July 22, 2005
Seaside, OR - Banks, OR: Rainy climbing.
I awoke in the morning to a heavy rain. I told myself it would clear up while I ate breakfast. Not quite. Peggy, Jerry, Recumbent John and I huddled in the hostel living room debating our options. We still had our extra day allowed us. We were all for using it, but were quite sure Ryan wouldn't go for it. We debated taking the bus back. The bus takes bicycles, but I was sure my extra long recumbent wouldn't fit on the bus. Finally I left the others debating and packed up to leave. I donned my raingear and headed out into the foggy drizzle. I'm one of these strange people that enjoys cycling in the rain. As long as I'm not cold, I'm good. I turned on my blinking tail light with the fog.
Four miles from Seaside I turned left on Hwy. 26 and started heading up the first climb. My notes say there were three climbs, although only two had names. I stopped at a convenience store at the intersection with Hwy. 53. I must have looked bedraggled. The man behind the counter told me right away I had to buy something to use the restroom. I bought a Gatorade and he gave me the key. I got right back on the road so I wouldn't cool off too much and get cold. Traffic so far had been a non-issue. We had been told there was a narrow spot with logging trucks. I was hoping to get to that point early in the morning before traffic picked up.
I'm not sure if it was really raining on me at that point, or just misting heavily. I eventually rode out of it. The flowers and ferns were beautiful along the roadside.
There were very few downhills. We were climbing up away from the ocean. My legs felt very strong. A month of cycling had prepared me for the challenge of climbing all day. I was sad the cycling was almost at an end.
I summited David Douglas Summit at 1,309 ft in the foggy mist. By the time I achieved Summit Coast Range at 1,642 ft., the sky had cleared. My map shows another summit close to Banks at 1,174 ft. There was no sign to take a photo of.
I never did go through an area that seemed especially narrow. There was some of the dense forest that we had along the Columbia River Parkway. That seemed narrow to me, but I think it was mostly because it was so dark and the plants in too close. I did see a few logging trucks.
Banks was just my kind of town. One road in, one road out. No chance to get lost. Our camp was at Sunset Park next to the race tracks. Luckily for us, the races were the following night. Otherwise we wouldn't have gotten any sleep. The camp manager was very, very interested in us and helpful. She even helped me put up my tent! This was our last night to be pitching our tents. There were no showers, but we did have real bathrooms. I think the lady was horrified as I commenced to take a bath out of the soup pot. She was back in short order with a hose and spray nozzle attachment for the rest of the group to use. I guess I'd gotten used to life on the road and hadn't stopped to think that I shouldn't be washing my hair in polite company. Or shaving my legs. : )
The grocery store was only a block away. I walked over and bought milk and frozen fruit bars to share. The bars were tasty in the heat.
Bob went to town and got a haircut. It looked fine to me, but the other guys gave him a hard time about looking like he was going in the military.
Tomorrow we ride into Portland. Darn. It all seems like a distant memory and we aren't even officially finished. This ride was such a dream of mine for so long and already it is fading away.
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 1,230 miles (1,979 km)
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