Portland, Day 4

We got up a little later today and I did my laundry, packed up for the move to the WomanTours hotel, the Marriott Downtown Waterfront. Jennifer went on a short ride to check out our route for tomorrow and came back shortly after I was finished my “chores”. The drive downtown was, uh, difficult, but we made it despite a wrong turn or two, one way streets, and traffic. It was hard to say good bye and I truly wished that she had been able to ride with us. But work and family obligations overruled and back to Sequim, WA she went. Thanks, Jennifer for an awesome three days.

There were already lots of the group mingling in the lobby and it was soon after that I started seeing some of my Southern Tier and UGRR friends. The group was quick to discover new friends and old alike! There were several long lost reunions and soon we found ourselves in the orientation meeting with introductions of all riders. Our leaders, Linda, the cook and Denise, the guide, were delightful. Linda was a chiropractor in the past and a self taught cook. She loves to cycle and came to WomanTours 2+ years ago. She said it was her perfect melding of work and play. Denise was a rider on the ST a few years ago and liked it so much that she came back as a guide. Both seemed friendly and ready to get on the road, as we all are! Many of the women have been on other WT trips and at least 17 have ridden across the country! It is wonderful to be riding with a group of such great riders!

Dinner was nice. Afterward, guests were introduced and those raising funds. Only two people are raising funds, Nancy N. and me, her for the Educational Foundation of Metter, GA, and me for Hospice.

My roommate, Pam, was delightful, and we talked late. I am ready and eager to ride tomorrow! Reid called to wish me luck and safety! I also talked to a friend met on the internet when her husband rode the Southern Tier this past spring on his recumbent. They may try to come downtown tomorrow morning and see me off. That would be so much fun.

I will post pictures as soon as I can. HA! No camera!! Sorry!

Portland, Day 3

47.4 miles, total pre-ride miles 87.4

Today was supposed to be 10 degrees cooler than yesterday, wow, 96°. So, we ate breakfast at the hotel and again got on our bicycles, armed with the wonderful city bicycle map, and plotted our route for the day. We had a 22 mile ride into the city on fantastic bike lanes, streets, and along the Willamette River. It was so easy to get around. Our first stop was at the Rose Garden, after a 15% grade climb for about 1/3 of a mile! Whew! The gardens were absolutely stunning and we spent a long time rambling around looking at the hundreds of varieties of roses, from the tiny to the huge, tea roses, and the rose test garden. Portland, the City of Roses, is certainly aptly named after seeing the roses in this garden. The garden was established in 1917 and was high on a hill overlooking Portland and Mount Hood (which was hazy and not visible today). There were three terraces with 4.5 acres and over 10,000 bushes. What a place it was! There was evening a wedding about to begin as we were leaving.

One of the rose terraces

Gorgeous rose, one of thousands

Another terrace

Just TOO beautiful

A very tiny rose (my thumb!)


Jennifer in the garden of roses

After that, we rode along the river for miles and crossed the Steel Bridge (we actually crossed it coming over to the city itself), a pedestrian and bicycle only bridge across the Willamette River. We rode through several neighborhoods and parks, past the Science Center, and around the city, stopping for lunch in a bakery that would make anyone fat just for the looking! We resisted, however, and soon were on our way.

View of Portland from the east bank of the Willamette River

Since Jennifer is also a seamstress, we had noted a flier in our hotel about the Fabric Depot. Of course, we had to put it on our route back to the hotel! It was, for you quilters reading this, bigger than Mary Jo’s in Gastonia, NC! I was just amazed at the fabric lines that they carried. Jennifer was looking for a mesh fabric in hi-vis green. She makes a lightweight pullover vest to wear while cycling for, well, high visibility. They had every color in the rainbow but the green that she wanted. Since they have an online store, she will look there and probably be able to find it. And, yes, I resisted all desires to buy some fabric. They are weighing our luggage on Saturday and I am saving my excess allowance for Sisters, OR!!!

Later in the day, I received a call from Ramsey, a friend from the Southern Tier coming on this trip and she had made reservations for dinner at Paley’s Place, a restaurant she had read about it none other than Bicycling Magazine. Apparently, the chef is a cyclist! Six of the Southern Tier group from 2007, plus one of our guides were at dinner and we had a wonderful evening and absolutely fantastic food. It was a most enjoyable evening. Thanks, Ramsey. (and Jim!) Another trolley and light rail ride (about an hour total) and we were back out at our hotel near the airport. A great day followed by a great meal with great friends. What else could one ask for?

Portland, Day 2

Riding up the ramp

Riding in a dedicated bike lane on the interstate.

Jennifer and I knew that to ride early was the only way we would be able to ride! We were on the road by 7 in the most bicycle friendly town I could ever imagine. There is actually a "Bicycle Authority" here and you can call it if there is a problem with the bike routes. The routes are printed on a large, waterproof map with color coded routes based on dedicated bike trail, multi-use trail, low traffic, medium traffic, and high traffic with dedicated bike lanes. We rode on ALL of these types of trails.

We rode out to the confluence of the Columbia River and the Willamette, which is the river that the city of Portland is on. Lewis and Clark, on their famous expedition, had information from the Indians that there was another river than the Columbia, however, they missed it both times they were in the area. This would have allowed them to explore South into Oregon.

Anyway, we had a great ride, in the heat, ate lunch and returned to the hotel by noon. Little did we know that Portland hit their record heat...106 on Wednesday, and we were out in it. Yes, it was hot, but as long as we were riding and creating wind for ourselves it was not that bad. I do not pass up opportunities to see things so we rode!

We crossed into Washington and rode on the Columbia and crossed back into Oregon later on an eight lane highway with a dedicated bicycle lane between, and completely separate from the highway. See photos below. The forethought that must have gone into the building of the roads here, with an eye for cycling is obvious. There are dedicated lanes everywhere and, needless to say, there are cyclists everywhere. It is definitely a commuter society!

Don't get caught in the rail tracks!

After riding in the heat, we decided to go back to the hotel. The TV pegged the temperature at 106°. We were well hydrated, had a great lunch and the ride back was fine. We talked for hours and then decided that we would ride the light rail downtown to eat and go to REI, our favorite store. The ticket machine would not produce a ticket for us and one of the machines was out of order. We figured that we should get on the rail and plead newbie to any conductor checking tickets. No one came through the rail car so downtown, we went to the tourist info center and the rail center was there. We told the clerk that we had just ridden from the airport without paying and that we were visiting and she said that it was fine, consider it a free ride and a welcome from the city of Portland! Then we bought a ticket back for later in the evening. Any street car in the city was free with the ticket so we were on our way after getting a city map.

We decided that lunch had been many hours before and when Habibi, a Lebanese restaurant appeared in front of us, we stopped. They were all so friendly, and we had a great meal, albeit with little air conditioning on that hot night. We then ventured over to Powell Books, an incredible, HUGE, bookstore with every title you can imagine arranged into colored rooms, orange, blue, etc, with a map of what was where! There was no trouble finding what you wanted, though I was not in the market for anything. REI was, of course, at the top of our list and we walked over there next. There were bicycles everywhere downtown, with bike racks common, and bike lanes on many of the main streets. No wonder this is the bicycle capitol of the USA. Several other shops caught our eyes and we had a great time window shopping.

Back on the light rail, we rode back to the station where we had parked the car (about 2 miles from our hotel but way too hot to walk!) and had a wonderful yogurt ice cream at the Cascade Station. It was really a great day, despite the heat. We finished off the day with another round of Jennifer’s wonderful Lambert cherries, which came from her family farm. Delicious!

Bristol to Portland

My dear Ben got up with me at 3:45 AM so that I could catch a 5:45 flight to Atlanta, and then Portland. It was HOT when I arrived, very hot, like RECORD hot! How about try 100. That was HOT. Jennifer, my friend from the Underground RR ride last year met me at the airport and she took me to pick up my bike at the shop where it had been shipped two weeks ago. It was in great shape, no bumps or bruises. We loaded up, had a nice lunch near the shop and checked into the hotel very close to the airport.

Backing up a bit. The flight was great and I had a delightful woman and her sleeping husband next to me. Karla and I talked the whole way. They were going to visit family in Portland. Thanks for making the 5 hour flight seem very short, Karla.

The scenery was spectacular from the plane. Since each seat had a movie screen, I was able to watch the location of the plane all the way out. We passed right over the Black Hills of South Dakota, where Ben and I spent some time on his sabbatical in 2005. Then there were the Tetons with snow on top as well as Yellowstone, several ski areas, and then finally the magnificent Columbia River Gorge. We flew straight down the gorge where I will be riding in four days. I definitely sat on the correct side of the plan. It was a little hazy but I could see a large mountain in the background. I do not know if it was Mt. St. Helen's, Mt. Hood, or?. Karla thought it might be Adams, or one of several other possibiltities. Anyway, the very fertile farmland was lovely from the air, with irrigation circles and fields in many wonderful patterns down below us. I was also amazed at the number of wind farms on the bluffs near the river. There were literally hundreds of wind towers.





After getting settled in the hotel, checking out and outfitting my bike with my equipment that I brought on the plane, we decided that it was too hot to go ride. So we sat in the room and talked all afternoon. It was a wonderful catch-up time and I enjoyed it so much. Jennifer was one of my ride partners on the UGRR and we just hit it off well. She will be riding the Northern Tier next summer with Woman Tours. Finally, hunger got the best of us and after a few false starts we had a very nice meal at a seafood place right on the river. After that, I can definitely say that I crashed and burned. After 21 hours up, I slept well, but of course, being on Eastern Time, I woke up at 3:30 AM!!

Fundraising Update

I never thought I would be giving an update BEFORE I even started to ride, but as of yesterday, hospice has already received $5500. I am SO VERY appreciative of all those who have donated to my cause. I can't wait to start riding. Tomorrow morning I fly to Portland. ...back to packing the last minute stuff!

Thank you all so much for your donations.

Newspaper Article

Dave McGee did another great article on me for the Bristol Herald Courier. He has done the articles for all three of my rides and I really appreciate the time he spent on this.

Click here for the article

Return from Baltimore

I just got back from 6 days in Maryland (my hometown-Baltimore) with two of my four brothers and their wives, my parents, and various other family members. An awesome, obligatory crab feast closed out the week and I drove back today! It will be a very busy week, with interviews, posters, maps, and packing. My bicycle arrived safely in Portland on Friday so is ready for me to pick up next week when I arrive. It is exciting and scary to think I will be leaving in one week for my next big ride for Hospice. We will be hosting the staff at our house on Friday evening for a barbecue that will be fun.

Tomorrow is my last day of volunteering at the hospital for about 6 weeks. I definitely miss them when I am gone! Maybe they miss me, too! :-)

Packing up the Felt

It rained yesterday morning and after Graham and Morgan left, the roads were still wet so we did not ride. Ben decided to work in the garden in the afternoon and I wanted to finish signing and writing notes on the 600+ fund raising letters going out later this week. It is amazing to think that I have raised $68,000 on my past two rides. My goal is to reach $100,000 by the end of this ride. Can I do it? I hope so!! With your help, my dear readers, with your help!

So, today I decided I should take one last training ride. For some unknown reason, we have not ridden the mountain yet this year, "the mountain" being S. Holston Mountain. We always seemed to have someplace else that we wanted to ride, the weather was not good, or we were off somewhere riding. I decided this morning that I would ride and try to beat my best time for the 9+ mile climb, with 5-10% grades, and up to 13% in a few places. Ben was doing a locum tenens day at the office so I was on my own. It was a gorgeous day with temps in the low 80's and my ride was great. I did it in 57 minutes to the top and then descended into Shady Valley, TN. That was definitely a PB as my fastest previous ride time was 65 minutes. This is the same ride I did twice on the same day a week before I left on the Southern Tier! Shady Valley was gorgeous, green, and clear. I stopped to have a chocolate milk and then rode back up the mountain and had a screaming descent!

After I got home, I took the bike to Hal who packed it up all nice and snug in a box he had given me to save a few weeks ago for this purpose. He did it for free as his contribution to my fundraising! Thanks Hal at Boyd's Bicycle Shop in Bristol, TN. Tomorrow the bike will go to FedEx for the trip to Portland. Reality is setting in...I leave two weeks from tomorrow for Portland, OR. I can't wait!!

Happy Anniversary to Graham and Sherri

Graham and Sherri, my son and daughter-in-law are celebrating their 6th anniversary today. Congratulations and best wishes for many more happy years together! I love you both (and Morgan) so very much!

Morgan

Morgan has been here since Monday and we have had a great week with her. Sherri and Graham are doing such a wonderful job raising her. And talk...oh my gosh, she is just talking up a storm! "go in pool, Nana" and "walk outside in grass, Nana" are two of her standards. "eat" is also high on her list! She is just a delight to have with us. Graham is here now and will take her back to Knoxville tomorrow, sniff sniff. Then I will not see her until September when I arrive back from my fundraising ride for Hospice. What alot of changes I will see then, I am sure!!

Alice

After 16 days, Alice's body has been recovered from 230 feet deep in South Holston Lake. For the family and for us, it is a relief, although so hard. Now everyone can get on with their grief, their celebration of the life of this lovely person who passed from our midst too early, too suddenly, and too tragically. Each day I look at Ben and realize how important love is and I thank my lucky stars that he is in my life.

There are several people I know right now who have been dealt a hand which is not so great, facing terminal diseases. I appreciate every day that I have here on this earth. Tomorrow could be different. Bless all of you, my friends.

Time passing quickly

The time left until my Northwest Loop Ride (NWL) is passing quickly. I am riding as much as possible (it is raining today) and gathering the required gear (I don't need anything new!) The past few days have been quiet with a short trip to Asheville for Ben to enter some homebrews in a competition to be held next weekend. We stopped in at Laurey's, a restaurant in Asheville, to speak to Laurey herself. She rode the Southern Tier this year and I followed her blog! As an ovarian cancer survivor, she raised money for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance and will speak next weekend at their annual conference in Washington, DC. You go, girl! Her blog has reflected her difficulties with reentry after the cross country ride and I could certainly sympathize. I had many of the same issues when I returned from the Southern Tier.

Next in line...Morgan (now almost 21 months) is coming to visit from Tuesday to next Sunday. Hooray! I won't see her again until the beginning of September when I return from my ride as I am going to see my family in Baltimore and then they go to the beach so I will miss them all around!

The search for Alice's body was suspended for the holiday weekend but will resume tomorrow. It has been nearly two weeks since she drowned and closure for all the family would be a welcome relief to this waiting and wondering.

Alice Bachman 1954-2009

Well, there was a memorial service for Alice today. The church was packed with friends, co-workers, family, and school friends. It was so hard. Ben's brother came all the way from Nashville for the day. This service was supposed to give closure to all the family who knows she is not coming back but it is hard knowing that she has not been found and that sooner or later, that may happen, opening old wounds and affording us new grief. I have had a much harder time than I would have expected, perhaps because she was near my age, active, happily married, doing a great job with United Way of JC. It is just not right...death at an early age.

Tonight I went on a mountain bike ride with a couple of friends, in the Holston Mountains. The lake where Alice drowned is at the bottom and I had to drive by that lake that took her. Harry, her father-in-law, who passed away of cancer on my Southern Tier ride two years ago loved the ride we did tonight. He was always joking about stopping before the last mile downhill. He stopped at that point and turned around...he didn't want to have to ride back up! I called Jane, his wife on the way home tonight. I was thinking about her, Harry, Tom, and Alice. It is so hard for all of them. We love you, Tom. This should not happen to anyone.