Day 1 Real Departure Day. St. Helens, OR. 69 miles, 3,250 ft climb.

This morning was filled with excitement in the air.  Breakfast was "charged".   Everyone was excited and some were nervous.  The weather was typical for the Oregon coast---overcast, chilly, some drizzle.   Everyone got used to the morning routine of loading their gear onto the support vans, signing in (they have to sign in at every sag stop, too, so they can be kept track of), and then riders began to leave.   There was no group start or official start, so people just started peeling off.   I said good-bye to Terry and the group and that I'd see them all on the other side. Terry joined up with his roommate Mike and some others he rode a warm-up with yesterday, and was on the road by 7:30 a.m.  Terry reported that they had the wind in their face for quite a while, but the weather improved as the ride went on.  Most of the ride was along the Columbia River.   Unfortunately, cloud cover prevented many views of Mt. St. Helens but occasionally they were rewarded with gorgeous views of it. The day was marred by a crash, which ended the tour for one of the riders.   On the way to second sag stop on a steep descent, he hit a pothole, crashed and broke his collarbone.  The poor guy, after all that training.  But, he said he's determined to do it next year.   They finished up in St. Helens, Oregon, on the Columbia River.  They're starting to anticipate the first long day and difficult climb, which happens on Friday.  They follow the Columbia River for a number of days, as you can see in the enlarged map, day 1-4.    


As the riders get to know each other (and many also maintain blogs), here's what Travis had to say about Terry on his blog:  "Today, I’d like to introduce Tucson Terry.  At 74, Terry is the oldest person on this ride.  Originally from London, then from New Jersey, Terry finally saw the light a few years ago and moved to the southwest.  If I had only three words to describe Terry, I’d say: dog-toy tough.  Terry is perhaps the skinniest human being ever built.  He looks like a pile of tooth picks loosely joined with bubblegum. But he’s a hard rider.  I’m a pretty good hill climber — not in Loco’s league — but not bad.  So what does Terry do on the first big hill we hit?  He drops me.  I’m thinking: he’s older than I am, he’s skinnier than I am, he’s got a funny accent and yet he dropped me like a bad habit.  Hmmm … maybe it’s the bike".

Hilarious!!!

ABB Support Vans

Loading Gear

Riders Ready

Terry's On His Way