{"id":50409,"date":"2016-06-26T20:15:54","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T00:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=50409"},"modified":"2016-07-07T15:27:12","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T19:27:12","slug":"a-brutal-ride-days-2-and-3-in-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dinkel.us\/?p=50409","title":{"rendered":"A Brutal Ride…Days 2 and 3 in Oregon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Too

Too much gear–Best Western Seaside<\/p><\/div>\n

First thing—I brought too much gear and day two of my trip turned out to be brutal because of it.\u00a0 I\u2019m carrying at least 50 pounds and it is completely unnecessary.<\/p>\n

Since I was 20 miles ahead of schedule I planned for an easy riding day\u2026no more than 30 miles.\u00a0 \u00a0I left Vernonia around 9AM and the first 5 miles were flat and easy.\u00a0 I ran into a fork in the road when I reached Mist, OR where I could choose Rt. 202 through the Clatsop State Forest on my way to Astoria or Rt. 47 to Clatskanie.\u00a0 Since I forgot to fill my water bottles and had little food, I chose Rt. 47 to Clatskanie since it was a town big enough that I could get some food.<\/p>\n

As soon as I turned on Rt. 47, I encountered the base of Mt. Mist.\u00a0 Four miles of riding and pushing the bike later, I was questioning my decision.\u00a0 Running out of water halfway up the mountain caused much trepidation.\u00a0 Someone riding a car in the opposite direction saw me pushing the bike stopped and asked if I was OK.\u00a0 I told him I could use some water but he didn\u2019t have anything although he assured me that I was near the top of the mountain.\u00a0 Thankfully he was correct and the downhill ride into Clatskanie was fantastic.<\/p>\n

I stopped at Subway and had a sub and as much Pepsi as I could drink.\u00a0 I struck up a conversation with someone in the booth next to me who informed me that there was a motel 8 miles down the road in Westport.\u00a0 After the morning pushing my bike, I thought that 8 miles is all I had left in me.\u00a0 I road into Westport and found nothing.\u00a0 I stopped at the gas station and a senior citizen gentleman struck up a conversation telling me when he was married, he rode his bike up the California coast to Oregon\u2026sleeping in the bushes on the side of the road all the way up.\u00a0 He also told me that Bradley State Park was right up the road at the top of the hill.\u00a0 Great another hill.<\/p>\n

650 feet doesn\u2019t sound like a big hill but after what I had been through earlier in the day, it was.\u00a0 After another stint pushing the bike, I entered Bradley State Park and was completely spent.\u00a0 There were many RV\u2019s setup in the park even though I noticed a no camping sign.\u00a0 I rode back down to the caretaker\u2019s RV and they told me, despite vociferous pleading, that I couldn\u2019t camp there\u2026and that my best bet would be to drive to Astoria\u2026. another 22 miles. \u00a0\u00a0So, if those caretakers ever stumble upon this blog, I want to send you a big F.U… thanks for caring about my well-being.<\/p>\n

I did manage to make it to Astoria\u2026pushing the bike uphill when needed.\u00a0 I checked into a hotel and was so mentally and physically spent that I couldn\u2019t sleep.\u00a0 I e-mailed my sister in Seattle and told her I was done\u2014come pick me up.\u00a0 She called the next morning and I was recovered enough to tell her that I was going to continue on 18 miles to Seaside.<\/p>\n

So, a day in which I planned to ride no longer than 30 miles or 5 hours, turned into a 65-mile marathon and almost 10 hours on the bike.<\/p>\n

The trip from Astoria to Seaside was very flat except for 8th<\/sup> street in Astoria.\u00a0 8th<\/sup> street was a \u00bc mile mega-hill I needed to push my bike up.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a workout I didn\u2019t need after all of the bike pushing the day before.\u00a0 It was quite apparent after 4 miles that my body–particularly my butt\u2014did not want to be on the bike.<\/p>\n

I am now lying in bed in a hotel in Seaside\u2014I have completely abandoned my plan to camp as often as I could.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t