Shawn, Sounds lie a great adventure. I would like to take that ride some day. I have seen bikes on the Astoria bridge and have wondered if Ibhave the wheels to do it. Epic.
What type of handle bars do you have on yor bike? On Sunday, August 4, 2013, Deacon Patrick wrote: > Congratulations! Both for embarking and completing the adventure. The > Astoria Bridge is some bridge! Wow. I nearly fell off my kneeler laughing > when I saw your belongings were more protected from the rain than you. Two > century rides in two days is wonderful. Reminds me of how I biked through > London and then (a week or so later) out of Paris when I toured Europe > after high school. I ended both looking black: London from the soot and > mire, and Paris from the bugs stuck to my skin in the 100% humidity/100˚F. > Seven-lane roundabouts? Why not! Stunningly, none of my concussions came > from that trip. Sardonic grin. Glad you weathered your well. > > WIth abandon, > Patrick > > On Sunday, August 4, 2013 2:22:52 PM UTC-6, shawn m. wrote: > > Just returned last night from a whirlwind four-day bike adventure around > the Columbia River. I was an epic ride that I hope I never have to do the > same way again! I'll be brief. I took the train from Seattle to Vancouver, > WA and met my friend Brad and we rode into and around Portland for the day. > Between Portland's abundant bike infrastructure and flat terrain (by > Seattle standards, anyway) we wracked up an easy 49 miles just noodling > around, crossing giant bridges, finding felafel and coffee, and checking > out his favorite bike shops. Weather was glorious, mid-70s, and it was as > fine a Wednesday as I can recall having. > > After camping out in the yard, I awoke before dawn feeling like I'd bitten > off more than I could chew but would chew anyway. Crossed the Willamette to > Highway 30, took a left onto the the Scappoose-Vernonia Highway at > Scappoose and climbed into the mountains. I made pretty good time for > fairly loaded touring, traffic was light and the scenery lovely. I stopped > and made coffee and couldn't find my camera and decided I must have left it > at home, beside my toothbrush perhaps, as it was also missing. I rode some > more. The terrain was mostly gently rolling hills, and apart from a decent > climb at the start and a healthy climb at the end, there wasn't much to get > too worked up over. The route feels remote, but there are some services at > very widely spaced intervals. A few miles short of Astoria, as daylight was > fading, I wandered into the Clatsop State Forest and pitched my tent and > collapsed. I was so tired that dinner was water and a can of sardines, a > couple cookies and lights out. It wasn't until the next, very wet, morning > that I realized I had bagged my first ever 'century': 102 miles! Early the > next morning I rolled down the hill into Astoria proper, and treated myself > to coffee and french toast while I worked up the nerve to take on the > Astoria Bridge. As intimidating as it sounded in my planning, it was > nothing compared to seeing it in real life. As I approached the bridge, I > was wondering how I might rework my itinerary to avoid it all together. It > was raining in that classic heavy misting way that I've only seen on the > northwest coast, visibility was a couple hundred yards, and the only person > wearing more reflective gear than me was the flagger who told me to stop. > She smiled at me at said "I can't believe you're doing this by choice..." > What choice, I replied. "I can hardly swim across." We had a nice, brief > conversation in the rain. She mumbled something about a bicycle into her > microphone and then said "Okay, go ahead. I was only able to get you a 2 > minute headstart." That was very nice of her, I thought, and having a few > minutes to get used to it without traffic made a huge difference. I > survived the bridge crossing, obviously, but it was the longest 21, 473 > feet ever, and I don't ever want to do it again. > > The next five hours were the same heavy misting rain, and I didn't have a > stitch of raingear; the old adage '20% chance of rain will still get you > 100% wet' held true. I won't be gambling man that way again. It wasn't cold > though, so I just kind of got used to it. It cleared up around mid-day > and I stopped to dry out and have lunch at Bruceport county park, where I > found my camera but not my toothbrush. I made it to Raymond, WA completely > knackered after 66 miles, and I’d had my fill of logging trucks. There’s > nowhere to camp really anywhere near Raymond, and the forest is all private > tree farm, so I wasn’t comfortable with stealth camping in it. I bailed on > 101 North with its guarantee of more logging trucks and their infatuation > with the fog line, and took Highway 6 toward Rainbow Falls State Park. It > was a fine quiet logging truck-free route, but the longest 35 miles I’ve > ever ridden, even though it’s the easiest route over the coast range. I > arrived at Rainbow Falls pursued by an angry Boxer trying to tear off my > starboard pannier, never happier to see a campgound in my whole life. My > second century in as many days, but I felt okay after a hot meal and a > beer. I slept late broke camp and rode the 27 miles to the train station in > Chehalis with what felt like somebody else’s legs. > > It was a genuine adventure, in that there were occasions where I > desperately wanted to be somewhere > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] <javascript:_e({}, > 'cvml', 'rbw-owners-bunch%[email protected]');>. > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', > '[email protected]');> > . > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Curtis -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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