"Ocian in View!"

Captain William Clark wrote those words when the expedition neared the Pacific coast in November 1805. My spelling skills are a bit better... but on Sunday 27 July 2008 at exactly 3:46pm PDT, the Pacific Ocean was in full view!

I was actually expecting a rather fantastic scene, the Oregon Pacific coastline... a place of cliffs protruding right into the ocean with picturesque forests leading straight down to sandy nooks. Unfortunately, I think I stumbled upon the only section of Oregon coastline that looks as unimpressive as, well, the east coast of Florida... dirty sand, forbidding waters, cars driving on the beach. It was still fulfilling to see the Pacific and I did take in a great sunset that evening (something Florida's east coast doesn't even have going for it), but the next day I hopped back on my bike and headed south, promising myself not to stop until I found these legendary cliffs and rocks and forests and other peculiar formations that I had never before associated with the beach. At any rate- I found them! And they are amazing... here's a couple more pictures... one of the aforementioned rocks and the other of the sunset at the first beach.

This is from Ecola State Park on the real Oregon coast:


Sunset silhouetting the wreckage of an old ship and a couple kids playing at the surf's edge:
I didn't try to end my trip the same day as the Tour de France, but that's just how it happened to work out. I don't know if you can really compare the two trips... my trip ended after just over 4400 miles- the other guys do only about 2200 miles. My bike weighed in around 100 pounds when all the gear and nightly food was precariously balanced on board... the other guys ride bikes you can lift with your pinky finger. No one cooked me a huge gourmet dinner every night, no one followed me in a gas-guzzling gear truck, and no one lined the streets waiting for me to pass. You may have noticed the discrepancy in my final mileage total. The posted total of 4281 is considering the Pacific Ocean the end of the trip. On Tuesday, after spending a couple days exploring the coast, I had to turn around and pedal over 100 miles back to Portland- where my train leaves tomorrow- Saturday. Surely they make the other Tour guys cycle from the finish line at least back to the airport, right?

On a bike note, my rim held up for the entire trip! In fact, I couldn't be more pleased with the performance of my bike... I had ZERO flats the entire trip... everything- minus that rear rim- outperformed my expectations. I brought so many tools and spare parts that I thankfully never had to use! I would like to take this opportunity to thank not just the Jamis company but especially the guys at SunWest Cyclery (www.sunwestcyclery.com) down in Palm Harbor, FL for matching me up with my best friend on the trip. If you're considering purchasing a bike (and you should be- especially with those gas prices most of you are paying), take a close look at the Jamis line... they put together a lot of different styles at very reasonable prices. Y'all who know me know how "frugal" I can be... and after lots of research and consideration, the Jamis Aurora was easily my choice. And if you're in the Tampa Bay area, check out Sun West, they are right on the Pinellas Trail.
My piece of steel made it. The one in the background did not.

I'm thinking I'll probably make one or two more posts to this blog... probably one of just some highlights and lowlights with awards, pictures, and quick facts in categories like coolest road sign and foulest tap water... and then another post with some concluding thoughts. Thanks for keeping up with the trip!