Sunday, May 12, 2013
Ride Day 80 and a rest day
Today I rode from Umpqua Lighthouse to Carl G Washburne State Park 47 miles 2500’ of climbing. I took an easy slow day on the road today. After an early start from my campsite I went looking for food in Winchester a few miles away. All I found open was a market where I gobbled a sweet roll and a coffee then did 22 miles before stopping for a breakfast sandwich in Dunes City. The road was yet again just a tree lined highway 101 with mostly good shoulders except on the winding hills where they are the most important. I cross the road and ride on the left when there is no shoulder and an inside curve comes up. Lots of cars and trucks cut the inside corners really tight and if one of them comes along the bike rider is a goner. So I break the law and ride on the wrong side of the road because it is safer for me. Some drivers get flustered when they see me on the wrong side but at least they see me and do not kill me which is the point.
I only took a few pics cause the trees get old fast. The crabbers told me that the crabbing was not good for the second year in a row. I did see a halibut boat come in with a fish 62 pounds and three chickens which are small halibuts. The Halibut season just opened up here for the pacific halibuts. Salmon fishing has been slow but mostly because of wind and big waves making it hard to fish.
I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post about a little drama I saw in Coos Bay. I was riding along when all of a sudden there was a loud racket of honking and screaming going on. I looked over and there was an eagle trying to take a gosling from some honkers and four adult geese immediately attacked the eagle and made it give up going for the gosling and slowly back away from the raging geese. They were very protective and would have given up their life to save their babies, very impressive to me.
Today the campground is very empty and quiet. I like it cause I need some rest and still need to kill some time so the weather improves ahead of me in Montana and over the mountains. More later
Day of rest
Today was a day of rest for me. My weight has been dropping too quickly so I want to pack in some calories without burning too many. I still did a short ride down the coast and up a hill to an ocean lookout. I watched for whales and talked to some of the nice friendly people doing the same. Then we spotted whales and everyone got excited. Most of these people had never seen a whale before. They were asking a million questions from me like I was some kind of tour guide. I answered most of them easily so it was not a big deal. I did tell them about the boat I was on that almost got sunk by a whale out at the islands off San Francisco. They thought that was kind of unusual.
I met a few other bike riders while out on the road. Three were from Germany, one American guy trying to ride to all 49 lower states, one guy with red bags that did not want to talk, a couple Canadians going from Van Couver to San Francisco, and a couple from Canada with no sure destination but a couple months of time to see where they end up. I enjoyed talking to most of the travelers, learning about the route ahead and hearing the stories of their rides. The Germans (68 year olds) were carrying way too much stuff. They were prepared for anything I think. After seeing them I decided I could lighten my load as well. In the next few days I plan to pare down my gear.
I sat around with the camp hosts for a while and we talked about light houses since they are also docents and hosts at various lighthouses. They were a nice couple from Fort Apache Arizona. Later on I returned to the beach to see if I could catch a sunset. I waited and watched all the people on the weekend beach. There were families and couples and groups of young adults. It was all very peaceful as we sat there watching for whales and when one spouted whomever saw it would point and if you were quick you might see the whale too. We saw maybe a dozen whales which is a lot for this late in the season. The sunset was not the best because fog started to set in before the sun went down and it blocked the light. I tried and still enjoyed it. More later…
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Ride Day 79
Today I rode from Bandon by the Sea to Winchester Bay about 46 miles with about 3000’ of climbing. The ride was kind of boring cutting inland through forests of cedar, spruce and douglas fir. Not much else along the route until I got to Coos Bay where I watched them loading ships with wood pulp. They also had a huge log pile. I guess they ship the raw logs out too. There were also some nice old wooden ships and tugs down by the marina that I liked seeing.
I got an early start today and I was 20 miles along in Coos Bay by 8:30 in the morning. Glad I did start early too because the headwind came up for the last 10 miles or so and really slowed me down and made me work like I was going uphill from there on. I stopped at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park for the night in the hiker/biker camp. I was attacked by mosquitoes the second my bike stopped so I had to spray myself. My hand is a bit swollen from a spider bite last night so I am a bit antibug today.
The only bad part of the ride today was going over the bridge north of Coos Bay. It is narrow with no room for bikes and there is heavy traffic with lots of logging trucks and semis. There is a button to push that makes the speed limit 30 with flashing yellow lights to warn cars and trucks of bikes on the bridge but the drivers seemed to ignore the speed limit since most of them were doing 50 or more. It was a bit scary to say the least. I made it though so I must still have some luck going.
I had a burger at Double D’s Bar and Grill that almost filled me up but my weight has been going down quickly since I left the bay area so I need to increase the amount of food I eat and make sure there is a lot of protein and fat in it. I considered ordering another burger but did not. I will cook at camp later.
The commercial salmon fishermen in the bar said fishing is slow up here and when I told him my friends told me it was good in the bay area he told me it was not good in the bay area or the price would have come down already. I don’t know so I can’t argue one way or the other. I know the sport fishing boats are doing well because they post the results everyday but I have no idea where to check for commercial results.
I am going to just relax the rest of the day and have another light day tomorrow. I am still running too early with the late snow this year. I do not want to get caught in snow! There is still 250 miles to Astoria from here so if I average 50 a day I will be there next week sometime. More later…
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…
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