The 56 mile day turned into 61 miles and almost 6 hours: some good, some bad.

Our route out of Longview took us past 3 more Nutty Narrows, all within the first 2 miles.  Then I took a detour to visit the Japanese Garden located in Lake Sacajawea. I have to assume that it was created as a symbol of friendship with a sister Japanese city, but I couldn’t find any plaque confirming this.

We didn’t actually see the Columbia River until about mile 14, though we followed the Coal Creek Slough for several miles.  About 3 miles from the first SAG stop, I passed Barbara who had just received help from Susan for a flat on her rear tire.  By the time I reached the SAG, Barbara had called in to report that her tire was flat again, she had no other replacement tube, and no more CO2 canisters.  The SAG wasn’t able to leave her position, so I biked back to Barbara, loaned her a tube, and with assistance from Chef Sue we changed the tire, adding a boot to cover a slit in the tire.  Sadly, the tire was a continuing problem.

Barbara and I continued together along the Columbia to Cathlamet, a small fishing town, connected by bridge to Puget Island. From the island, we took the Wahkiakum Ferry, the last remaining ferry service on the Columbia, across to the Oregon side, a journey of about 15 minutes.

The Berry Patch in Westport had been recommended and was a delicious lunch and pie place.  About 3 miles further down the road, we began a 3 1/2 mile climb to Clatsop Crest Summit (elev 656 ft) – very slow and long.  By the time we reached the top, Barbara’s tire would no longer hold air and she called the sag for a pickup.  I continued the remaining 20 miles alone, a lot of ups and downs.

Average speed 10.36 mph, 3973 ft of ascent.

While dinner was being prepared, Dan, a local stopped by and gave us some suggestions for things to see in and around Astoria.  He was riding some combination skateboard/hovercraft, but we forgot to ask what it was called.  Beautiful sunset over the Columbia and the Astoria Bridge, which Don and I rode just a month ago.

Rest day tomorrow, lots to see and do, but no biking!

Relive:   https://www.relive.cc/view/1195380209