Start Time: 9:00 a.m. Finish Time: 9:00 p.m.
Weather: 65 degrees and mostly sunny (perfect riding weather)
Elevation Gain: 2600’
After a gut-busting pancake breakfast, my send-off team comprised of my Dad, his cousin Joan, and her husband Frank, assembled on the outskirts of Astoria to see me on my merry way. Before I got rolling though, we ask the hard hammer-slinging Donovan to snap a picture for us. I got chatting with him and he invited me into his building to check out his vintage ride. He figured I would appreciate a nice bike considering I’m rolling on a Rivendell. He also told me of his plans to convert the building into a Bike Kitchen, a co-op type bike shop that’ll be serving up some tasty bites. Very cool, good luck Donovan – I love your plan, you have a winner on your hands!
My carefully crafted strategy was to get some easy miles in and get used to the handling of Elvis since I’m quite new to the loaded bike touring gig. In fact, this was the first time riding Elvis since loading him up with the panniers and handle bar bag. I was shocked at the heft I felt – clearly, this will prove problematic on hills.
Easy Does It was the mantra of the morning as I headed 30 miles south to Cannon Beach for the official wheel dip in the Pacific. I was in no hurry, kind of meandering down the coast at a leisurely pace, getting used to the load and riding characteristics with the new found bloat.
Mishap #1 - Broken Sunglasses at mile marker 10. That didn’t take long.
I arrived on Cannon Beach to officially start my ride with a wheel dip. If you don’t know about this tradition, it’s a “must do” for transcontinental bicycling tourists -- and besides, it’s fun to get salt water and sand all over your freshly tuned and once impeccably clean bike.
Cannon Beach is a beautiful stretch of coastal bliss. I hung out there for a while chatting with onlookers and riding a good couple of miles on the hard packed sand, which was a new experience for me. Lots of people were asking me what I was doing, where I’m going, and why I’m doing it, so I passed out no less than a dozen cards with my website and contact info – I hope they are following me along the journey. Thanks for all the positive encouragement!
After the wheel dip I sat and enjoyed the moment, pondering what lies ahead on this 4400 mile journey. Another loaded bike tourist pulled up beside me. We chatted it up and I discovered that Chris was on a Vancouver to San Diego brevet before he has to get to New York to begin his graduate studies in the fall. We decided to ride together and share some stories about cycling and banter about life.
We continued riding together for the remainder of the day and at sundown pulled into Cape Lookout State Park for some deal-of-the-day $4.00 camping. Chris had clued me into this special “hiker and biker” program in the state parks. I’m in awe of the beauty of the park and the incredible bang for the buck – thanks for the tip Chris!
We set up our respective tents and called it a night, or so I thought. There was no way to anticipate the frigidity of the night, and that seriously hampered my much needed rest plans. I probably slept a total of two hours that night – not a good setup for day 2.
Visit the Jaredsmiles.org website.
No comments:
Post a Comment