let's get ready to rumble!

So I survived a full day of traveling to get to Portland, and along the way I avoided the worst of the jetlag. A good thing considering the time difference is 8hrs! Portland is completely different to anything I would have expected. It's surrounded by hills (or mountains, depending on your definition) and is beautifully green. I have never seen a city with so many trees scattered around everywhere! On Friday the air was so clear, I could see Mount St Helen (the big volcano) and some other snow covered mountains in the distance.

I picked up my bike and bought all the bits I needed, so I am now fully equipped and prepared for bits falling apart. Again, the guys at Revolver Bikes were super helpful, so I am hoping that absolutely nothing could possibly go wrong with this bike. (Right ;)) I decided not to buy any form of sat nav gadget/toy, as the bike GPS computers are so expensive but don't even offer a reasonable screen or mapping function (and don't work with a Mac unless you splash out on the most recent model for a mere $649!), while the cars sat navs are cool but only run 3-4hrs on batteries. Useful.

After that, I did a bit of sightseeing around the city, and watched Kung Fu Panda at the cinema- highly recommended!! I also saw Wall-E today, another brilliant animated movie out at the moment. The two are seriously the funniest movies I have seen recently! Of course, my first day in the US included a trip to the Ben&Jerry's store, and various other bits of fast food. But that's probably enough for now.

I'm taking the bus up to Astoria in an hour, where I'll stay with a fellow couchsurfer for the night before setting off down the Oregon coast tomorrow. The first day is going to take me to Pacific City, roughly 105 miles from Astoria. And since summer has literally hit today, I'll try to set off quite early- maybe 630am or so. That way I can also stop for an early lunch and hopefully catch the Euro final somewhere! My handlebar bag will be stuffed with fig rolls, Haribo and bagels for the way, and I am taking a pack of Gatorade powder so I can mix my own energy drink. With the temperature close to hitting 100F, I think the biggest challenge will be to stay hydrated throughout the ride!

Gotta go, will hopefully inform you of my progress over the first few days soon! (With the aid of my Starbucks Reward card, which gets me two hrs of free wireless in any Starbucks each day. Yay!)