Hood to Seaside

This day was supposed to be a rest day but it was more like a light riding day. I rode to the library to try and reactivate my phone but didn't work; rode over the bridge to Warrenton to the AT&T store but they couldn't help, said I had to go to the apple store in Portland but that wasn't gonna happen so I went to Fred Meyers and got a sin dog by Dave's Killer Bread (if you haven't had one, find one, eat one, and share with friends). I waited for Evan and Blake to meet me so we could head to Seaside. 

After a couple hours passed, they showed up. I was able to read and chat with some employees on their breaks. There's just something about people from the Pacific Northwest, friendly in a different way than Western Canadians which really stand out to me.

Today was Hood to Coast, a 198 mile relay race from Mt Hood to the coast in Seaside. Teams of young and old, many and few, churches, school groups, friends, and coworkers make shirts, decide on cheesy team names, and decorate their support vehicles and start early morning and end whenever they end that day. What is waiting for them is a big BBQ and beer and the beach! They do fireworks that evening and have dance music going too. Basically this place is super busy. 

Here is where we come in, dressed in our tuxedo jerseys and riding loaded bikes through what could be a scene from the Walking Dead of gridlock cars. People kept asking which part of the 'leg' we were doing and why were we riding loaded bikes and we kept explaining to people we are touring not participating in Hood to Coast. 

We bypassed countless cars and rode to the beach where we kind of became part of the participants crossing over the runners lane to get to a line swing set on the beach to lock up our bikes. We were happy to be done riding but now didn't really know what to do since it was sheer craziness in town. We stood on the beach people watching celebrate finishing the relay and then the others who were just there enjoying the waves and sun. People wandering out way to far out into the ocean with their baby, not a good idea. 

After we got all sandy and had no means to wash our feet off we rode to a cafe for a smoothie and wifi. We ended up hearing back from a Couchsurfing couple in gearhart and we rode out to setup for the evening. 

A nice older couple who are school teachers in the summer and sell flowers and trinkets at farmers markets in the summer, were our hosts. Mark showed us the property then proceeded to take us for a hike through some backwoods trails along an old railroad path and to a marsh where a herd of elk meander, a bald eagle nests, and raccoons cause raucous. 

After showering and making dinner, Mark shared some stories of school trips he takes his students on to cowboy poetry festivals in Nevada and to Portland to talk with the son of the interpreter of Chief Joseph's last speech. After sharing some wine and many laughs we headed to our tents for the evening.