dab across america 2010: Day 81

gotta love sleeping on a cozy bed !!

awoke EARLY to a pretty morning, but again, the winds were already there, giggling and just waiting to tell us bad jokes. we stopped for a quick convenience store coffee before crossing the bridge back over to Washington to continue the trek thru the gorge. we have been riding the Washington side instead of the Oregon route because it runs closer to the river and more honestly, there is less climbing; the winds were bad enough without hills. got a great view the Dalles Dam coming across. once across, the headwinds picked right up, keeping our pace slow right away. beautiful scenery as the river / road began to twist and turn, and we saw more sheer cliffs and steep outcroppings. Dana and I were able to settle into a steady, albeit somewhat slow pace of 10 mph or so; the winds never really picked up enough to cause much consternation as we were able to sustain a decent pace. the twisting turns of the created numerous pockets of areas fairly well shielded from the winds; there were serious whitecaps out on the river, but the water was often calm along where we were riding. sweet ! even the areas we hit the headwinds were generally devoid of the strong stop-you-in-your-tracks gusts, so again, we were able to keep up a steady rhythm. we passed thru a series of short tunnels that did give meaning to the concept of 'wind tunnel', but that seemed to be the worst of it. as we progressed thru the ride, we moved into the lower Columbia River valley as gentle hills and tree-filled terrain
became more common and provided more block from the wind. before long, the winds began to subside, and we navigated some easy climbs that also gave some nice fast descents we could enjoy for a change. made great time during the ride, but decided to end up in Washougal to camp instead of pressing another 20 miles to Portland, where Josh had reached today. we found a fun pub, Smeads Pub, for happy hour beers and a killer club sandwich to fill the tummy. got turned onto a nice local park camp in, even though camping was not allowed. :)

an unexpected excellent ride today, one that I put in the top 5 rides of the tour. felt great all day, and capped the day with a fun happy hour with pleasant locals and a great camp spot.

excellent.

today: 78 miles
to date: 4489