Thread: Your First Tour
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Old 06-23-22, 10:47 AM
  #11  
Doug64
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I’m not sure if I’d call my planned ride a tour. It planned to start from Trout Lake, Washington to Madras, Oregon; and then riding approximately 4,000” up to Government Camp at the base of MT Hood; and descending more than 4,000 feet into Portland. It was early March in the early 70s, and I considered this more of a training ride than a tour. I was not sure of the exact distance, It turned out to be 257 miles (all mileages were just figured using Google Maps), but thought I could do it in 2 or 3 days. I had never heard the term “credit card tour”, but I planned on using motels. I did not know anything about bike touring.

The morning start was sunny, but cold. The first day I made it 87 miles to the small town of Maupin, OR where I spent the night. I was still thinking that I might be able to complete the remaining distance,170 miles, to Portland the next day.

The second day was again sunny but cold. I covered the 113 miles to Government Camp, arriving a little after 4:00, just as the ski areas were closing down. The climbing slowed me down, and pretty much eliminated any thoughts of getting to Portland that day. The road was jammed with skiers going home, it was getting dark, and the sides of the road were 10’ vertical walls of snow groomed by the rotary snowplows. There was also some snowmelt during the day, which could freeze on the wet roads as the sun set. As it turned out I did not realize it was still over 50 miles into Portland.

I really did not want to ride the remaining distance, 57 miles, into Portland in the dark, even though it was mostly a downhill ride. I started to look at lodging options, and could not find a room anywhere. So I did the next best thing, and called my wife who was at her folk’s place in Portland. Her uncle was there, and overheard her part of the conversation. He offered to pick me up, only there would be one condition: he would drive up there in his motor home, we would spend the night, and we would ski the next day. How could a guy refuse!

The ride did, however, hook me into real touring.

Last edited by Doug64; 06-23-22 at 07:04 PM.
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