Let's get dangerous! See you on the flip-side...
July 8 (Lincoln City to Beverly Beach State Park, 21.25 miles) - Finally I am on the road again. After my bout of injuries, frustrations, worry and tears, I am back at it. After packing, my Dad drove me out to Lincoln City after lunch. He bought our traditional doughnuts at Safeway to send me on my way the right way! I began the trip where I left off - Devil's Lake State Park. It was here two weeks prior where I broke down and the tears flowed. But alas, after rejuvenation I have determined to accomplish my task. My packs are very heavy and my bike is thus wobbly. But after riding it some down the road, it's not that bad. My plan for this first day is to make it to Beverly Beach State Park just north of Newport, some 20 miles away. I decided it a good idea to take a lot of breaks to ease my Achilles into the swing of cycling. The ocean - I could stare at the ocean all day. I don't know what it is about the ocean - I don't mean whale watching or looking at something specific in the distance - just watching the ocean - the vast expanse of water - God's creation! I saw a bunny today - not that that's important at all, but he's God's creation too - gotta think of the little guy. Man, it's windy! Dangerous on 101 that is. Lots of viewpoints. I kissed a whale...sorta. There are a lot of other cyclists here at Beverly Beach - a cute girl came but she seemed to be more interested in the world traveler than my awesomeness. I was worried cause the highway sign read "Campground Full" but I guess they had more hiker/biker sites. I would later learn that most parks are "Full" but there are always room for cyclists to lay down. It's getting dark and it's mighty chilly too. But hey, lots to rejoice over - I'm back on the road and made it to my first rest stop. No support guy, but more freedom. Dang, I forgot my poncho - my blue poncho. I hope it doesn't rain! I knew I'd forget something. I always do. I am sleepy. I had leftover chicken tonight and Canada Dry Green Tea thanks to my trusty Hydro Flask - Goodnight Biycle - tomorrow it's off to Bike Newport. Hmm...say Google, when do they open?
July 9 (Beverly Beach to Beachside State Park, 30.62 miles) - It's amazing how chilly and windy the coast can be. I rode through Newport for a break at Bike Newport. They didn't offer me free coffee - sad. Anyway, I met a pair (1 support, 1 rider) from Minnesota who were riding to San Francisco as well. It seems popular to do that. One guy did it in 1983 when hiker/bikers were only 25 cents. Oh how the times have changed. Still better than a regular tent site, that's for darn sure. Wow. Today I stopped at a lot of waysides and parks to continue my streak of breaks. Waldport is a cool little town. I scratched my leg pretty bad as I was taking a photo of myself in front of the sign. I picked up a subway and had cheese, crackers and sausage for dinner. I made it to Beachside State Park, which is literally right on the beach side! I'm here charging my camera and phone. There are several other bikers here. I wish I could just strike up a conversation with them - but that's not how I roll I suppose, no pun intended. It shows you how much I'm trying to accomplish with Perfect Circles and all. What is that exactly? Well, no service here, so I may hit the beach for awhile and maybe call it an early night - but the ground is so uncomfortable. My pad is holding no air - it leaks and I found one leak but where are it's friends? Grrrr.... Tomorrow should be a longer day - fifty or so miles. I gotta start adding mileage. I gotta start early and take it easy. I saw lots of bridges on the coast! The bridges are very cool along the coastal highway. The coast looks mighty different since I did it in 2005 in a rainstorm - it's chilly, but it's sunny thank God! It was here at Beachside that I first met Anne and Anna from England. We would meet up and see each other on and off all the way to the Border. The beach is beautiful. I love the Oregon coast.
July 10 (Beachside to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, 61.56 miles) - Last night I saw a pretty cool sunset right off the ocean since Beachside was basically right on the beach! God is good indeed. From Beachside I passed thru Yachats again - pretty cool town. Riding the coast is like watching a movie you haven't seen for 9 years because you don't remember much but then you do when it comes up - Oh yah, I remember that now - it's all coming back! The good, the bad and the ugly! The Sea Lion Caves - they charge you to see the caves - stupid. It's just like the Oregon Dunes - natural stuff in our own damn country. Then they decide to profit from it. I disagree...strongly! No me gusta! Heceta Head - you have to pay to see the lighthouse. Man-made things I can understand I suppose, sort of, but not our natural stuff...OUR natural stuff. It's our country. Why can't we see it? Why don't they charge us to see the ocean? Oh look over there. There is a blade of grass. That will be $5. Ridiculous. They are ours. It's like the drive-thru trees. It is a tree with a hole...get over it!
So from Florence, where I stocked up on some groceries, until about Bandon or maybe even further, the road takes you away from the ocean whether the map tells you that or not. My sleeping pad still feels as though a machine gun-wielding squirrel had a go with it. Good hard cold ground! My back hurts so bad. I had to just sleep. Dunes City - the Oregon Dunes which stretch a very long way are pretty cool from what little I've seen of them. I stopped and walked up to the Dunes overlook where there were some cute park ranger ladies, but again, if you wanted to see further, you had to freakin' pay. Is that why you're cute park rangers? Huh? To sucker guys into paying for the dunes? Well doesn't work on me...bam! I had forgotten about the long downhill to Gardiner which used to be the busiest town on the Oregon coast during the mill boom. After Reedsport, where I met the Minnesotan couple that I met in Newport, I rode through Winchester Bay and made camp in Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, where on my last trip 9 years prior I met up with Robert Mitchell who was headed north and me south. I relived those times, except this time I had to make a huge downhill slide into my undeveloped campsite - cleaned some brush to make camp and chatted with a nice fellow cyclist who had a homeless air about him. He said he was staying a few days. His name was John who went by R.B. He was a nice fella. Maybe see him down the road. Who knows. A lot of cyclists are headed south I've noticed. Tonight, walking through the campground with my toiletries my back gave out and made me stop dead in my tracks. I stumbled over to a park bench, sat down and ate my crackers and sausage. As I made it to my tent, I quickly crawled into bed, elevated my feet on my panniers and went to rest finally drifting off to sleep all the while praying that my back would heal the next morning.
July 11 (Umpqua Lighthouse to Bullards Beach State Park, 53.59 miles) - This morning R.B. made me some coffee to send me on my way. I promptly filled my hydro flask to keep it warm before I walked over to the fog-induced lake, snapped a few pictures and pondered the day. Today ended up being another tough day. Conde B McCullough - bridge designer - designed a significant number of bridges on the coast. It's fun doing this trip again. I can't believe I did this 9 years ago when I was 21. Well, in North Bend, I stopped off at the only bike shop around - Mo's - the same one I stopped in to get a $100 repair in 2005. I even remembered the same guy with the pony tail long hair. It's right across the bridge (I love bridges, but always make me nervous crossing them, they are often death traps, those and tunnels). Then there's Coos Bay, Oregon's Bay Area - sorry, no clipper ships this trip in the bay. What would possess someone to cycle fully-loaded on the torturous Seven Devils Road - and then do it AGAIN 9 years later. I will never know. Some of the steepest, gloomiest hills on the coast. Still cloudy and foggy this trip - but I survived yet again even with a detour to Sunset Bay State Park - Charleston to Bandon Scenic Route? Well, maybe another day. I have the greatest luck don't I? Cycling along Seven Devils I met a young man who was walking towards me with no shirt. He was carrying an empty mountain dew bottle and asked me for water. I was happy to provide some since I refueled in Coos Bay at a 7/11. Don't know where he was headed, but I hope he got there safely!
Well, I made it to Bandon however...finally and my phone is on it's dying legs. Well Bullards Beach is just north of Bandon. I took a second shower! Hiker/biker sites here were filling up fast - lots of riders, met a guy from Idaho (John-Paul who I would later see and re-meet up with until his destination of San Francisco, he does this trip every few years for endurance sake. He works construction in Idaho. He's the guy whose done a little of everything.) and a couple Frenchies and enjoyed a very nice treat - a fiddle show right next door at the amphitheater. I love fiddlers and folk - neat stuff. I think they were the Oregon Fiddlers or something. They perform all around and at state parks during the summer. Well, times have changed and this hiker/biker site has bike lockers and a bike stand too - great site! But apparently they moved it and John-Paul said he liked the other one much better. But this one is still very nice. Well, I gotta sleep now - here's to hoping I can sleep better and tomorrow hopefully take it easy and I've also got to clean my chain sometime soon. I was gonna do it tonight but ran out of time. Night all - oh, and in Coos Bay I got a spicy dog and free slurpee at 7/11 on 7/11...thought you should know! I believe the English ladies were at Bullards too.
July 12 (Bullards Beach to Humbug Mountain State Park, 40.55 miles) - Bullards state park has the coolest hiker/biker sites - complete with racks, bike locker, faucet for water bottles and a park tool bike stand to clean your bike...just in time cause I needed it. It looks like they've been improving over the years! I knew today was going to be shorter so I was in no hurry this morning. Plus it rained last night - first rain in quite some time a fellow tourist told me. Sand and rain don't mix when you're camping. The site is full of sand and bike gears don't like sand. But I managed! I washed my bottles, cleaned my bike, packed up and headed off. I stopped in Bandon, 3 miles down the road to gather groceries at my first Ray's of the trip! Cool town - took a scenic beach loop and saw some more wood carvings. It's amazing what people can do with wood - simply amazing.
Some cyclists came up behind me and they stopped in Langlois and I passed them and so forth. I remembered the Langlois Public Library from my last trip! But I pressed on and arrived in Port Orford finally. I am here at the Public Library charging my phone and camera and resting my knee. I think I pushed too hard up some of those hills - lots of rolling hill - hardly any flats on 101 - "Down means up" as the guy from Bike Newport told us...but doesn't it also mean down? Curious thought. At the library I stayed cause my knee was hurting badly. It was a quiet little place. They had books there that you could take if you left one...it was tempting, but I passed. Here's another curious thought: I hope to stay at Humbug Mountain State Park just six miles south of here. I don't know if I'll make the short trek up the mountain or not - very humbugish if I remember right from last time...unless of course they cut some of the trees down and made improvements so you could actually see something ha! Made it to Humbug Mountain and talked with a guy (Arnold?) from Denver headed to San Diego - jealous - and another chap, Colt headed to San Fran where he's been living. He's a fast rider - even hiked Humbug Mountain, six miles round trip. I would meet Arnold again several times until Northern Cali.
July 13 (Humbug Mountain to Harris Beach State Park, 52.65 miles) - I was in my granny gear a lot today - from Humbug to Harris Beach and Brookings there isn't much of anything really - except Gold Beach - 50ish miles today up and down hills and then up again. There's a mighty large one up out of Gold Beach. Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor was in National Geographic as a not-to-miss drive. Too bad it was very, very cloudy and foggy today. I passed over 365 foot Thomas Creek Bridge-Oregon's highest bridge! I could barely see down it was so foggy. Couldn't ever seen the ocean which was kind of eery and cool. That fascinates me ya know?! Cloud cover over hills!
My left knee was killing me today...had to walk up some of those hills. Ouch! I met a guy at Harris Beach who told us of the Lost Coast past Eureka, Ferndale and Petrolia, and Howlman Road - some awesome Redwoods - He crisscrossed the Sierra Nevadas! Those are mountains man, not hills. He was eating hills for breakfast as Colt said. Hills, hills, hills, hills---Welcome to Brookings, 2 miles later, Welcome to Brookings, again. What the heck? Teasers. I met a French Canadian from Montreal who helped me charge my phone. He was a nice funny guy. He was headed North to Calgary then was gonna take on the Rockies. Ambition. Earlier we met another French man with two young boys who he was pushing to do like 70 mile days...talk about ambition. I think I need to find some adventurous friends and take the world by storm!!
July 14 (Harris Beach to Crescent City, California, 35.12 miles) - This morning was a slower one for me. I saw John Paul from Idaho and Arnold from Denver and a few others that I've encountered en route. I had a few matches and decided to start a little fire. The ground was a bit damp and I couldn't seem to light something properly so I just left them in the fire pit. I tried to burn some useless brochures as well as my Oregon coast map because I no longer needed it. As I was packing up to get ready to go, the smoke in my pit got bigger and on impulse, I picked up those smoky pieces and threw them in the garbage can on my way out of the park in a hurry so no one would see it was me who smoked up the garbage. Wow - the smoke was growing. I gotta get on the road. And so I did - on the way to California. I told myself I have to make it to the border quick. On my way past Brookings, a few sirens drove right by me heading north. What a coincidence! I wondered if that had anything to do with the smoke I started at Harris Beach. Nah, it couldn't have been. But then again, there was nothing that way except for the state park I had left. I was feeling a bit nervous, but all I could do was keep riding and hope none of the other cyclists approached me about it later on.
Whew...I made it to the Californian border. Written in blue chalk on the shoulder right at the border line, was "Turn around" with an arrow pointing back to Oregon with a smiley face. As I looked behind me it read, "Good job!" As I would quickly learn, most people who leave the Beaver state miss it very much. California is much more rude and wreckless - less polite, more rush and in a hurry. On the way through historic Smith River, I ate a wonderful crispy apple! Oh the wonders of cycling food. Biting into that apple was glorious! Smith River I have always thought was something out of Middle-earth. It took me back there.
In Crescent City, my first warmshowers host was waiting for me: Katie Berkowitz at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. She was a lovely woman with a warm heart for hospitality. She provided a wealth of knowledge and maps of the area and Redwoods nearby. She even offered the use of the kitchen, a couch to sleep on and blue berries! The shower felt amazing. I took one that night and even one in the morning. It felt good to get out of my cycling gear and rest my joints. Katie's only payment required was a hug. Shortly after I returned to the church from shopping at Grocery Outlet, another chap arrived on his bike. His name escapes me. It was something like Conner. He was a young 20-something from North Carolina who was cycling the coast to San Diego and if his bike doesn't break down, may ride home. He was inexperienced. This was his first tour. He was tired of school, so he decided to go on a bike trip. He was living on food stamps, had no tent but only a huge sleeping bag and tarp. The last night, he just rode from Bandon to Crescent City...all night long, he slept on the beach, didn't get much sleep, just nodded off at a picnic table at a rest area. He was quite the character, but an adventurous and determined one. I wish I could know more people like him. Needless to say he slept in the following morning. I let him sleep and took off the next morning. There was also a third guy who showed up about midnight that slept on the floor. I briefly said hi to him before leaving. Thanks Katie, for everything! Your gift of hospitality will be rewarded!
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