Sunday, September 7, 2008

Day 1 - Astoria to Tillamook

Todays statistics:
68 miles ridden with about 3400 feet of climbing.
Left about 8:04, arrived at the hotel at 1:25.

We loaded the truck at 8:00 and were on the road by about 5 after. The weather started a little foggy, which got the part of my glasses I see through so fogged up I wasn't seeing much. I rode most of the day with a guy from Manhattan Beach named Ron Doornink, a very nice 54 year old. The route started a little inland, on a back road named Logan Road. Not a lot to see, but not very busy.

When we got to Seaside, they routed us through an old car show. There were more than I have seen in most of these shows, and there were some real beauties. I especially appreciated a 57 Impala. We then went down to a Lewis and Clark monument, and the sign below marking the end of their trail.




After we left Seaside, we went through Cannon Beach, and were then treated to some wonderful beach scenery. I am told it will just get better over the next few days, but this was great. I am including a shot to give you a small idea.

We met a couple of other groups doing an Oregon Coast ride. A group of 5 or 6 folks from Iowa, who are going as far as Crescent City (our first day off), so we may see them again, and a fairly large (maybe 10 or 12) people from Colorado. Ron and I hooked on with a nice tandem from the Colorado group and rode on to Garibaldi, where we stopped in a little expresso shop for lunch. Nice chowder and an excellent sandwich got us refueled. We then headed into the last 10 miles to Tillamook. You will see the cheese factory in the shot below.



All in all, a great first day, and many more to come. A couple of other administrative facts. I am again posting all rides on motionbased.com, and if you search, my user name is rickolafson (original, huh?). Our ride leader is also doing a blog, which can be reached either through the rider journals at abbike.com or directly through his site at bamacyclist.com. He does a great job (much better than this amateur).

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