Day 3: July 8, 2024 - Astoria, OR, to Manzanita, OR
End: Manzanita, OR
Miles: 50.1
Feet climbing per mile: 71
Records of the day's rides:
I was up at 6:00 and on the road at 7:00. I rode a few blocks to get to the start of the Trans Am Bike Race route which I will follow until southern Illinois. I’ve thought about riding that route for at least six years when I first watched the video Inspired to Ride about the first Trans Am Bike Race. (I wrote about how that video inspired my 4,500-mile trip five years ago in How I Decided to Ride 4,000 Miles This Summer.) It was a big deal for me to be at the beginning of that route, ready to ride it.
The first 23.5 miles were full of beautiful scenery on beautiful roads. Oregon is green.
The fog over the ocean was sometimes so thick I imagined there could have been a land mass under it. It reminded me of the Shadow Fold in the TV series Shadow and Bone.
But then I was on 101, known as the Oregon Coast Bike Route. The shoulder was usually narrow or nonexistent, the traffic was heavy and fast and included logging trucks. Logging trucks on a route called Oregon Coast Bike Route! As I saw one in my rear view mirror approaching me I channeled Alex Honnold so that I would stay calm and steady as the truck was so close I might have been able to touch one of its logs. What a nightmare for cyclists 101 is!
I arrived at Nehalem Bay State Park at 2:45.
I had dinner at the Big Wave Cafe. Before going to sleep I created a route for the next day that would avoid 101.
See all of my daily routes here: Cross Country 2024
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