Rest Day Beer Tray

Well there's plenty calories in beer isn't there?

They.....have.....arrived!

Day 6, Stage 5 - Aberdeen to Astoria
85 miles, 7hrs 30mins (incl. 1 eat-til-my-stomach-hurt food stop)
Delighted to have arrived safely under glorious blue skies into Astoria in Oregon, the second state on the trip. I'm currently supping much needed celebratory ales in the Wet Dog Brewery - good call by the way, Gus.

As for the day, well I really struggled to get myself going this morning having looked out the motel window to see cold rain falling on the grey streets of Aberdeen. Hmm, sound a familiar image to anyone? Eventually I set off reasonably late at 9.10 and struggled, badly, through the first 15 miles of, yes you guessed it, trees and logging trucks. I was definitely feeling mentally beat and even had to play my joker card of finally putting on the iPod for the first time which helped lift me along until I reached the quaint small twin towns of Raymond and South Bend where I proceeded to eat enough pancakes & French toast to hurt. This was then followed by another 30 miles of slightly irritating 50-100 ft climb/descent cycles catching fleeting glimpses of the sea between the, yup, trees. And then came the rain again. But, at 59 miles in, I reached a junction where the trees cleared, the sun came out and I decided to take the longer, but I hoped more scenic, road to Astoria. At that moment, they arrived. Now I didn't see the delivery truck, nor the team of surgeons complete with operating theatre, but somewhere within the next half a mile my cycling legs were officially fitted. And I rode, and I rode, and rode some more. Stomping along out the saddle at a pace I've not got close to all trip, frequently telling myself to take it easy and slow down. At one point I actually found myself looking round to check if my kit bags had fallen off the bike it felt so fast. I remember Lance Armstrong's saying his teammate, George Hincape, described it as a 'no chain' moment - when the pedalling is so easy it feels like there's no chain on the bike. Well that's exactly how it felt, all the way through 25 miles of sunshine into Astoria. The final four miles of which were over this, the not insignificant Astoria-Megler bridge, all 4 miles of it over the Columbia River basin. Definitely one on the highlights of the trip so far. It's really quite big.

In spite of the truly awesome last 25 miles it's a much needed rest day tomorrow and I've already booked myself in for a deep tissue massage (and before certain of you gents comment, I asked the receptionist, not the concierge, though apparently I just need to dial 0 for the 'pillow menu'). All I can say is I hope said masseuse likes a challenge!