Day 8

Portland, OR to Cascade Locks, OR
Distance 49.4 miles -- Cumulative 404.7
Time 4:20:09 -- Cumulative 33:30:10
Elevation Gain 2234 -- Cumulative 12,961

I hate to be repetitive so I won't describe today's weather.

I narrowly avoided a bike catastrophe this morning. As I was riding away from Denny's, I heard an awful racquet, stopped, looked back, and realized I had ridden away with the cable lock still running through my back wheel. It took several minutes, but I was able to free it from around the cassette and out of the spokes without breaking anything. I was afraid I might break a spoke and be forced to use the hi-tech, variable length spoke I got from Garret at Spokes Etc (shameless plug for the sponsor). Fortunately, I didn't cause any lasting damage.

I thought I would be on lots of busy city streets leaving Portland, but I ended up on a long bike path that ran between the river and the airport. It was quite pleasant with a hazy view of Mt. Hood in the distance. The trail took me almost all the way to Troutdale, "Gateway to the Gorge."  That's the Columbia River gorge. From there the riding was a fair amount of climbing but at a relatively easy grade. There are houses scattered along the road, but not much traffic. I stopped when I saw a house with several "Fresh Lavender" signs out front. Sure, I wanted to see the lavender, but one sign promised lavender lemonade as well. It was tasty.

The climb tops out at Vista House--a spectacular Oregon State Park site. See pics:

That's me in the yellow and black.

The descent was steep, curvy, and fun. The whole road seems to be a state park and there are multiple stops to view waterfalls. Here is a sampling.

The road then flattens somewhat and edges closer to Interstate 84. At some point the road joins with I84 but the locals have conveniently added a bike path that runs the last seven miles into Cascade Locks, where I am happily ensconced at the Bridge of the Gods Motel and RV Park.

So it turns out that melbikesamerica is not only entertaining, it is also educational. Kristine's cousin Dawn teaches 5th grade in Colorado. She is using my trip to help teach American geography, and probably helping the kids to spot mental illness. I think this is the coolest thing ever. Check this out.

I can't wait to get comments from the class.

Tonight after dinner I scurried down an embankment and across some railroad tracks because I saw what looked like a fun bar. It was. I had a couple of beers and chatted with two great Americans about stuff.

Tomorrow I am taking another relatively easy day and heading to The Dalles, a touch over 50 miles.

As always, thanks for reading.