Big Ride Pacific Coast 2008

DAY 3, Monday 9/15
Cape Disappointment State Park To Nehalem Bay State Park

Ride Time : 4h40min
Max Speed: 36 mi/hr (58 Km/hr)

Ok, so we have completed 60 miles (100km) today, reaching the Oregon coast, through places and towns like Astoria, Cannon Beach, Manzanita and Nehalem, which is where we are staying tonight -For those who are not aware of this trivia fact, the movie ‘The Goonies’ was filmed in Astoria and Cannon Beach (which is where the big rocks from the movie are located).

Other than crossing Astoria Bridge, today’s ride did not present too many ascents, until the final 6 miles (10km), from Cannon Beach to Manzanita, the most challenging portion of the ride (two climbs of over 600ft each, for a total of 2,400ft of elevation gain) but it was definitely the nicest span of the day’s route, with amazing views of the ocean, especially approaching Manzanita from the top of the hills.

Astoria Bridge

Support on this ride is really a key factor, as that enables us to not carry much stuff with us as we ride. We have a crew of four people (Ride Leader (David Van Doorne) Chef (Linda), Mechanic (Alan) and Route Scouter (Bill Rice) a gear truck and three SAG vehicles that provide water and food supplies on rest stops, every 20-30 miles, or transportation to injured or fatigued riders.Lunch was big at Cannon Beach, which is a small town with shops, great seafood and grill restaurants, an awesome beach and an interesting surfing atmosphere to it. The main geographic feature here are some monumental rock formations near the shoreline (Haystack Rock) similar to Las Tetas in Punta de Lobos, Pichilemu (for the Chilean crowd).

Although I have driven this portion of 101S before, the scenery seemed much nicer today... And the road felt a bit more challenging, of course, on two wheels.

--More tomorrow.