Day 2 St. Helens-Welches

Miles:  74:48                 Terrain:  Relatively flat and then hilly 
Depart:   8:02  AM      Arrive:  3:38 PM
Riding time: 5:07:45        
Average Riding Speed:  14.5

 

           Today’s Garmin Download (for cycling data junkies!) 

 

                              Today's Ride 

 

 

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The story of today’s ride really picks up where yesterday’s left off when I said I was going to “mechanic’s time” to have him look at a shifting problem.  It turns out that the derailleur hangar (a separate piece that hangs down from the frame and to which the derailleur (which shifts the chain in order to shift the gears) was bent.  That was rather annoying since it must have happened in transit, and I paid my bike shop a not-insignificant amount to pack and ship the bike so that it would come through undamaged.  In addition, the way the bike was packed the end of one wheel hub was pushed through the side of the box (no damage).

On my bike, the seatpost does not slide down into the  seat tube; a short seattube cap slides down over a seatpost that sticks up.  To clamp my bike in his workstand the mechanic had to remove the seattube cap along with my saddle. The derailleur hangar was bent back into place and then when he went to put my saddle and the seattube cap back on, the bolt which tightens the seattube cap in place broke because it was stripped.  So were the threads on the seattube cap itself.  Unless it could be tightened I would not be able to ride today (unless I wanted to stand up all day on the bike—NOT!).  So when everyone else was having pizza for dinner, Jim the mechanic took me and my bike to the Ace Hardware store to gerry-rig a temporary solution until he could go today to a bike shop in Portland and get a new seattube cap for the “bargain” price of $120. I was going to have to hold my breath all day that the temporary fix would hold until he could mount my saddle on the new part and put it on the bike.

Before this morning’s ride Jim did a quick class for everyone out in the parking lot on how to do a safety inspection on your bike before you start riding. Then it was off on a 75 mile ride holding my breath that everything would hold.  Of course any noise, or creak, or groan from the bike and I was sure that the seat was moving.  But it held!

The first 42 miles of today’s ride, which carried us down the west side of the Columbia River (hardly any glimpses of the river), and across the north side of Portland, was relatively flat.  We were on a bicycle path for several miles which took us past the runways of Portland International Airport, and past a community of floating homes on the Columbia River which once again came into view.

  All of the hill climbing was jammed into the last 30 miles, and we ended up with about the same amount of climbing as yesterday.  But it was well worth it for the wonderful clear views we got of a snow covered Mt. Hood which you can see here.

About 15 miles from the end, many of us, but not everyone took the advice of the America By Bicycle people and stopped at Calamity Jane’s.  This western themed hamburger joint served the biggest burgers and had the most creative menu.  Anybody for a “Pineapple Upside Down Burger” with mozzarella cheese, hot pineapple and sour cream?  Or the “Honey Lovin Jimmy Carter Peanut Butter Bacon Burger”?  I’m not sure if the Hot Fudge and Marshmallow burger is a meal or a dessert.  Or there’s the Inflation Burger which comes with Absolutely Nothing and costs $987.95!  After eating at Calamity Janes I have never felt so sluggish on my bicycle!

My saddle is now resting on top of a new $120 seatpost assembly.  We are staying at “The Resort at the Mountain” near Mt. Hood.  And it’s just too bad we can’t be here two nights to have time to enjoy this wonderful place.  And for those of you “keeping score”, with today’s mileage we now have less than 3,500 miles to go!