WASHINGTON STATE

REST DAYS IN ASTORIA

DAYS 63 & 64

SUNDAY 5 & MONDAY 6 JUNE 2016

Hills are one thing and I think it is quite easy to underestimate how much heat actually socks it out of you, until you realise that your body is still trying to recover well after the event.

For this reason alone, time off in Astoria was more than welcome.

It also gave me the chance to have a good look around.

Astoria is located close enough to the mouth of the Columbia River that it is still considered as the point that Lewis and Clark first sighted the Pacific Ocean in November 1805, hence completing their epic 18-month overland journey from Missouri.

It has also in the course of time accommodated the world’s largest Finnish population outside of Helsinki who came to work the fishing trawlers and ended up staying with their families.

This town a real scenic little hamlet which lies on the south bank of the Columbia and is less than 4 miles from the Washington State border – the two sides of the river being joined by a bridge that is one of the longest I have ever seen.

In fact for the first 24 hours of my stay in Astoria, I completely averted eye contact with it in the knowledge that somehow I was going to have to negotiate a way across in just a few hours’ time.

I had avoided visiting Longview on the way through from Portland for the very reason that the Lewis and Clark Bridge I would have had to cross twice to get there and back was not only ridiculously long and steep but also really, really dangerous.

Considering Astoria’s Megler Bridge is about 3 times as long again (4.1 miles/6.6 km), my prospects seemed grim to say the least.

In the meanwhile there were things to do, other than dwell on my impending demise halfway across the Columbia River on Tuesday morning.

Immediately, I needed to attend to the new trailer, whose quick release wheel mechanism had failed quite emphatically on the trip through from Portland.

Bikes and Beyond is Astoria’s one and only bike shop so this is where I went.

The initial prognosis was that it was imminently fixable – all I needed to do was leave it with them for an hour or so.

No problem.

With Astoria’s Sunday markets in full swing outside in superlative summer weather, an hour was the least I could have given them.

I happily lashed out on a bowl of seafood chowder and slab of garlic toast which was then chased down with a Nehalem crepe and Mango Lassi.

A local guitar-picking troubadour named Greg Parke provided some background noise as people milled about feeding their faces and generally lapping up the stunning morning and relaxed atmosphere.

When I was good and ready to return to the bike store, I wandered back over and immediately saw that the repair was complete – on one side at least.

Whilst the left-hand release was intact, it was obvious to me that it was going to go exactly the same way as soon as I got back on the road.

So instead of walking out and pretending to be happy, I offered up another $10 for them to do the other one as well.

Give them another hour or so.

No problem and by 4 pm I had my trolley back and ready to roll, once again.

ASTORIA'S "MEGA" MEGLER BRIDGE

14TH ST, ASTORIA

ASTORIA RIVERFRONT TROLLEY

THE ASTORIA COLUMN

ASTORIA'S VIEWPOINTS

BEER AND MORE BEER…..

In keeping with the theme of microbreweries, Astoria has 4 of them.

Not quite as prolific as Portland’s one million and four, but still I owed it to myself to try to check them out.

I’d already dropped into Wet Dog for dinner on Saturday night so decided to walk out the door of the Norblad Hostel and straight across to Fort George brewery and “public house”, whatever that means.

Fort George also has free live music upstairs in the pizza kitchen after 8 pm on a Sunday so this seemed as good a deal as any.

After a hearty dinner of Po’ Boy and salad, I headed upstairs with beer in hand and checked out Portland’s own “Future Historians”.

They cranked out 2 hours of original folky-rock tunes (with the notable exception of Cyndi Lauper’s “When You Were Mine”) which actually wasn’t too bad at all.

I’ve heard worse and much worse over the years and normally anything original is at least a step in the right direction.

I also ended up sharing a table with some local boys from Port Angeles who were in Astoria with the U.S Coast Guard which is a regular stop on their run.

They also happened to be pretty interested in what I’d been up to for the past 2 months and would surely have extended an invitation to stay with them in Port Angeles but for the fact they are going to be out at sea when I show up there in a couple of weeks…..

3-WAYS IPA @ FORT GEORGE, ASTORIA

DAY 65

TUESDAY 7 JUNE 2016

ASTORIA – WILLAPA BAY (BAY CENTER)

0910 – 1800

79.46 km (49.37 miles) - (includes Pacific Transit bus service between Astoria and Chinook)

Av. Speed: 16.3 km/h (10.1 mph)

Max. Speed: 54.9 km/h (34.1 mph)

Time On Bike: 4h 52m 16s

After a couple of days’ careful consideration I made the call to enlist the local bus company to get me across the river.

It had been recommended by staff at Astoria’s transit centre to call the company in question ahead of time to make sure they could take me and my gear.

So long as no one in a wheelchair needed to take priority, I was told it shouldn’t be a problem.

I fronted at the transit centre just after 8.30 on Tuesday morning with my rig pulled apart and bike neatly folded for the 9 am service to somewhere on the other side.

For a budget-friendly price of 50c, the bus did the deed admirably and also knocked out a short tunnel for me as well on the way through to Chinook.

This was now Washington - the third U.S state on this trip and a brand new part of the adventure following the previous 3 weeks of travelling through Oregon.

The bus had deposited me and my gear outside the Chinook general store at my request.

I was able to set everything back up quite quickly and acquire a breakfast of sorts from the store to get me going.

A short trundle from Chinook got me through to the coastal settlement of Ilwaco and of more interest to me, Cape Disappointment State Park.

My planned itinerary in Washington includes only a very brief coastal section – this pretty much being it - so it was likely to be the only opportunity to view a couple of lighthouses and see some coastline here before heading inland towards Seattle for the rest of this week.

It was 2 hours well spent too as I sauntered around some of the various view points and trails on offer, including North Head and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse itself.

NORTH HEAD LIGHTHOUSE, CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT STATE PARK

 With a good 40 miles still to cover to my destination for the day, I headed onwards at about 1 pm via Long Beach for a grocery stop and a very pleasant afternoon trundle along the shores of Willapa Bay.

The only downside about the riding today was the headwind – only about the 6^th day of genuine head breeze I’ve endured, considering I’m going the wrong way and all of that…..

Now if I hadn’t have known any better, I would have said I was in another state, another country maybe even another planet, such was the transformation of Highway 101 since I last had contact with it over 10 days ago.

If this was indeed the same 101 that has given me such cause for consternation to date and especially in Oregon, then it certainly didn’t feel like it.

Traffic volumes and the condition of the road itself are poles apart in Washington so far than they have been elsewhere.

Possibly because most of Washington State’s big traffic is headed towards its main commercial centres such as Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia – none of which are anywhere its western coastlines.

And fuckin’ ay to that!!

So for a bit of headwind today, it was the least of my concerns and long may it continue….