Date: May 16, 2024

Today’s Start Point: Astoria, Oregon

Today’s End Point: Barview, Oregon

Today’s Miles: 61.5 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 61.5 Miles

“Mama said there’ll be days like this”. The Shirelles

Today I woke up at the Duggan’s cabin in Long Beach, Washington to begin the ride at the Maritime Museum at the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon. Before we left for Oregon, I dipped my wheel into the Pacific Ocean for symbolic importance (don’t worry, I will try to keep the self-aggrandizement comments to a minimum).

The plan was for John and I to ride south along the Oregon Coast to Cannon Beach and meet our wives, Julie and Leslie, for lunch. It was a nice ride through some Northwest forests with trees creating a canopy overhead. There were a couple of climbs to loosen the legs (which is interesting when carrying 50 pounds of equipment).

John and I rode through coastal towns, Seaside being particularly nice. The Oregon coast is beautiful, with rock outcroppings and a hardened wind-swept look.

We met up with the ladies in Cannon Beach as anticipated and I had the last social meal for awhile. When we left Cannon Beach, we figured we had a little over 20 miles so we thought it shouldn’t be too bad.

As always, never assume. What started as a gentle mist turned into a steadily increasing rainfall. Adding to the fun was about 3,000 feet of climbing. My favorite was hitting a 10% incline while entering a tunnel. Horns are bad, horns in tunnels are terrifying.

At last, I arrived at the campsite while the rain was still pelting down. I am still trying to get to the level of a novice in setting up camp, so I was glad John was there to help me out (especially when I could not find the tent spikes).

Les picked me up massive quantities of food (DQ of course) and I had a quick change into dry clothes. With that, we said our goodbyes and they were off to Long Beach (the Duggans) and Portland (Leslie).

I am truly thankful for friends like the Duggans who have given me such a great send off. Julie’s hospitality and John’s technical knowledge have been a godsend.

Last but not least I want to thank Leslie for letting me do this. A lot of wives would not be so understanding and supportive, but she has been great throughout. Love you Les.

As I listen to the rain hit the tent and the sound of the Pacific Ocean waves, time for me to sign-off.