Today’s ride was a milestone because we crossed our first state line into the State of Washington. Oregon seemed to last forever but I think we all loved it. A friend of mine texted to me that many people “don’t even know that that part of Oregon exists”. And he’s right – but it was great to see it from the ground level. And a bonus for us was to have one of the locals, a gentleman named Cliff, stop at our first rest stop today and essentially ask – “Why are you guys biking on this country road and where on earth are you going?”. I think he thought we were nuts when we told him that the destination was Portland, Maine. At any rate, I got Cliff’s number and now he is along for he ride as well. Welcome Cliff!
Today was a relatively short ride of 72 miles with a little over 3,000 feet of climbing. Our group kicked off riding into the sun at 8:30 AM and after a few rolling climbs we had a fairly long sustained climb of around 700 feet but overall it was mostly rollers that we took on by pedaling hard down hill to build up momentum to take you as far up the next hill as possible – so the key is not to rest too much after each climb. We had a lunch stop at the mile 53 mark in the small town of Athena, OR at a small county park and later had one rest stop before the final push into Walla Walla. Today was the day that I think my legs have figured out what to do on a daily basis – get on the bike and turn the pedals
I think that we are all learning the benefits of executing a disciplined pace line. If you have ever wondered why geese and pelicans fly in formation, the principles for cycling are the same – the lead guy does most of the work while the other guys get some rest falling in line behind – but you switch out the lead with a few taps of your hip and then rotate to the back of the line to rest. In the front, my heart rate will be around 135 bpm and 160 watts of power while riding in the back, it will be below 100 bpm and maybe 100 watts of power. We will all have to work together to make it across the country.
Another P2P’er to tell you about is Matt, a 49 year old guy who works for a global financial services firm and is based in Minneapolis, MN, marketing proprietary investment products to financial advisers and brokerages across the Midwest. Matt was able to save up enough vacation days to do this bucket list trip after which he goes back to work.
So tonight we are in Walla Walla which is known for its sweet onions, wheat and wine and is the hometown of Whitman College. We’ll need to rest up for the next big 3 day push to our first rest day in Montana but first we must complete a 98 mile ride tomorrow to Lewiston, Idaho.