Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Headwind , bugger
25th May : Bandon to Gold Coast
Mixed bag today, lumpy ride with headwind most of the day ( meant to be a tailwind this time of year) , felt v tired at around 65 miles so found hotel, did some laundry, watched a movie, cranked heating up, lush. California tomorrow I think!
Highlight of the day, warmth at night
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Oh dear ( you'll see)
24 May 73 miles Florence to Brandon
Woke up to clear skies, happy days. Sipping my coffee sat outside tent this am ( Starbucks caramel house blend if you must know) and a deer runs full pelt through clearing in the forest ,
much to amusement of bearded companions. Quite an eventful day all round. Had lunch at drop in centre for people with learning difficulties ( hadn't intended to, looked like normal cafe from outside, guess fact that they only had one dish on menu was bit of a clue). Still got v good coffee and bread pudding and had conversation with a woman called beryl , who waved her arms in the air quite a lot, so that was nice. Also got chased by very large black American bulldog, bugger bolted for me just as I got to the beginning of large climb, didn't look back , flew up hill and shouted a lot ( seemed like good idea at the time) . Ride today was ok , bit of a headwind and clouded over by lunch so pretty cold. At state park in tent at mo and raining but dry and warm so can't complain. Highlight of the day, riding out this morning, sunshine , blue skies, heavy scent of pine forest listening to Noah and the Whale on iPod at full volume, sensory overload, magic.
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Woke up to clear skies, happy days. Sipping my coffee sat outside tent this am ( Starbucks caramel house blend if you must know) and a deer runs full pelt through clearing in the forest ,
much to amusement of bearded companions. Quite an eventful day all round. Had lunch at drop in centre for people with learning difficulties ( hadn't intended to, looked like normal cafe from outside, guess fact that they only had one dish on menu was bit of a clue). Still got v good coffee and bread pudding and had conversation with a woman called beryl , who waved her arms in the air quite a lot, so that was nice. Also got chased by very large black American bulldog, bugger bolted for me just as I got to the beginning of large climb, didn't look back , flew up hill and shouted a lot ( seemed like good idea at the time) . Ride today was ok , bit of a headwind and clouded over by lunch so pretty cold. At state park in tent at mo and raining but dry and warm so can't complain. Highlight of the day, riding out this morning, sunshine , blue skies, heavy scent of pine forest listening to Noah and the Whale on iPod at full volume, sensory overload, magic.
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Could get used to this
23rd May Lincoln city to Florence (84 miles)
Day started well with blue skies and sunshine , cold last night though . Even when sunny it's only mid sixties at the mo. The great state of Oregon has designed pretty much the perfect bike route
along the coast with stunning views of the mighty pacific, up and down high coastal roads that sweep
through pine forests and through super quaint villages and towns full of character. You eventually run out of superlatives and photos don't do it justice, a pretty good day's ride all in all
Ended up in a state park just outside Florence. The 'hiker/biker' areas are set apart from the rest of the park, usually in the forest and v cheap at 5 bucks a night . As all are bikers lots of conversations about gear ratios, routes and the weather ( also a lot of beards) . As I lie in tent I can hear a guy playing the Uke and singing bluegrass numbers Pretty cool, and I had pork and beans for tea, proper rawhide me.
Highlight of the day, coffee , ice cream and oatmeal cookies for lunch, if any one of this holy trinity were uninvented I would come home tomorrow
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Day started well with blue skies and sunshine , cold last night though . Even when sunny it's only mid sixties at the mo. The great state of Oregon has designed pretty much the perfect bike route
along the coast with stunning views of the mighty pacific, up and down high coastal roads that sweep
through pine forests and through super quaint villages and towns full of character. You eventually run out of superlatives and photos don't do it justice, a pretty good day's ride all in all
Ended up in a state park just outside Florence. The 'hiker/biker' areas are set apart from the rest of the park, usually in the forest and v cheap at 5 bucks a night . As all are bikers lots of conversations about gear ratios, routes and the weather ( also a lot of beards) . As I lie in tent I can hear a guy playing the Uke and singing bluegrass numbers Pretty cool, and I had pork and beans for tea, proper rawhide me.
Highlight of the day, coffee , ice cream and oatmeal cookies for lunch, if any one of this holy trinity were uninvented I would come home tomorrow
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Monday, 23 May 2011
Century !
Sun 22nd May
Woke up and hadn't been murdered in the night which was excellent, new maple syrup flavoured instant oats were a hit so generally good start to the day, weather was a bit grey but not raining. Decided to follow the Oregon coast bike route which was a good choice, great climbs stunning views and fast descents.
Ended up clocking in at 104 miles which is first hundred of the trip, wasn't planned just felt good on the bike so happy to crack on. Stopped at a Starbucks and skyped with Julia which was great , seems like a while since we last spoke. Passed the Canadians en route so think they must have stopped earlier in the day . Speaking to the guy touring on the fixie last night, asked him how he managed fast downhills ( as you have to constantly pedal a fixed wheel) ' oh I just unclip and rest my feet on the handlebars' crazy, cranks spinning below at over 100 rpm, no way of standing for potholes and 30lb of luggage on the back. To complete the look he's sporting a large lord Kitchener moustache and wears a builders helmet to ride in, genius, here's to square pegs in round holes i say ! Clear sky tonight so down to 3 deg tonight, pretty cold in the tent but maybe sunny tomorrow ( currently in devils lake state park in Lincoln city) , spent evening chatting with Aussie and American cyclists, pretty good day all round . Highlight of the day , got to be chatting to the missus face to face via the iPhone in Starbucks , it's a small world.
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Sunday, 22 May 2011
Oregon , oh (geddit?)
Sat 21st May
Crossed the state border this morning ( actually a 2 mile bridge across the Columbia River) had planned a hotel night but thought I,d save it for a rainy day (literally) . Am beginning to get into a rhythm I think, less concerned about where i'll be sleeping, weather etc; simple regime of eat, ride , sleep (that said camping in a state park tonight which I appear to be sharing with some permanent residents who live in a tent so hope they don't bring out the banjo and hunting knives any time soon). The Oregon coast is stunning,
amazing views of the pacific and super quaint weather boarded towns, weather a bit grey but only gets really cold at night. Oregonians genuinely friendly, stop for a coffee and you can pretty much guarantee a conversation in 5 mins, they are into bikes too. Met up with Canadians again today and discovered one of them is doing a tour fully laden on a fixie ( no gears, carrying about 30lb of gear, truly mad). Highlight of the day? Friendly locals , always wins hands down .
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Crossed the state border this morning ( actually a 2 mile bridge across the Columbia River) had planned a hotel night but thought I,d save it for a rainy day (literally) . Am beginning to get into a rhythm I think, less concerned about where i'll be sleeping, weather etc; simple regime of eat, ride , sleep (that said camping in a state park tonight which I appear to be sharing with some permanent residents who live in a tent so hope they don't bring out the banjo and hunting knives any time soon). The Oregon coast is stunning,
amazing views of the pacific and super quaint weather boarded towns, weather a bit grey but only gets really cold at night. Oregonians genuinely friendly, stop for a coffee and you can pretty much guarantee a conversation in 5 mins, they are into bikes too. Met up with Canadians again today and discovered one of them is doing a tour fully laden on a fixie ( no gears, carrying about 30lb of gear, truly mad). Highlight of the day? Friendly locals , always wins hands down .
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Cape disappointment state park
Fri 20th May
Just about on the Oregon border now, 85 miles today, pretty easy going, road hugs the pacific coast so great wafts of briny sea air, felt quite zen like spinning along effortlessly mile after mile, met a Belgian guy going on the other direction and passed a group of Canadians, who are now camped at the same place , nice guys also going south so will prob bump into them along the route. Good to have a chat for longer than 5 mins, one of the challenges so far is the isolation of travelling alone through tracts of wilderness. Cape Disappointment State park is anything but btw , hot showers, deer wandering around , great sea views, lighthouse, all pretty great really. Highlight of the day, catching the mobile wood fired pizza hut before they closed , goats cheese special mmmmm
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Just about on the Oregon border now, 85 miles today, pretty easy going, road hugs the pacific coast so great wafts of briny sea air, felt quite zen like spinning along effortlessly mile after mile, met a Belgian guy going on the other direction and passed a group of Canadians, who are now camped at the same place , nice guys also going south so will prob bump into them along the route. Good to have a chat for longer than 5 mins, one of the challenges so far is the isolation of travelling alone through tracts of wilderness. Cape Disappointment State park is anything but btw , hot showers, deer wandering around , great sea views, lighthouse, all pretty great really. Highlight of the day, catching the mobile wood fired pizza hut before they closed , goats cheese special mmmmm
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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