Day 71 - Florence Oregon

I've held off from writing the last post of this trip for three and a half months. I think I did want this trip to ever end and holding out from putting up this last page was a simple way of holding on to the moment.

I had a superb rest day in Eugene checking out the city and the Saturday market in the day and catching up with Steve, my riding buddy from a few days ago, at night over some soul food at Papas and some drinks at Sam Bonds.

I was brimming with manic energy as I sat in the bar listening to dissonant noise rock, the back of my mind turning over and over the notion that I would see the pacific tomorrow. I weaved in an out of a few spirited conversations with bar goers talking about my trip and Oregon. An old couple with white clouds for hair and orange ear plugs sat 5 feet from the stage bobbing their heads to the cacophony. At 10:30 I decided reign in my excitement and leave for a good night sleep while the getting was good.

Florence is 70 miles due west of Eugene. Sue, my gracious host in town, plotted a longer alternate course with less traffic, but by the time I got underway I couldn't stand tacking on any extra miles and decided to ride the busy route 126 out of town. The road remained comfortable flat 30 miles or so and then some rolling hills and a few steeper ascents began. I marveled at being so close to sea level. Summit signs listed feet of elevation in the 100s and not the 1000s. I stopped for a quick sandwich at a country store, but didn't care to linger. I was too excited.

The last of the hills unwound and I started to riding along side a river, the outlet of which I knew I could trace to the pacific. Green mile markers appeared on the side of the road. 5, 4, 3, 2 ... I intersected with the pacific coast high way in the middle of the town of Florence and decided to find a hotel first before venturing on. I had been toying with the idea of riding up a part of the coast and wanted to get accommodations out of the way.

Having no immediate coastal access from the town of Florence, I headed 6 miles north to Haceta beach. As I got back onto the Pacific Coast Highway I felt the immediate blast of fierce headwind, the same consistent northernly wind that makes riding south down the coast so popular. I kept my head down and pushed on through until turning off onto Haceta beach road.

I road through a little enclave of suburban homes and streets. Sand dusted the pavement and the tips of dunes appeared high over embankments on my left. Finally, through a parking lot between an embankment on one side and a hotel on the other i spotted a sliver of long sandy beach and beyond it a dark blue swath of the Pacific. I stumbled down a little path with my bike onto the scarcely populated beach to see the full expanse of the shoreline. I knew my trip was over.

I rolled my bike out to the water and for moment felt a bit outside of my own body. A kind couple, who I asked to take a few pictures of me, shared in the excitement. My feet turned cold as the ocean water splashed over them. That's it!

Signs

I came across a number of funny and interesting signs not likely to be seen around new york city. Below are few I captured with my camera.

Days 69,70 - Eugene, OR

Today was the last big day of my trip riding 91 miles to Eugene and summitting the Mckenzie pass at 5325 feet along the way. Throughout my trip I would tell myself at the end of long days that if I could get to the last 10 miles I could do them standing on my head. It just meant that no matter what condition I was in I would make my destination for the night. Well, today I could have done the ride with one leg, riding backward on my head. I hit the climb in the beginning of my ride and when i stopped to take a picture of Mount Washington and the seven sister peaks i belated realized i had already summitted the peak.




At the apex is a cool lava field which cooled as it was still flowing some 1600 years ago, leaving behing a river of black angular rock reaching all the way back to the peaks of mount Washington. Some of the narrow twisting roadway cuts through the rock itself giving the feeling of passing along stone hedgerows.

I started a long 3000 foot decsent outpacing at least one vehicle along the way. The road snaked around the side of the mountian presenting one hairpin turn after another. I passed new elevation signs every thousand vertical feet. At the bottom I lifted my arms of the bars and felt aches in my muscels from being on a technical decsent for a half hour.

The rest of the ride was along rout 126, a narrow no shoulder road on a slight downgrade all the way to Eugene. A pretty good headwind eliminated my ability to coast at any point. I just started to ride as if I were going up another climb, turning the cranks pretty quickly and making good time into town.

Along the way I saw the sun shining through the trees of a yard with a wooden fence and a house tucked away not to far from the road and I had he sensation that I was riding along a road from my childhood, almost a deja vu feeling.




Sue, the person I arranged to stay with through warm showers was waiting outside her two bedroom condo for me as I rolled up the street. She is one of the best of hosts I've had the good luck to encounter along my trip. She offered a multitude of information about Eugene and a set of keys to come and go as I please. We had dinner along the willamette river and then headed over to an outdoor short film festival in Alton Baker park.

"Tell everyone it rains all the time, we don't want the secret to get out." Sue told me. The secret is that during the summer Eugene is an Eden of dry sunny days and cool clear nights. It's what some locals call "their second paycheck."




Eugene is a college town with old hippies looking to hang on and new ones being minted every year on the University of Oregon campus. I have to believe there are more VW vans per capita here than anywhere else in the world. The town also has an inordinate amount of modern day hobos, young dirty kids with backpacks and sleepig bags traipsing about town. They are probably not much different from the tramps riding frieght trains in the 30s, albeit less easy to romanticize.

Sue was kind enough to put me up for another night so i could rest up an enjoy the city some more. I went to the Saturday market in the morning, a mix of food an craft vendors selling there goods downtown, had a fantastic dinner at Papa's, a soul food restaurant and did a little bit of early celebrating over a trio of noise rock bands at Sam Bonds, a popular music venue as I toyed with the surreal notion that I would hit the pacific ocean tomorrow.

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Day 68 - Sisters, OR

My energy level is through the roof, feuled by the thought that I'm just a few days from the coast. I started the day with another 2000 foot climb over the ochoco mountain pass, the fifth one in three days. I loved it, spinning up the incline with music blasting through my headphones.

I put in a 92 mile day ending the town of Sisters. Snow capped peaks were visible beyound the brown stone buttes and scrub brush prarie. The terrain is enough for me to not even think about my millage or the headwind or the heat. I am just enjoying it all.

Steve, who I'd been riding with for the last couple days cut his day short in prineville. It was good to have his company for a while but i am too excited to slow down. I'll head to Eugene tomorrow leaving me just 70 miles from the beach.

Day 67 - Mitchell, OR

Woke up first thing in the morning and rode 87 miles to Mitchell, OR. The first half of the day was really easy heading downhill for most of it until Dayville. There was only a market open and I tried my luck with a microwavable chicken sandwich.

The second half of the day involved a gradual climb of 2000 feet over Keyes mountain pass. He road lead through an amazing gorge surrounded by ancient rock buttes. Oregon is just getting better the more I ride through.

Mitchell is a cool small town, just one road with a market and a restaurant and a few other necessities. There was a self-proclaimed hobo with a long beard sitting outside outside on a park bench. There isn't much to do in town, but you can do anyhing you want.

Day 66 - Prarie City, OR

I climbed over three mountain passes in a headwind today today to reach Prarie city, just 66 miles away. The heat thankfully broke and for the first time in a week it was actually cool in the morning, perfect for climbing the 4000 feet of total elevation.




There were no resources along the way keeping me on my bike until I reached town for hearty lunch. I've pitched my tent at a local campsite and am looking forward to a quiet evening in this 100 person town.

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Day 64, 65 - Baker City, OR

I died of dysentery.

Just kidding. Baker City is an historic town on the Oregon Trail and I just can't stop thinking about playing that game on the Apple IIe when I was a kid.

As some readers have probably noticed, I have been sporadic with this blog lately. It has been harder to write daily posts these days due to: having no cell service; being too tired at the end of the day; or being more interested in having new experiences than writing about them. The good news is I have sat in the Baker City library for most of today catching up so that my future posts will be real-ish time as finish out my trip within the next week. There is just 417 miles from here to the coast! However, there are 5 mountain passes to deal with along the way.

I have been riding with Steve, a super fit and adventurous 62 year old from Minnesota who has been involved with parks and rec and a number of nature conservation initiatives.