Yesterday was a day off.

My trusty steed was having issues of not shifting into certain gears.I had done all I could figure out, to no avail.

So I found an Uber that would transport the bike and went into the only bike shop in Astoria.

The mechanic was able to work on it right away.

The is quite higgeldy pigildy. But he know his stuff.

He found a bunch of gunk on my chain and derailleur. to my embarrassment.

He did all the things I could think of.

He then rebooted the program that makes the derailleur work .

That helped a lot but did not completely solve the problem, that will have to be done when I get home.

His price as very generous.

Got back to camp and was cooking dinner,when another guy on a gravel bike gets into camp.

He looks familiar but I can’t place him.

He sets up his camp,then comes over to visit. The lights go on in both our heads at the same time.

He is a mechanic at Big Dave’s Bikes, and we had talked in the shop about the trips we had coming up.(Originally I was going the east coast).

He has had quite a trip through central Oregon and now was working his way up to Washington . Ya just never know.

I’m in Cannon Beach and found this private library to charge devices. It was created by the ladies in the picture.

So phone is recharged and I’m on my way to tonight’s campsite.

T Bid

G Dave’s Bikes

Woke up to the sound of metal stakes being driven into the ground.

It was the fisher folks setting up their rod stands.

The King salmon are running up the Columbia. This particular couple were using a Kayak to take their bait out to the middle of the of the river where the salmon are running deep.

The day before this lady had caught a 25 lb salmon and her husband a twenty.

I was on the road in search of water and 12 miles later I found it.

Pretty weird to have a county park without potable water, but the campers were generous.

Took a short ferry ride.

Then was back on highway 30.Had one of the longer climbs of the trip.

The rest of the day until Astoria was up and down.

It would take 15 minutes to climb and 4 minutes to reach the bottom. Repeat!

Arrived in Astoria about 3 then a 12 Mile ride to Fort Stevens State Park.

A beautiful park and HUGE

500 camp site.

This is the Hiker Biker site

Met a couple in camp who were here from Nashville.

They are hiking the Oregon costal trail for 30 days.

John Van H. Have you heard about this trail?

Today is a rest day.Tomorrow will head south.

Paul

Tonight I’m camped on the Columbia River.

With big time boat traffic.

If not for the waves you might not know they are there.

Today was a long day due, to close to 7 hours riding.

When I arrived at the camp ground, the surprise was no potable water.

Of course I had finished my water,20 minutes earlier.

The closest water that I see is 12 miles away.Luckily I was able to get some water from several of my neighbors. That will get me through to the next town

For tonight I’ll fall asleep to the sound of waves lapping against the bank.

Hopefully I spend tomorrow night in Astoria

Paul

Monday was going to be a long day due to lack of places to stay.

I haven’t worked up the nerve to start asking at firehouses.

They will often let you pitch a tent on their grounds.

I go about 100 yards only to discover a leak in the rear tire.

I had bought expensive tubes with sealant, so I reinflated the tires and they held.

I knew I was on borrowed time because these products are meant to “get you home”.

Well they got me 30 miles when they flatted again , so unloaded the bike replaced the tube and was on my way.

I’m glad I didn’t look at the map graphics this morning because I would have seen a wall of climbs coming.

Luckily I was done,for the most part, after a few hours.

Then I was going through flat woodlands,and farm land for the rest off the day. Lots of places with multiple abandoned vehicles.

Ran across my first area of clear cut logging.

Ended up in Centralia, after a pretty quiet day

Paul

Had a Relaxing day off yesterday..

Found a bakery with Calamari I could eat.

Did some house keeping,some bike maintenance.

Then got rolling about 8 Am today. The roads were quiet with good shoulders. Seems like I was weaving amongst various lakes.There were a couple of steep climbs, that were Thankfully short.

As I was rolling along I heard someone calling. I looked down a saw this guy., who looked like he was having a tough go of it. So he got picked up and was given a bath, when we got to the hotel.

Probably going to need a name. Suggestions?

In case you’re wonderful what the ride looks like.

One yellow bag has sleeping equipment, The other has clothing.

One front has food and cooking equipment. The other has tools

Handlebar has daily needs while riding

Tent is on the rack.

Have a good evening

Paul

Had an enjoyable evening,complete with hot shower.Visited with camp neighbors,who are native to Washington.

They shared good info about the area.

One of them is a cyclist, he told me of some alternative routes that are off the main roads. He said that it is beautiful and there are “some hills”.

I rolled out of camp went a quarter mile bam! My first hill of the day easily 15%.

For the first time I was standing on the pedals. My 200 yard long wake up call.

I wasn’t even out of the park.

It was a clarion call for the day.

Within an hour I was pushing the bike up the hills.

That said the views were worth every pedal stroke and step.

First picture was from two days ago, I just thought it was an iconic building.

Took the ferry to Port Townsend and the got on the Larry Scott Memorial Trail, hard crushed gravel with minimal foot and bike traffic.

.

The picture doesn’t reflect it , but it felt like I was riding through The Fushima Inari Tori gates in Kyoto.

You’ll have to look up that reference as I don’t know how to import it.

I’ll go out on a limb and call it mystical.

I still wasn’t sure where I was spending the night,hoping for a hotel.

Stopped at a diner for dinner, in Port Haddock. They had a couple of suggestions, that didn’t work out.

The reservation agency had some ideas, IF I wanted to spend $400.00, yes the decimal point is correct, a night.

So ok there is a camp ground s few miles ahead.

When I arrived at the turn off it was 6 miles out of the way, down hill.No thanks I’ll go to the next town, 10 miles further.

I arrive there to discover ,no camp ground there.

I look on the map,there is one 7 miles aheadIt’s now 6:15, I’m watching the Sun.

It hasn’t been flat since Port Haddock.

I proceed a mile or so,only to discover,I went in the wrong direction, so I back track

An example of a smaller hill.

Now I’m walking many of these hills, watching the sun., praying that cramps don’t decide to raise their ugly specters.

Of course there is one last hill to the camp ground and at 7 pm I gratefully pull into the camp ground.

I sent a garbled text to my wife.

For all my whining, I can’t explain how grateful I am I am to be here.Two years ago this month,I was in London ,with a back that had gone out. I couldn’t walk 1/2 a block using a cane without stopping to catch my breath.

Marlina was infinitely patient, and working her backside off to help me, when she was suppose to be enjoying a vacation.

I am a very lucky man!

Speaking of which, I got up this am,went to the restroom in the park and it was locked, found another and on my way back to camp, I meet this Von who with his brother is camped next to me .

He and his brother are riding from Canada to Mexico.

We start talking a before you know it,we’ve blown through 30 minutes of conversation .

We say good by and hope to meet on the road.

Later that morning I run into Von and his brother Wendell in an underpass.

There goes another 20 minutes.

“Luke trust the force”

Tonight I’m in a hotel room and taking tomorrow off .

Hoping all,ya’ll Sleep well

Paul

Started the morning on a road that was built on the side of a mountain at the edge of the bay.

Beautiful twisting,tree covered road with very little traffic.

After 7 miles it descends onto a flat marshy plain that is swallowed up when the tide comes in.

I had been promised an excellent bakery in the hamlet of Pow, but alas it is only open Thursday through Sunday.

So I had to ride a mile further to Edison where I found an excellent bakery,blueberry danish and croissant were the order of the day. The croissant made it to dinner.

The riding was flat for the morning,after my jaunt in the hills.

As I approached AnnacortesI rode over a mile long causeway over a tidal flat.

I kept noticing all these broken shells on the causeway.

Thought to myself, hmm, seagulls at work.?

Sure enough a few minutes later this seagull hovers drops an oyster shell it hits the causeway and shatters, “Oyster on a half shell my dear” in swoops the seagull for lunch.

So it was a shell cracker instead of nut cracker..

Had lunch in Annacortes at the recommendation of a couple I was talking with. very nice lunch, my main meal of the day.

I seemed to have developed a penchant for steep mile long climbs after lunch.

Had a feeling when I read the sign Mt Elias vista 1.4 miles ahead.

The rest of the afternoon continued in that vein.

If it is to be believed,my Ride GPS app aside my average grade for the day was 12%.

I am doubtful.

I ended up here in deception state park . As I’m checking in I hear the roar of fighter jet’s ,very close.

Turns out I’m right next to Widby Island Naval Base.

Maneuvers are continuing as I write.

Last night trains and automobiles,tonight planes

Ah nature!

Let’s see what tomorrow brings

Paul

Up and going by 8:30

Didn’t realize there were minimal services for the first 22 miles.

Finally ended up having a large lunch.

As I was reading, I discovered a huge Sculpture installation at Western Washington University

The admission price was a mile long climb to get there.

31 large pieces. We’re talking heavy hitters,Richard Serra., Bruce Ajman,,Alice Alcock,Anthony Caro, Nancy Holt,

David Ireland,Sarah SzeDonald Judd, Magdalena Abakanowicz and of course Mark Di Suvero

Mark DiSuvero.

I spent a couple of hours wandering all over the campus checking them out.

What a great find.

I bought some food and then started for camp.

Now it is starting to feel like the coast, up and down, up and down.

Camp leaves something to be desired, between rail road tracks and a busy road,that seems to invite acceleration right next to my camp site.

Until then

Paul

I could have started at 8 AM but zi had to wait for the 11am bus from Seattle to Bellingham.

It was still 21 miles to The border in Blaine.

We arrive a 1/2 hour late and I’m debating do I hire a taxi which would have me at the border in a half hour.

Well there were 130 reasons I decided to to ride to the border.

I elected to use Apple Maps. They were very good about keeping me off busy roads,unfortunately they turned a 21 mile trip into 31 miles.Not what I needed when starting at 2 pm.

About a mile from the border my rack came loose. Stopped and repaired that.Finally, I got to the border about5pm.

There is a state park at Birch Bay that I wanted to reach.

The further I rode , with the descending g darkness encroaching, the more inviting the hotels looked.

As car headlights were coming on I got here.

Took a half hour to figure out where the hiker biker camp ground is.

Surprising how good snack foods can taste for dinner.

So I’m ensconced in my tent and ready for a good nights sleep .

Finally ,I’m on my way.

Seiji,your example has kept nudging me all these years

Paul

For the last several years I have been wanting to to do a bike trip.

I bought a bike that would could be disassembled,put in a suitcase that fit the luggage specs for planes.

The plan was to fly to Georgetown DC,then ride the C and O canal and Greater Allegheny Passage trails to Pittsburgh PA.

From there make my way to Milwaukee and meet a friend.

We would then do a week long guided bike tour through southern Wisconsin.

Well…. The first problem was I couldn’t get the bike into the case. My guess is that the case was designed for a narrower bike than the one I built

Second was I had a terrible time getting the bike reassembled.

Over an hour trying to get one part to fit.

I came up with numerous scenarios to make this happen, various ways to ship the bike etc.

I knew Amtrak lets you bring bikes on their trains for $20.00.

Many years ago I had ridden to the Mexico border from SF. I’ve always wanted to go from the Canadian border to SF.

CHANGE OF PLANS

As I write,I Am on a train headed to Seattle bike is on board.

I will not get to SF on this trip, so I’ll ride as far as I’m comfortable. Returning home. By some mode of transportation, the a few days later fly to Wisconsin for that tour.

I’ll rent a bike there for that tour.

This whole process has been out of my comfort zone in so many ways. When babies are learning to walk they are out of their comfort zones. It is through the stress placed on their soft bones,that the bones grow and strengthen.

So being out of my comfort zone can only help.

If science doesn’t experiment we never learn.

Not to mention being surrounded by beauty

We’ll see what happens .

Paul