The Tortoise and The Hare

Day 11: Raymond, WA to Astoria, OR

Today's Distance: 52 miles

Total Distance: 493 miles

I woke up sore and just not in the mood. I had no power, no energy, and I'm just not in the mood. But I'm still moving forward. I bet if I ate something nutritious last night I'd be feeling a lot different. Today I cross into Oregon! Super stoked on the progress! The landscape in the morning part of my ride was just kinda blah. I passed a bunch of sloughs which are basically muddy, swampy areas. I spent the first hour going slow and in my head the whole time. The landscape changed to something a little more green and I decided to pick up the pace. I kind of liked the fact that there were rolling hills today because it broke up the monotony a little and they were spaced in a way that I could coast down one and only have to climb about half of the next hill. I never would have imagined saying something like that a week ago. At one point while crossing over a bridge I got attacked by a bunch of ladybugs. Do ladybugs bite? I swear one bit my leg.

Going up?

I just couldn't get it really going today energy-wise. Is it possible to fall asleep on a bike? I may have dozed off for a bit, I'm not sure. About 15 miles from Astoria I stopped at a gas station to fuel up on energy because I read that the Astoria bridge is a long one. After I got going on the final stretch, guess who's in front of me once again?! Frankie must have passed me up while I was at the gas station. Seriously this is like a real life tortoise and hare situation. Yesterday after he got a tent he called it a day. He said he got a kids tent for $17 and it worked well for him. Haha, this guy is awesome! He ended up taking the 101 part that I went around and it's taken him like 8hrs to go 50 miles or so. He looked worn out, so it looks like I really did make a good choice yesterday. After catching up for a little I took off again and within minutes couldn't see Frankie at all behind me. I expected the Astoria-Megler bridge to be big, but I was stunned when I saw it for the first time from a distance. I guess maybe I should be more impressed with how wide the Columbia River is! The bridge is over 4 miles long and it takes you from Washington, across the Columbia River, into Oregon. There's a bike lane, but it's not much, so you really need to be careful when crossing. On the Oregon side of the bridge is Astoria, a city with a ton of history, but is most known for being the setting of the classic 80's movie, The Goonies. To be funny and to make this moment even more memorable, I played Cyndi Lauper's song, "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" on repeat the whole way across. I couldn't help but laugh at myself as the cars whizzed by me. Whenever there was a break in traffic I would stop and get some pictures. That wasn't the best idea, but no harm, no foul. As if 4 miles wasn't enough, the last mile is straight up. Oh and there were a ton of dead seagulls as well, so that wasn't a pretty sight to see. I felt accomplished when I made it to the other side and into Astoria. 1 State down, 2 to go!