Day 52: Netarts to Astoria

78.4 miles, 4342 ft ascent, 6:24 saddle time, max grade about 12%

Dipping my front wheel in the Pacific Ocean at the town of Seaside

I did it!  I rode my bike from the Atlantic to the Pacific!  All the way across the United States!  

The TransAm route goes west to Pacific City, and then goes north along the coast.  You can see from the photo below that the coast in Oregon is totally unlike the east coast.  There were lots of ascents and descents as I made my way over the hills, and there were multiple awesome views of the coast.  I could not take photos of some of them because, going north, I was on the inside lane of a 2-lane road (the famous Rt. 101), and with all the traffic, it was dangerous to cross both lanes to turnouts.  

View from Rt. 101

We had a tailwind from the south all day, which was rare and really a nice way to complete the last miles.  We stopped at Grumpy’s Cafe in Rockaway for breakfast.  The host was a little grumpy, but our server was delightful.  Perhaps it should have been named the Sloth & Scone because it took a loooong time to get our food.
 
We met Eric and his parents in Pacific City.  Eric rode with Brian for a few weeks before he and I met. Eric’s parents flew out from Minnesota to celebrate his reaching the Pacific.  We saw them again in Astoria where we joined them for dinner.

The weather along the coast was unusual and hard to dress for.  The wind was cold and the sun was hot.  When the clouds covered the sun, I would add a layer, and when it came out again, I would be too hot.  I must have put on my long sleeve jersey and then taken it off again a dozen times.  The official end of the TransAm trail is at the anchor in Astoria, although reaching the Pacific and dipping my front wheel in it really felt like the end.

The End of the TransAm Trail

We were treated to a beautiful, dynamic sunrise at dinner as sun’s interplay with  the clouds kept changing.

Sunset over the Columbia River as seen from Astoria

For Dylan, Jackson, Olivia, Liam and Lia-Marie, this is where Grandpa is now.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Part 3: Prologue

It is hard to believe it has been 7 years since I completed Part 2.  A LOT has happened since then (COVID, my daughter’s wedding in Austria, a struggle with Cervical Radiculopathy, 4 grandchildren, and two hip replacements), which is why it has been 7 years.  I have never given up hope that I might someday get a chance to finish what I started, the entire TransAm from Yorktown VA to Astoria OR.  This year I will pick up where I left off in Wichita KS.  I will fly my bike to a shop in Wichita and re-assemble it there.  Then I will head North to pick up the TransAm route where I left off.  I was not able to complete the entire route in one part because my job and family did not afford me the flexibility to take that much time off.  Last December I retired after 23 years as a Professor in the Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering department at the United States Naval Academy, so I no longer have that constraint.  Consequently, it is my goal to finish ...
Read more

Day 2: Nickerson to Great Bend KS

Image
54.7 miles, 885 ft ascent, 5:02 riding time.  Johannes and I started the day with a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon at the exotic animal farm while we waited for it to stop raining.  It did stop around 0930, at which point we went to the grocery store in town to pick up food for lunch because there were no towns between Nickerson and Great Bend.  It was overcast, with temps in the upper 60’s, occasional rain and a wind of about 10 mph that changed direction during the day.  We rode from primarily farming country into prairies and grasslands with grazing cattle. The cattle must have thought we came to feed them. This is big sky country with loooong straight roads.  We are gradually going up.  By the time we reach Pueblo CO we will have increased our elevation by 2,000 ft.  About the last 15 miles into Great Bend the route turned North directly into a headwind with gusts of about 13 mph.   Our route took us along the edge of the Quivira Wildli...
Read more

Day 5: Scott City to Tribune KS

Image
49.5 miles, 1,294 ft ascent, max grade about 2 %, elevation 3,616 ft, 4:46 riding time.  We started out day with breakfast a the Best Western, which was pretty good for a hotel. We continued riding West on the same Rt 96 we picked up back in Great Bend (which was 166 miles ago). Today the wind was out of the South and SouthWest, but the gusts were not as strong as yesterday, so it was not as difficult a day.  I have noticed there are big grain silos spaced at about every 10 miles, and there is often a town at each silo.  However, many of them are small and there are no services.  Bill described the silos as sitting on small islands of trees in a vast sea of wheat.  On a clear day like today you can see the silos from about 11 miles away.  If you see a water tower near the silo, then it is a bigger town with services.  The distances are very misleading because the silos are so large.  You think you are getting close, and it is still miles away. I w...
Read more