All great lunch stops must end, after filtering that cold water from the North Trask River into our water bottles we left. There was still some climbing to do, but without the steepness we'd encountered earlier. Even though we net a considerable amount of downhill, it seemed that most of the time we were climbing, which is the way it always is, no?


Ben was cramping up a bit at the end

Bittersweet moment: the beauty of the gravel section ended, but sweet, smooth pavement awaited.

The last 15 miles of this ride are paved. If you look at the profile, it appears to be mostly downhill, but it's really rollers until you get to the flood plain and cow pastures. We rode past the Tillamook County Fair, which was in full swing. Finally we regrouped at the Pelican Brewery.


The reward. I confirmed my publicist's theory that the best beer you've ever had is at the end of a long, hot bike ride.

This was my 6th crossing over the Coast Range via the North Trask route. Some things never change, like the need for a GPS device to make sure we didn't make any wrong turns. We did once in the middle of the ride, and my Wahoo wasn't happy, and didn't shut up until we got back on the right road. What does change is the condition of the road. These are forestry roads that are somewhat maintained. By maintained I mean that when a section starts getting rutty, they lay down fresh gravel. Last September The Wall had a short stretch on a very steep section at the beginning that made it impossible to pedal, so we all had to switch to our two foot gear for a bit. A year later that section was reasonably packed down, but the rest of the climb was fairly loose.

Another change: it was pretty warm the whole ride, and for the first time in 6 tries The Swimmin' Hole was used as such. It was damn cold, but wonderfully refreshing.

Three more North Trask noobs were initiated. I just love the idea that I can get up in the morning and ride to the coast through forests to the coast and return in one day with some planning.