Day 7
Saturday, 5 June 2004
Cape Disappointment State Park, WA to Seaside, OR
44.1 miles, 3h35m, 12.2 mph
Elapsed Time: 5h32m, Max speed: 34.1mph
Total Climbing: 1604ft, Max elevation: 409ft
Total mileage: 433.1
Everything was wet in the morning, but it wasn't raining and
the sun would occasionally poke through the clouds. Still there was not
enough sun to dry our tents so they went in the bags wet. I slept
fairly
well and didn't get up until about 7am. I managed to stay dry despite
the fact that the inside of my tent was wet with condensation. Next
time I'll have to be more careful about how I orient my tent relative
to the wind. This particular tent (the Eureka Zeus II) is known for
having ventilation problems under non-ideal conditions and the more
breeze you can get blowing through the better.
The mosquitos were just as ferocious in the morning as they were at
night. JT donned his rain gear to keep them off his upper body while he
packed his bags.
JT struggles against the insect assault.
We finally got rolling at around 9am. The goal today was Seaside,
Oregon, a resort town about 15 miles south of Astoria. Linda had
reserved a room for us at the Comfort Inn. It wasn't cheap but after
yesterday we deserved a short day. Also, with bad weather expected for
the next few days, we wanted to stay indoors as much as possible.
The big event of the day was the crossing of the Columbia River on the
Astoria Bridge. The bridge is more than four miles long and ends with a
big climb into Astoria. There is a small shoulder but traffic is fairly
light, especially compared to the Hood Canal Bridge.
Approaching the Astoria Bridge.
Unlike the Hood Canal Bridge, the Astoria Bridge is too long to sprint
over, and you don't really have to. The shoulder is small and filled
with debris but traffic was light enough that I could pull out the
camera and take
some pictures.
JT says he didn't notice me taking this picture. What was he looking at?
There is a big climb at the end of the bridge (which is not reflected
in the route profile). We just struggled up and down the ramp on the
other side.
An artsy look at the Astoria Bridge.
A few miles outside of Astoria, we visited the Fort Clatsop National
Memorial. This was the site where Lewis and Clark spent the winter of
1804-5 (I think). There is a reconstruction of the barracks that the
Corps of Discovery used for their quarters along with some other stuff.
There was a ceremony underway a couple of miles down the road to
dedicate some statute or other.
The barracks at Fort Clatsop.
The last few miles into Seaside were slow. The road was great and there
was no traffic, but the weather finally turned against us. The rain
started as we struggled against a headwind up a valley that seemed to
go on forever. It got harder as we climbed the last hill between us and
the coast. Needless to say the descent was exciting.
We stopped at a bike shop in town for JT to get a tube and spare brake
pads. While we were inside the rain really started coming down, but it
stopped within a few minutes. That seems to be the pattern around here.
We checked in to the Comfort Inn and grabbed a big meal (we never
really ate breakfast or lunch). After that we walked up and down
the main drag and looked into the ice cream parlors until I found one
I liked.
Tomorrow it's supposed to be rainy again but we're committed to a 50
mile ride to Tillamook.
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"JT and BC's 2004 Pacific
Coast
Ride" Copyright © 2004 By Bob Clemons. All rights reserved.