Day One – Astoria to Pacific

Day One. Hard to believe that it’s already here and has come and gone. It’s been a long full day, but one that was well organized and lived up to the expectations I had created in my mind.

We began with a roughly 2-hour shuttle ride from Portland to Astoria. When we arrived, we placed our specific bike gear near our readied bikes for personal pedals and saddles to be attached by the guides/techs. 

We had a wonderful lunch followed by information needed to get out on the 30-mile round trip ride from the hotel to the Pacific Ocean where we would dip our wheels, then return to the hotel. Today was the only day on which we would ride west. Following our photo ops at the Pacific Ocean, we made our way from west to east back to the hotel.

The day was filled with excitement and anticipation of beginning our 6+ week journey with time on the shuttles spent getting to know one another – starting with learning the basics, like names. There are 24 of us on the ride and while we scrambled to learn names through introductions and recollection by attire, we were quickly foiled by the fact that we put on our matching Trek Travel custom kits to prepare for this afternoon’s ride. Ah yes, matching kits – the great equalizer, or at least challenge introduced into learning names with few differentiating features providing clues to recollection.

The ride was beautiful. We rode a total of 30 miles and had the opportunity to get comfortable with our bikes. For me, there was getting used to the electronic shifting and disc brakes as well as the Garmin Edge 2 bike computers. Overall, the Domane bike is fantastic and a beautiful ride.

The ride itself allowed us to get used to riding together, but – most importantly – gave us the opportunity to ride to the Pacific Ocean and capture the moment in which we would be at our western-most point on our rides! We took the opportunity to dip our wheels into the ocean and take individual and group photos of the experience. Once we’d captured the photos we wanted, we headed back to Astoria and checked into the hotel for a little downtime before dinner. We were staying at the Cannery Pier Hotel, which was beautiful! My room had a lovely view and a beautiful fireplace and clawfoot tub. Given that it was a little warm, I opted to not turn on the fireplace – but I did hop in the tub with the eucalyptus Epsom salts provided and enjoyed a good soak in anticipation of the 100-mile ride on tap for day 2.

We had a delicious and beautiful send-off meal at Nekst Events to kick off the ride. The owner and his wife were wonderful, and the food was healthy, nutritious and absolutely delicious. He made home-made baguette for us that were unbelievably good as well as what he claimed were the world’s best chocolate chip cookies. They didn’t disappoint!

Back at the hotel, I readied myself for the next day by organizing my kit and other gear. I was super tired from a long day and was asleep by ten, which was later than I wanted given the day ahead tomorrow.

Overall, I’m really enjoying meeting the people on the trip. It’s a fascinating group of people who choose to do something like this. Nearly half of the group are women which is amazing. It’s going to be a journey of good days, bad days and in-between days – but it will be a journey and an immensely fulfilling one that will not be forgotten.

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