{"id":50383,"date":"2016-06-24T23:25:25","date_gmt":"2016-06-25T03:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=50383"},"modified":"2016-06-24T23:25:25","modified_gmt":"2016-06-25T03:25:25","slug":"oregon-cycling-tour-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=50383","title":{"rendered":"Oregon Cycling Tour – Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"On

On the Road to Banks, OR<\/p><\/div>\n

After 2 weeks working in Portland, OR, I started my Oregon cycling trip this morning. I was hoping to start at 9AM but had to return a pair of cycling shorts to REI early in the morning and it pushed back my departure 2 1\/2 hours. I had no idea that the first several miles were going to be straight uphill on Burnside St. to get over the mountains west of Portland. I made the mistake of stopping for a breather and then had to push the bike and 60lb. load the rest of the way up. The good thing is that once I was up and down, the rest of the day was relatively flat.<\/p>\n

I was heading to Banks, OR first so that I could hookup with the Banks-Vernonia trail. Banks is 30 miles from Portland—30 miles was my planned max riding distance a day. However, I wanted to push my self the first day so I could have some miles in the bank in case I needed them later in the trip. I stopped in Banks for a pizza and then headed directly for the trail. The total length is 22 miles. The first three miles were relatively flat and easy. The next 8 was a steady climb on a slight incline…I wasn’t ready for it and it was a bit demoralizing. Thankfully, at mile 12, things flattened out and the rest of the ride into Vernonia was fast. At the end of the trail was a campground…a sight for sore eyes. I am writing this post from the campground picnic table.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow, I am going to try to push myself again and do 40 miles towards Astoria–we’ll see how that goes.<\/p>\n

Some pics:<\/p>\n

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