Day 4: Tailwinds & Camping

Last night was my first night camping. It was cold out, but inside my tent, it was warm, and I had no trouble getting to sleep! The next morning, emerging from my fabric dome, I found a bag of fresh cherries, left by my new friend, Rolf. He had already packed up his bike and left, continuing his own adventures on the road South.

I knew I had a long climb back out of the campground to start my trip and was expecting kind of a tough day. Also, still fresh in my mind was the fact that my rims were only temporarily fixed, and I half expected to be plagued with the same flat tire problems from the previous day. Well, the climb was just as I expected: steep and challenging. Over just one mile, the road climbed from about 100 feet (at my campsite) to about 1000 ft (where it met Route 14). When I finally reached the main road, however, things got a better. The wind was blowing hard from the West and I found myself going mostly downhill with a brisk 20 to 25 mph tailwind.

Not far into the ride, I realized my front tire was slowly losing air. Even after pumping it up and checking for punctures, it continued. After a slight panic, and having to stop a few times to air up, I discovered that the valve stem was not staying tightened. After tightening that down really hard, the tire held its pressure for the rest of the ride. I passed lots of farms and wind turbines, and enjoyed my new game of trying to get truckers to honk for me as they passed. I still haven’t gotten a response from a train yet!

With my tailwind, and newfound optimistic energy, I had 50 miles behind me before 11:00 am. It was then that I stopped to chow on the cherries that Rolf left for me. Those were so refreshing! (Thank you Rolf!)

A while later, I rolled into the town of Paterson where I found the “Paterson Store & Restaurant.” They had just what I was looking for. Big comfort food! I ordered a grilled cheese bacon burger and a giant mound of fries. (There was so much food, I had to save some for later.). While I ate, I got to talking to a really cool guy named Chad. He offered me to stay at his home that night, and I took him up on it. His house was right on my route, not too much further down the road, near the town of Umatilla. I looked forward to meeting up with him later.

After lunch, I crossed over the bridge back into Oregon and came into the town of Umatilla. I was making such good progress, and had tons of energy, so I decided to push on, opting to go beyond Chad’s place to a campground further up the Columbia River. There was a point of interest there, “Hat Rock” which was one of the few existing landmarks still above water left from the Lewis and Clark Expedition back at the beginning of the 19th century. (Dams along the Columbia River pretty much changed the landscape completely from that time.). I have been roughly following the “Lewis and Clark Trail” all the way from the Pacific coast, but in reverse.

Chad’s place actually WAS right on my route, and I did connect with him one more time before settling into my campsite for the night. He did me a HUGE favor by providing a ride into the center of town to buy food and supplies for the road ahead. While there, he made sure I had a reservation at the campground… which he paid for TOO! What a great guy. (Thanks again Chad!) VIEW PHOTOS –>

Distance: 90.42 Time: 6:36:17 (7:14 am to 5:00 pm)
Ascent: 3041
Descent: 2772