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DAY 5
We don't have this in Alabama!

Yesterday          Tomorrow
ROUTE: Bandon to Gold Beach OR DISTANCE: 57 Miles WINDS: Predominately north 10, but sometimes in our face around the hills
WEATHER: Sunny and clear at beginning, foggy midday.  High 70 in the sun...much cooler in the fog TERRAIN: Rolling at best TOTAL CLIMBING: 2395 feet

It was 7 years ago today.  We were on the Mississippi Ride when we saw the news that the towers had been attacked.  Lot's of time has passed since, but our lives will never be the same since that day.  Our thoughts go out to those who are still suffering from that day and our prayers are with those who are on the front lines who are making it possible for us to continue to enjoy the freedom of our great country.  God Bless America.

DAILY REPORT:  The word of the day...WOW!  Then we had another word in the afternoon...BUMMER!  Today was a day of contrasts...first half awesome, second half obscured.

It's hard to describe how beautiful it is here...I'll try to let some of the photos show what we saw early today.  I guess it just don't get much better than this.  I can see why this is one of the most popular biking avenues around the country.  The only downside today was after the SAG we got socked in with onshore breezes that brought in the fog that obscured the best part of the ride.

Short day today so we had a leisurely breakfast and loaded at 8:00.  Today's route took us mostly on hwy 101 which had a nice shoulder most of the way with only a couple short narrower areas to negotiate...no problem.  The first 4 miles were along the shoreline in Bandon...how do these people stand living around here with such scenery to endure everyday.  It took everyone about 45 minutes to cover the first 2 miles as they had to stop numerous times just to look.  The jagged shoreline in Oregon is much different than marshy bogs along the east coast.  Here we climb up and down the cliffs that overlook the pounding surf below and some of the sights below are simply unbelievable. 

The weather Gods smiled on us big time today early.  Today was probably the nicest departure weather we've had so far and we were anticipating a great day of shore watching...cool and clear when we departed and the sun was shining brightly...it couldn't have been better.  When we looked down the shoreline with the sun to our back, the water was a dark royal blue with what appeared to be large lava rocks protruding through the surface.  Although it is just scrumptious scenery, I don't know why people build houses along the shoreline.  There are Tsunami warning signs all along the low places along our route and there are houses everywhere.  I'd hate to wake up one morning staring at a wave 20 feet higher than my roof...but I guess they all accept that risk.

Three or four miles out of town we popped out on 101 which was pretty much highway surrounded by trees until the first SAG in the town of Port Orford where after that the road broke out to the shoreline and some of our best scenery to date...if we could have seen it.  When I drove into Port Orford I saw the breeze had changed to onshore and the fog had started to roll in...all I could think of was..."Oh Man!"  On the good side, we didn't have nearly as much climbing which made the day a bit easier.  The winds were a bit fickle around the slopes, but nothing obscene.

I spent the morning driving through everyone checking things out to see if everyone was doing OK.  It was just a great day and everyone was rolling fine.  There wasn't a whole lot of scenic photo opportunities when we were inland so I just watched everyone go by.  The last half of the ride after the SAG was pretty much a wash out as far as scenery was concerned.  The temperature was cool which made riding enjoyable, but you couldn't see the water unless you right up against it.  We had to go inland a time or two to get around a mountain and when we did, it was clear in a million...at least we got to see the sun on occasion.

When everyone got in, we offered a drive train maintenance clinic where I cover how to keep the chain, cogs, derailleurs, and shifters running smoothly.  Just like other times when I've given this talk, I got several requests to check the ware on their chains.

At rap, we said good bye to Steve who will be leaving in Crescent City.  We wished him well and hope he will come back and ride with us again soon.  We are picking up 4 more in Crescent City and they will be riding to San Francisco.

Tomorrow is our last riding day before our first day off.  I think everyone is looking forward to a little time to just look around.  The weather forecast is for good weather again...partly cloudy...no rain.  Hopefully, the sun will bless us again as we pass through the last miles of the beautiful Oregon coast.  As the sun sets on another day...see you tomorrow.

 
HEARD DURING THE DAY:

"This isn't so bad, anytime you look out into the ocean, you can only see so far.  Today, we can only see that far." 

Question asked of Rachel who knows sign language:  "Show me how you would sign, 'You are too stupid to learn sign.'"  The result was probably not officially sign language, but I'm sure he got the message.

"I could hear the ocean a time or two today."

"I'm not sitting down until I sign in."
"Craig, we don't have to sign in this morning."  He finally remembered and it was for naught.

"Laundry?  That's part of a roommate's responsibility."

"It's stamped on my Visa...'You can't go to America unless you stop at Dairy Queen.'"

 FOR MY DAUGHTER:

My daughter Krystal wanted a bigger photo of Sea Lions...we saw some yesterday.

SCENES OF THE DAY

Barb was thinking she could learn something from the natives about how to set up a SAG stop.

I couldn't find Karen this morning.  She had been off route whale watching.

Barb in a kidding mood, played a prank on an unsuspecting prospector.

Decisions...Steve was contemplating: turn the handle, go fast or turn the crank and have sore legs.

Marie was having trouble pushing the handle down on the pump until Mike added the needed ballast.

We had beautiful visibility early.

The view today.

I was standing in the same place last year when I took this photo.  What a difference a little less fog makes.

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