Well

But not just any old part of the Beaver State…

The Side2Side Ride started from here, today, June 23, 2019, at a little after ten in the morning when I finished hanging just about 70 pounds/32 kilograms of panniers, bags, gear and stuff- which I’ll describe for you in a future post- on my 2016 Surly Disc Trucker.

I had stayed last night at the Seaside Lodge International Hostel

which, as far as I was concerned, was just a $33 room in a place where the average cost of a night’s lodging is two hundred dollars and up. Think “the grubbiest place I’ve ever stayed in with four guys I’ve never met before” and head south a bit further- you get the picture. But we didn’t come all this way for dee-luxe accommodations, did we?

Nope. I came to find the Lewis and Clark Monument at the beachside end of Broadway, and I did.

This was as far as the Captains of the Corps of Discovery got on their journey west, and I’ll follow…

…well, ride actually…

…more or less in their footsteps all the way back to St. Louis, Missouri, something over 3,500 miles/5,700 kilometers or so from here.

Just in case anyone wouldn’t actually believe I’m here with my bike, I had a kind passing tourist document the event.

So, with those formalities out of the way, I hit the button on Ride with GPS and started Side2Side, heading for the night about 45 miles/75 kilometers up the coast and then inland to Gnat Creek Campground just south of the Columbia River. I started out up the beachside promenade- the “Prom”-

and then headed out to the beach at what I hoped was the closest point to the water to do the obligatory wheel dip. Urrrrrrgh, pushing 110 pounds/50 kg of bike and all the stuff loaded on it across 100 yards/meters of soft sand with the wheels making six inch/15 centimeter deep tracks was harder than riding up a mile long ten percent grade, but I finally made it.

I picked up a shell and a small handful of sand to toss in the Atlantic Ocean 103 days from today and put them away in a small plastic bag. One more thing to carry, but there you go- rituals are important. I rolled the bike across the now seemingly rock-hard sand, stopped, and waited. A small wave came up.

See you on the other side!