Day 2 of PAC Tour sees us continuing along the route of the Oregon trail from the Dalles to Pendleton, a distance of 133 miles but with much less climbing than the first day at only 3700ft. Little did we know that this would turn out to be one of the fastest days riding of our lives.
We left the hotel and continued along I-84 which basically follows the Columbia River Basin. Once under way however, we became aware of a strong tailwind blowing right down the valley at 25-30 mph. Taking full advantage of this we were all soon barrelling along at anything from 28- 38 mph!
View back along the Columbia River basin
As the day wore on the wind never dropped and the smiles on peoples faces just got bigger!!
Long, straight, flat and FAST!!!!
I made it into Pendleton with a ride time of 6 hrs 16 mins – far and away the fastest ride I have ever done, and thanks to a magnificent tailwind which lasted all day, probably the fastest ride I will ever do in my life. My century came up in 4hrs 22 mins. This was everybody’s fastest ride and Lon and Susan confirmed later that it was the fastest ride in PAC Tour history as they had never had a tailwind of that strength last all day. Our average speed for the day was 23.5mph, which is pretty amazing for 133 miles!
Stats for the day:-
Distance: 133miles
Climbing: 3700ft
Time: 6hrs 16mins
Temp: 80’s
Wildlife: Deer (x3, snake, racoon – all road kill)
Russ' Transcontinental Adventure 2009 