Lewis and Clark Were Here

One thing I don’t miss about camping is packing up a wet tent. This morning I had to do just that. On the upside it wasn’t from rain but from dew. Sometimes I’ll opt to delay my departure to the allow the sun to do its drying duty but I wanted to get on the road at a reasonable hour this morning.

The reasonable hour ended up being 8:45 and shortly thereafter I was at Subway for breakfast and to stock up for the road. I chatted for a bit with the somewhat new owner of the store, Jeremy. Apparently things have been going well and sales are up significantly since he took over. Maybe I should’ve asked for a free cookie to fuel my ride! Anyway, we chatted about cycle touring and my trip before he returned to baking bread and I moved on to enjoy my breakfast.

The plan for the day was to follow highway 101 into Oregon and then onto to Seaside where I had arranged another Warm Showers stay. That plan essentially worked out for the first 50 km at which point I reached a fork in the road. Actually, it was a T-intersection. Either way, I was forced into a decision. Turn right to follow route 101 or left to follow the Lewis and Clark Trail (I say trail but it was a highway).

For no real reason in particular, I opted for the Lewis and Clark route. It appeared to be shorter and, more importantly, it seemed to have more services along the way. I’m not sure why I was concerned about services as it’s not like I stop frequently. Perhaps I just like having the option. As it happens, I ended up stopping at the first grocery store that came along. I ended up with two apples, an orange, a big bottle of Gatorade and a Snickers bar … for $3.30. I’m not sure how that happened but I thought that was pretty reasonable.

From there it was a mere 40 km (22 miles) to Astoria and my first State Line of this year’s ride. The road from Washington to Astoria, Oregon is actually a bridge. The bridge crosses the Columbia River and it’s a very long bridge. Not as long as the Seven Mile Bridge that I crossed near Key West, but still a formidable bridge. I’ve always liked bridges and I actually like crossing them – yes, even the Seven Mile Bridge, which I still think isn’t nearly as bad as many cyclists claim.

The bridge in question is officially called the Astoria-Megler Bridge and on this day it was absolutely blissful to cross. Yes, there was quite a bit of traffic but everyone left as much room as they could. I would’ve loved to have taken a photo (or ten) from the bridge but stopping didn’t seem like a good idea given the amount of traffic. What made the ride truly blissful was the relentless tailwind that pushed me the entire way. This proved particularly helpful as the final section of the bridge includes a long climb. To add to the enjoyment, as I neared the end of the bridge there was the satisfaction of passing dozens of cars as the traffic slowed to a crawl. Yes, I definitely enjoyed the bridge.

The only disappointing part about my arrival in Oregon was the “Welcome to Oregon” sign. I’m not going to lie, after crossing a 6 km (3.5 mile) bridge I was hoping for a more significant welcome. But, since there was no sign whatsoever to welcome me to Washington, this was better than nothing.

Almost immediately after crossing the Astoria-Megler Bridge I found myself on the Oregon Coast Bike Route heading towards another bridge crossing. This one was only 3.5 km (2.2 miles). But the tailwind that pushed me across the bridge into Oregon was now a crosswind. It was manageable but it was certainly a strong presence. I couldn’t help but find it impressive. Maybe I was just happy it wasn’t a headwind.

With the bridges conquered, I was now only 20 km from Seaside and it was only 3:00. The day was progressing very well. So well that I opted to stop at another Subway that just happened to be waiting for me. The town was Warrenton.

From there the final ride into Seaside was great. Mostly downhill. Sun shining. And I finally started to get glimpses of the Pacific Ocean – although I didn’t get a really good look at the ocean until sunset.

My Warm Showers host for the night is Neil and he hosts a LOT of people through both Warm Showers and CouchSurfing. He’s actually hosted more than 500 people. No, not at once. But apparently he had 10 people twice last week. That’s 10 one night. And a different 10 the next night! Craziness. Tonight is a smaller crowd. There’s Amy (a fellow Canadian), Brian (a fellow cyclist) and Spring (a fellow traveller). Neil had actually just met Spring on the beach tonight and invited her to stay. Needless to say, Neil is very generous and welcoming.

I think I might stay here an extra night to try to finally get my blog up to date – before inevitably falling behind again. Yes, my life is full of first world problems.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 112.48 km
Ride time: 5:05:48
Average speed: 22.07 km/h
Maximum speed: 54.82 km/h