Bingen, WA June 17

Bingen, WA. - Thursday, June 17
Will the sun ever shine in the greater NW? This day again began on a cloudy, drizzly morning with temperatures hovering in the low 50s. It is as if we are in the movie ground hog day. We wake up to the same weather conditions, put on the same biking clothes (mine would draw flies if flies were able to thrive in this area), and prepare ourselves for the biking journey ahead.
Today we round 54 miles, about 20 less than I had planned. This was due to a late start (10:00 AM) primarily all of which related to preparing our injured rider (Andrea) for the riding ahead (icing of the left eye to reduce swelling and the bandaging of and the applying of antiseptic ointment numerous abrasions on her left side. After doing this it is then finding breakfast and a grocery store to ensure that we are adequately provisioned for the journey. One of these days we will get it down to a less time consuming routine.
Although today's ride was short of our goal, it was a good day nonetheless.
Riding on the WA side of the Columbia River was a good choice. The route was flatter and carried far less dense traffic volume than the OR suggested route. The only downside was that our route went through fewer towns with services. Despite this, we were able to find a medical clinic to remove Andrea's stitches from Monday's accident and to provide medical consulting on whether the swelling around the left eye that Andrea has experienced during the past few days is something that we should be worried about. We were at the medical clinic less than 20 minutes (this is total time). Even better it was done without charge! Like I've stated earlier, we come across some very nice and supportive folks on our journey.
Tonight I'm staying at my first hostel. It was our only options unless we wanted to extend our ride another two hours from Bingen and arrive at an overnight camping area at 7:00 depleted of energy. The hostel is a former school building and is nearly full of hostellers tonight. Interestingly, we had attempted to stay at a motel that was a former school in Portland on Tuesday night only to be turned backed into the rain because it was full.
Lastly, the sun does shine in the NW. During the last hour of today's ride we basked in sunlight. It felt great; however tomorrow's forecast calls for cloudy and cool conditions. So much for my biking tan!