June 1st, 2017: I’d slept fitfully the previous night, and rose by 0500 hrs. After some more tinkering with the saddlebag setup, a quick shower, and a banana and a smoothie for breakfast, I was ready. It was drizzling, so both Meaghan and I threw on our rain jackets and hit the road. She knew the way to the meeting point selected by TABR racers heading to Astoria, so that was one less thing for me to worry. After a few minutes of rolling, we made it to the meeting place, and saw many other racers had already made it there. Brad and Alexis Crossley were going to drive to Astoria, but were there anyway, to meet other riders. Ever the nicest of folks, they even offered to transport stuff to Astoria, if any of us didnt feel like lugging our gear all the way. I also met Jen Colestock, Eric Fishbein, Jack Peterson, Timothy Stephen, Andrew Suzuki, and other riders for the first time there.

Pic Courtesy: Alexis Crossley

Pic Courtesy: Alexis Crossley

We spent some time admiring each other’s rigs, and wondering how smart someone else had been, with their setups, and wishing we’d thought of this trick or the other. Jen Colestock’s was one setup I really liked; she’d not only got a custom-stitched frame bag, but also a rather uncommon double bottle cage, for the frame. I’ve seen plenty of under-saddle twin-cages, but never a frame-mounted twin-cage setup.

Before long, we hit the road.

After a couple of hours of biking, we pulled into a convenience store, to refuel, and wait for some other riders. After close to half an hour, we started rolling again. We soon left the highways for a scenic bike route.

Unfortunately for me, my saddlebag had started to rub against the back wheel, so I had to stop to try and fix it, while the rest continued on. I fixed it as best as I could, and rode as hard as I could, but the others had been riding as a pack, and had been pushing hard, so I didn’t see them, till I got to the turnoff from the Nehalem Highway, where there was a restroom, and a big group of riders including DBR, Andrew Suzuki, and others had stopped. They were happy to see me, and off we went again, and this time, on a dedicated bike path. It was great fun.

We now hit a really long and steady climb, and I began to struggle there; my speed dropped to a crawl, and I was doing all I could to simply keep moving. I waved to the other riders, signalling that I’d do the rest of the ride on my own, but I found a bunch of them again in Vernonia, where they’d stopped to eat at a Subway. Since I was quite a bit slower than the rest of the pack, I elected to head out sooner than the rest, knowing they’d catch up. The weather was cool and quite pleasant, and I made good time, and it was a while before the rest of the pack caught up and passed me. I continued at my own pace, and by late afternoon, found a pizzeria where I ate a burger and washed it down with soda, and shortly after, rode into Astoria.

Felt great, seeing that signboard.

An old fishing boat, marking the beginning of the Astoria river walk.

The Astoria-Megler bridge.

I continued on, and paid my respects at the Maritime Memorial Park.

Maritime Memorial Park, Astoria Oregon.

My motel was quite close to the riverfront, and it was quite a nice feeling to have made it there. I was now only one full day and a few hours from starting off on my Trans Am Bike Race adventure! The link to this ride activity on strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1016987340