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Published: September 13th 2010
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Total cycled to date = 646 miles Day 10 Cannon Beach - Nehalem = 17 miles (rest day)
Day 11 Nehalem - Cape Lookout (south of Tillamook) = 50 miles
Day 12 Cape Lookout - South Beach, Newport = 75 miles
Day 13 Newport - Jessie Honeyman State Park (south of Florence)= 55 miles
Day 14 Honeyman - Sunset Bay (south of Charleston)= 65 miles
Day 14 Sunset - Arizona Beach RV Park (south of Port Orford) = 65 miles
Day 15 Arizona Beach - Brookings = 50 miles
Day 16 Rest day in Brookings (Monday 13th September)
We've decided to take a proper rest day today and catch up with things. The past week has been quite testing.
If we had to sum up the ride through Oregon in two words we'd say 'heavy traffic'. Day 12 was awful. The traffic was non stop and we were cycling on the main Highway 101 most of the way.
Traffic in Oregon is not like traffic at home. There's logging trucks, massive r.v's and hugh gritting trucks to contend with. The noise was unbareable and our heads were beaten by the time we
got to the campsite.
On the flip side the views just got better and better the further south we got. We thought we'd be hard to impress coming from such a beautiful part of England and having such a nice coastline ourselves but we have to say, we were very impressed.
The weather's unpredictable too, even more so than England. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny morning. We even had to apply suncream! Today it's damp, misty and grey.
We're staying in a hotel for two nights so it's not too bad. We've decided to stay in a hotel once a week, especially while the weather is damp, as we need to have a good nights sleep.
We're 6 miles from the Californian border and tomorrows ride (66 miles) takes us to the Redwoods.. Can't wait although having read the profile of the ride it looks like it could be another tough day of Highway riding and some major hills... We're thinking about heading inland to avoid the freeway cycling coming up. 4 lanes of traffic and us cycling on the hard shoulder (which varies from a couple of feet to non existent) doesn't fill us with
joy!
Everywhere you look there's somebody holding a coffee cup. It's a national institution. If you order drip coffee (filter) you get free fill ups. Something that I can't see working in England. The best place we've visited (yes, even better than Stumptown) was The Green Salmon Coffee Shop in Yachats. The baristas were great at their job and our coffees were fantastic. David ordered a "Kashmir Express" - a 16oz coffee described as "an exoctic middle eastern spiced espresso with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardomon, ginger and steamed milk".
I ordered an "Oregonian" - A 12oz strong brewed coffee lightly sweetened with steamed oregon hazelnut milk" - Delicious! The organic maple syrup pastry and huge cinnamon swirl were equally as tasty. The music was great and they had a coffee roasting machine on display inside the shop. There's so many small independent roasters in every town you pass. It really is a big thing and impressive to see.
Highlights -
* The views of the Oregon coast, especially further south.
* Green Salmon Coffee Shop.. Mmmmh, mmmhhh.. Fantastic coffee and delicious organic croissants and pastries.
* Washing our clothes at the laundry.
* The sunsets.
Lowlights -
* The constant drone of the traffice wizzing past you on Highway 101.
* Of the 400 miles or so we've cycled down the Oregon coast around 30 - 40 of those miles were good cycling.
* The small to non existent "cycle lane/hard shoulder" that's described as the Oregon Cycle Route! Highway cycling, grit, broken glass and pot holes don't make for a good ride.
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sarah
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Hi, Pics look fab!! cant believe how far you've travelled in such a short space of time!! you aint been gone 2 mins!! lol. Sounds like your having a fab time - everyones asking after you's!! looking forward to the next post saz xx