Day 41 - 42 (Last 2 days)

My last 2 days of cycling, unable to decide whether to be glad or sad

Day 41

Was a tough ride of 75 km's, from Bodega Bay to Stinson beach. A fellow rider along the way told me I would like the ride into Stinson beach it was all down hill, a diplomatic way of telling me there was a big hill just before Stinson Beach.

I also met another rider from San Francisco and discussing dumping my bike, she suggested I donate it to 'Pedal Revolution', a non profit organisation.

The ride was pretty scenic, but I unfortunately had very little photographic proof.

Day 41 and my last cycle, I left my room to rain. I was very tempted to call an Uber. I waited an hour and it had cleared a bit so I set off. I had no chance of easing into the ride which started with the biggest single climb of the whole trip. The roads were wet as I got to one hairpin with a stupid angle, I got off and pushed my bike round the hairpin, a Harley came from the other direction, the lady smiled at me as they went past, I was watching as they went round the corner they lost control and went into the barrier. I slowed down other vehicles and then helped them lift the bike. They hadn't been going fast so no one had any serious injuries. If not for the barrier it would have been very serious.

As soon as I got over the mountain and started coming down I hit the outskirts of San Francisco. It had cleared slightly with the sun coming out every now and then. Crossing the golden gate bridge was madness. Thousand of cyclists many of whom could hardly ride all riding across the bridge. The walkway on the one side of the bridge was for pedestrians and the walkway on the other side for cyclist. I was riding against the traffic as the majority of cyclists were coming from San Fransisco. They would often start overtaking see you coming in the opposite direction and not get back in. I got to my apartment by 3, time for a shower and then a taxi to explore San Francisco.

I had a couple of days in San Francisco to relax, deliver my bike to 'pedal Revolution', then do some shopping, the first day was overcast all day, the final day the sun came out at about lunch time and it ended up being a beautiful day.  I did some shopping had a late lunch at 'Fisherman's wharf'.

Looking back at the trip some parts had been tough. I was to be going home slightly fitter, slightly lighter and a lot more relaxed, taking lots of memories with me. It was sad that it was ending, but I was looking forward to getting home seeing my family, and getting back to work.

Day 38 - 40

Day 38 was a short ride, I had thoughts of doing 80 km's but my heart was not in it, my energy levels were ok but not great. I had expected my fitness levels to have improved way more than they had and was definitely leaning towards taking a slow ride to San Francisco, spending a couple of days there before flying to Orange County just south of LA, for a few days with my brother at Laguna Beach.

My bike had taken a pounding and one major problem was that a couple of the teeth on gear 2 of my front sprocket had broken and it was slipping in that gear, forcing me to stick to either 1st or 3rd gears.

On the up side, my pants which at the start of this trip had been tight were Marjory loose, I needed to make a new hole in my belt as it was to big, judging by my belt, I had lost between 4 and 6 cm's and I was looking forward to seeing how much weight I had lost.

Day 39

This part of the coast is really beautiful, a very rugged coast line, not very populated. There was very little accommodation available, which was all very expensive, but very different from the rest of the States, lots of complimentary wine, and more like guest houses. Most of the places I had stayed in were real gems. but none of the accomodation had laundry which had become a problem as I had only 2 days worth of clean clothes left. I scoured the internet trying to find a place with Laundry, the only place that I could find was in Bodega bay but they were full for that night. So I not to unhappily had to reduce my distances even further so as to be in Bodega Bay one night later, hence that day was a very scenic but meagre 30 km's to the town of Jenner on the "Russian River". The previous night I had made the decision to stop at San Francisco so I was no longer in any rush. At Jenner I found a lovely cabin which was basic, but had beautiful views of the river and the beach. But no WiFi and no cell phone signal so wasn't able to tell the family I had got there safely.

Day 40, washing day, it didn't even seem worth getting my cycling gear on for the 18 km's from Jenner to Bodega bay my least mileage on this trip. I was in Bodega bay by about 12, for the 3rd time in last 5 days I was given a complimentary bottle of wine, the previous bottles were half bottles, this was a full bottle. After showering, I did my washing and then looked for accommodation for the next night Stinson Beach about 78 km's. I then had a planned hop of about 42 km's the day afterwards, to the apartment that I had booked in San Francisco for 3 nights.

This had been an uneventful 3 days and I hoped the same would not apply to my time in San Francisco.

I did not want to carry my complimentary bottle of wine the next day so I was forced to open it and used the time while sipping my wine to update my blog, what I had to go thru to reduce my load.

I was getting close to the end and had to decide whether to dump my bike or bring it back to SA. I had bought the bike for R5000 and it would  cost me about R4000 to get it to LA and then home, so it was a bit of a no brainer, I had to dump it.

Day 35 - 37

Day 35.

Leaving the Westport hotel, I felt it had been more like a guesthouse than a hotel, and they had made me feel, more like a welcome guest than a client. The staff always had time for a 5 minute chat, and any request was met with a smile, they went absolutely out of there way to make sure my stay was comfortable and pleasurable.

What a contrast day 35 ride was to day 34, the days rest had made all the difference, I had planned it to be a short ride to Mendocino 40 km's away. The ride was very hilly but my energy levels were great and it was easy to get into a routine, even the very steep sections were fine, just a matter of getting down into lowest gear regulating my effort and then chugging my way up and over the hill. I took regular breaks and marvelled over the brilliant views, while taking pics. I really enjoyed the ride my legs were still a bit sore, but even that didn't damper my spirits. In contrast to day 34, when I was absolutely exhaustion, driven only by the need to find somewhere half decent to stop and recuperate.

Mendocino was a lovely little town and I was staying at the Mendocino Hotel, which was old, lots of antique furniture it had shared bathrooms but that just added to its old style feel. It had a lovely old pub which was bussing with activity even though it was only 3 in the afternoon. I had stopped for a taco at Fort Brag 16 km's before Mendocino, so I didn't need lunch but after showering I went to the pub ordered a coke and a glass of wine and updated my blog.

They had a musical festival in Mendocino and the town was very busy, I met a few interesting people and had a few to many glasses of wine.

The next morning I went down to breakfast at 8. I was hoping to get on the road by 8.45. As soon as I got to breakfast I was met with the sight of rain, I took my time with breakfast hoping it would clear, in 45 minutes it had not let up in the least. The idea of doing a tough 80 km's ride in the rain was grim, I decided to see if I could stay another day. I went to reception, but they were fully booked, I went back to my room and gathered my bags to checkout. When I got back down they told me they had just had a cancellation. I jumped at the chance and phoned to change my accommodation at Gualala for that night. The chances of being able to make it all the way to Laguna were rapidly slipping away, and I knew that would need to make a decision as to whether to stop at San Francisco. The whole day I didn't feel great, I was hoping it was not the start of flu.

Day 36

I had changed my accommodation at Gualala from Saturday to Monday night which  meant 2 easy days averaging 40 km's. I took a slow ride, I had 2 options, I could stop at Elk or point Arena. I got to Elk a tiny town and found a stunning Inn so booked in, leaving 53 km's to cycle the next day. Alot of America is so stereotypical but I definitely feel this area breaks the mould.

Day 37

I was not feeling great and my energy levels were low. This should have been an easy ride but ended up being relatively tough, but very beautiful.

This part of the coast is seriously rugged and tough riding with very little flat and lots of very steep inclines.

If I wanted to be in Laguna by the 22nd of July, I had 11 days left, probably 10 riding days, definitely not enough to get all the way to Laguna which was just over a 1000 km's away. I had a couple of options either ride as far as I could and make a plan to get the last few hundred km's, or stop at San Francisco and take a very welcome holiday (excuse the pun) for a few days before flying to Orange County. The only decision I had made was try increase distances again and make a decision when I got to San Francisco.

That said I had planned to try and make Bodega Bay the next day about 78 km's.

Day 32 - 34

Day 32.

I left Eureka at about 8, headed for Meyers Flat about 78 km's, the ride was fairly flat. At about 40km's I turned onto the 'Avenue of the Giants'. A few days previously a cyclist had suggested I do this scenic route. True to its word  the last 32 km's was riding through incredible old Redwood forests with an incredible number of giant redwood trees. About 6 km's before Meyers Flat I got to the 'Humboldt Redwoods state park'. The campsites had been setup in the middle of the forest, and done in such a way as not to detract or diminish the beauty all around. The idea of camping in the middle of the forest sounded way more appealing than a motel, the temperature had also increased.

My first night at a hiker/biker campsite, what can I say but weird, almost a parallel world, with such a diverse group of people. This trip seems to go in cycles of meeting lots of people, to not really having any decent conversation with anyone, and the last few days I had been quite lonely. When I arrived at the hiker biker site there were 2 tents already up, but no one was around. I setup my tent, and as I had finished a guy from one of the tents arrived. First take he was friendly. He told me he was making a pot that night, he had potatoes and pork, he had more than enough did I want some, I offered to add a couple of cans of chilli to the pot. He asked if I had a burner which I brought out with the tag still on. I said I was going to shower, he complained that showering cost 2 quarters for a couple of minutes and he only had 3 quarter so he wouldn't shower that day, that was first warning sign things were going to get weird. He then asked me if I smoked, I said 'I was vaping instead of smoking'. He replied 'I am talking about weed'. Later he was explaining he is a hitch hiker not a hiker, and pretty much survives from day to day often holding up a cardboard sign asking for donations. Later on in the evening when he was quite stoned he saw my light, I have a light about the size of a half tennis ball, but it gives out a huge amount of light, and is rechargeable, using a micro USB cable. He decided he wanted to try and trade me weed for my light, the more I said no the more weed he would add to the negotiation table.

The shower as per normal was great, it always makes you feel more human, while I was showering another biker arrived he had cycled 160 km's wow. He was probably in his late 30's he was staying at hiker/biker sites most of the time, but stayed in motels every now and then. 

Another couple of cyclists arrived, both had also cycled on there own. The one guy a young guy seemed full of fun. He told me he had just washed his socks that he had been wearing for a week, he commented they were really stiff. He stayed only in state park hiker biker sites. On a daily basis he bought a bottle of jam, peanut butter and a loaf of bread, that was his daily diet. He explained that would cost him under 10 dollars, the hiker/biker site was 5 dollars so he could get away with spending 15 dollars a day. He had to supplement that with a bit of weed. He commented that his boss had given him as much time as he needed to do the trip as long as he sent pictures.

The last guy seemed rather private and didn't get involved at all. The next morning I had a chat to him discussed that days ride, I had made it very clear I wouldn't ride further than Leggett and he agreed, the other had all said they would be riding further.

Later the couple from the first tent arrived they were a German couple had been hiking for about 6 weeks, had now rented a car so they could see more of the states.

I found it interesting think none of the cyclists cooked for themselves, I was far more organised as far as camping gear than any of them, I just carried it for the fun.

At about 9.30 I decided I had, had enough of an education to the world of the American hiker biker
World. I packed up all my stuff cleaned all my dishes and went to bed.

The next morning I couldn't find my cooker, I finally found it with the pot from the hitch hiker, a bit concerning because I remember very clearly putting it in my tent with my other gear.


Day 33

The ride from Meyers Flat to Leggett was about 78 km's but lots of hills. Because I had camped and not had my normal routine of checking where I would go the next day, I sent Mandy a msg and asked her to check if there were motels in Leggett which she confirmed. I planned to stay 2 nights in Leggett taking a rest day, I felt that I was hitting the bottom of the bucket as far as my energy levels were concerned and that was before I hit the mountains. It was seriously hot and the total assent was 1700 metres, excluding a couple of hills that I had walked, I arrived at Leggett exhausted with absolutely no cell phone signal and no motel in sight. I spoke to the attendant at the grocery store to be told the closest motel was 20 miles back, my heart sank. There was a state park a few km's back, so I grudgingly rode back to the state park for day 2 at a hiker/biker site.

The quiet guy from the previous night was there and a old guy seemed homeless. He carried on telling me that the hiker biker sites only allowed you to stay for 3 nights and he was on night 2.

With absolutely no signal, I wasn't able to message home and I knew that they would have been panicking.

Day 34

I was in a bad way and not looking forward to the hills ahead. I had been riding inland for a few days. The trip from Leggett took me back to the coast. Leaving the 101 to follow number 1 for the rest of the trip. The day started with a 400 metre assent followed by a massive downhill to almost sea level, then another huge climb and then a downhill to the pacific coast line. The first time I got cell phone signal was as when I arrived the coast at about 1.30 and I sent a message home. I had run out of water at the top of the last hill, and I had only eaten a couple of protein bars all day.

Back at the coast and it was freezing again. The last 8 km's along the coast to the first town Westport took me about 60 minutes and was absolutely hell. Cycling a couple of km's then taking a 10 minute break. I filled up my water in a state park along the way. I was desperately hoping there was somewhere to stay in Westport, I knew that it would be absolute hell if I had to continue to Fort Bragg a mere 24 km's further. Westport had a population of a few hundred so I was not hugely hopeful. I stopped at a cafe for a sandwich, a few hundred metres past the cafe was the Westport Hotel, a beautiful quant hotel, with 6 rooms, I got a stunning room with a veranda overlooking the see, for 2 days and a desperately needed rest day. The last 2 nights at hiker biker sites were an absolutely incredible, but wow it was nice to book into a beautiful hotel. The staff were incredibly friendly and looked after me, they didn't have coin operated laundry but they did my laundry free of charge. Soon after arriving I had a shower, then sat on my balcony overlooking the pacific updating my blog while sipping on my complimentary bottle of wine, an absolute contrast to what I had been going through 2 hours before, also an absolute contrast to the previous 2 nights camping.

We take holidays to experience different places, people, cultures and sights, the last 3 days have been seriously tough but wow seriously rich in all of the above.

Map Day 17 - 34

  

Day 29 - 31

Day  29 to 31 were a serious slog, I had been trying to average 75 km's a day and my body did not feel like it was ready, as my legs got more sore and my energy levels dwindled, so did my motivation. I had to keep reminding myself of the end game, getting fit and loosing more weight. There would also be a sense of achievement and thousands of memories. All said multiples times daily I felt like giving up and going back to cycling 45 km's which had seemed relatively easy. I had chosen a bad time for the push because the hills had turned into mountains. This week I had cycled about 60% more than any other week, I was getting there just needed to hang in.

Day 29, I rode from Gold Beach out of Oregon and into California to Crescent city. The first 42 km's to Brookings was very tough with lots of hills. I had started the day by replacing another tube, a slow puncture. I replaced the tyre pumped it up when I tired to disconnect the pump all the air came out. I tried pumping it up again without success. Finally decided to try another tube. The new tube worked fine the other tube the valve had broken away from the tube.

 I got to Brookings about 1 and stopped for lunch. I left after 2, I suddenly realised that I was running very late, I still had another 45 km's so I would probably get to the motel at about 6. I was hoping for a tail wind but it wasn't to be, I was given a head wind but luckily it was gentle. I got to the motel at about 5.30 tired and looking forward to relaxing.

Day 30 my fitness had seemed to take 2 to 3 steps forward and then 1 to 2 steps back. Since I  had upped the distances my energy levels seemed non existent.  The previous day the first half was fine but the second half was just a slog, day 30 was just a slog from beginning to end. It didn't help that it started with a 10 mile mountain, with an average gradient of about 5%. It was also cold and misty, when I got to Orick on the outskirts of the Redwood national park, about 10 km's from my planned stop, it started to rain. I had been planning to camp but instead I found a very doggy motel and checked in. The next day would now be 78 km's instead of 68 km's and I expected it to be a very long hard slog. I guess my body needed to get used the extended distances. If I wanted to make it to The Laguna Beach i would just have to battle through it.

At least the scenery was incredible, riding through the redwood forest was an absolute treat, i had expected them to be spectacular but what surprised me is the sheer number of these giant. I had expected a lot of smaller trees and every now and then a giant, but there were giants everywhere. That said I wasn't sure whether I had seen any of the biggest trees yet.

Day 31

I woke up it was foggy and cold. I started cycling at just after 7.30, I was cold and a bit miserable. But to my surprise my energy levels seemed way better. At about 12, I was riding on a sand road bicycle/pedestrian path up this hill, there were 2 cyclists, I saw a broken chain so I thought they had a problem and stopped. I very quickly realised I shouldn't be chatting to these guys. There was an open flick knife under the bench. The one guy had a huge gash on his head,  the other guy had a smaller bike tied on to his bike and he quickly told me someone didn't want this bike so he was taking it. While the other told me the story that at 2am this car had swerved and driven in to him and he bashed his head onto a rock. I quietly excused myself and left. Just after 1 the sun had come out and the afternoon was great. I got to Eureka at about 3.30, by chance I found a bicycle shop so got an extra tyre and got them to tighten the spokes of my front wheel, a couple had seemed slightly loose. I hoped my energy levels were a sign of things to come, The next day I was going to cycle to Myers Flat also about 78 km's.

I could definitely tell that I had lost a few cm's and the extra distances and time on the saddle would be helping. My wind breaker that had been slightly tight was very loose and a pair of shorts that had fitted quite well looked way to big. I was really looking forward to getting onto a scale, hopefully I would not be disappointed.

Day 26 - 28

Day 26.

Day 26 was not the most scenic day all inland, from Yachats to North Bend 72 km's. and it was overcast and cold the whole time. I stopped for a cold wet lunch at Reedsport. I was wet with sweat that hadn't dried because of the lack of sun, cold and aided by the fact that I was wearing my wind breaker. I got to Winchester Bay about 40 km's and felt like calling it a day. Then at Tugman City at about 50 km's the thought went through my mind again, but I pushed on to North Bend which was not much to speak about, but after showering I went to a Mediterranean Cafe and had a really nice Shwarma and a couple of glasses of wine.



Interesting bike

I had kind of resigned my self to riding to San Francisco and catching a plane to LA but my lovely wife pointed out the day before that I would be seriously irritated with myself if I carried on cruising along and didn't try and push to at least get to LA. Riding 2 to 3 hours had been fun and isn't that what a holiday is supposed to be. How inconveniently well Mandy knows me.

The next day I needed to either stop at Brandon 45 km's or Port Orford 90 km's. I had felt good doing 72 km's and after the pep talk, I was going to try for Port Orford. I had done calculations while sitting at the restaurant the previous night at Florence. To get to Laguna Beach by the 22nd of July I needed to average 77.5 km's per day for 23 of the last 26 days, only taking 3 rest days. I could probably afford to do slightly less in the first week and catch up in the last week.

I went to bed early to get an early start.






Day 27.

I had planned to get up at 6 and leave at 7.30 which I did. I cycled to Bayview, 10 km's and stopped for a breakfast, crossed a bridge into Charleston where the climb started, I hadn't walked up a hill for a few weeks but that was all going to change. Almost immediately the gradient was too steep and I needed to walk. The mountain never seemed to stop, you would get to the top start coming down to be met by another up hill. On the 5th climb back up someone had spray painted on the road "it's not cheating to push your bike". I was walking at the time, at least it gave me something to chuckle about. By the time I had done 27.5 km's I had been cycling for 2 hours an average of 13.75 km's per hour. A god awful start if I wanted to cycle 90 km's. At bottom of the hill my average had gone up to 14.5 km's per hour. When I got to Brandon I was already tired and staying there seemed like a sweat idea. My family had all bandied together behind Mandy pushing me, I smelt a conspiracy. Tiff's message "Dad I got 90% for maths, work hard like me and cycle 90 km's". Haha turning my words against me. It was about 12.30 so I stopped for fish and chips. The wind was howling, if I had that behind me the last 47 km's, would be a breeze, excuse the pun, haha I was living in hope. That said the second half was way easier, I had the wind behind me most of the time, by the end my average was speed was 16.8 km's per hour, with 5 hours 25 minutes in the saddle.

As I rode into Port Orford it seemed boring and ugly, I also hadn't seen the normal Motels at the entrance to the town and I was getting worried. There was a short steep climb that pointed to viewpoint also had a sign to Motel as I got to the top, I was rewarded with an incredible view of the pacific, which I hadn't seen in the last 100 odd miles, an absolute contrast to the bleak town. The Motel was relatively cheap with beautiful views overlooking the pacific.

The last few days there had been quiet a few more cyclist, most had a similar amount to luggage to myself, and a few have a fair amount more. I had seen one cyclist that day that had panniers similar size to mine but was also pulling a trailer. If I was packing 25 kg's he must have had at least 50 kg's. Luckily I was stopped at a store drinking a cool drink. If he had cycled past me up a hill I may well have been very disheartened. Just before Brandon I had spoken to a German lady also on her own for a couple of minutes, she had also come from Vancouver and was camping just outside Port Orford. When I saw the camp site I had thoughts of maybe I should camp, but all I had with me was a can of oysters and a packet of crisps and some protein bars. The large majority of cyclist camp, now that I am getting further South where the weather should be warmer, I would hopefully shortly run out of excuses not to camp.

My daily routine when I finished riding was to shower, then look at where I would ride to the next day before updating my blog. The next day I needed to either ride 45 km's to Gold Beach or 90 km's to Brookings, the assent was 75% more than the ride to Port Orford so it would be a seriously tough ride. One of the big problems this trip has been trying to slowly increase distances while working out what town's to stay in. The distance seems to either be to close or way to far and I have far to often chosen the to close.

That night I went to dinner at the Norwegian Fish and chips. On the walk back I could feel my legs were really sore making me lean towards the short ride tomorrow.

Day 28.

The next morning I woke up early, got going by 7.30, I would see how my legs felt before making the final decision between Golden Beach or Brookings. The ride started with 3 steep climbs my legs made the decision for me. My energy levels were very low and the 45 km's to Golden Beach felt way tougher than they should have been. At about 28 km's I stopped at a beach for about an hour, during that time I made a booking for Golden Beach Inn for 2 nights. I was going to take a rest day and then try push the longer distances again.

I got to Golden beach at about 12.30, went for lunch while my room was still being prepared. As I had said I needed to do 77.5 km's per day to make Laguna Beach, which in 3 days would be 232.5 km's. In the last 3 days I had only managed 210 so I was 22.5 km's short. I was hoping that the next 3 I would be able to make closer to the target, and that I could catch up the difference towards the end.

I booked accommodation for Friday at Crescent City 88 km's away, and out of Oregon into California. I was hoping to stay the Saturday night somewhere close to "Humboldt Lagoon State Park" which was a further 72 km's, but could not see any motels close to that, I thought I may have to resort to camping. I was going into the Redwood forest area and I definitely wanted to have some time to view some of the giant Redwood trees.

My legs were now seriously sore again, it kept going through my mind "How after 5 weeks of riding can my legs be so sore". Maybe delusional but I had expected my legs to be sore for a week or so.

Day 23 - 25

I woke up opened the curtains, to doom, gloom and lots of rain, all the reasons to take a rest day. All my appetite for riding in the rain, if there ever was any, was gone.

Day 23

I got up, got dressed, packed and checked out, went across the road to Starbucks for a coffee and breakfast. For some reason my back was sore, and my glutes very stiff, I had not had any problem with my back or glutes the whole trip and I didn't need problems for the rest of the trip either. After cycling for 10 km's they felt fine hopefully they stayed that way.

The ride was from Lincoln City to Newport all I had to say was wow, what a stunning ride I think the photos will do the talking, a short 43 km's but incredibly scenic.

I have had my cycling shoes/slops since Sani2C, and I have been battling through all the cold weather with them, but looking forward to the warm weather where they will be an asset. They have developed a rather distinct squeak, after hours of cycling I wake up at night hearing their moaning. I have decided I they are saying "hurty-go", no doubt pleading my case to my legs. So now you know what I think about those endless hours cycling, and you thought I would be thinking about work, life and solving the worlds problems, in reality all I am trying to do is breath and fathom out what my shoes are saying. After all that intro it was a sad day as my shoes died on me, the straps pulled out of the sole, and to think I had been battling through the cold with open shoes only for them to die as it got warmer. I would have to replace them with closed shoes, the chance of finding cycling slops in Oregon coast were pretty much zero. All said the story may have a happy ending, I decided to buy some super glue and try my luck, I would have to wait and see the results.

Back to day 23, I stopped for a late lunch with about 9 miles to go. I got a shrimp salad and a few Pepsi's. After leaving the restaurant with about 5 miles to go I needed the toilet. Which either meant hoping to find public toilet or stopping at a café buying a Pepsi just so that I can use the toilet, which would likely result in another stop later. I decided instead to just push on. Just before I got to my motel "Days Inn Newport" I saw a Irish pub and thought after showering I would walk back for a pint of Guinness. I got to the motel and checked in. After showering I put on my Irish Bushmills shirt ready to go to the pub, but it never happened not sure if the shrimp were off, but my stomach was killing me, I had to make do with an early night.

Day 24

Being a Saturday night I had to book my accommodation ahead of time, so I booked at Yachats , it was a very easy 40km ride, not hugely scenic and I was there by 1. From next week I was going to try and up the distances slightly, not that I have to spend the whole day riding but getting to the hotel by 1 was way to early. I could also start riding a bit earlier, my excuse up till then had been that it was to cold to start riding before 10. The good news my shoes had lasted the day, I was ever hopeful.

Can't believe I have been cycling for 4 weeks already, really missing the family.

Day 25


I had heard this was a very scenic trip from Yachats to Florence just over 40 km's. I got up in the morning and it was misty and cold which. ruined a lot of the views, but still a really nice ride, quite a lot of assent, the shoulder was not the best on this portion of the trip. I was worried about being visible in the mist so I put my light on my saddle pointing backwards.

I got to Florence just before 3, I was staying at a stunning place the "River House Inn", I had a balcony overlooking the river. I was on my last day of clothes and needed desperately to do washing. I got the washing going and walked down the road for a coffee. The cycle in to Florence was far from spectacular but on the river is really nice and bubbling with live.



Florence

Day 20 - 22

Day 20.



View spot where I found my wallet missing

The day very nearly started with disaster, I left around 10 cycled 2 km's all uphill got to a viewpoint stopped took a couple of pics. Then decided to put on suntan lotion, put everything back in my top box and noticed my wallet wasn't there. I almost had a bowel collapse, I quickly cycled back to the Inn. I asked if I could get a card for my room saying that I may have left my wallet in the room. The receptionist asked me my last name I told her, and she promptly pulled my wallet out from under the desk someone had found it lying on the ground and handed it in. Thank you honest America!!!! I had been nervous of loosing my wallet, and already had put a couple of credit cards separately in the pocket of my toiletries, I decided that I would add some emergency cash to that.

After wasting an hour I got back on the road, this was definitely the most scenic day I had done by far, lots of hills to start with getting closer to the mountains. I reached a tunnel and was a bit apprehensive about the idea of riding through a narrow uphill tunnel with cars passing me at 50 miles an hour. I was impressed the tunnel had a button for cyclists to press, warning lights then flashed and changed the speed limit to 30 miles per hour and warning of cyclists in the tunnel. It reminded me of a tunnel in Italy. I have a bit of a misty recollection of a one way tunnel, we had to wait for the cars to go then ride like hell, pull off half way and wait for the next set of cars going our direction then ride like hell again.

 After the tunnel was a huge uphill climb, down and then back up again the 2nd big uphill had lots of view points

With lots of view points and stops I was putting on very little mileage. At about 3, I was getting very hungry had only had a couple of protein bars all day I came to Kelly's Marina, I decided to stop for a bite. Most American restaurants are quite stereotyped, but this definitely broke the mould, they had a total of 3 things on the menu: Crab, Oyster and Clams, these were served on their own with no supplements such as chips etc. They had Oyster (small/medium, large, extra large and Jumbo), I decided I would order 2 jumbo's and said I would have them raw, she kind of made me nervous with her response that 'people don't normally have the Jumbos raw', so I changed my order to 2 and a crab. Bit gross the crabs are live and you see them putting them into these huge pots. The Jumbo oysters are not like anything I have ever seen before about 800 grams in the shell I estimate there was about 100 grams of meat in each oyster, the first oyster I tried to do like any other oyster just slug it down, didn't work so well,  the second oyster I used a knife and fork and cut it into pieces. It was a great experience but smaller oysters are definitely tastier. The owner obviously has them raw himself but made a big deal of someone eating them raw and took photos but I had a great time and left about 2 hours later with a very full stomach.

Rockaway Beach

Now a very full stomach I cycled another about 8 km's, and stopped for the night at Rockaway Beach. The motel had a gas braai so I went and bought a rib eye steak which I had for dinner.

It was all in all a great day, will be one of the most memorable days of the trip.

 

Day 21

I packed up checked out then went across the road for a quick breakfast, they were very full and service was incredibly slow, took a not very quick 90 minutes. I was now late and planning to do 60 km's so it was going to be a long day. 2 km's up the road I had a puncture on my back tyre, I found a small piece of steel in the tyre. Changed the tube started riding and the bike felt weird rode about 60 metres and stopped. The tyre had a bulge on the one side, finally decided to redo the process, which I did and everything seamed a bit better, but now I was very late. I had noticed my back tyre was smooth way back in Canada already but then I had done only a few hundred km's on the tyre, but they had very little thread to start with, kind of slick tyres I thought.

The start their were quite a few view points slowing progress. We went inland a bit it was flat with a tail wind which made for a bit of catch up, 2 km's before the end I got another puncture on the back, that's when I noticed the tyre was absolutely thread bare, I urgently needed a new tyre, or I would be getting a lot more punctures.

Leaving all thought of my tyre behind me, I found a stunning inn, with views over the ocean, bit more expensive than normal, but worth it. The lady at reception saw I was from South Africa, she was traveling to Tanzania for holiday the end of the year, and had an extra week and was asking if I had some suggestions, I spent about 20 minutes talking to her, spoke about the Gorillas, she had done that in Rwanda just after the genocide, she had been there on relief work, I discussed Vic Falls, Zanzibar, Cape Town, Okavango delta (Bit early end December as there not likely tab be enough water and Namibia. 

I then went to the pub across the road had a couple of beers and dinner, met an Aussie who stayed just North of Sydney had a really good evening left fairly early I had paid for a room with a view and wanted to watch the sun set from my balcony. Also there was a loud drunk American trying not very successfully to persuade us that America had failed and that Trump was the salvation.

Sunset Pacific City

Day 22

I had checked for bicycle shops the night before and worked out I had 2 options go back 40 km's to Tillamook or Newport which was 100 km's along my way. I was not going to make 100 km's so I would try and catch a taxi back to Tillamook and get a new tyre. I phoned the bicycle shop at Tillamook as soon as they opened at 9.30 to check if they had the right size tyre available and they did.

I went down to reception and asked them if they could call me a taxi, I got a rather blank kind of surprised stare and a response well check if there is a taxi in Pacific City or Tillamook, turns out there was no taxi service anywhere close, I had an option of a bus which I could catch at 11 get to Tillamook at 11.40, then leave Tillamook again at 1.10 get back to Pacific City by 2. But where the bus would drop me versus the location of the bicycle station was a mystery. Everyone could see my face drop..... Then the lady I spoke to about Africa said just hold on we will make a plan for you and went to the back room. She returned 2 minutes later and said my son will drive you to Tillamook and mentioned he had done a 1000 km off road cycle trip in Australia and new what it was like to be needing help.

Her son arrived 5 minutes later, great guy a few years younger than me, he had done exchange at school and spent a year in New Zealand and loved rugby. He said his wife wanted to do a marathon in all continents and still needed to do one in Africa, I suggested the two oceans and he questioned wasn't there another famous one, I worked out that he was referring to the comrades marathon. We parted and I said if you come to SA to do a marathon give me a call. I tried to give him some money not very successfully finally he accepted 20 dollars for gas. Sometimes I am blown away by people wow. I have definitely met a mixed bunch on this trip but its great when you are blown away.

By the time I got going it was after 1 so I cycled to Lincoln City 42 km's and booked into a motel 6 cheap and clean as there moto goes. It had definitely been an eventful 3 days.

Day 17 - 19

Day 17




I had planned to ride from Raymond to Astoria a very long 82 km's. I started the day rode 2 km's and stopped for a breakfast, came out and it was raining, there was no way I was going to ride for more than 5 hours in the rain. I made a decision I would ride to Centre Bay instead 30 km's away. The only place to stay was an RV park (Camp site), but they had bungalows. It rained for about 20 minutes, just enough to get me cold, wet and miserable. It's hard to stay motivated in this weather. I got to the camp site and they had no bungalows available so I setup camp, after putting up my tent I went to buy some wood low and behold some one had cancelled and a bungalow became available, it was freezing and looking like rain so I took the bungalow.

Day 18


Sunset at Astoria

I was riding from Bay Central to Astoria about 62 km's, it was a long ride, from about 50 km's as my energy was dwindling I came to the Columbia river on the Washington side. I had about 7 km's along the Columbia river and then a long bridge across it to Astoria and into Oregon. Along the river I had a raging headwind. The bridge was about 4 km's and ended with a steep climb of about 75 metres, so the bridge could allow large ships to enter the harbour.  I looked at bookings.com and Best Western had a room at about 250 dollars everything else was fully booked, I thought I would ride through town and see if anything else more reasonable was available, The riding was dead easy and I thought I was feeling great, actually I had a raging wind pushing me along, after about 3 miles I gave up and booked the Best Western on bookings.com which was now all the way back about 3.5 miles. I quickly became aware why it had been so easy the opposite direction. I battled my way back to the Best Western only to be told there was a problem and they didn't have a room for me. Luckily they felt responsible to now try and find me alternate accommodation. They phoned around and got me a room at the Eliot, back the way I had come 2 miles. The location of the Eliot was way better, in the centre of downtown close to the Columbia river.

That evening I went to a small wine bar with live music on the pier, had a few glasses of wine and met some interesting people, The whole trip had been quit lonely and I had been quite desperate for conversation, I had gotten better at striking up conversations with strangers. In some ways I was glad I had done this on my own, but I wasn't sure if I would do it alone again. A problem with doing it with someone else would definitely be fitness levels, but would definitely be motivated to do bigger distances and push harder so as not to hold everyone else back. It is very easy on your own to take the easy way out and not ride long distances. The first couple of weeks with my fitness levels as they were it would have been almost impossible to push to keep up with a group. It was definitely much harder to motivate myself being on my own. The time I am least motivated is the morning, as soon as I get into a rhythm my motivation increases, but first thing in the morning I seldom feel like riding, special when its cold and even more so when its raining. 

After the fiasco booking accommodation that night I would need to plan ahead and book during weekends.

Day 19.

I had been told Cannon beach was stunning, so I decided my next stop would be Cannon Beach only 40 km's away. It was a really easy ride with the wind behind me all the way, mostly flat with one large hill just before Cannon beach. I left the Eliot just after 10, by 12.30 I was in Cannon and stopped for fish and chips, then made my way to the Tolovana Inn, a couple of miles outside of Cannon centre. The best part of the ride was the weather, the sun was out the whole time, it was not to hot and not to cold, probably about 18 degrees Celsius but the Sun made it perfect weather to ride in.