Travel

Day Five – Condon to Hermiston

August 25, 2025 1 comment

The theme of today that stood out most was cycling as a team sport. Many think that cycling is an individual sport and that you hop on your bike and ride alone. In many cases, that is true. There are times on this ride that this is how the day plays out. We all have different strengths and abilities. Oddly, there are times when you feel surprisingly strong or surprisingly tired for no reason. What we each understand as individual riders on this trip is that you ride your own ride. If someone rides ahead or drops back – that’s okay. You will meet up or catch up at the next rest stop.

Read More

Day Four – Hood River to Condon

August 25, 2025 2 comments

Today’s ride was to be one of the hardest we will have. No question. It was 94 miles of hard. The elevation map above tells the story. We climbed 7800 miles today with most of it in the second half of the ride. It was hot. It was uncomfortable. It was a ride to test one’s fortitude and grit. I’m pleased to say that I finished this ride in spite of it being the hardest 94 miles I’ve ridden in my life.

Read More

Day Three – Portland to Hood River

August 23, 2025 2 comments

Today’s ride was 73 miles which, on paper, would seem easier than yesterday. It wasn’t. Today’s ride was more difficult as a result of the heat, a solid climb early in the ride – as well as one that came later in the ride that wasn’t anticipated and more challenging […]

Read More

Day Two – Astoria to Portland

August 22, 2025 3 comments

The morning part of the ride was spectacular. We rode a two-lane road most of the way through majestically towering trees lining the roads on either side. There were spectacular vistas punctuating the route. Beautiful as it was, it wasn’t easy. There were gentle and not so gentle climbs, so my Strava and legs tell me.

The climb we faced around roughly 63 miles end was never ending. We would come around a corner and see it taunting us having just jumped out from hiding behind the trees. Sadly, we already knew it was coming as our Garmin bike computers were showing us the elevation ahead. As luck would have it, it was on a fairly open and sunny portion of the ride with very little shade to be found. To add insult to injury, there were times the wind picked up to add to the fun.

Read More

Day One – Astoria to Pacific

August 22, 2025 1 comment

The day was filled with excitement and anticipation of beginning our 6+ week journey with time on the shuttles spent getting to know one another – starting with learning the basics, like names. There are 24 of us on the ride and while we scrambled to learn names through introductions and recollection by attire, we were quickly foiled by the fact that we put on our matching Trek Travel custom kits to prepare for this afternoon’s ride. The ride was beautiful. We rode a total of 30 miles and had the opportunity to get comfortable with our bikes. Overall, the Trek Domane bike is fantastic and a beautiful ride.

Read More

Empowering encouragement and humanness

August 21, 2025 0 comments

Throughout the training period as I readied myself to launch into the ride today – TODAY, the encouraging texts from friends and family have been amazing. As the departure date has drawn near and I began to share where I’d be posting updates, photos and all things ride related, the support from people I know has been both heart-warming and empowering. I’m sure some will follow because they believe the idea is somewhat crazy, but will cheer me on from the sidelines, nonetheless. Having that support has reminded me of the power of encouragement and importance of our humanness.

Read More

My Misogi for 2025… actually two.

August 19, 2025 0 comments

At some point in the last couple of years, I stumbled upon an idea shared by Jesse Itzler – the idea of Misogi. It encompasses embarking on an annual defining challenge that pushes your physical and mental limits. Ideally, by doing so, you achieve a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem and resilience. While fascinated by the idea, I had never put the concept into action – until now. My Portland to Portland trip is my 2025 Misogi.

Read More

Feeling… small

June 4, 2025 0 comments

I’ve spent the last week on a spectacular cruise down the coast of Alaska – starting in Seward and finishing in Vancouver where we disembark tomorrow. What has struck me most during this experience – aside from the beauty of the surroundings – is the realization of how very small […]

Read More

About

Dummy text is text that is used in the publishing industry or by web designers to occupy the space which will later be filled with real content. This is required when, for example, the final text is not yet available.