Bike Tour 2012: And we're off!
Our fully loaded bikes at the start of Bike Tour
62.5 miles down, only 4,179 to go! Don and I are proud to say that we successfully made our way out to Astoria last night (getting away from Portland was surprisingly difficult) and down to Garibaldi today on our bikes. So far, this journey has been a dream come true.
In Astoria, ready to start our 4,241.5 mile ride
This last week was especially busy with preparations. Not only did we need to pack up for tour and tie up a million loose ends, but I also had to pack and move all of my stuff into storage. Fortunately I had my mother in town to help me, but it was still an overwhelming amount of work. The highlight of the last few days was laying out all of our gear, taking pictures and going over checklists for the tenth time, and then finally packing it all into 6 bags within 30 minutes. It fit even better than expected, leaving us room to spare! I had hoped to write up a blog about gear yesterday but we have run into a few technical difficulties...I promise it will be worth the wait.
Traditions and cheesiness...we're all about it!
The TransAmerica Trail begins at the Columbia Maritime Museum in Astoria, so that is where we went this morning to dip our tires in the water and take a million pictures. We even broke through a ribbon as we started down Marine Drive! The day started out overcast but quickly cleared up and made for ideal biking weather. We stopped for lunch in Cannon Beach before making our way to the little fishing town of Garibaldi. While we have my mother with us (tonight and tomorrow) we are staying in hotels, which has turned out to be a pleasant luxury. A hot tub is truly a bike tourists best friend. Oh, and I just might need to eat a Dairy Queen Blizzard at the end of every day...nothing hits the spot better :)
Happy bike tourists
Tomorrow we have 66 miles planned, and then 70 miles on Day 3. We are going to try and let up on the mileage for a day or two after that to let our bodies heal. We are a bit sore this evening, but no more than we expected. Let's hope we can say the same thing tomorrow! More updates are on the way, and I will get a gear blog up as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and happy trails!
A few beautiful views from the Oregon Coast