Bicycling the Lewis & Clark Trail
Ilwaco to Kelso, WA

Friday, May 21, 2004
Distance Cycled: 80 miles
Vertically Climbed: 2,610 feet
Average Speed: 12.6 mph

We left Ilwaco under cloudy skies, and rode our bicycle to Chinook where we ate breakfast. Last night George was not sure that their bicycle would be in good mechanical condition as he was having trouble with a rim. George decided at breakfast that it would be possible to ride to Kelso so we all left for Kelso after breakfast. The good news was we had a tail wind all day so we were traveling about 3 miles per hour faster most of the day. The bad news was that it rained part of the day. Our average speed for the day with all of the hills that we had to climb was still one mile per hour faster at 12.6 miles per hour. About half way through the day George called on cell phone and informed us that his rear wheel had failed but it appeared that they would be able to get to Kelso.

We continued riding although from time to time we were sprinkled on. We never got rained on hard enough to need rain gear for very long but Jim wore rain covers over his shoes the first half of the day. We arrived at the motel after riding through Longview for over 5 miles.

George called a bicycle shop, and they said they could pick up the bicycle so they could start working on the rim in the morning. There was a Mexican restaurant next door, so we all hurried to dinner and George returned in time to have his bicycle picked up by a local mechanic around 8:00 PM. Hopefully his bicycle will be fixed in time tomorrow so they can complete the trip with us.