Ride Day 78

Today I rode from Gold Beach Oregon to Bandon by the Sea Bullard’s Beach State Park it was about 65 miles with about 3000’ of climbing. The morning started out with a thinner layer of fog than the day before so I was on the road earlier today 8am. I stopped in town and had a cup of coffee to get me going then I saw a bakery and I went for a sticky bun. All that sugar got burned off on my ride though so it is all ok. I burned about 4000 calories on the ride. The Garmin link will show the exact distances and elevations and how many calories if you want to go look at it. The ride left the ocean quickly and went through rolling hill with farms and lots of stretches with nothing but trees. No more redwoods though just normal sized trees again so my gps worked all day finally. I did not go with the Adventure Cycling route because it went up into the hills where it was foggy and what is the point of going on a scenic ride in the fog? So I stayed on 101 the entire day. The road was in generally good shape except for a few places where there was slippage damaging the roadway. Traffic was light and sometimes nonexistent. At one point though with no other cars in sight and three full car lanes available and a good wide shoulder, a guy in a black pickup truck came over the white line onto the shoulder and buzzed past me 2 inches away from my handlebar. What the hell was that? A drunk? A guy that hates bikes? Or a dumbass that thought it would be funny? I don’t have a clue but I was pissed about it. With all the defensive riding I do to prevent an accident I still have this shit to deal with. A bike and rider with gear weighs maybe 300 pounds and a truck weighs maybe 3500 pounds. I was going 12 mph and he was going about 65 mph. I would not have had a chance even if he only grazed me I would have gone flying and surely would have been injured and my bike wrecked and he would have just kept driving. I just do not understand. I stopped for lunch at Sirens Café in xxx and had a good time chatting with the owners and the help. They had excellent muffins to go with my coffee and wifi to boot so I caught up a bit. Then I jumped back on the bike for the last thirty miles. I had no wind until the last twenty miles then I got a headwind that slowly increased as the afternoon went on until it was blowing hard at the end making me spin on a flat road. Such is life. I can turn east at Astoria which is 270 miles north still. Then I would have more of a tail wind and riding would be easier and I am thinking more and more that I will turn there and take the Columbia River Valley east. The road winds through Washington and Oregon back and forth across the river. I should be there by next Friday the 17th or so. I talked to some other riders and they suggested taking a bus till past Portland because the traffic is heavy around there and there is not always room for bikes on the roads. I doubt if I will do that unless when I get there it looks terrible then I will reconsider. Once I set up my tent here I rode down to the beach and lighthouse. It was a good ride with no weight on the bike of about 6 miles. I like lighthouses for some reason or other. I also like all the driftwood piled up on all the beaches around here. The old twisted bleached wood makes it look more wild to me. One beach I saw today would be worth a fortune if it was only in a warmer climate but the foggy cold wet weather here makes the beaches mostly devoid of humans. More later…