Coast to Coast for Hope

Hello from Lake Tapps, Washington!

Lake shot of Mount Rainier 

Sorry for a delay in blog posts, but we needed some time to relax after almost two months of bicycling. We are doing excellent and arrived at the coast in Pacific City, Oregon.

 
Kurt and Hayden dipping their bikes into the Pacific

We rode for five straight days through the wind, rain and uncomfortably cool temperatures to make it to the ocean and up the coast to Astoria, OR. Although western Oregon and Washington are usually associated with dismal weather conditions and abundant rainfall, the month of July is actually supposed to be the driest month of the year - I guess the rain had to catch up with us at some point throughout our trip and decided to hit us at the end!  Minus a few sporadic isolated thunderstorms back east, Hayden and I ran into little precipitation.

 
A dismal yet beautiful day on the glorious coast of Oregon

After leaving Yellowstone National Park, we headed north through Montana. We were able to spend a few nights with some friends and family, allowing us to get back to riding clean and full of food for our last major sprint towards the coast!

 
A neat rock formation in the middle of a long day through Idaho

We had to tackle numerous high-elevation passes throughout the remaining four states, including our last crossing of the Continental Divide in Montana. We also completed our longest day of riding (in terms of milage) between Hamilton, Montana and Walla Walla, Washington for a total of 155 miles!

 
That? Eh, its only a 7,241 foot pass and our last Continental Divide… no big deal.

We pushed hard through strong headwinds, daunting hills and the endless fields of grain in northeastern/central Oregon, climbed the summits snowy-peaked Mt. Hood, continued steadily through Portland and battled the weather to the coast!

Our nation’s amber waves of grain 

Ascents, decsents, hills and nothingness. 

Mt. Hood at dusk

During the few periods of blue skies, we were able to take a swim in the unusually warm Pacific Ocean and relax on the soft sands of the coast.

One reason for bicycling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific

Anyone up for a swim?

We took it easy up the coast and rode a day and a half with a fellow cyclist towards Seaside, OR.

The end of the Lewis and Clark Trail at Seaside, OR

After spending a day exploring the coastal town, we made our way to our final destination in Astoria and awaited our ride to Lake Tapps, Washington.

We may be a bit happy to see a warm, dry and fast vehicle that isn’t powered by our legs

 


Impressive… Although we ended at 4,299.9 miles

 What to expect in the following few weeks:

• Pictures: All of our pictures uploaded to a public site/page
• Updated ‘2007 Trip’ page:  This will go into detail about both groups’ stories, adventures and experiences on their cross-country bicycle journey
• Donation Updates:  We will continue to update the public on any further donations and donation matching.  We will be working hard to find companies, organizations and/or people to match the funds raised through our 2007 Coast to Coast for Hope trip

They made it! 

Kurt and Hayden have reached the coast.  Less than two months after leaving the Atlantic Ocean and Virginia, they have arrived at the stunning coastal town of Pacific City, Oregon.  Interestingly, this is the last coastal town visited by the 2004 trip prior to their final riding day into Portland. 

Congratulations to these two successful, tired riders.

Pictures and more coming shortly.

-Brian

Sightseeing along the way is one of the best parts of coast to coast bike rides.  Kurt reports that Yellowstone was amazing and that Montana was like nothing he’s ever seen.  But they are starting to get that feeling… the coast is getting near.

Through Idaho and into Washington state, Kurt and Hayden are heading toward the Oregon coast, full speed ahead. 

"What’s up?"

Please excuse the lame Kevin Costner reference within the current blog title… Hayden and Kurt have now passed through Yellowstone National Park (Bison… get it.  Buffalo?) 

Fending off RV’s, summer heat and the aforementioned beasts, our riders say "goodbye Wyoming" and "hello Big Sky" as they leave this nationally treasured land and pedal into Montana. 

And Kurtis concluded that, in fact, there are worse places to get a flat tire.

Enjoy pictures from one of the most visually stunning regions in the country.

"The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement, explain American development."

Historian Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis argued that the character of the American people can in part be explained by the existence of a frontier - namely, the Great American West.  What better way to explore the land, history and culture shaped by generations of Americans heading westward than by bicycle? 

Up, up and up - Coast to Coast for Hope riders are busy climing mountains.  Kurt and Hayden are heading north through Colorado, riding in some of the highest altitutudes that they will encounter.  The passes are tough but very different than the climbs that the team encountered back east in Virginia and Kentucky; the roads in the eastern states are older and have steep grades.  Western passes usually comprise long climbs (upwards of 20 miles) with lower grades (near 5%) and corrrepsonding descents. 

Here’s a map showing Hoosier Pass, CO.  Kurt and Hayden climbed this pass and continued north into Breckenridge and Frisco.

Even though the teams are currently on a pretty well-travelled route, they have met many people who are in awe of what the teams are trying to accomplish.  That’s certainly understandable when one considers that these five riders were still studying for their college finals last month.  The five have chosen riding to the Pacific for cancer as their first post-graduate challenge - not a bad choice for taking one’s first steps into the real world!

Some more news from the road…

The Rocky Mountains are in sight as both groups leave the Great Plains.  Kurt and Hayden have climbed their first western mountain pass while Henry, Bryce and Tree are sprinting toward the Colorado boarder. 

Check back soon for a look at the mountains that each team are climbing and descending.

Hayden, passing on the left.