Since I've been back a few weeks and have had time to contemplate the trip, I have forgotten some of the knee pain and remembered the joys of seeing these sights along the coast.
We did come inland a few miles along the Oregon coast where windswept dunes rise nearly 500 feet above sea level. For 40 miles we rode along with the dunes to our right.
The tine dot on top is a person. This particular dune was a short hike from our campground. We were about 3 miles from the water and the dunes form huge hills all the way to the beach. We were passed by truck after truck with trailers hauling huge ATV's. Unfortunately, they are allowed to tear over these beautiful mounds, disturbing habitat and serenity.
A quiet time along the river.
Sue checking out our route, maybe looking for our next coffee stop.
If I saw a yarn shop, I of course would have to stop in.
This one carried all local goods from the sheep and shepherds that live in the area.
I have to say that this yarn shop outside of Florence was very unfriendly. There were four ladies knitting and I tried to strike up a conversation as we knitters like to talk about our knitting. But these four were crabby-dabby-do and barely looked up. Allrighty then, see ya.
We passed the largest redwood mill in the world. So that's where all those logging trucks were going!
These signs were my favorite! Love that downhill grade! My least favorite signs were 'Slower Traffic Keep Right' which meant there was a steep hill coming up. Some of the climbs took an hour and a half of just putting your head down and pedaling. My speed was sometimes 3 mph which was about as slow as you could go without falling over. One time there was a cop on the other side of the highway checking car's speeds coming down the mountain. But I was of course climbing and looked over at him and asked if I was speeding. He laughed and said I was doing just fine. No ticket for me!
After this 1000' climb and nearly at the top, the campground we were staying at that night is 1000' down. To lost that much ground after working so hard made me frown a bit. Because the next morning we would climb the 1000' feet again to get back to where we started. Woe is me!
But thanks to Sue, she walked around the campground until she spotted a likely suspect with a large enough truck to carry 4 extra people, 4 bikes and all our gear. We met our 'angels' at 9:00 the next morning and the wife of the team was wearing a shirt that read, "Here I am. What are your next two wishes?" How appropriate!
We loaded up bikes, gear and our very happy selves and they scooted us right up that hill.
And here we are, smiling and ready to bike without having to make that huge climb.
Only 50 miles to go!
We were lucky enough to have our friend Tami, from Alaska join us for a couple days. She was driving from Portland to SF so I rode with her in the car for two days. Fortunately these were two days of not such pretty bike riding (along a freeway) so I was happy to be in the car for many reasons. Also Tami was a life saver as she brought us an entire cooler full of food, wine and beer to our campsite. So. much. food!!!
For not being much a beach/coast person, I have spent most of this summer seeing many different coasts. I choose woods and mountains over beaches and seasides any day. So when I entered the Avenue of Giants, I was in heaven!
I cranked up Lord Huron on my iPod and just coasted down the road taking in the beauty of the redwoods.
Sue looking a wee small.
I wished I would have ridden the 5 miles back to the beginning of this stretch and done it all again. I think this was my favorite part of the entire trip. (except maybe the 6 mile downhill…it might be a tie).
No comments:
Post a Comment