I took my time bicycling through the beach communities of Seaside and Cannon Beach which was thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing and then continued down to Nehalem Bay.
Two surf sessions in small surf, but fun talking to folks in the water (Kelly, Tom, and a crew from BC driving a biofuel bus down the coast).
People:
Biking family - Veronique, Alain, Noah, and their friend Louis.
Veronique and Alain are serious biking parents, super cool. They brought Noah on his first bike tour at 11 months (in a bike seat). At 5, he was on a ride-behind trailer on tour. At 6, they added wooden blocks to the pedals of a tandem bike (do he could reach) and toured that way. Noah is now 15 and they're cycling down the coast, logging pretty heavy miles every day.
It was fun talking to them. I ended up giving my chamois butter to Alain as I have found I'm not riding hard enough to need it, but they certainly are. Cool family, yea?
Wally
Wally and I were chatting as I was getting some parts at the bike shop in Seaside. He's 77 and still cycles. He is a physician in Portland and still practices. He was explaining how when he was younger they didn't even have locks on their doors in Portland - ao pretty big change from now. He also has an awesome schedule... from age 65 he started taking 18 weeks of vacation a year and offers that to people who work in his (large) family practice.
Dennis, Drea (pictured in shark jaws)
Dennis is the owner of Seaside Surf Shop where I went to buy a hat to replace the one I lost somewhere between Clatskanie and Astoria. We ended up having a fun conversation about surfmats and stuff. Dennis was then helping me out with advice on where to surf (really cool) and shared some photos of great waves from the winter. Good surf shop, for sure.
I ended up buying a green hat with their logo that I really like - and only remembered later that in China (was working there for five years) a green hat means that your spouse/partner is cheating on you. But given that I'm back in the US, single, and the fact that this website is blocked in China (the government censors blocks most foreign social media - you never know if a bicycle-surf blog might foment unrest!) I guess it's OK that I'll be sporting my new green hat throughout this blog. :)
James
James lives in Seaside and works at the fish cannery (which I think is in Astoria) and also sells firewood. He was helping me with figuring out the best route from Astoria/Warrenton heading southward. Later in the day I passed by him on the road halfway to Seaside. He had gone with a friend to a July 4th BBQ in Longview for a few hours and put all the cash he had in to chip in for gas. His friend didn't want to leave however so they ended up staying there two days. He finally got fed up and took a bus ride part way and was hitching the rest so he could get home (he didn't feel like waiting the few hours needed for the next bus). Thought that was pretty nuts for a BBQ outing to turn in to a two day stay.
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