Sept 17th-Chehalis to Astoria-98 Miles, 4200 ft of climbing

Today was the hump day for the tour. We are more than halfway done in terms of miles and days. It started off an hour earlier than normal because of the long day so we all met for a team meeting at 7 am. The hotel had a nice breakfast area so we ate breakfast and discussed the logistics for the day. The ride took us through Toledo, Castle Rock, Coal Creek and West along the Columbia River to Cathlamet where we had to catch a short ferry across the Columbia River. After that we were in Oregon and had 26 miles to the coastal town of Astoria.

The day was a lot cooler than the previous 4 days with quite a bit of fog. It was colder today and most of us had leg and arm warmers and/or wind shells to keep us warm. While the cold can make it uncomfortable, it has the benefit of keeping you cool so you tend to go faster. In the early morning the fog was so thick we had a lot of water dripping off our noses. But it was a very nice ride through farmland and small towns in Southern Washington. The last 50 miles of the ride were due West towards the coast which means you are riding into the wind. This makes for a slow grind as the wind has a huge impact on your speed. Some of the team members said they had to pedal downhill and wern’t going that fast. That makes for a tough mental challenge.

There was a little bit of excitement today. Tom Roy got his foot caught in his rear wheel (don't ask how) and while he was OK his back wheel was out of true. So our great support staff picked him up and got his wheel to a bike shop where it was trued and he was back in action. A group of riders including Tim Whittler, Conner Donnelly, Karisa Goodman, Sean Harper and Kevin Coleman got chased by a growling and very fast dog. They put it it high gear and barely outran the dog. Sean Harper was a quick thinker and took out his water bottle and squirted the dog who then scampered away.

However the entire team did great today and it’s easy to see that everyone is getting stronger. We broke up into three separate groups of about 7 people each. The first group made it to the hotel around 2:50 PM while the second group trickled in between 3 and 3:10 pm. The final group came in mostly between 5 and 6 pm. That was quite an accomplishment for that group since they had been riding since 7:30 AM or more than 10 hours. The team was in great spirits for the nightly debrief and is getting excited for the spectacular ride down the Oregon Coast. It’s only 70 miles and the wind typically comes from the North so it should help in the effort but there are several long climbs and the weather might be a factor.