The First Day
Portland, OR to Hood River, OR
66 miles
When I first learned to ride a bike, my mom taught me how to tackle big hills: "Focus on a point 10 feet ahead of you, think about nothing but that point, and once you get there choose another point 10 feet away."
Today's route included a pretty hefty stretch along the 84's shoulder. And there, among the freeway's jetsom and broken glass, between the Gorge's vertiginous walls and the Columbia's riparian DMZ (and still only about a $25 uber ride back home), I got my first flat: some little jack ass piece of metal tore into my brand new tire and tube. My bravado, though, suffered the greatest puncture. I was on a roll for the first 10 miles on my way out of Portland, had a nice tailwind and even spotted a coyote that I swear gave me his blessings for this adventure. But then, thwarted on the damn freeway by a useless piece of trash. Too soon. Standing just feet from the relentless rush of trucks while stripping the bike of its panniers and accoutrement, I caught a glimpse of the climb that awaits, of the innumerable fights against gravity, inertia and god knows what else I'll face just to haul myself across this country. For what?
My mathematical mind tells me that after today, I am roughly 2% of the way to New York; I just need to do that ride 49 more times and I'll be there. My emotional mind, though, is having none of that: "Did he really just say 49 more times?!" The numbers are, experientially, too abstract to offer any real comfort. And I suppose that's the point of this trip: the bigger the challenge, the smaller the foreground I can prematurely claim as my own. 10 feet becomes 5 feet becomes a right now that will live, already has lived, forever. Am I in it?
With the bike flipped, leaning against the 84's railing and exposed to the parade of traffic, I remembered a little party trick Sarah B'd taught me to fix a flat without removing the wheel or even the tire. Within a few minutes, I'd patched up the injury and was on my way again. The bike and I are still learning how to communicate with each other most effectively but we picked up a solid groove today and figured out a couple ways to make tomorrow a little bit better. Hopefully.
