Mackerricher Beach State Park to Manchester State Beach

My legs were TIRED today from yesterday's monstrous climbing day, and I started out crabby. I think it was the combination of yesterday's exertion, rather heavy traffic on narrow roads, and innumerable short, steep, canyon climbs, but I just stayed in my bad mood for most of the day (poor Chad was very nice to me, but I'm sure got sick of my mood today!). We had talked about trying to do a long day today(70 plus miles), but decided to do only 40 miles, given the epic size of yesterday's ride. This turned out to be a good decision, because although today was short with less climbing than yesterday, it turned out to be a difficult day for me.


The scenery was beautiful, though, and around lunch time we stopped just north of Elk to check out a picturesque little resort with an art gallery and beautiful gardens. Shortly after lunch, we came to the steepest climb on the entire route, according to our guidebook. Thankfully, it was short. It was another one of these terribly steep swoops into and back out of a canyon, except this time the road wound through 2 haripins before coming to the top-- I think the grade was around 22%. I made it to the top of the fist hairpin with legs burning, gasping for air, and sniveling. I think this is a common thing among some female cyclists I know on especially steep climbs-- you get to a point where you are pushing yourself about as hard as you can go, and for some reason the emotions just take over and you start gasping and crying! No reason, really-- you just kind of crack emotionally. Anyhow, I stopped for a minute, let my breathing return to normal, and looked out at the ocean and realized that no matter how hard this ride is for me in places, I'm damn happy to be on it.

Once I had calmed down, I hopped back on the bike and pedaled slowly up the rest of the hill in a much calmer state than before. Chad was waiting patiently for me at the top, and we continued on. About 10 miles from camp, Chad started to want to hurry so that we could get to a store for some dinner food, but I was pretty beat so I told him to go ahead. Being alone for 10 miles was actually a nice break-- I got to go at my own pace without worry that Chad was waiting for me, and he got to go ahead at his own speed.


By the time I got to camp I was feeling better, despite the fact that our campground was pretty barren, with little shade cover and no showers. Oh well-- every other site has been so cozy and welcoming that you can't expect them all to be that way! Anyhow, Jack and John were at the site, so we visited with them for awhile, ate some light snacks for dinner, and then strolled down to the beach to watch the sunset.

It was a particularly amazing sunset, which goes to show you that even on the most challenging days, these adventures have many gifts to offer.

Today's stats: 43.04 miles, 9.8 mph, 2601 ft of climbing

Sunset Bay State Park to Humbug Mountain State Park

I was extremely tired last night as we went to be late. Unfortunately, Chad and I spent much of the night battling raccoons who were trying to steal food out of our panniers. They unwrapped Daniel's saddle bags to snatch his Doritos and we could hear them munching loudly on doritos all night long. They are clever little guys-- they also managed to UNZIP Laura's panniers and steal a pepper and some cheese-- however, we recovered her food before they devoured it.

Anyhow, the day started with a really nice climb up Seven Devils Road, which crossed seven little peaks as we headed south. The ups and downs reminded me a lot of the riding in the East Bay Hills in CA, and made me remember how much fun this kind of terrain is. It was also nice to have a break from the 101-- there were virtually no cars and we had the road to ourselves, nearly all the way to Bandon.

The scenery has changed a lot-- the green lush forests have given way to rocky, dry scrub-- similar to Eastern Washington, a beautiful contrast to our days further north.

We stopped for a nice lunch in Bandon, then continued through some side streets past lots of large, abandoned- looking homes (vacation homes?) and to the Face Rock Viewpoint, where the wind was absolutely HOWLING. The scenery was incredible, though-- huge rocks that looked like sea lions stacked in the water.

We rode through Langlois where the wind picked up again and literally carried us into Port Orford. We did some grocery shopping there and headed for Camp at Humbug Mountain State Park, where we were able to watch the sun set on a black sand beach. unreal! After the sunset we made veggie Phad Thai and added some peanut butter...delicious. We were extra-certain to clean up our food so that we would have no raccoon encounters. We also met some more people at camp-- a man named John riding from Cour de Alene, ID to Texas via the cost, and a nice guy named Nick who is headed to San Francisco from Chicago. All these rides make ours seem very easy.

We also decided that tomorrow we will probably part ways with Frank and Rike, as we would like to make a big push across the California border and they are more interested in spending another night in Oregon and taking their time. So it is our last night in Oregon-- a little bitter-sweet, as we have had a phenomenal time!

Today's stats-- 58.5 miles, 2841 ft of climbing, 11.3 mph

Jesse E Honeyman State Park to Sunset Bay Hiker-Biker

Hello again! We left camp this morning a bit delayed because we thought we lost Chad's wallet-- turned out that it was in my backpack. We did, however, manage to leave camp without our clothesline-- which Frank and Rike had already picked up for us once.... so we have lost our first item. It could have definitely been worse!

Today's ride was not especially scenic. It was probably the pinnacle of impolite drivers, actually. We were honked at by multiple rv's, and one guy in an SUV even flipped me off! The most rediculous one, though, was crossing a bridge. In Oregon, they have great bicycle infastructure for tunnels and bridges-- at the beginning of the tunnel or bridge, you push a button that illuminates lights on a sign that says "bicycles in tunnel" or "bicycles on bridge." Anyhow, we pushed the button, then began to cross this bridge, and some guy yelled at us, "you don't belong here!" We just smiled and waved, which seems to be the best remedy for this type of treatment.

All in all actually, the drivers have been extremely polite and we get lots of encouraging honks and waves. Today the mean ones just seemed to be in higher concentration.

Anyhow, we arrived at camp relatively early, as it was a short, fast day. When we got there, the hiker-biker site was overflowing-- there were 18 people on bicycles staying there! Amazing. We met a retired couple spending a year touring on bicycles, another couple doing the same Seattle to San Francisco route as us, and saw Rachel and Jake, a couple we had met awhile back. There was also a group of 4 women on recumbants, some of them going all the way to Mexico! Frank and Rike are still riding with us, and the four of us decided to get a seperate camp to keep the hiker-biker site from overcrowding. As we got set up, two other riders we had met earlier arrived-- Laura, a young woman who rode her bike out west from GEORGIA and is headed to Grant's Pass, and Daniel, a funny guy who is traveling light, eating multiple variations of Snickers-based meals that we had met the previous night. Laura and Daniel joined us at our camp, as hiker-biker had become very crowded.

We walked over to Sunset Beach to enjoy the sunset, and it was amazing-- the bay is enclosed on 3 sides by rock walls, and the sun set between the rock walls, right in front of a rock in the water, which the wave crashed against as the sun sank into the sea. Unbelieveable!

On the way back I had a nice chat with Rachel, who works for a clean energy foundation in San Francisco. We talked about the future and possibilities of the new green economy, and it occured to me that almost everyone I've met on this trip has or is in some way involved in clean energy, green building, or organic farming. It made me very excited about the future, although I also have to take into consideration the fact that the people I'm meeting are travelling by BIKE, which makes them a bit more green-minded than the average Oregon Coast traveler.

We stayed up much later than we should have chatting, but it was fun to have a social night. That is all for today-- we rode 53.23 miles, climbed 2263 feet, and averaged 12 mph.

Beverly Beach State Park to Jesse E Honeyman State Park

Today we rode to Jesse E Honeyman State Park, where we warmed up on sand dunes before jumping in the lake for a swim at the end of the day. We passed through many neat areas on the way to Jesse E Honeyman-- through Newport, OR and the neighborhood of Nye Beach, which had a really nice feel to it. We also ogled at the rock formations at Cape Perpetua, and had a stop at Strawberry Hill to look at a large seal colony.

The campground we're staying at is gorgeous-- the hiker-biker sites are situated in the woods, and a short walk leads down to the bathrooms, as well as an amphitheater where there is entertainment every night. Tonight some gentlemen were performing songs on Native American flutes, and they told the story of how the flute came to the First People. Apparently the woodpecker pecked some holes in a hollow branch for a young fellow as an aid to impress a woman.

In camp, we had a nice campfire before drifting off to sleep-- all in all a really nice day! We also met another German man named Albrecht who is from the South of Germany, travelling solo. He is soft-spoken and very thoughtful-- a really nice guy.

Today's stats-- 60.15 miles, 2874 ft. of climbing, 11.2 mph average

Cape Lookout State Park to Beverly Beach State Park

Today started out with a HUGE climb, the first of three. At the top, we saw a sand forest-- something completely new to us! The site of pine trees growing in sand dunes was quite amazing. We were lucky to experience some breathtaking scenery-- the first stop was Cape Kiwanda, a popular recreation place and a cute town. We ate lunch there, as we got started a little late.



We had another HUGE climb up the 101, then we rolled extremely quickly past beautiful shoreline configurations and past Strawberry Hill, where we had to stop and visit the seal colony. Seals are so funny, little marine sausages with fins-- they pretty much just sit all day and sun themselves, although they do dive into the water occasionally to eat. While we were watching, we met a family traveling from Eastern Oregon-- they chatted with us for awhile and gave us lots of encouragement and well wishes. We pedaled on to our last climb of the day, Otter Crest. I was dreading this climb because we had already climbed so much, but it turned out to be my most favorite part of the trip so far. The road was a one-way loop to the top of the crest with a bike lane on the right shoulder, and there was virtually no traffic. The climb was a gentle slope that hugged the cliff, and at the top, we were treated to a stellar view of our campground below.



Also, today was Frank's birthday! Rike told us, so we surprised Frank by buying him three little cheesecakes and some candles for dessert. We ate this at our campground after an amazing pasta dinner with fresh vegetables. Our campsite is again very nice, $4 each including a hot shower. Hike and bike sites are unbeatable! Today's stats are the biggest yet: 55 miles, 11.4 mph average, 3267 ft of climbing. Woo hoo!

Cannon Beach to Cape Lookout State Park

This morning poor Frank woke up with the stomach flu. Chad and I said goodbye, exchanged email addresses, and talked about meeting up with Frank and Rike later in the trip. We left relatively early from the campground and started out on our hilliest day yet. The first two climbs of the day were over 500 feet each. To get to the top of the second climb, we had to go through a tunnel, which would be scary except they have a button you can push that activates lights on a sign that says "bicycles in tunnel." Oregon is so bike friendly, it is making this tour really care-free for us. Anyhow, the view from the top of the climb was spectactular.




We stopped for lunch at the beach in Rockport, where a small juvenile seagull convinced us to share our lunch. We kept going through the town of Tillamook, OR, and reached our campground much earlier than expected. This is by far the best campground so far-- $4 per person for a beautiful campsite right on the ocean, and that price includes a hot shower!



We got in to camp early and relaxed, and on our way back from the showers we were amazed to see Frank and Rike! Frank spent the morning sleeping, and they rode all afternoon to catch up with us. So our trip with our German friends continues! Today's stats: 51.7 miles, 11.4 mph average, 2631 ft of climbing. Hilly!