Day 0 -- June 20th -- Wheel Dipping in the Pacific

Miles Ridden: 27
Avg Speed: 14.4
Avg Heart Rate: 134 bpm
Climbing: 361 ft
Calories Burned: 1,483

Father's Day ... usually spent finishing the Trek Across Maine with my family and friends.  I have not had a chance to connect with Leo's Legacy yet to see how the ride is going.  Hopefully sometime this week.  The day started with more nervous energy ... I was up at 6 thanks to a wrong number call on the cell.  I worked on the web site and finally have it set up so folks can quickly see my BLOG without hunting.  I combined the route and BLOG (see My Route and BLOG) page and added links to each day's ride.  A nice Father's Day donation from Ron & Cindy Garber.  Ron and I were best friends in high school.  He and Cindy like to ride ... but prefer the motorized version.

At breakfast I got my first chance to meet some of the other riders.  A very diverse and interesting group.  47 folks are riding the full route.  Youngest is 17 and the oldest, well, I will need to ask him ... Howard Beane.  This is hist fourth cross country ride.  I should be so lucky.  Several couples including John & Dereka from Maine, Renny & Sarah Ann from Wyoming, and Gary & Margot from Connecticut.  Met up with Gerard and scheduled to ride to the Pacific with him and several others.  We headed out around 10:30 in a cool misty rain with temperatures in the low 50's.  A flat ride to Warrenton, Oregon and the Ft. Stevens State Park.  There were around 10 of us that stayed together.  I chatted with Gary from Greenwich, CT.  He and his wife, Margot both ride Serotta's.  She was our event leader for the day and came well prepared with red, white, and blue lays and American flags.  Katie managed to find a short cut and was waiting for us when we arrived at the beach.  It was so worth the dirty bike and mist.   Gerard is in the red.  Katy was snapping a picture ... snagged a group shot as well. 

On the return trip, Katie and I swung off from the group and headed to GNC for some recovery/protein mix.  Not the exact brand I wanted, but similar enough 4:1 (carbs:protein) blend.  A little over 25 miles with a mere 360 feet of ascent.  After a quick shower it was time for orientation.  A very thorough and entertaining presentation that included introductions by each rider.  So many like minded people ... some celebrating retirement, or turning 50 or 60 ... others fulfilling life-long dreams or checking an important item off their bucket list.  A few, like me, are riding for charity.  Mark Weisbarth is riding for his cousin, Lara Kaufman, to help brain and spinal cord regeneration research.  Mark's Ride for Team Lara will benefit the Krembil Neuroscience Centre in Toronto.  Mark's son, Adam, surprised him for Father's Day by flying in to send him off.  I hope to ride with Mark tomorrow.  After a catered buffet dinner, we walked through our first cue sheet.  Even I can't get lost ... take left out of parking lot ... ride for 69 miles ... take right into parking lot of Best Western in St. Helens, Oregon.  A few solid looking climbs await us.  Bring it on ...