And we found other bikers, lots of them. In fact, by the time we made it to our camp spot in Nehalem Bay State Park after riding 60 miles today, we encountered nearly a dozen other long distance cyclists fully decked out with big bikes and panniers to carry their stuff. I think Julie may be the only long distance biker without any of this in fact. It felt quite a bit like the trail life when arriving to camp at the shelter, there would inevitably be many other hikers to sit around and share stories with.
The ride was pretty amazing today as well. We made it into Astoria by around 9am and got breakfast at Safeway (bagels and yogurt – this is significant because since we compare everything about this trip with our hiking trips, we rarely were able to eat yogurt or bagels with cream cheese while on the trail). From there, we headed south towards Seaside. Along the way, we actually rode on the same route I ran for my final leg of the Hood to Coast relay last weekend. We then cruised down into Seaside where we stopped at a coffee shop and I watched the first half of the sad Notre Dame opener against South Florida.
From there it was on to Cannon Beach and then south to Nehalem Bay State Park. Along the way we had some absolutely amazing views of the Pacific Ocean. We were on huge cliffs overlooking the water (we had to climb those huge cliffs) and we gladly stopped for some pictures and some snacks. Coming down some of these big climbs and down to sea level is oftentimes quite scary as we get going pretty fast. Once today, I even got a bit out of control and was lucky there was no traffic as I had a hard time keeping to my little shoulder on the right side of the road.
All in all, we’re adjusting well to life on a bike. It was nice to have the first couple days to ourselves to develop a little of our own style. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes from a social perspective going forward as many of us at the campground have already talked about where we’re going tomorrow, and it seems like many of us are going to the same place. After three days, all is well and we’re enjoying the journey.