June 17 - 77 miles. Rode along the Columbia River in cool, cloudy weather, through Portland and up into the Cascade Mts. A pleasant ride, much of it on a bike path along the Columbia. Portland is justifiably recognized as one of the most bike friendly cities in America.
June 18 - 66 miles. Rode over the the Cascade Mts. and their lush douglas fir forests (two 4,000 ft. passes), past Mt. Hood, and then down into Ponderosa forests and eventually high, semi-arid central Oregon - ranches, sage, and sweeping views of the volcanoes of the Cascades. With 5,200 ft. of hill climbing, today was like climbing out of the Grand Canyon - in addition to the mileage.
So what sort of person decides to bike across North America? I find the group and individuals fascinating from a sociological perspective. As background, there are 52 riders, about 2/3 men, probably 50% in their late 50's (like me) or older (up to 73), and only 3 in their 20's. A few observations:
- As a New Yorker, used to the big city's pervasive diversity, the lack of diversity is striking. No black, no hispanic, no Asian (East, South or Southeast) - just white. And mostly professionals (doctors, teachers, lawyers, accountants, policeman, military officers, engineers - that I know of so far). No obviously very rich people, and no poor. And all English speaking, including the two Brits, one Canadian, one Aussie. So this is more or less a mono-culture trip. I guess in some sense it is then similar to the tree farms of Oregon, as opposed to a healthy human community.
- From what I can perceive so far, I'd say a large percentage have gone through a major life trauma in the not-too-distant past. Examples: cancer, divorce, spouses lost, a man hit by a car at 65 mph, others who lost their jobs. And this does not count the many recent retirees - perhaps 1/4 of the group. Two intersting cases: 1) the former Marine Captain (and his wife), back from Iraq, obviously moved by the experience, using the trip to raise funds to help wounded veterans; 2) the young woman being "escorted" by her father on the trip for this opening leg, then having other family members escort her on all the other legs. Something up here, as she sent off vibes of not really wanting to do this. My suspicion: biking as a form of rehab - but I could be way off. Anyway, my though is that the trauma, the hints of mortality, make people think "what do I really want to do" combined with "I need some time for me, to straighten things out, to challenge myself". Resonates with me.
- The above group (post-trauma people) is largely separate from the "repeaters" - the people - mostly older guys - for whom this is just one of many long distance rides. For them, this is their sport, the thing they do. These guys swap trip stories much the same as golfers or skiers - a bit of competition ("well, you should do the Blue Ridge Parkway ride for hills"), and some info exchange, but really pretty boring stories to non-riders. Who really wants to hear about the awesome hill climb last year? A lesson there for me in blogging. But the repeaters do seem to be a quite happy lot - they love riding, and they are friendly, and laugh and smile often. Got to like that.
- And of course, couples. Mostly pretty long term, older relationships, but a few newer. These folks pretty much stay by themselves, with less interaction, though invariably friendly. Maybe 20% of the group. Can be husband and wives, buddies, or most interestingly, the father and son-in-law (apparently the old guy's wife would not "let" him go without someone else, and of his 9 children, only his son in law was willing - but this says a whole lot positive about their relationship.)
Well, more observations in the future, particularly as the group dynamics occur, cliques form, tensions occur, etc. But this is long enough for now.
John
