Day 2 – June 18th

The ride today started in downtown Portland and would proceed out of the city and onto Mount Hood. Starting out, the legs were tight for both Gary and I, probably due to the fact that we pushed it a bit on the ride the day before. With that thought in mind, we leisurely spun out of Portland and into Gresham, Oregon. We rode fairly conservatively until we got to the base of Mt. Hood and then started getting into some real climbing. The climbs went very well in the beginning, and Gary hung quite well. I pulled through most of the climbs and was feeling really good; all those long hours of chasing Dave and Martin up the many hills surrounding Portland were paying off. I don’t think I can thank those guys enough for taking the time, and having the patience, to teach a novice climber how to get up the side of the mountain. Maybe after this ride I’ll finally be able to hang with you guys. Though chasing Martin on the flats and Dave on the climbs will probably remain an effort in futility. I can dream though!

The final big climb up to Government Camp played with our emotions on this day; we erroneously thought the climb topped out at 2,700 feet. However, we realized much to our chagrin that the summit topped out at about 4,000 feet. That is a long ways to climb when you keep telling yourself you are just about to be done and the pain will go away; at least the pain will reside for a little while. When we did finally top the climb, Gary and I were both relieved to see Larry sitting there in the white SUV, a smile played across his face, and a cooler full of food and drinks. I think Gary cried at that point. I’m not sure though, as I couldn’t see him through the tears.

Larry is doing an unbelievable job of support. He has made this ride feel almost like cheating. He not only scouts the route, blocks for us on sketchy patches of road, has food and drinks always stocked and cold, but is also taking pictures of the vast scenery for us. What a guy! Every time we see a rider on the road, struggling up a hill or with the heat, we comment they need some Hart. Sure am glad we got ours.

The only real issue that I encountered during the course of the day was a slight knee pain at about mile 60 that didn’t go away until I was off the bike at mile 80. I am not sure what the pain is being caused by, as I have never had knee problems. However, I am hoping Christina can help diagnose and remedy when I talk to her tonight. I am counting on it, as I still have a few miles left to finish during the next month!

On the way down off the mountain and back towards Portland I received a call that brought back some old memories. Wendy, my older sister (she’s the only older sister I have, as Megan, my other sister, is much younger. For those of you who do not know Megan, she’s my twin and I beat her into this world by a grand total of 8 minutes. An eternity if you ask me.) Anyways, Wendy’s message said that I needed to call mom ASAP. As I was soon to discover, my dad had gone in for a scheduled stress test and after having chest pain, they found a spot on his heart. The doctor conducting the test is not sure what it is, so they are going to try and find out by going into his heart on Friday, via a procedure known as an Angioplasty. (I can’t spell, and for those of you interested in how the word is spelled and what it all means, please call Christina.) The last time dad had chest pain, he ended up going in for quadruple bypass heart surgery. To say the news scared me is an understatement. We all are praying for the best, but weighed down with worry. Hopefully this turns out to be nothing and the old man is on his way home soon.