Temperatures began in the low 50’s and warmed up to the 60’s along the coast. On reaching the coast, I found it to be pretty windy, though mostly for me a it was a tail wind, the best direction for a biker 🙂

Day’s distance: 297 miles
Total trip distance: 914 miles

My route this morning took me through Portland and then to the coast along Hwy 26.

Hwy 26 travels through the Clatsop State Forest and provides some pretty views.

On reaching Seaside, I turned north along Hwy 101 and stopped for lunch before leaving town. As mentioned above, it was pretty windy. While I was considering camping on the coast one night, I received an updated weather report from Will, who’s been following my trip. Rain was predicted for this evening. I decided to head home.

Re-entering Washington, I could have gone either left, towards Cape Disappointment and Long Beach, or right where I would be slightly inland and would meet up with Hwy 101 a little later in the day.

I decided on the ladder option, a route I haven’t ridden since 2013. I grabbed a photo of part of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, now behind me, before saying goodbye to the Columbia River and my exploration of the lower Columbia River Basin.

Highway 401 follows the Columbia for a while until turning north to meet Hwy 4. Both these roads are two lanes and are in fine shape. I saw a few other bikers heading the other way and waved. The clouds were building up, as was the truck traffic. As it was roughly 2pm, I knew I would end this trip in commute traffic on I-5 near Seattle. Not incredibly relaxing. 😦

I stayed focused on making progress and stopped only once more for fuel and to take a photo of South Bend, a small fishing town.

It was just after 5pm when I arrived home, safe and sound. A great trip, this felt a little like my last “longer” trip this year as Seattle’s weather will begin to enter it’s fall pattern of rain, and more rain.