Day 8 of #ridingeverydayinNovember

Today was the 8th day of the #ridingeverydayinNovember challenge. There is less than 10 hours of daylight this time of year in NW Oregon, so it should come as no surprise that I was up and about before the sun rose.  It was raining hard.  However, by the time dawn arrived, the rain had stopped.  The lighter it got, the better the day looked!

By the time I hopped on the bike I carried a raincoat (it IS still November in Oregon after all!) but I did not wear it.

I headed north out of Seaside toward Astoria.  I wasn't sure if Ft Clatsop was my goal, or the Astoria Column.

I reached my first photo opportunity as I neared Gearhart. The diminutive Necanicum River ends it's 21 mile journey to the Pacific Ocean here.

I turned onto Business 101, skirting south of Astoria and avoiding the higher traffic count of US 101.  I hadn't pedaled very far before I got to Ft Clatsop.

I had made good time up to this point, so I decided to ride the additional miles to the Astoria Column, thinking that it would provide better photos. I hadn't pedaled too far before I came across a herd of  Roosevelt Elk.  There were about 70 animals spread across the open pasture.

I crossed the Young's River and made my way up Coxcomb Hill. I would climb about 600 ft in just under a mile and a half.  The maximum grade I saw was 16%, but most of the climb was in the 7-8% range. I just put the bike in my lowest gear (30x28) and pedaled up leisurely.  I arrived at the Astoria Column.

Of course no trip to the Astoria Column is complete without walking the 164 steps to the top.

Looking back down the outside of the spiral staircase

The view from the top always makes it worth the walk up.

Young's River (left) flowing into the Columbia River (right)

(clicking on photos in this blog will display them full sized, especially good on the one above)

The Columbia River is just over 4 miles wide at this point, still 12 miles from the bar, known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. (click here for an interesting insight about the Columbia River Bar Pilots)

It was a nice day for a ride.  The temperature was in the high 50's, wind was negligible, and not a single drop of rain.

By the time I got back to Seaside I had logged 41 miles.  Still not a lot, but more than I've done recently.


.........Road Bike.....Rollers.....MTB.....Lifecycle..Total
Today .....41...............0...............0.............0..............41
Jan.........765..............0...............0.............0............765
Feb........248..............0...............0.............0............248
March....183..............0...............0.............0.............183
April......228...............0..............0..............0.............228
May.......200...............0..............0..............0.............200
June........199..............0..............26............0.............225
July.........246.............0...............0..............0.............246
Aug.........502.............0...............0..............0.............502
Sept.........974.............0,,,,,,,,,,,,,,44.............0............1018
Oct.......... 962.............0..............45.............0............1007
Nov..........106..............0................3.............0.............109
_________________________________________
total.......4614.............0.............118............0...........4732