"Today was slightly less eventful."
It was my intention to take this day as a rest day. So, what could be more resting than a nice 40-mile bike ride? 20 miles each way to downtown Portland. Getting there was a little tricky -- I've finally learned that when they say, "no bikes", it's for my own good. Other than that, Portland has plenty of well-marked bike paths going all over the place.
I wandered around downtown Portland for a while then sat in Pioneer Square and watched an abortion demonstration. A bunch of pro-lifers had staked out the middle of the square, while a squadron of pro-choicers trooped around the outside. Both were equally annoying: the 'lifers visually (with big signs showing pictures of dismembered babies) and the 'choicers aurally ("HEYHEY! HOHO! BLAHBLAHBLAH! HEYHEY! HOHO!"). Most of the people sitting in the square really didn't seem to care and soaked up the sun in ethical oblivion -- myself included.
I didn't get quite as lost on the way home, but it still took an hour and a half and I was plenty tired by the time I got back to Woolie's house. We had dinner at an excellent Japanese restaurant, a place full of character and with great sushi, then we went back to Woolie's house and they kicked my ass at Rummy.
"Today was wuss day."
I got on the road around 9:30 and stopped for pancakes and hash browns a few miles down the road. While I was there, I read a story by Isaac Asimov called The Ugly Little Boy. It is the best story I've ever read. Do yourself a favor and find a copy.
I bought another Asimov book to replace the one I had just finished, and then stopped at REI to get a visor for my helmet. No more sunburned nose! One wrong turn and one right turn later, and I was back on the road.
The day started gray and became sunny. The road was flat, and there was a nice tailwind.
"I may have come up with a new career for me. Children's singer. The new Raffi. Riding turns my brain into such a free-association mush that I can make up nonsense songs like there's no tomorrow."
After about 30 miles my rear wheel started to get a bad wobble. I stopped, removed all my gear, and was about to attempt a fix when an old guy cycling the other way suggested I just disconnect the rear brake (so it wouldn't rub) and hobble to St. Helen's, where there was a bike shop. Good idea -- except the bike shop was closed.
"Let the wussing begin!
Lunch at Taco Bell -- not so yummy -- then (sigh) I check into the Holiday Inn. Pool, hot tub, exercise room, and free popcorn. And HBO. Yay! More TV to watch. So now, Seinfeld's on."
Dinner was a Hungry Man Fried Chicken Dinner and a tub of Ben 'n Jerry's Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream. 2000 calories. No wonder I hadn't lost any weight so far.
Friday, June 28, 1996
St. Helen's to Astoria, OR
73 miles (756 total)
"Boring day. Wake up around 9:30, enjoy free continental breakfast, on the road 10:30. Cycle cycle cycle. Yawn. I'd already been on this road, going the other direction, so I knew what to expect.
73 miles later (my longest yet), find cheapo motel. Watch TV. Good night.
How about some stats?
Days on the road: 19
Money spent: US$543.00
Money per day: US$28.50
Days left: 40 (6 weeks!)
Animals seen: Birds (too many), Deer (5), Fish (rainbow trout; yummy!), Otter
(1), Raccoon (1), Squirrels (a few)
Roadkill seen: Birds, Mole, Raccoon, Bat, Squirrel, Unidentifiable furry thing.
Dogs vs. Me Score: Me -- 7, Dogs -- 0
Miles: 756
Miles per day: 39
Distance from home if I just hopped on the interstate: 210 miles
These are all the stats I could think of. The $/day figure is actually quite low, and considering that motels and cities make me spend money, I should be able to cut that number down by a lot along the coast. If I stay interested that long."
"Cycle cycle cycle."
I slept quite well in the motel -- no big surprise there. I stopped at Fred Meyer a few miles down the road for some groceries, then cycled down the coast to Cannon Beach for lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day, with the wind behind me.
I walked along the beach for a while, but there was too much wind to make sitting and reading comfortable. The water is too cold for swimming, so kite flying is all the rage.
After a few more miles I stopped at Hug Point State Park.
"Much nicer. Shielded from the wind by big cliffs. The old highway used to run right above the water along the base of the cliff and on the beach. Now the water is crashing over it. Glad we've got a new highway.
From Hug Point it was up two big hills (and down two big hills -- whee!) to Nehalem State Park, where I set up camp. On the way in I met a big group of cyclists who were also staying there. We're both heading down south, but I scurried off before I could get details or friendly. My excuse is that I was hungry.
For dinner I had curried lentils and potatoes, with some Taco Bell hot sauce. It was absolutely delicious.
After dinner I wandered around the campground. The beach was nice but the wind was strongest I had ever experienced in my life. However, just on the other side of the campground is another beach -- facing into the bay instead of out onto the open ocean. That beach had no wind at all.
"I'm lonely again. I passed lots of cyclists on the highway, but they seem to be cycling tourists instead of touring cyclists. Oh well.
I'm planning to stay here an extra day -- I think. I want to do a real do-nothing day so I can rest a bit. But, I also want to ride my bike (and hike) to the top of a mountain because it's supposed to have a nice view. Not much of a rest day. But, there's supposed to be a crab festival near here so I'll stick around for that. And if the wind dies down, I'll play on the beach."
"Let us examine the phrase, 'day off'. It seems to imply rest -- a lack of action. Hmm. Today was my day off and I managed to cycle 30 miles. Sigh."
I woke up around 8:30 and had cous cous and jam for breakfast, then went down to the beach to see what was going on. The wind was completely gone so I took my bike onto the beach. The ride was really nice except for one thing: sand and gears don't mix. I got off the beach and started riding south, through small towns full of old people running antique stores. They're everywhere! I felt like I was trapped in an episode of the Twilight Zone.
"I got to Wheeler and stopped at the Masonic Lodge where they were advertising breakfast for $3.50. Typical cholesterol load -- pancakes, eggs, sausage. MORE OLD PEOPLE! I wonder what Masons are."
After breakfast I headed back up the road to the Nehalem Bay Winery. When I got there I locked up my bike, as any sane city person would do, and the proprietor commented, "What? You think someone's going to steal it?" I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I guess old habits -- and fears -- die hard.
I did my first ever wine tasting at the winery. Touring cyclist rule #1 ("never turn down a free meal") also applies to beverages. I really had no idea what I was doing. The lady at the counter would pour a shot of wine, and I would pretend to sniff and swirl, then drink it. Some other cyclists came in and actually did the whole spitting routine, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. I ended up trying 7 or 8 different wines, and just loved two of them. A blackberry wine and one called Cranperé, which was a cranberry wine. Absolutely amazing. They call Cranperé their "hot tub wine". It was dangerously smooth. By this time the 7 or 8 shots of wine were making me feel generous so I whipped out the plastic and ordered a bunch of bottles to send home. The proprietor threw in a free bottle of Cranperé for me. My first free stuff! Unfortunately, it turned out they weren't able to ship the wine into Canada and they ended up refunding my order.
I rode back to Wheeler and waited for the CrabFest to start. This whole area is apparently famous for crabs. At 1:30 I had my $10 crab dinner, and it was mostly yummy. Not worth $10, though.
"After lunch I went back to the campground. Bored. Up to the beach, and rode in the other direction until the sand got too soft. The waves looked like fun, so I rode back up the beach until there were some people around (in case I started drowning) and hopped in. COLD! Also the wind had really picked up again. I tried that for a while, got wet, cold, and bored, then rode over to the other (no wind) beach. Read for a while."
I got back to the camp around 5:30 and started making dinner. I tried making bisquick biscuits again but didn't pay attention, and my lousy attempt at a double-boiler boiled over and extinguished my stove. Bisquick sucks when you don't have an oven. I made preservative soup instead. I was about to eat when all of a sudden people started showing up! I met a lovely bloke from London named Stuart who was meandering down the coast. He wanted to spend another day in Nehalem State Park. I didn't.
"The mosquitos in this campsite are absolutely awful. I decided to make a fire in an attempt to banish them, but I got more smoke than fire. Then, the no-see-ums started biting. Now I'm hiding in my tent. I'm safe in here!"
"Happy Canada Day! Today was a good day."
I woke up and started packing and the GODDAMN FUCKING MOSQUITOS wouldn't leave me alone. These were persistent bastards. And big, too. I ended doing my entire morning ritual -- eating, packing my bags, etc. -- while walking around in circles trying to give the little buggers a moving target. I packed as quickly as I could and was extremely glad to get out of the vampire forest.
My guidebook recommended a route off the main highway, which was supposed to be a little more serene. I took it and it was beautiful, riding through farmland in small green valleys. However, one wrong turn cost me an extra 8 miles and a dog chase.
I stopped at the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory. This is a major tourist attraction -- you should have seen the size of the tourist parking lot. Inside, you get to watch ladies with hairnets moving cheese around. Really exciting. I bought some cheese and some sausage, though, so I guess the tourist trap worked.
I stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut. All you can eat pizza for $4.25! Man, was I stuffed.
After lunch, the guidebook gave me the option of taking the slightly longer "Three Capes" scenic route. Unfortunately, fog obliterated the scenic part. And where there are capes, there are also hills. Big long ones. I actually enjoyed them, though. I absolutely blew past a bicycle tour group from Colorado, and they didn't even have bags. At the top of one of the hills there is a lighthouse, but I arrived there just as it closed. Too bad, because in this particular lighthouse they let you in to take a good close look at the fresnel lens.
I hit the road again and stopped after a while at a small fish hatchery to feed the fish. The place is open to the public all day, with no one around. The 25 cents I paid to buy fish food goes towards operating the hatchery.
Stuart (the bloke from London) ended up not staying at Nehalem Bay and was already at the camp when I got there. We had dinner together and split the bottle of Cranperé to celebrate Canada Day. The rangers put on a movie about how the state and community got together to replant an area that had been devastated by forest fire 50 years ago. The movie was a completely one-sided, narcissistic, aren't-we-wonderful piece of propaganda. You know what? I still enjoyed it.
"Tomorrow the day starts with a 900 ft. climb. Yikes."