Up at 5:30 and on the road at 6:15 this morning. 56 degrees now with a high of 80 today…looks like another perfect weather day. Nice bike path out of Monmouth for the first 5 miles to Rickreall then back on heavy traffic road…good shoulder most of the way to Grand Ronde, about 30 miles in, but lots of traffic and very uninspiring riding. About all that’s in Grand Ronde is a big casino and gas station — stopped in the gas station/cafe and had a breakfast burrito and coffee. Picked up some orange juice and snacks for the road then headed for the coast.
This far I would have to rate Oregon as near the bottom of the 10 states I’ve ridden through just because of the high traffic and generally poor to no, shoulder on the roads. I expected it to be among the top given all the PR I’ve read about how beautiful and bike friendly it is…the traffic from 18 wheelers, logging trucks, and RVs make it one of the less appealing states for cycling in my opinion—at least up to this point and at this point I’ve covered about 80% of the route in the State. The coast road had better be spectacular to make up for the poor riding I’ve put up with in this state to get there; otherwise, this sate may rate dead last mont the 10 on the route.
10:41 and topped Murphy Hill at 760 feet…that’s right, a whopping 760 feet…seems a wast of a sign to mark that one 🙂
Made it to Rose Lodge at 11:30 and 45 miles in. Stopped at a grocery store and had a Diet Coke and sneakers bar. Been very cool all morning….wore my jacket until about 10:30. Decent shoulders to ride on today but on busy roads with heavy traffic all day…nothing but road noise from the traffic and watching for big trucks and RVs…not ideal cycling roads.
Turned off the busy hwy 18 at Rose Lodge for a nice, quite, traffic free, peaceful 15 or so miles. Lots of huge moss covered trees…very nice 15 mile ride before getting on busy hwy 101 near Neskowin.
Got my first view of the Pacific Ocean at 1:40 from an overlook off hwy 101 in Neskowin. Still a little over 100 miles to the finish in Astoria, but as of now I have ridden coast to coast 🙂 Sat there for about 30 minutes looking at and listening to the ocean while I ate the banana nut muffin and drank the bottle of tea I picked up at the market this morning.
Rode along the coast going through Oretown, Pacific City, Sandlake, and Netarts before heading about 7 miles north to Tillamook where I’m staying at the Red Apple Inn tonight.
The ride along the coast was very windy—in my face, of course—and cool. In fact it has been very cool all day—I have finally found the England kind of weather I was expecting in Oregon….if Rob was here he would be doing his Kenny impression for sure 🙂 This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful costal rides/drives in America—it is pretty impressive.
Rolled into Tillamook about 5:30 pm and checked into the Red Apple Inn. Got cleaned up then went out to dinner at the Dutch Mill Diner, a 50s style diner on main street. Had hot turkey on bread with gravy, mashed potatoes, ice tea, and a strawberry milkshake. Then for desert I had a hot fudge Sunday. Ummmm….good. Stopped at the market on my way back to the room and picked up a bag of Cheetos and a 23.5 oz can of Mikes Harder Lemonade—the Cheetos didn’t last long and I’m working on the lemonade now 🙂
Felt great today. Didn’t really intend to do a 90 mile day but felt good so just kept on going. Have about 70 miles to Astoria, so looks like I will finish tomorrow. I’ve read about people who do this and get depressed at the thought of the end being near. I’ve enjoyed this a lot, but I’m not depressed. I’m excited to finish, accomplish my goal of riding across the country, and looking forward to getting back home to June and Tori….even looking forward to getting back to work next week 🙂
So, here’s to one more day on the road, one more update to this blog, and one more adventure being checked off my list….already thinking of what’s next—maybe when I’m 65 🙂
