Today was the first Saturday of our ride, and many cyclists and motorcyclists were out enjoying the beautiful weather.
As we left Troutdale a group of motorcycles passed us, and the lead on shouted "You're REAL bikers!". That's a first.
We started on the Historic Columbia River Highway, built in the years after WWI. It was the first modern highway in the NW, and the first deliberately scenic highway in the US, It originally extended about 70 miles along the river, but parts of the roadbed have become I-84. Some of what remains is the original beautiful winding narrow road, some a bikes-only road, and a few places are just for hiiking.
The first few miles were on the original highway, climbing a few hundred feet to scenic overlooks including the 1918 vista house. One of the photos below shows us at Vista House, taken by a Hong Kong Chinese man who was very interested in us and our rig, and asked if he could take pictures. The other is the view from another overlook just to the west.
The road descended to near the river level and passed several waterfalls including 600' Multnoma Falls, where we stopped for lunch at a lodge built at the same time as the road.
A few miles further the historic highway segment ended and our route map showed we had to ride 5 miles on the interstate, which is legal when there is no alternative. Soon after starting on the interstate, we noticed a perfectly good bike path paralleling it. So we lifted the bike and gear over the concrete barrier and rode that. Big mistake. As we rode along we started to notice debris and construction equipment which suggested the bike path wasn't really open. We knew that for sure when the path ended at a big pile of dirt awaiting grading. Having come so far, I decided to reconnoiter on foot and discovered that a short but difficult drag over the construction site led to a section of the old Highway. I am sure we were the first bike ever to traverse that new bike path.
Once again on the bike path we encountered a family on bikes who assured us that we could reconnect with our planned route at the next interstate exit.
A few miles later we came to an expected staircase where we had to unhitch the trailer and carry the bags, trailer, and bike down the stairs separately. Compared to what we had done a few minutes before at the construction site, the stairs were easy work.
The bike path soon gave way to a road which took us uphill at an 8-10% grade (we have a clinometer, so we know) for a little over a mile. We couldn't sustain that steep a climb with the load we're pulling; we had to stop to catch our breath several times. We'll surely have to do that many times in the weeks ahead.
Finally, the road ended and put us back on the interstate for the last 11 miles to Hood River. The only thing hard about that was that we had run out of water- a mistake we'll be vigilant not to repeat.
Finally at Hood River we had just enough time to drop off the trailer at a motel and ride to the local church for their 5:30 vigil Mass. At the end of the service. The priest, who had spotted our Florida cycling jerseys, singled us out and asked, "You're from Florida? Are you lost?" I answered that we were starting our cross country ride from Oregon. That got a lot of attention from the congregation.
Back to the motel for a delivered pizza and an early bedtime. The day's ride was 55 miles with 3800 feet of climbing.
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