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Day 30 - August 29: St. Helens OR - Portland OR

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38 miles.  2895 feet up, 2916 feet down.   Last day......  a bit melancholy.  A short day for the riders and a busy day for the guides.  We were away from the hotel about 8-ish.  Thankfully we weren't on the busy US 30 very long.  We were through residential areas and rural properties pretty much right from the start.  Saw this empty logging truck parked at one of the houses.  Just FYI - this is what they look like when they're not hauling logs. Once again I found the light challenging - both to see the holes in the road and to be sure that drivers could see us.  Maybe I'm just being paranoid.  Kudos to all the women riding this tour.  There were a couple of minor spills (riders tipped over at low or no speed), but no injuries or accidents.   Another mile or so on US 30 and then into the town of Scappoose at mile 10. Another 1.7 miles on US 30.  While the traffic noise was unpleasant, there were some nice flowers...
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Day 29 - August 28: Astoria OR - St. Helens OR

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87 miles.  5201 feet up, 5116 feet down. A bit of a big day ahead.  Snack table at 8.  I had mostly filled my portion-control container with leftovers from dinner last night, so I had a quick get-away.  I usually stop to take more pictures than most, so it can become a bit problematic if I'm in the middle of the group, especially on roads with no shoulders.  I don't like being an obstacle for people to pass, nor do I like having to pass others if I'm going slightly faster than them.  So - while I didn't intend to take many pictures today (due to the length of the ride), I knew I would inevitably stop for some.  Easiest solution is to get a head-start and have it last for a while. I wasn't an obstacle on the first two pics - taken from the hotel window.  Looking out on the Columbia River, with Washington State across the way. With all the steep hills we had to go up and down to get through Astoria to our hotel yesterday, I might have guessed that w...
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Day 28 - August 27: Manzanita OR - Astoria OR

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45 miles.  3111 feet up, 3137 feet down. Another beautiful day where it's hard to remember what this morning was like.  First up - Emily had prepared smoothies and amazing breakfast burritos for us all.  I could only eat half my burrito, so took the rest of it for lunch; yum!  It was tough to say farewell to our lovely seaside setting............ We could see where we were headed, though.  The notch between the rocks and the trees on the far left-hand side of the picture below.  And that's on the downhill, so we'll be climbing for a bit to get up above that.  Our biggest climb of the day right out of the gate. The climb begins gently enough. Great views out over the water in a number of places. And here's some of that rock up close. Looks like kids' surf lesson time at the Short Sands Trailhead turnoff (mile 4.6)  More cruisin' on the downhill. This is a look back at the Arch Cape Tunnel.  I couldn't find the button to activate the "cyclists ...
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