Bob spent the morning reassembling his bike, which he had disassembled and boxed for the flight to Portland. All the pieces came together at 9:00, and he departed for Astoria. (His route is shown in the map at top left.) 9 hours and 103 miles later, he arrived in Astoria. The roads were not so great and it rained, not too hard, fortunately, for the last 30 miles, but he arrived safe and sound. Given the rain, he's spending the night in a motel. He'll set off down the coast tomorrow.

Saturday started out wet, with the first 40 miles in a light rain. After cycling another 40 miles through some hilly terrain, Bob arrived at Camp Lookout State Park, where he pitched a tent for his overnight stay. It was a slow day by Bob's standards, taking 9 to 10 hours to pedal the 80 miles. The picture on the left, below the map, is of Cape Lookout State Park.

Bob found a riding partner, at least for the day. He met up with a University of Washington student who is also headed south. (In fact, there seem to be a number of riders headed south along the same route.) Bob and the UW student bicycled together most of Sunday, and both set up tents at South Beach State Park, just south of Newport, OR. They bicycled right along the coast and there was no rain, but lots of fog. It looks like fog will be the norm for a while along the coast. Sunday was a 70 mile day, so Bob's making good progress.

Finally! the bicycling day that Bob had been waiting for. Monday dawned foggy, but the sun broke through at around 11:00am, and the road ran right along the seashore, so Bob could see the waves breaking on the beach as he rode. A tailwind complemented the sunny weather, so it was fast going, 70 miles at 15 mph.

Bob is still riding with Cameron, the UW student he met on Sunday. It was a good day to have company, as Bob had tire problems. He replaced two flats and ended up buying new tires at a local bicycle store. This being bicycle-friendly Oregon, there was a store along the route.

Bob and Cameron rode to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park ("less than a mile from the famous Salmon Harbor on Winchester Bay", according to the Oregon Parks Dept. web site), and about 20 miles north of Coos Bay. They were planning to spend the night camping out at the park. Cameron is a bit stronger than Bob, but he's on a mountain bike, so Bob has it all over him on the downhills!

California, here we come! Bob has crossed the state border and bicycled to Crescent City, CA. He and Cameron are still bicycling together, having covered 82 miles yesterday. They camped at Humbug Mountain State Park, again right on the coast, but in a steep valley with no cell phone coverage. They counted over a dozen bicyclists also staying at the state park.

Today dawned foggy, with intermittent, patchy fog in the morning, and a lot of undercast, but sunny in the afternoon. They are still pedaling right along the shore, and the views are great. They are seeing lots of sea stacks (stone pillars that rise out of the water -- they are made of rock that is more erosion resistant than the rock which had surrounded them and has since eroded away).

Tonight, Bob and Cameron are staying in a motel. That's the first night indoors for Bob since he arrived in Portland and stayed overnight there. There wasn't much in the way of camping sites, and it was definitely time to do some laundry.

Another good day on the road. The day dawned slightly foggy, with most of the fog over the water, but sun and 60 degree temperatures prevailed for most of the day. The trip took Bob and Cameron through Redwood National Park, which lived up to its name with huge redwood trees, and then along coastal roads for the rest of the day.

Bob and Cameron put on 85 miles today, with some tough hill climbs along the way. The 85 miles brought them to Arcata, CA, approximately 5 miles north of Eureka. They found their way to a KOA deluxe campground, although it wasn't clear precisely what made the campground "deluxe". At $16/night, it was slightly more expensive than the Oregon state park campgrounds, but the shower was a lot hotter. There have been a dozen or more bicyclists staying at the campgrounds each night. Some are locals, out for a couple of days. Some come from futher afield, including a group from Germany.

Bob expects that he and Cameron will continue together at least until they get to San Francisco, where Cameron will be visiting a friend and staying overnight.

On Friday, Bob and Cameron put in a 70 mile day, riding to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, with scenery that ranged from cow pastures to redwood forests. The spent the night camped out at the state park. Today was a "rest day", with a mere 30 miles to their next destination, Richardson Grove State Park They planned to rest up for the day since tomorrow has the most uphill climb of the trip and where they'll reach their highest altitude, about 1,000 feet above sea level. There's actually more than a 1,000 feet of vertical gain, as there's one long uphill, a downhill, and then another smaller and shorter but still serious uphill ride.

The plan for the night is to camp out at Richardson Grove State Park (named for Friend W. Richardson, the 25th governor of California). The weather has been cooperative, mostly sunny and in the 60s, with no rain in the forecast for the next 5 days.