July 13, 2003 Today was the big move into Portland, and we made it. It was one of the most challenging days of our journey, but it was a good ride, and we enjoyed it. We left The Dalles at about 6:20 to see what we could do about beating the wind. Well, hang that one up. It was blowing about 18-20 with plans to get rougher as the day progressed. We rode out of town, and soon had to start a big climb to get out of the valley. The climb was pretty steep, but we did okay, and the descent was amazing. We were flying. When we got near the bottom, and close to Hood River, we ran into another cyclist, John McGrory - he is a lawyer in Portland who has a home in Hood River so that he can windsurf on weekends. He rode to Hood River with us, pointed out his home and showed us how to get through downtown. We did a trail on the way into Hood River - The Historic Cascades Highway Trail - the road has been converted to a pedestrian/cycling trail. It was fantastic. We stopped in Hood River for Espresso and water. Soon after we left Hood River, we were routed out on I-84. At first, it wasn't too bad except for a dirty shoulder, but as the ride progressed, the shoulder narrowed, and it became difficult to ride. Soon, it narrowed more, and we soon flatted. We had to get on the other side of the barricade to feel safe as we worked to fix the flat. It was a weird position because the other side of the barricade was six feet above the railroad track. Somewhat precarious! We fixed the flat - replacing the rear tire as it was about ready anyway, and set on our way. Well, let us tell you - the shoulder basically disappeared, and there was no place for us to go. We stopped the bike, and walked - it was hairy because big rigs were screaming by us only a foot or two away. The shoulder reappeared, but we didn't stay on the freeway any longer than we had to. When we left the freeway, it wasn't long until BOB decided to do his thing. The tire went flat, and when we looked it over, the tire needed to be replaced. Not a surprise, since the tire has gone 4,000 miles. It would still work for a while, but our policy is to change before we get surprised. We kept the old one as a backup. After getting BOB back in order, we were riding along, following the directions from the two mapping services. We came to this area by a fish hatchery where a bike path started. The sign had us going up the wrong way on an exit from the freeway on a bike lane that was on the wrong side of the road. LaValle walked it to make sure we were going in the right direction, and sure enough, it was the trail. There was a surprise in store, however. The instructions had been talking about this stairway that had a cut for bike wheels. Well, when we got there, it was a monster, and whoever had designed the thing didn't intend for tandems to go up the cuts. We carried the bike of three flights of very steep stairs, and then returned to carry our friend, BOB, up the same stairs. It wasn't too bad, but it was unusual. After the exercise, we were off on some side and frontage roads toward Multnoma Falls and Troutdale. We did the second big climb of the day to get to Troutdale, and the climb and the descent were a lot of fun. We had a big climbing day, doing over 5,000 feet in about 90 miles. The weather today was cloudy, and that kept it pretty cool for the entire ride. This ride would have been major tough if it had been as hot as yesterday. However, that wasn't the case, so the day was very enjoyable. The wind was not our friend again, but we are used to that. The combination of the climbing and the wind kept our average speed down around 11. That made for a long day. We were on the road for 10.5 hours, and in the saddle over seven hours. The flats, and problems with the directions caused the off-bike time to expand. The scenery was amazing today. We spent a lot of time along side the river, but the highlights had to be the view from the summits of the climbs. You could see forever, and the river, backdropped by the mountains, was just beautiful. The terrane around the river changed markedly. The cliffs and smooth hills were replace by craggy mountains, and "Purple mountains, majesty" is an apt description. As we moved down the river, the changing positions of various landmarks made for a constantly changing landscape that made us want to "ooh and ahh" every time we looked up. Since it was cloudy today, the coloring of everything was interesting, and that added a lot to our enjoyment of the surroundings. The foliage alongside the side roads was very interesting today. It has taken on a rainforest look instead of the almost dessert-like appearance of the past few days. This vegetation was very green and lush, and hard to see through. A part of the scenery today was a tug and barge. They started out with us in The Dalles, and we saw them all day. It was like having a friend along for the trip. The Team is in pretty good shape, particularly since we have a rest day tomorrow, and are about 100 miles from the conclusion of your adventure. Our morale is great, and though we are tiring, we still manage to do what we have to do without too many complaints. Tonight's "thank you" goes to Deanna Wolfe, our strength coach. She is a real pro, and had us as prepared as we could be for our trip. She really worked our butts off (We call her the Princess of Darkness and Pain), and it paid off. If you need some help in the strength area, give Deanna a call at 707-544-1673. She is very good with sports specific training, and really makes the workouts enjoyable because she doesn't repeat - she just goes after the same muscle groups in different ways. Deanna is a positive and fun person, and she has been of immeasurable help to this Team. Thanks, Deanna! Well, there won't be many more of these things to read (or write), and that is fun to think about. Tomorrow will be fun to think about too - it will be nice not to have to get up at 4:00 AM to try to beat the heat and the wind - they can both go fly a kite! Ron Note from LaValle... There are more photos today than there were yesterday although the lighting today wasn't always the best. As we get close to the end of this journey, I need to be careful in what I tell my body about how much more riding there is left. It may decide not to ride through the end. I've arranged for massages in Astoria and also for tomorrow in the afternoon. After this long riding, massages will feel great. So to keep this short, I'll just say that I hope you enjoy the photos.