stopped at a port potty at a beach area. John pointed out the parking area was for vehicles with trailers only. I could park there! A bit further down the road we stopped at a seafood restaurant to check out the prices. John felt we were so close to the ocean, that a seafood dinner was in order. He said prices there were high.
We finally got close to the area of the hotel, but couldn't quite find where to go. I used my cell phone to call the hotel several times to get directions to the hotel. In the end we found it. The location was good. The city riding wasn't too 'city' and we were positioned well for leaving in the morning.
We were staying in a motel as a group for the first time on the trip.Ryan hadn't been able to find an RV Park close to Portland that would allow tent camping. There were three of us in our room. Me, Ryan, and Carlton. Carlton kindly offered to take the floor. It was not the luxury experience of my last motel stay. Too many bikes and too many people in our room.
I showered and back tracked around the corner to a Mexican restaurant to eat. Early in our trip I hadn't eaten out at all. It didn't take long for our daily cooks to relax on our 7 PM dinner hour. I was usually hungry long before dinner was available. I started making an extra sandwich to tide myself over. On days that a cafe was available, I stopped in for a grilled chicken sandwich. I had just ordered when Ryan showed up. He was checking out the options for dinner that night. He ended up sitting with me in the cool air conditioned restaurant and talking about our trip. The food was fine, if not excellent. After giving the group the choices, they decided to return to the same restaurant.
I was a bit concerned about leaving Portland in the morning with the commuter traffic.
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Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 1,049 miles (1,688 km)
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