August 22 Crossing America

August 22 Reedsport, OR – Bandon, OR distance 67 miles.
Total distance traveled through today 4,571 miles, 3,903 on a bike.

Lighthouse and a dredge ship in the Bandon harbor

Dale and I were up at 6:30 but Suzy beat us by at least a half hour and had a great breakfast of fresh fruit, juice, waffles, bacon and coffee waiting for us.  Suzy you are spoiling me with your kindness.

After breakfast, Dale and I looked over the map and I formulated a plan to ride from Bandon North to Reedsport as there are more down hills going that direction then to drive to Reedsport and ride back.  That was the idea but I don’t know what happened but my brain was disengaged when looking at the elevation chart on the map.  Once on the road I discovered I was doing a lot of uphill riding with little downhill runs as a reward.  Especially hard was the 3 mile uphill ride on Whiskey Run Lane with a 6-8% grade.  Once at the top of this challenging hill I checked the elevation chart and discovered riding north from Bandon had the steeper climbs.  Nuts!  I’m beginning to think subconsciously I like hills.  Studying the chart more I decided to switch my game plan when I hook up with Dale at lunch in Charleston and have Dale drive me north to Reedsport and drive back to Charleston.  Reedsport had steeper hills to climb in the beginning but would give me more gradual down hills after that.

Today is warming up and for the first time while I’ve been riding the Oregon coast I’m actually warm enough to enjoy checking out the beauty of the seacoast.  The steep hillsides along the highway are coated with lush green forests of firs of which I can only determine two species Douglas and White and that is only because Dale pointed them out to me.  There are many sections of the Hwy. 101 cuts through the forested hillsides leaving a canopy of 100’+ firs lining both sides of the road.  Maybe that contributes to the lower temperatures, do you think Old Guy?  I’m amazed at my brilliance or lack of at times.

In Charleston Dale and I met and drove to Cape Arago as suggested by Suzy to enjoy our lunch she prepared for us.  Suzy had made us egg salad sandwiches, which are my most favorite sandwich, homemade cookies and dried peaches.  All of it was sooooo good.  Thank you yet again Suzy for taking such good care of us.  Cape Arago was awesome with rugged cliffs dropping down to the ocean.  There were sheer rock walls and bluffs just off shore, even spotted a few sea lions bathing on some of the rocks as well as swimming along the shore line.  I think I’m beginning to enjoy Oregon, even though I began to get cold by the time we finished our leisurely lunch, wasn’t in a hurry to leave such a beautiful place.

Dale dropped me back off where he picked me up and I rode through Charleston to the steel bridge at North Bend.  The Adventure Cycling map said bicyclists must dismount and walk across this bridge.  Upon reaching the bridge where I once again met Dale, we looked at the narrow walkway and heavy traffic on the bridge and decided I really had nothing to prove or gain by walking Spirit across this bridge.  Thus I loaded Spirit onto the bike rack and we drove across the bridge and on to Reedsport.  At Reedsport Dale dropped me off at Jimmie’s X-‘Presso coffee shop, that’s were I stopped riding yesterday, and I headed back toward North Bend.  The road out of Reedsport was steep and had a couple sections without a shoulder placing me in the roadway with traffic zooming by at 60-70 mph.  I set my mind to ignore the traffic and plough forward on Spirit and before I knew it had made it over the steepest hills on this section.  The rest of the ride back to North Bend went much faster than I had anticipated which made me happy.  Larry I owe you for giving me a new way of thinking about climbing hills.  Now when I’m climbing a challenging hill I keep thinking it is the same as facing a challenge in life.  Facing and meeting those challenges make you stronger.

The ride back to Suzy’s went quickly and we were once again in great company of new friends.  Suzy had suggested we swim across her lake to a raft about a 150 yards and back.  I was thinking to myself, “That’s open water, though it was calm, we would be swimming without a safety system in place.  OK, forget the safety I think I can do that, no I know I can do that”.  Walking out onto the dock in front of Suzy’s place she warned me when I got in the water the first 30 seconds or so the water would feel cold but then it would be fine.  Thanks Suzy and with that I dove in and came up with a shrill yelp.  Suzy climbed down a latter to enter the water like a lady.  Don’t think I could have handled getting in slowly as I would have wimped out on her.  I was pleased that Suzy did a dog paddle style swimming stroke which allowed me to do a side stroke all the way across and back.  I was worried she would do the American crawl and I wouldn’t be able to keep up with her.  Suzy is a strong swimmer and has WSI certification, so I wasn’t nearly in as much danger of drowning as my mind conjured up.  I’m guessing she probably did the dog paddle stroke for my benefit.  The swim was refreshing and revitalized my energy level.

Suzy and me just after swimming across the lake and back, quite refreshing after riding all day

Have I mentioned what a great host Suzy is?  Joining us for dinner was Suzy dad Jim.  I was hoping to visit with Jim as he was in the 99^th Infantry division, had landed on D-Day and survived the Battle of the Bulge during WW-II but unfortunately the night was gone before we had time to talk in depth.  Hope to have time to visit with Jim another time.  Dinner was a feast, beginning with Dungeness crab for the appetizer; she gave us enough for a meal.  Then we had a fresh garden salad which came from a local co-op farm Suzy and Ed that they are members of.  By now I was already full.  But then the main course, beef brisket in a gravy, mashed potatoes, vegetables, home baked bread and wine.  Whew I was stuffed.

This has been a very good day.  The sun warmed up so I could enjoy the ride.  The Oregon coast is quite beautiful.  I was able to visit with both an old friend Dale and new friends Suzy and Ed.  Yes indeed, life is good.

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