Days 9-11: Toledo to Manzanita

Temperatures were projected in the high 80's for Mon-Wed, so we woke up early to beat the heat. I had a rather sleepless night - while we both had noticed the copious amounts of cottonwood trees in the park, we hadn't thought of the consequences of sleeping underneath them, until I woke up at 3:30 with a parched throat and a completely clogged up, but also dripping, nose. To pass the time till dawn (and to spare Hunter my loud attempts to blow my nose), I wandered over to the park's pavillion, stretched, and listened to some podcasts before crawling back into the tent around 5 and mercifully sleeping until our 7am alarm awoke me from a deep slumber.

After we got on the road though, it was a beautiful ride. We had one goal for the day, and that was to watch the US vs Thailand game, which played at noon. After passing through Castle Rock, which had an amazing bakery (we shared a delicious maple bar and a terribly decadent raspberry danish), a beautiful greenbelt, and a sweet bike park, we paralleled I-5 up to Longview, home to Mary's Bar & Grill, where the game had just started playing.

By the time the U.S. was leading 7-0, we'd eaten our veggie burger and mozzarella sticks and decided we'd had enough of the carnage, so we headed to our camp site. From Longview our route was highway 4 along the Columbia River, with narrow shoulders and fast traffic, so we prepared for the worst. Luckily, while the shoulders were sparse, drivers were considerate, and most of the logging traffic was headed in the opposite direction into town, so we didn't have too many scary moments. 

Our camp for the night was the County Line Park, right off the highway on the banks of the Columbia. We snagged a hiker/biker site, took a swim in the river, enjoyed views of Mt. St. Helens, and had a nice, restful evening.

Last ferry!

The next day, we headed towards Astoria. But first, as I woke up I had a strange feeling in my cheeks... Turns out, I was trying to blow my nose so often and so vigorously that my cheeks got sore! When I biked the transam in 2014 I started in Florence and skipped the coastal section between there and Astoria, so I was looking forward to exploring town and riding that section. The ride into town was great - we got back on highway 4, pedaled to our final ferry of the trip (and made it by one full minute!), and plotted up a couple steep hills before a speedy descent into town. We found a Warmshowers host, Steve, who lives right downtown, so we headed there first to drop off our stuff.
He'd texted me the code to his house and told us to make ourselves at home, and once we got there, we discovered the entire basement of his house had been converted into what is essentially a bike touring airbnb, with futons, a shower, a bike stand and tools, a mini kitchen, and lots and lots of greatful dead prints, including a signed photo of Jerry Garcia. We showered, changed, and headed out to hit the town.

Astoria is a very cute, quaint town. We walked past a beautiful memorial to the Chinese immigrants who moved to the west coast, then got coffee at the Blue Scorcher, a really neat employee-owned shop, and drank a beer at Bouy Brewing, a great spot right by the water.

After that, we bought some cheese and salad at the Astoria Coop, and went back to Steve's for dinner. As we arrived, we saw some bike jerseys drying on the patio, and two new bikes in the basement. After dinner, Sammy and Jordan, two pals from Canada who are biking down the coast strolled in, and we spent the evening hanging out with them. They were packing pretty light, and are planning to ride the coast in a month. Follow them here!

The basement!

Candid Sammy reflection

Thursday morning we bid adieu to the boys (they were riding down 101, while we took a side road), and boogied down our first section of the Oregon coast. The weather cooled down, and we were treated to a typical, foggy, coastal morning. A couple miles in, we spied the familiar profile of a loaded touring cyclist, and pulled up to Steve, a pedalling pastor from Ohio who was on his first day, riding the transam from Astoria to Virginia! We fell in line with him, started chatting, and ended up riding with him most of the day. On the way, we stopped in Seaside, got Steve's first view of the Pacific, and caught up with the Canadians. We all ate some pastries together, and as the boys left we decided to try and meet them again in Canon Beach.

Me, Hunter, Sammy, Jordan, and Steve

Puppy in zebra PJ's?

On the road again, we cycled a particularly un-fun section of 101, and I got my first flat, riding over a huge staple on the hill down to Canon Beach. As I felt my rear wheel go wobbly, my spirits fell, but then I remembered the tubeless sealant I'd put into my tube to deal with a slow leak I hadn't wanted to patch. So I pulled over, popped off the wheel, spun it a few times, pumped it up, and was good to go!

The culprit

We met up with the Canadians at a pizza place right as they were leaving, but got to meet a couple who had just sold their house and who had just started riding their tandem around the U.S. for two years! Follow them here.
After lunch, we headed back down 101 to Manzanita, where we met back up with Hunter's family, and stayed the night at a family friend's house there. We invited Steve to join us, and he accepted, so we made a big dinner and had a good time.

Delighted to be on the coast

I'm writing this from Portland - we drove there the next day to spend some time before Helen (Hunter's cousin's) graduation,  so I'll write a separate post about those rest days!