Day 8- starting the Oregon coast

Last night I stayed in a little campground in Cannon Beach, and it cost more than my spot in the Hostel in Astoria. Geez! To give you an idea of what kind of town this was, the pizza place didn’t have any pizzas for less than $22, and this establishment was two doors down:

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A little bit froofy. Anyway, I was able to procure two slices of decent pizza for dinner, and it didn’t break the bank any worse than the silly camp site. The to-go window had this hanging just inside the door- does it make any sense to you?

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I’m really happy that I decided to bed down in Cannon Beach instead of carrying on, despite the relative expense of it. I was really tired and I didn’t notice that I was coming up on one of the tunnels. Scary!

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One of the guidebooks I read said, “This tunnel is dangerous, wait for a lull in traffic, push the button, and pedal like mad!” – it wasn’t actually that bad, but I was glad that I was fresh and rested to tackle it, and we had a lot of light. When I got out the other side the lights were still flashing to indicate bikes in the tunnel, so if anybody else is following along you should know that although it’s uphill and narrow, you’ll at least have the warning lights for a good length of time.

Not far after that was the Oswald West state park, with this amazing view:

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This was one of the highest climbs of the coast, and it wasn’t really so terrible. It was gradual enough that I could just go slow in my lowest gear and pull over for a drink and rest every now and then. Psychologically, that’s helpful because there are about a dozen noteworthy climbs left, and only two that are taller.

I had a friend of a friend offer up a couch in Rockaway Beach for tonight, so although it’s been a short day I’m almost done.

If anyone else out there has a couch, I’d appreciate sleeping on it.

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4 Responses to Day 8- starting the Oregon coast

  1. mom says:

    Wow! That view is almost worth the climb.
    The tunnel looks deceptively safe, I am glad you were warned about it and made it through without incident. Pretty nice of them to have warning lights for bikes.

  2. Tony says:

    The plastic bags with water scare flies!
    And yep, Cannon Beach is for the tourists, expensive.
    Looks like you will be in Coos Bay by Sunday or so, I sent you a pm on reddit so give a call when you get close, I have a couch for you.
    Before you get to Coos Bay, you will go over McCullough Bridge…almost a miles long and very old and narrow…plus, its under construction and rehab, be careful!
    Oh, when you get to Newport, look into Cafe Mundo, just follow the bike path and it will take you right through Nye Beach, which is just a ‘hood in Newport. Great little cafe with great music. Tell Greg or Laurie that Tony and Crystal sent you, won’t get you anything but its good to name drop. I helped build the place.
    Shiny side up, be safe!

  3. Tony says:

    Great, we will have room, one cyclist this weekend and another the 31st I think? But we have room for 5 so…take care!

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