Astoria > Cannon Beach: ~30 Miles
View Bicycling directions to Wright's For Camping : Cannon Beach, Cannon Beach, OR in a larger map
Astoria to be honest isn't much to write home about. The views are nice but the town itself is much smaller than anticipated and it looked tired. It's claim to fame is that the movie "The Goonies" was filmed there but according to Yaniv, that was really the only thing of note on his trolley tour of the town.
In the morning, we got moving slowly and eventually headed to SafeWay to get a few things. The ride the day before was hot as crap and though I used a ton of sunscreen and wan't burned, my face felt like it was on fire, which made it hard to sleep the night prior and so I picked up some aloe and lotion along with some salty cheese n cracker snacks at the store. I also stopped at the local bike shop to get some chain lube since I didn't bring any (I thought UPS might not like me sending that)...
In the morning, we got moving slowly and eventually headed to SafeWay to get a few things. The ride the day before was hot as crap and though I used a ton of sunscreen and wan't burned, my face felt like it was on fire, which made it hard to sleep the night prior and so I picked up some aloe and lotion along with some salty cheese n cracker snacks at the store. I also stopped at the local bike shop to get some chain lube since I didn't bring any (I thought UPS might not like me sending that)...
Odd giants give their patronage to Subway. We got rolling around noon after making a quick stop at a Subway/Burrito place and low and behold, it was the first time I've seen an overcast sky since being on the West Coast (2.5 weeks). The cloud cover was a welcome change because I really didn't want any more sun on my body. The first stop was at Fort Clatsop. No, that's not supposed to be Ft. Clastop like I kept wanting to say it. It was $8 to actually see the place, so we passed. After another little while, we made it to a sea-side town called… Seaside. Yaniv has a friend who recommended stopping at Pign' Pancake for this dessert of sorts: a swedish pancake topped with home-made strawberry compote and vanilla soft-serve. It was as good as it sounds. We meandered along the shore-front for a bit and while he decided it was too busy, I thought it was a neat place, though maybe a little touristy.
The remaining 7 miles to Cannon Beach were fraught with long climbs and headwinds, often in combination. I like to get into a rhythm when going up hills and after the longest one, I looked back and realized I had left Yaniv very far behind. Oops? It had been spitting rain as the Irish would say during this last section of the ride too which just made it slightly more unpleasant. We did eventually make it to Cannon Beach after two+ miles of quick descending! I can't wait for the Rockies where there's even more of this. =)
Prettiest campsite ever? We set up camp and went to ride through the "town." I seriously am in love with this place. It took me about 20 minutes to decide that I was going to spend at least an extra day here. Most of the houses and buildings are cedar shake constuction that grey out over time. The beach is spectacular too, bordered by pine-topped cliffs on the North side and the giant Haystack Rock on the South side. It's one of those beaches that is almost impossibly flat and has some of the finest sand you've ever sunk your toes into. I was literally amazed when I saw it. I could easily see myself buying a house here in the future.
Yaniv and I ventured back to camp to shower and have dinner. Out camping neighbors were a young Swiss-German couple who were riding from Washington to San Fran. Roman had apparently checked out my bike while I was in the shower because he wanted to know all about it when I got back. He admitted that when he can afford a Moots, he will likely get one. SCORE! The four of us shared a picnic table as we ate dinner. I had two packets of Ramen noodles with a can of a chicken. Yum =)
We turned in early, at least for my standards, at 10:30pm. I would prefer to get used to this kind of schedule but my natural body clock has made me into such a night person that I'm not sure if it'll ever happen. We'll see… It was a serenely peaceful night. The campsite is spread amongst a forest of absolutely gigantic hemlock trees that manage to block just about every sound possible. It's quite possibly the nicest campground I've ever been to. Plus it's cheap. $10/night. Stay tuned!
Yaniv and I ventured back to camp to shower and have dinner. Out camping neighbors were a young Swiss-German couple who were riding from Washington to San Fran. Roman had apparently checked out my bike while I was in the shower because he wanted to know all about it when I got back. He admitted that when he can afford a Moots, he will likely get one. SCORE! The four of us shared a picnic table as we ate dinner. I had two packets of Ramen noodles with a can of a chicken. Yum =)
We turned in early, at least for my standards, at 10:30pm. I would prefer to get used to this kind of schedule but my natural body clock has made me into such a night person that I'm not sure if it'll ever happen. We'll see… It was a serenely peaceful night. The campsite is spread amongst a forest of absolutely gigantic hemlock trees that manage to block just about every sound possible. It's quite possibly the nicest campground I've ever been to. Plus it's cheap. $10/night. Stay tuned!
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