Day 2 St Helen"s OR to Welches OR

Day 2
St. Helens OR to Welches (Mt. Hood) OR
Miles Ridden 75.7
Climbing 3060 Ft.
Average Speed  13.7
Total Miles 156.1
Miles To Go 3479.3

Today's ride takes us east through Portland along the Columbia River and then up into the Cascades near Mt. Hood. As we got started, I realized I had incurred some serious damage to my body parts that come in contact with the saddle. There is always some discomfort after a long ride but this seemed seriously worse than usual.

On the bridge over the Willamette River

That's me on the bridge over the Willamette River on the outskirts of Portland.The ride to Portland along the Columbia was on a state highway that was busy with commuters but had a wide shoulder. Oregon does a great job of providing safe alternatives for cyclists with bike lanes and room for us on the main roads. What Oregon doesn't do a great job on is keeping the surfaces clean. There was lots of debris, particularly broken glass, that resulted in the first few flat tires for the group. I was personally amazed by the number of wheel lug nuts on the roadside. 

We skirted Portland traffic for the most part by using bike paths and back roads along the river. We left the city and completed the first big climb of the day. Climbing hills is a difficult but necessary part of cycling. The reward is usually an enjoyable descent. This descent on Highway 26 was anything but fun. It is a heavily traveled road with lots of big trucks. The shoulder had been partially covered by unrideable gravel that left us with about 6 inches of space. I literally could touch truck trailers with my elbow but there was no alternative. Started to think how autonomous vehicles would handle this situation.  On the way down, at about 35 MPH,  a large insect struck me on the bridge of my nose and got stuck in my sunglasses, I ran over a freshly broken bottle and then a bee stung me on the very upper part of my inner thigh. All the while trucks were roaring past. Glad to be done with that.

First view of Mt. Hood

Things got better as we approached the Cascades and Mt. Hood.  We stayed the night at the Resort on the Mountain which was several steps above our usual accommodations. My pain is worse so I'm going have to make some changes for tomorrow.