Visiting Astoria and our first group meeting

We arrived a few days early before the tour beginning just to settle in and see a few sites. The Astoria column pictured is a monument high on a hill overlooking the Columbia River. It's about a 2 mile bike ride up at a 23 degree climb (the steepest mountains thus far have been about a 7 or 8 % grade for comparison). From the top, the view was remarkable. Notes won't coincide because I am late trying to catch up with my blog posts. The folks pictured are members of our group at our first map meeting. Map meetings are a nightly ritual after the day's ride where we learn what lies ahead and go over the route, weather, accommodations, etc. Couldn't ask for a nicer group of people to spend three months riding across the continent with. I am trying to get the hang of the blog stuff so please bear with me. Try clicking here to see the pictures I referred to but couldn't get to come on line. Well, that didn't work so cut and paste this into your browser and wel];ll see if it works. I tried it and it did. I will try to become more proficient with time. http://picasaweb.google.com/fegdvm/AstoriaAndTheBeginingPlanning