After the day of rest in Gold Beach, I headed south, but I chose not to push too hard. Coming out of Gold Beach there is a substantial climb, one that put the fear of riding into me (thus the day of rest).
Prior to leaving Gold Beach, I stopped at a cafe for breakfast. In the cafe sat a fellow cycling tourist, so we struck up a conversation. Turns out he, Joel, is a retired general contractor from Sedona, AZ. Also, as it turns out, he chose to take a rest day due to the pending climb. We talked of things cycling, and things Arizona, and things affecting "camping or hoteling" decisions. Lots in common and a very enjoyable conversation. Upon leaving the cafe, Joel headed back to his hotel for a day of rest and I headed to a very nice bookstore looking for the second book in the Stieg Larsson trilogy.
Oddly enough, the bookstore did not have a copy, but a nearby grocery store did ... I was very happy as I did not have another book for reading in the evenings.
After my gleeful purchase of the book, I headed south toward Brookings, OR. The climb was not as difficult as I had anticipated ... tailwinds will do that for a person. Even though the day's mileage was only 33 miles, it was tiring as there were many short climbs and quick descents. To steal a phrase from Leo Woodland (touring cyclist I met last summer), "The hills went up and down faster than a bride's nightie."
Today's ride to Crescent City. CA was only 28 miles, and was fairly uneventful regarding climbs ... so much for references to lingerie. Joel had said he intended to make a day of Gold Beach-to-Crescent City, so I hope to re-connect. He is also planning on riding down to the Central Coast area ... I think we would make for good traveling companions.
I think it is safe to say that the Oregon Coast, from Bandon to Gold Beach, provides some of the most beautiful and stunning scenery to be seen anywhere. I can only imagine what it must look like when the sun and blue skies are part of the package.
Over the past two weeks I have met quite a few touring cyclist. One of the standard questions discussed is, "To where are you headed?" (Actually the question is usually phrased as "where you headin' to", but I do not want to offend Ralph or any other "English Language" dweeb (and you know who you are). Anyway, back to the topic at hand) I am usually thinking in terms of the end-of-day destination. Several younger, college-age guys have responded (with no humility what-so-ever), "Virgina Beach!"
I met two young guys today who started north from L.A., and were headed to Seattle. They were to meet some friends in Seattle, then head to Florida. I asked what route they intended to take to get to Florida ... "Don't know." Ah, the innocence and exuberance of youth. One of these two guys was all-the-while writing a message on a white-board he had strapped to the rear of his bike ... "We like to PARTY!" Now that is a touring journal that I would like to follow.
Tomorrow I will be riding up another scary (on paper) climb to get to the Redwood National Park areas.
This should be good.
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