62 miles today. Our longest day and my legs can feel it. I had to keep reminding myself of Jens Voight telling my legs not to hurt.
When we returned to the hiker/biker camp we met up again with Tug and Jim, and Tina. Bullard state park is one of the nicest state parks I've ever visited. The biker section is new, complete with a solar powered "devise" recharger for the mobilely connected, AND a hot shower. There were also many other bikers there last night.
We awoke and shared some coffee with Tug and had a great visit before 7am. What a character; a retired economics prof from the university in Monctun. He and Jim would stop in Bandon for laundry and catch up on whatever. We are not sure where they ended up today. I already miss them.
It took us 8+ miles to find breakfast in Langlios. It was a greasy spoon. No really, that was the name of the place. A small diner on the side of the road that looks forgotten, but the food was wholesome, just like grandma cooked.
Tina caught up to us there. We decided we would trek to Gold Beach for our last night in OR. After a few calls we got the local fairgrounds who said would open up the place, including their showers. Our tent is staked on some green grass right in front on the pavilion and soon afterward Tina rolled in.
The gal from the fairgrounds suggested the "Crow's Nest" for pizza. Dave Fotch would love it for a Friday night dive bar hopping. It's not much to look at, but it has local character. We sat down at an empty table and after a while the single loan waiter asked if we could move beacause the group next to us was expecting more company. But Joe and Linda wouldn't have it. They invited to join their Tuesday night "aqua night" with about 5 other retired couples. What a hoot. Rhonda whittled down even more of her million best friends she has never met. It happens Dave saw us earlier in the day as we rode past his golf course on the Cedar Valley Road, an alternate route off the 101. Sometimes the bike route takes us off away from the heavy traffic, as if we were lost. The group even bought us drinks, and the pizza was the best, lots of garlic! After two hours of pure joy we needed to get back to camp before it got dark.
I promised to tell you about the OR highways, at least the coastal highway. The weekend was busy with Willamete tourist traffic. I can't blame them for taking advantage of the local coastline. It has taken me 4 days to get used to the traffic. Since Monday the traffic has slowed, but there is still heavy truck traffic as well as all those retired guys driving their motor coaches pulling a PT Cruiser. But I must say that the vehicle traffic, local, tourist, and commercial is nothing but generous to bike traffic. I just pray each time a camper passes that their door step was pulled in and their rear view mirror passes over instead of through my helmet.
OR has done a great job keeping the 101 bike friendly. It is a well marked bike route and the road is swept clean, with plenty of shoulder; well most of the time.
ODOT(Oregon dept of transportation) produces a highway map just for the bike route. It shows the route, mileage, elevation profile, and shows where the highway has 3 foot shoulders or not. And it's free. The Adventure Cycling maps have better detailed descriptions for amenities, but they come with a price.
Also, OR tends to cater to the idea that life is the journey. Rhonda keeps encouraging me to relax, travel at my own pace and not be in a hurry. I am supposed to be the retired one in the family. I need not worry about our distance each day and our average speed, the grade of each climb and number of calories I'm burning. Nor do I need to worry if we keep up with Tug and Jim or those cheaters with the sag wagon. This is OUR adventure. (Did I mention I already miss Tug?).
OR highways help out in this manner. Seldom if ever do we see road signs that mention the next whatever is only 3 miles down the road. The best they do is make note of the next large city 100's of miles from the last large city. You just roll on down the road and every now and then you round the bend and find the quaintest small town with the best food ever, over find a pull out with the grandest of views. What OR doesn't spend on mileage signs must go into their coastal state parks.
So now I will simply enjoy the ride with my bestest friend and wife, savor the time together and live the adventure far.
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