Day 1, June 14, 2015, Astoria, OR to St. Helen, OR, 69 miles and 3,250 meet of climbing:  Well….yesterday was the official “first day”, but today was the real deal!  We are now on the road, riding from point A to point B, everyday.  Breakfast was served at 6:00 am and we began loading our luggage into the trailer at 7:00 am..  By 7:15 am we were posing for a picture of the entire group and by 7:30 am we were off and riding.  We took highway 30/Lewis and Clark Trail out of town and remained on it all day until arriving in St. Helen.  The road was good, with wide, clean shoulders for biking.  It was quite heavily traveled by lumber hauling trucks but the wide shoulders were enough to make me feel  safe.  The road roughly parallels the Columbia River and the terrain was VERY hilly.  We had some long steep climbs, but what goes up must come down and we were treated to lots of 40 mph rides down the other side.  It was awesome!  Arrived in St. Helens at 1:30 pm and went immediately in search of a chocolate milk shake.  It wasn’t hard to fine as I soon found a local restaurant surrounded by bikes belonging to our group.  If you are looking for a great milkshake you can always count on finding one where bikers congregate.  It was delish!!

As I rode out of Astoria I found myself experiencing emotions of joy and thankfulness.  Tears came to my eyes as I contemplated the fact that all I have to do for the next 36 days is ride my bike and experience the awe inspiring beauty of this great country.  I am so thankful for it all.  Life is very, very good!!!

 

Everybody loading up before heading out.

 

Yours truly practicing my selfie pose.  If I do say so myself, I am getting pretty good!

 

Getting 35 bikers to line up for a picture is like herding cats.  Who wants to get your picture taken when you can go for a ride??

 

You guessed it, my first stop was for two, double shot Espressos.  These two young ladies recognized me as someone who is very famous when I walked in.  They just couldn't come up with who I was.  One said I was Robert Redford and the other said I was Clint Eastwood.  Sorry ladies, I am "Jayonethebike" riding across America!!

 

Stopping for the first SAG stop of the trip where you can load up on water, fruit and other snacks.

 

We went from sea level to 500 feet.  I think the tallest pass will be 9500 feet above sea leavel.  We have a lots of climbing to do!

 

Pic of the Columbia River.  In the background just right of center you can make out Mt. St. Helen.