90.5 miles of suffering

Today was probably the best and worst day I've ever had biking. Mac, Ty, and I awoke about 15 miles outside of Portland to a gorgeous day. We quickly rode out of where we were staying and rode into Portland to fetch some much deserved voodoo doughnuts. Voodoo doughnuts were the most delicious batch of pastries I've ever had in my life. We had doughnuts such as the bacon maple bar, the Portland cream, and the old dirty bastard - it was fantastic. We also visited Powell's bookstore - the largest bookstore in the world - which was a block thick and four stories tall.Ty and I purchased some books before we headed out at about 11:00 from Portland. Once out, we quickly rode to the Columbia River Gorge - perhaps the most scenic portion we will have our entire ride. This section of the ride was awesome as we climbed for about 8 miles at first and then we went down a windy descent through thick forests, waterfalls, and old buildings. It was the most beautiful bike ride I have ever partaken in. However, Mac, Ty, and I were behind our riding schedule a lot. Portland caused us to gain extra miles on an already long day, and we still had 40 miles left to go at about 6:00 pm. Once we realized this, we swiftly rode the remaining Columbia River Gorge route and entered onto the freeway to make up some time. At first we were doing great, we were in a drafting formation and we were riding at a speed of about 17-20 miles per hour on flat ground; which is very swift even for a non-loaded road bike. However, after a while Ty's right leg began to experience some pain so Mac and I would ride a little ahead and wait for Ty to catch up. Mac and I would use the breaks to take gels, and drink water, seeing as it was a little above 80 degrees today with much humidity. Towards the end, we were exhausted after spending 12 hours on the road. We eventually reached our destination at 9:00 pm after a brutal, yet fun, 90.5 miles.