Jimmy and Leslie’s Mini-Adventure

Today’s Date: September 18, 2025

Today’s Start Point: Castle Rock, Washington

Today’s End Point: Cannon Beach, Oregon

Today’s Miles: 104.8 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 256.2 Miles

After yesterday’s marathon, both physically and emotionally, it was time to calm down and attack another 100+ mile day. The route would take me south to the City of Longview, Washington and then head due west along the Columbia River. I thought I was meant to cross into Oregon on a bridge in Longview (more about this later). From here I would continue west to Astoria where I would cross another bridge south across Young’s Bay. Then it was just a matter of heading 30 miles south to our destination for the night, Cannon Beach, Oregon.

I left again at dawn happy to put yesterday behind me. We would finally be going down the Oregon Coast where the scenery should improve. Les was going to go ahead to Cannon Beach to have breakfast with her friends from home Jill and Brian Graves, who were vacationing in Oregon. She then had to attend to her domestique duties and find a bike shop to replenish my dwindling supplies.

The twelve mile ride south to Longview, Washington was uneventful through rolling pastures. Longview was bigger than I anticipated, so traffic was relatively heavy and the scenery unexciting. Originally I thought I would be crossing the Columbia River into Oregon on the bridge in Longview, but my directions took me west on the Washington side of the River.

At this point I was riding along what seemed to me a small and meandering river. As I continued westward, the small meandering river began to widen and to my right were tall walls of rock that a combination of the river and roadway construction crews had carved into the rock. I was shocked that this was no small meandering river but the Columbia River. The ride was beautiful, the wall of rock on my right and the ever broadening river to my left.

It was only when I reached Cathlamet, Washington that I realized that I would be crossing the Columbia River in two stages. First, I would be going by bridge to Puget Island, which is situated in the middle of the river. Second, I would be taking a ferry the rest of the way to Oregon. For once my luck held out and I arrived ten minutes before the next ferry.

This is the second ferry ride that I have taken in three days. I definitely could get used to this: for some reason everything seems to slow down with a sense of calm sinking into my bones.

Once across, it was time to go west on the Oregon side of the river. Until I reached Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River, I would be off and on Oregon Route 30. I would not call this a fun time. The shoulder would disappear and then reappear, mostly in rough shape, and cars were laughing at the idea of the posted 55 mph speed limit.

When the shoulders are rough, you have to be careful about flat tires. I was feeling confident since I experienced three flats yesterday and no way could I experience another. I probably only suffer one or two flats in any given year.

Of course that means I had another flat, this time about 20 miles east of Astoria. I pulled out my spare tube, CO2 canister and the CO2 inflator. In using CO2 to fill an inner tube, you screw the inflator into the CO2 canister and in the case of mine, use a trigger on the inflator to regulate the flow of CO2 into the tire. All was well and good until I started to pull the trigger and the trigger came off, expelling all of the contents of the canister and letting out all of the air that might have been in the tube.

Yesterday, I handled this type of situation with all of the maturity of a two year old (except in the case of my grandson Sam who is wise beyond his years). In rereading my post from yesterday, I realized that it would be a very long trip if I didn’t get my act together. The fun part of these trips are not only the days when everything goes right, but also the days like yesterday and today when things could have been a little smoother. As a matter of fact, it’s the rough days that are the most memorable.

With that, I decided not to call Les and let her enjoy her day and I again began peddling my unintended unicycle, bump bumping along the way. Yesterday I went 13 miles, today I needed to go 20 miles to get to a bike shop in Astoria.

You haven’t lived until you have riden a two wheel bike with one flat tire on a two lane highway with cars rushing by you. If you are addicted to adrenaline, I highly recommend it. The unfortunate part was that when the route would include five or ten mile loops to get me off the highway, the ride was lovely with little traffic. It seems this would be a marvelous experience with a functioning bicycle.

After pedaling along slowly (and I do mean slowly), I finally arrived at the bike shop. As I have said before, bike shop guys are the best. With four flats in two days, I didn’t trust myself to do anything mechanical on the bike. The mechanic immediately put my bike in the stand and replaced the tire and tube. If you want to see something that has lived past its usefulness, look at a tire that has been ridden while flat for twenty miles. It fought the good fight and for this I will be eternally grateful.

With everything fixed (I fear a curse for even writing this sentence), I headed south out of Astoria. There are two bridges going south, a short one and a long one. The short one is the bridge I was supposed to take-short, flat and shielded from the sea. Of course I got lost and took the long bridge.

Once south of Astoria, I found my way back to the original route and rode southwest to the City of Seaside, a charming city with shaker tile homes lining an Ocean promenade. I took a few pictures but had to keep moving since it was getting late.

To get to Cannon Beach, there is a tough two mile climb over a ridge with an exhilarating two mile winding descent. I am not a good descender but even I had fun with it.

Cannon Beach is an awesome beach community, with many upscale shops and restaurants. We are staying in a great hotel located on the beach. Our room has a balcony overlooking the beach and Haystack Rock, a huge 235 foot monolith made from ancient lava flows. Two observations: 1) I will have to get Les out of here by use of a crowbar; and 2) Kansas did not have hotels like this. The only downside is that the hotel sits at the top of a 20% grade driveway, the cosmic jokes just keep on coming.

After my usual post ride rituals, we still had a couple of hours before sunset so we took a walk on the beach. The wind was brisk but the scenery made up for it. The sunset was magnificent, the sun slowly disappearing into the ocean with the Haystack Rock sitting like a silent sentinel. I have attached a few pictures because we couldn’t decide on a favorite.

After the light show, it was time for dinner, wine and cocktails (cocktail for me and wine for Leslie). During dinner we spoke with an Arizona couple who had spent a lot of time in the area. They provided some recommendations but alas, our moto for this trip is “Hello, I must be going”.

Correction: In yesterday’s post I referred to the trees in the area as Pines, my friend John Duggan of Seattle, regretted to inform me that what I was seeing were probably not Pines but maybe Douglas Fir, hemlock, Cedar, etc. Add Forestry to the list of subjects of which I am less than proficient.