South Bend to Astoria, Oregon.

About 50 miles, 1,000 elevation gain.

A rainy start, and it rained pretty much all day. At breakfast I realized I had my shirt on inside-out. What a dope! Fixed that, then hit the road in pouring rain. At least it wasn't too windy. Not all that much to see, as low clouds blocked any view. Pretty good pavement, low traffic and ample shoulders made for good riding. No place to stop along 101 so I kept riding and took Hwy.4 towards Naselle. Then WA Hwy 401 towards Astoria. This road climbs gently for maybe 9 miles then drops more steeply down to the Columbia River. In spite of the continuing rain, the riding was good, and the downhill was fun. A few miles west took me to the bridge across the River.

The bridge is about 4 miles long, and is somewhat daunting. Add to this construction on the north approach, with one lane for a bit and an easterly wind and you've got some real fun! The river level was much higher than when Alan and I crossed the bridge in 2008, so maybe it didn't feel so high above the water this time. I dunno. The south highrise though is 100' plus high and is about a 6 to 7% grade as it climbs to allow passage for for big ships heading to Portland. The downhill after the climb was exciting in the rain, metal expansion joints and a loaded logging truck bearing down behind me. All went well, and soon I was headed to downtown Astoria. I stopped at the bike shop - Bikes and Beyond, where I bought a spare tire and a couple of tubes. Everyone there was super friendly. After that I went to the Wet Dog Cafe for a late lunch.

While eating lunch, the weather front passed though, leaving sun breaks and showers, some of them very heavy. The wind changed direction, now from the west, and 20 to 30 mph. With this I decided to stay in Astoria for the night so I found a motel. Later I went out to walk around town a bit, and stopped at the Triangle Tavern.

The patrons were friendly, maybe there were more tattoos than teeth for some of them. One guy was playing an Oregon Lottery video game; he won $980 then immediately after that won another $1,200 jackpot. He rang the bell, and bought the house 3 rounds and tipped the bartender $100. Then he split! I gave two of my free beers to a couple guys at the bar.

This morning it again was raining, so I headed back to the Wet Dog for breakfast, then a short ride to Fort Stevens State Park. I will go to the park at 1pm to see if I can get a yurt for the night. Tomorrow I will try to go to Newhalem, but the weather forecast is for showers, thunderstorms, small hail and 20 mph southerly wind. We'll see. Go with the flow!