I started late on day two, getting out by 10:30AM after packing up camp, and endured the worst 20 miles I'd ever biked. It was due partly to the fact that I was very tired from the day before, but mostly because it was cold and windy. I fought a headwind all morning through innumerable rolling hills. Slogged through it though, and made it to Raymond by 2:30, after which was a long stretch of nothing for maybe 30 miles. I had to stop every 5-10 miles for a break as my muscles are still getting used to this.
Finally I found a small gas station/convenience store in a town called Naselle. Good thing too because I was completely out of water. There I met a guy named Dave who rode a maroon Harley with dozens of peacock feathers fanning out from his seat on each side like the shoes of Hermes. Nice bloke. Dave, that is. I can't speak for Hermes. Turns out Dave is a peacock rancher and gave me a feather to adorn the back of my bike.
The last 15 miles to the Astoria bridge were beautiful, but it was getting dark. The bridge is long and narrow and windy as it crosses the Columbia and there is little room for bikes to fit next to the logging trucks. There's no real place to stop, though it's an exhausting ride. The worst part is that for the whole of this 2.5 mile ride you see up ahead a ridiculous climb (maybe 10 degrees for a half mile).
I promised myself that if I could do the three days in two that I'd get a motel in Astoria, so I pulled into the first place I could find. A Best Western which ended up being way more expensive than I'd have liked, but I lucked out and grabbed the last room available which was the jacuzzi suite. The nice young lady behind the desk, named Kelsey, gave me the room at a regular rate though. She said something about doing whatever it takes to make me happy, before realizing how it could be taken and was uncomfortably quiet for a while.
For the Day:
Rolling Time: 6:40:01
Distance: 82.11 miles
Avg Speed: 12.31
No comments:
Post a Comment