I thought the biggest enemy on a bike tour was the hill. On the southern Oregon coast I learned that the real enemy is a wet towel. On this stage I had night visitors I never saw, I wrote "I am starting to hate this trip" on my phone, and a few days later I stood in front of a sign with my arms wide open. You already know from the title what the sign said :)
- Beverly BeachLincoln City → Beverly Beach State ParkAlone at the hiker-biker site. Night: visitors we never saw, a bear warning on the table and rain until morning.
- Newport → FlorenceYaquina Bay → FlorenceA lighthouse, a bridge climb and 12 tacos for $10 at Taco Bell. Night: a campground with no laundry.
- South coastFlorence → Bandon → Gold Beach → Harris BeachA big shop at Safeway, Subway in Bandon, Battle Rock in Port Orford and sunsets. Nights: Sunset Bay State Park, Denmark KOA and Harris Beach.
- 12 OctoberHarris Beach → CaliforniaA pancake tower, the border sign and a Pizza Hut right after it.
| Beverly Beach → Florence | 98 km | ↑ 610 m | ↓ 600 m |
| Florence → Denmark KOA2 days; one night at Sunset Bay State Park | 168 km | ↑ 1030 m | ↓ 1000 m |
| Denmark KOA → Harris Beach | 111 km | ↑ 1060 m | ↓ 1060 m |
| Stage total | 377 km | ↑ 2700 m | ↓ 2660 m |
I could not keep a daily GPS log: in 2011 power banks were hardly a thing, and with GPS tracking on the phone battery died within an hour, which would have made recording the rest of the tour impossible. So these are approximate values from Google Maps cycling directions along the route I rebuilt from the location points on my phone. On the few days where Google pushed the route onto other roads, distance comes from my own route and climbing from an elevation model. Ferry crossings are not included.
Beverly Beach · Visitors I never saw
When we arrived at Beverly Beach State Park, the hiker-biker site (a cheap camping area for people who come on foot or by bike) was empty again. Just the two of us, our tent and a warning on the table: there are bears in this area :)
In the middle of the night something started moving around the tent. Someone was happily finishing the leftovers we had left on the table. Raccoons, probably. I say "probably" because I had no intention of putting my head out of the tent. I listened to the noises and tried not to think about the bear warning.
I am not sure they were raccoons, because I had no intention of looking outside.
Then the rain started, and it did not stop all night. I really hate rainy nights. In the morning everything was soaking wet, and my towel was in no condition to be used again. My only hope was a washing machine at that evening's campground.
Newport · A lighthouse and a bridge climb
The next day in Newport we passed the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. Then came the green arches of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. The climb up to the bridge quickly joined my list of hills I don't like. But I am smiling in the photos, so it can't have been that bad :)
Taco Bell and Florence · The best and worst hour of the day
After five hours of riding we stopped at a Taco Bell. 12 tacos for $10! I ate six of them in 10 minutes. I already liked Taco Bell; that day it proved me right again.
When we reached the campground in Florence that evening, my one hope was gone: no laundry. I did not even have a dry towel for a shower. That day I wrote one sentence on my phone: "I am starting to hate this trip." Yes, there are days like that too. If I didn't write about them, this blog would be incomplete.
Then we went to Safeway. It was big and cheap, but we had run out of almost everything, so we spent $40: pancake mix, cereal, Gatorade, energy bars... "This will keep us going for another week," we said.
Bandon to Harris Beach · Where the notes go quiet
From here on, the journal on my phone suddenly goes quiet. We spent the night after Florence at Sunset Bay State Park, just south of Coos Bay. After that: a Subway in Bandon, a KOA in Denmark, another Subway in Gold Beach and Harris Beach State Park... All I have are the pins I dropped on the map. I don't know why I stopped writing. But the photos tell these days better than I can: Battle Rock in Port Orford, the sea stacks, and that light falling through the clouds onto the ocean every evening.
12 October · Welcome to California!
On our last morning at Harris Beach we started the day with a pancake tower. The $40 shop in Florence was paying off. Then we rode for a short while, and there it was: "Welcome to California". We put the bikes aside, opened our arms and took photo after photo. It had been two weeks since we left Canada. Washington and Oregon were behind us.
Our first act in California? Sitting down at a Pizza Hut, of course.
In Oregon we fought the wind and the rain most days. But Oregon also taught me something: even the worst night is followed by a morning with a view. Now we were in California, and the road was taking us into a forest of the tallest trees in the world.
- Where we slept: Beverly Beach State Park (hiker-biker site), a campground in Florence, Sunset Bay State Park, Denmark KOA and Harris Beach State Park. For their status today: Where we stayed
- Prices in 2011: 12 tacos for $10 at Taco Bell, a week of groceries at Safeway for $40.
- Lesson from the road: Never leave food on the table. At night, raccoons are faster than you.
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