Day 8 - Cathlamet, WA to Astoria, OR

Up at 6am this morning I was so excited to break into a new state (and arrive in my rest-day town) that I was climbing hills before 7am this morning. I was 14 miles away from the Cathlamet, WA -> Westport, OR ferry when I set off and was determined to make the 8 o’clock departure. A few rolling hills later it flattened out and I cranked just as hard as Mr. Wonky knee would allow. Success was had as I rolled onto the boat three minutes to the hour.

Upon arrival into Westport I grabbed food & coffee at a newly opened cafe. They were happy to hear that they were located right on an ACA route and would be seeing plenty of cyclists in the coming months. I inquired about the elevation of the road ahead, which is, from a morale standpoint something that I really need to stop asking about.  It actually did work for me this time to know that the worst of it was right in front of me. It took almost 30 minutes to reach that summit, but was followed by an epic 4 mile descent. 42 cumulative miles later I was in Astoria checking into my campsite at Motel 6. I love biking and camping, but damn does a bed feel nice after a week in the tent!

My first stop here in Astoria was the local bike shop. I got the bike’s chain and drivetrain cleaned up and we also fine tuned my saddle position which will hopefully save the knee from exploding. Really cool staff here that gave me a tour of their store which had a straight bicycle graveyard down in the basement. Tomorrow I’m planning to ship some extra weight home and take a self-guided tour of the local breweries. Thursday begins a whole new venture down the Pacific Coast!