WE DID IT! On Sunday, we left Portland for Vernonia, OR, where we would spend our last night before traveling to the beach. It was an interesting ride out of Portland--very busy traffic coming out of downtown, so we opted to take a different route through the country, that reminded me of my training at UNC. We made it to lunch before entering a bike trail that would take us all the way to Vernonia. Thankfully, everyone's appetites were back to normal (aka ravenous) which meant the stomach flu had finally left us alone!
 |
| Vernonia Days! |
The bike trail winded through lush forests; we all felt like we were riding through the rain forest. We met many friendly bikers along the way who knew how close we were to the beach and encouraged us along! When we left the bike trail and entered Vernonia, we stumbled right into their annual town festival, Vernonia Days. We watched log races and sampled the local specialties, including barbecued beef and delicious milkshakes. We also found out that much of the Twilight movie had been filmed in Vernonia, so we were actually staying in Forks, Washington for the night!
 |
| Niel running through the tunnel |
After making dinner, we had our last Family Meeting, where we awarded Superlatives, had "Confessions," and just generally enjoyed each other's company for our last night! Waking up the next morning felt like Christmas. Bebhinn and Bryant were Sweep for the day, and they'd created a pump-up where we all ran through a tunnel and they gave a spiel about each rider--so clever! We took off for one last time, and of course started climbing the Coastal Mountain range almost immediately. The morning was a beautiful ride, and we stopped for lunch about 20 miles from Cannon Beach. We regrouped there (our last PB&J--yay!) and then set out once more. The anticipation and excitement hit the group I was riding with after our last climb, about 10 miles out, and once we hit Highway 101 (the Coastal Highway), we were screaming and pedaling faster than we'd ever ridden before.
The group stopped about 2 miles out at the cannon (the namesake of the beach); we took pictures, jumped up and down, and waited for our police escort into the town. As we entered Cannon Beach behind the police car, crowds of people on the street stopped to cheer for us (even if they didn't know what was going on); we were chanting loudly and squealing. As soon as I saw the water, I started crying--WE MADE IT! Everyone dropped their bikes and ran for the water, before we realized all our parents and friends were about a half mile down the beach. So we sprinted to meet them (quite tiring) and then it was a giant group hug/cryfest in the water. The water was frigid but I was completely numb to it; it was all such an incredible experience--definitely a memory I'll never forget.
 |
| Riding through Cannon Beach |
We did our second wheel dip ceremony (our front wheels into the ocean this time) and then popped champagne bottles on the beach and squirted anyone and everyone. Later, we had a cookout with all the friends and family who had come to meet us--our last time all together! One more wrap-up post to come!
 |
| Scrambling to get in the water! |
 |
| Wheel Dip ceremony, with Haystack Rock in the background! |
With more to come,
Beth
The group stopped about 2 miles out at the cannon (the namesake of the beach); we took pictures, jumped up and down, and waited for our police escort into the town. As we entered Cannon Beach behind the police car, crowds of people on the street stopped to cheer for us (even if they didn't know what was going on); we were chanting loudly and squealing. As soon as I saw the water, I started crying--WE MADE IT! Everyone dropped their bikes and ran for the water, before we realized all our parents and friends were about a half mile down the beach. So we sprinted to meet them (quite tiring) and then it was a giant group hug/cryfest in the water. The water was frigid but I was completely numb to it; it was all such an incredible experience--definitely a memory I'll never forget. 
No comments:
Post a Comment