August 1 -3, 2008 CYCLE OREGON WEEKEND

I left Friday, August 1 around 11:00 a.m. and took Highway 26 (the Sunset Highway) west to Fort Stevens State Park on the Oregon coast. It had been a long time since I had been on this road. The wind last winter blew down great stands of trees. It broke them off at the ground and ten feet up. The biggest Spruce tree in the USA broke off 80 feet up. It had been hit by lightning and this caused rot and that is where it broke. It was 56 feet around and is still something to see. One Hundred Thousand people stopped to look at it a year. There used to be a big fir tree up the road but they cut it up for lumber.

I stopped where the Japanese shelled the USA during WWII; it was not much to see but a rest stop for me.

I forgot my bike gloves and head light. Darn! I bought new ones.

There were about 20 cars parked when I arrived and now the area was full of them. It was really something to see a vacant lot fill up with tents and cars. I don’t know for sure but I think around 2,000 riders plus support people.

The band was playing at 10:00 p.m. and the cars were still coming. I was the only tent and now I had to pick a trail through them

They put their tent next to me. Pump, pump, pump and screaming air pumps. There was also the kind that work off of a car that sounded like a jet taking off. I had a 10 x 10 tent that you could stand up in. The band turned it up and the pump, pump, pump was still going. This is the life in the great outdoors. I heard them say that the air is not going in. Oh joy! More pump, pump, and pump. This might take some time. So much for quiet. Yes, a diesel truck went by and the doors on the blue rooms were slamming. This is not a problem. I can sleep through it all – no joke.

Twenty minutes and they were still pumping. I saw a guy put up a tent in about 30 minutes. That was just the tent. I had mine up in 10 minutes, including blowing up the air mattress. I is good, isn’t I?

Saturday the ride was fun. On one of the real narrow bridges I picked up a pair of sheet metal scissors. As all my friends know, I can't pass up a treasure like this (and they work)! When you are by yourself you get to talk to a lot of people and if you don’t like them you just push harder on the pedals and leave them. With my new bike it is not a problem. The bike is light and I passed a lot of people today, not like my old bike. I would make it but would have to work at it. The good part was that you would have a lot more time to talk to people. If they didn’t like talking to me, they would put the pedals down and leave me.

Some people camped next to me and I had dinner with them, and then back to camp to drink some port that I brought back from a ride in Missouri. Don’t buy wine in Missouri. It will cost you $400, or it did me.

It was great and you meet a lot of fun people on these rides (Russell and Marion).

Sunday I went over the Astoria Bridge to Chinook, WA. This is a thing to put on your list. The wind was not a problem. It was a little narrow and the cars went fast but the view was worth it. The temperature was good and it was a good day for a ride. I met some great friends and people I will never see again. One was on his porch and another was taking money for the boat ramp. I spent hours talking to the people who live here. It was fun to listen to the history they told about. If you come by yourself, they make you feel like you have known them for years. I was joking with this guy and he was giving it back to me. So few people do that. I felt right at home. He got me good and I had to laugh at myself.

Taking down camp was fun to watch. One guy was chasing his tent across the field. You take everything out of the tent and it thinks it is a kite.

I went to the South Jetty on the Columbia River. There were people kite surfing. It looked like fun.

This was a good ride and I had a lot of fun but it would have been a lot better to have gone with someone.