Day 39, September 9th 2007 (Beaverton, OR to Knapp, OR)

I was up early in hopes that I might be able to catch the church service at Mary and Terry's catholic church. The service didn't start until 7:30 and I figured since it was 6:30 when I woke up, it was very possible. Mary had prepared an incredible fruit salad before going to bed last night, so it was great to be up and able to bite into it. There was coffee that was already made and an entire list of things to eat for the morning. I chose to eat some granola with the fruit salad and it was just what I needed for the day ahead. Terry was up and I was able to chat with him while we ate our breakfast for the morning. He had woken up early because he was preparing to go for a ride in the morning as well. I beleive he said he was going to go for an 80 mile ride, which was quite the distance to be partaking in. He had mentioned that if he rode to a bus stop that he was able to put his bike on the bus and then have it carry him to the coast, where he could put in some good miles for the day. It sounded like a very cool way to have things done for you and if I was living in the area I would probably take full advantage of the luxoury as well. My ride was going to be a little different than his today. The road I was going on was going to be busy and at the same time perfect for cyclists. I headed on the road that had been drawn out for me. It was around 8 and I was thinking that if I saw a church service I was going to hop on in the church. I didn't go but a few blocks down the road when I saw a sign for an Evangelical Lutheran service that started at 8. I jumped off of my bike and was in the doors in no time. It was the largest church service that I had been in since I was on the road. The pastor lead a great service and although it was the largest service I had been to it was full of a few unexpected things. Following the service I had expected to have a few people come up to me and ask me what I was doing, because of my cycling clothing I looked a little out of place. Instead of people approaching me as in the other smaller congregations I had been to, everyone walked by and went on with their own bussiness. I was able to chat with the pastor a little before I left on the road, but besides him not many of the people in the congregation approached me and said anything. I guess it is much easier to be overlooked in a larger congregation compared to a smaller one. I wasn't too worried about not being approached by very many peopleand was just happy to be able to attend a service for the morning. I was able to be back on the road shortly after the service and still had a lot of time ahead and a beutiful ride planned out. I started up a good climb to get myself ready for a downhill drop into the city of Portland. I was able to wind down into the city of Portland on the west side through a great park and I had a bike lane all the way down. It was nice to be accomodated with my own lane even when I was in the downtown prtion of Portland. I had been told that it was a great cycling community and now I was able to see it first hand. Cyclers were around the city just about everywhere and it was cool to be apart of the city on wheels. I was able to follow a path along the Columbia River until I caught the road that was set to take me northwest out of town and take me to the coast. The road that I took out of Portland had a large shoulder for cyclists and I continued to see more cyclist even as I headed out of town. It was a great sunday to go for a ride and I was happy to enjoy the outdoors with everyone else for the day. After riding against the wind for about 40 miles I was able to cross a bridge over to Washington. I figured I wouldn't be there long, but as long as I was this close to Washington I might as well cross the bridge and say I was there. I was in Washington and stayed for lunch before I headed back over the bridge and headed on my way towards the coast. I was starting to get a little tired of the wind from the coast and I couldn't wait to get to the coast and have the wind at my back. It was one thing that kept me riding forward and helped me get over some mountain climbs and closer to the coast. Once I had drawn my body to the point of physical exhaustion I pulled over. The only thing that was going to stop me from getting to the coast was the sun going down. At this point, the sun had won. It was starting to get darker outside and I still had 15 miles remaining to get to the coast. I didn't want to ride at night on the road I was on because it had started to become more narrow and with all of the twists and turns on the road it looked fairly easy to not see a biker on the side of the road. I pulled over at a little cafe and after enjoying a great meal I asked the waitress where the nearest place would be to throw up a tent. I had seen a sign for a school just up the road, but the waitress came to me and told me that I could put the tent up just behind the cafe. There was a nice big patch of land and it was great to not have to go far and to know that I had permission to sleep in this little area. I set up tent for the first time in a while and went to bed knowing full well that the ocean would be in view tommorrow.
Daily mileage: 98.0 miles
Average Speed: 12.6 mph
Total mileage: 2,303.1 miles