So the intentional community we stayed with just outside of Deadwood, OR...the one we biked 40 miles inland and up a mountain to get to...yeah it sucked. We got there in the evening...stayed a whole day, got up the following morning and bounced. No one was welcoming or inviting and sometimes acted quite rude, so with that sentiment we left and headed back to the coast feeling a little perturbed about the intentional community vibe hence forth.
We managed to hitch part of the way back to Florence so we could at least make SOME progress down the coast versus staying in the same state park we did 2 nights before. We ended up getting maybe 10 miles out of Florence and were going to stay in another state park when by chance another dude in a pick up offered us a ride to Bandon...like 60 miles south. That would make up for the days lost at the farm and so we hopped aboard and cruised down to Bandon.
He was an interesting guy, lots of stories and strong opinions of matters of taxes, immigrants, and marijuana, but another wise kind fellow. The kind of fellow that returns the wallet of the idiot biker who hitch hiked with him down the coast and forgot her wallet when she got out. YEAH...that HAPPENED!! For some reason I asked what his full name was and REMEMBERED IT! I looked him up, called him and within 30 minutes my wallet was returned. He was REALLY awesome and didn't even let me thank him with the $5 bill I had saying only "Oh, I have lots of money!" Needless today, I went from a full meltdown to carefree in a matter of no time...shit...frightening.
We camped out in the park with 3 other cyclist, 2 guys named Pim and Jella from Holland (I know...more Dutch) Who started in Toronto, Canada and were heading to L.A. before returning home to start college, yep, they were 18. And then there was Joe, from Thailand, who started in Virginia and was heading to San Fran before he went back to Thailand to resume life as a sound engineer. Yes, it was a united nations at the campfire and much political chats and talks of homeland customs were exchanged. The dutch guys had jiffy pop and after we shared a tin we all went to bed. I actually managed to get a decent nights sleep, I haven't been sleeping well when we camp. Don't kid yourself, when deciding between the 1 inch or 1.5 inch sleeping pad...go with the 1.5, Lani sleeps like a log while I wrestle all night with the flipping and the flopping and the bruised hips and the knots in my back. When you add super uneven ground and creepy animal noises to the equation, you get a sleepless, strung out Maggie. BUT...last night wasn't too bad, there is a certain level of safety you feel surrounded by your fellow campers, strangers that they may be...we are all comrades in this here camp life.
The sleep was magical until about 8AM when the crows decided to go batshit nuts and CAW CAW CAWed until Lani contemplated confronting the issue head on with the bear mace and my Rambo knife. We tucked murderous thoughts away and awoke for the day in time to say bye to our new friends.
We're staying another day or 2 in Bandon, not really because it's that cool, but because rest days are nice and Lani has been having some muscular gripes. Since we're in no hurry, why not? I'm sure a few rest days will do my body good too. We did some much need laundry in the Laundromat in town and then went into old town on the bay to treat ourselves to a nice meal...something we don't do too often. Tonight we heard there is a town dinner, free for all, so we should get another awesome meal in before bedtime...FREE MEAL!
I'm really craving some ice cream so I'm gonna sign out for now....handle that hankering.
Sorry no pics...been slacking...I promise to be better!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Where the hell are we? When the hell are we?
View Ride a Damn Bike in a larger map
Hey Team,
So here I sit in the "office" of the intentional community a.k.a. commune, better known as our home for the few days...just outside of Deadwood, OR. I spent a long time fiddling with that map so you all could see the actual route we're taking. SHIT. We decided we would leave the cafe after a mere 3.5 hours of rest and just see how far we could get before the kind lady from the glass shop came by to pick us up. WELL, we are such ballers and in super awesome shape that we KILLED 21 miles of climbing up a mountain in just over 2 hours and required no ride...putting us over 40 miles for the day. Our biggest ride as of yet...beat our best by about 10 miles.
SOOO...there we were...exhausted...sweaty and in the middle of NOWHERE. We were warned that we would encounter some mountain lions or bears or elk along the way, no naturally we got out every means of defense we have and made them REAL handy...like the bear mace in my front panniers side pocket, or my Rambo knife in my handlebar bar...precautions. The further we got the more is seemed like we were in a South American jungle and the louder those banjos got to playin' (do you get my deliverance reference?) Anyways...we finally made it...take a right into the hippie commune shortly after the pavement ends...GOT IT.
We were greeted by a group of mellow, interestingly dressed mesh of people hanging out by a car near the big farm house. Some introduced themselves...some didn't bother...they were all waiting to go to a "gathering" I guess, except it was really unclear why they were waiting. It seemed all parties were accounted for and the vehicle was no less then 3 feet away. Did they lose the keys? No gas? Directions? We passed this group after getting settled into our tent in the north field and getting the grand tour (complete with 1 x 12 plank bridge over creek, yeah...200 pound bikes over THAT was fun) and yet still....they remained.
This place is straight out of a Woodstock biopic. There are actually old buses converted into housed that people live in. Not to mention the various other structures parading around as "houses". It's a trip, we got free reign of the fridge and the main house where we could cook a meal, take a shower, use the washer/dryer and the only people that seemed weirded out by all of this were...well...ME AND LANI. No one even batted an eye that 2 new strangers were whipping up cheesy eggs in the kitchen at 9pm...no cared enough to even ask us who we were, let alone what the hell we were doing raiding the fridge. Luckily there are other "visitors" and a kind young man named Miles gave us the run down and what we could expect. After using the WiFi and updating various parties (my mom) on whether or not we were mauled by a cougar we packed it in and headed across the plank bridge to our tent. Lani was quickly sawing logs, but something about being 20 miles from ANYTHING in a COMMUNE with HIPPIES...just made me feel real weird. All this open space and fresh air and proximity to nature that can kill me at any moment just put me on edge. Call me silly, call me corrupted by modernization, call me a pussy, but I grabbed up my computer and back to the "office" I went where I plan to warm myself by the glow of my laptop and probably fall asleep on this couch that numerous unbathed people before me have probably sacked out.
I'm suffocating on all this "out in the wild" bullshit...hopefully tomorrow is better...maybe.
Marge
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Light some sage, get out the tye dye, live in a bus, we're in Hippie Country FOLKS!
So check my flava friends,
We're currently sitting at a cafe in Mapleton, OR, about 16 miles inland from the coast, sippin' some organic hippie coffee and staring at the Siuslaw River. This town is a nice blend of mother-earth-loving hippies who make their home just 21 miles up the road on the Alpha farm in Deadwood, AND straight up Harley ridin', loggers. I can't quite put my finger on it but there is a palpable vibe between the two groups. I think for the most part one just pretends the other isn't really there. The Alpha farm has a little shop where they sell wholesome organic food, holistic type knick-knacks and have a library chalk full of hippie throwback books and more astrology, chart reading guides than you can shake a stick at, while just 2 doors down there is a biker bar complete with chain smoking, tattooed, hard asses.
IN-TER-EST-ING
Last night we slept in the Honeyman State Park in the hiker/biker section of the park. We are sectioned off since we smell and don't have money for things like cars or firewood or soap. WHATEVER. We managed to link up with some really awesome people touring down the coast to various spots, from various spots.
Miles and Fumie were from Colorado en route to San Francisco where Miles plans to live and work and Fumie, fresh off an internship in Washington, was down to join him. They are both recent graduates of CSU in Fort Collins, CO where a certain YOU KNOW WHO (Me) was born...I mean, I was only there for 3 months before my parents packed us off to MN, but still...that's a connection folks. There was also Michael, a quiet lad from the Spokane region of Washington, making his way to Santa Cruz to be a chef, hopefully, if his camp meals were any indication of his talent he should land a gig in no time. QUINOA?? AT CAMP?? Then we have Adam and Alana who are choosing to tour a bit down the coast on their vacations from work. Pretty nice.
We gathered around the firepit and attempted for the better part of 2 hours trying to get the damp wood to do more than just whaft smoke in our faces. There were spurts of warmth, to keep us around making jokes and swappin' stories into the night. It also helped that Miles decided early on to go and get several six packs of Pabst for the group and only root beer for the sober nerd. CHEERS!
The hard packed and lumpy camp site made for an interesting night of sleep, but I was up and ready to hit the road by about 10. All saddled up and a little sad to not be making the trek to Coos Bay where the rest of the group was heading, me and Lani biked back into Florence to swing by the post office to pick up the cell phone charger I left in Portland that Kyle, our host in Portland, so nicely mailed for me and to meet up with the 126 towards Eugene. All the way to Mapleton we followed the river and it was really nice and flat so I was averaging about 14 miles an hour (slight headwind), so that felt good, coving a lot of miles in a short period of time. Mapleton is about midway to Deadwood, so we're taking a break and deciding whether or not to ride more up the pass for another 20 miles into the farm or hang out and hitch a ride with Sunny, a woman who works at the farm, but is spending her day off at the glass studio in Mapleton. Hmm...?? What do you think we'll do?
That's about it for now. I'll post some photos and videos for the publics viewing pleasure. Y'all come back now.
We're currently sitting at a cafe in Mapleton, OR, about 16 miles inland from the coast, sippin' some organic hippie coffee and staring at the Siuslaw River. This town is a nice blend of mother-earth-loving hippies who make their home just 21 miles up the road on the Alpha farm in Deadwood, AND straight up Harley ridin', loggers. I can't quite put my finger on it but there is a palpable vibe between the two groups. I think for the most part one just pretends the other isn't really there. The Alpha farm has a little shop where they sell wholesome organic food, holistic type knick-knacks and have a library chalk full of hippie throwback books and more astrology, chart reading guides than you can shake a stick at, while just 2 doors down there is a biker bar complete with chain smoking, tattooed, hard asses.
IN-TER-EST-ING
Last night we slept in the Honeyman State Park in the hiker/biker section of the park. We are sectioned off since we smell and don't have money for things like cars or firewood or soap. WHATEVER. We managed to link up with some really awesome people touring down the coast to various spots, from various spots.
Miles and Fumie were from Colorado en route to San Francisco where Miles plans to live and work and Fumie, fresh off an internship in Washington, was down to join him. They are both recent graduates of CSU in Fort Collins, CO where a certain YOU KNOW WHO (Me) was born...I mean, I was only there for 3 months before my parents packed us off to MN, but still...that's a connection folks. There was also Michael, a quiet lad from the Spokane region of Washington, making his way to Santa Cruz to be a chef, hopefully, if his camp meals were any indication of his talent he should land a gig in no time. QUINOA?? AT CAMP?? Then we have Adam and Alana who are choosing to tour a bit down the coast on their vacations from work. Pretty nice.
We gathered around the firepit and attempted for the better part of 2 hours trying to get the damp wood to do more than just whaft smoke in our faces. There were spurts of warmth, to keep us around making jokes and swappin' stories into the night. It also helped that Miles decided early on to go and get several six packs of Pabst for the group and only root beer for the sober nerd. CHEERS!
The hard packed and lumpy camp site made for an interesting night of sleep, but I was up and ready to hit the road by about 10. All saddled up and a little sad to not be making the trek to Coos Bay where the rest of the group was heading, me and Lani biked back into Florence to swing by the post office to pick up the cell phone charger I left in Portland that Kyle, our host in Portland, so nicely mailed for me and to meet up with the 126 towards Eugene. All the way to Mapleton we followed the river and it was really nice and flat so I was averaging about 14 miles an hour (slight headwind), so that felt good, coving a lot of miles in a short period of time. Mapleton is about midway to Deadwood, so we're taking a break and deciding whether or not to ride more up the pass for another 20 miles into the farm or hang out and hitch a ride with Sunny, a woman who works at the farm, but is spending her day off at the glass studio in Mapleton. Hmm...?? What do you think we'll do?
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| New bike friends at the Campsite in Honeyman, near Florence, OR |
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| Lani is not impressed with our fire making skills |
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| "Let's go inland to find hippies!!" |
Actin' a fool in Newport....
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The glass is half full....maybe half empty?
Hello Interwebs,
From here we sit...Newport, OR in Cafe Mundo, a hip little joint near the coast where our host for the night, Amie, works. The food was too delicious for us to pass up and I feel ok about spending money on yummy home made food.
Today we woke up on Otter Beach just north of Newport to a blustery, cold, wet and miserable coastal rain. I mean our luck had to run out at some point, no? Yes gang...we spent a full day laid out on the beach yesterday, I mean we're talking Waikiki style, clear skies, hot sun, and the beach to ourselves. We figure we need days of rest in between the days of hard riding up and down the coast and why not do it on the beach? But as we've come to realize here, the nice weather never stays long and the cold front with inevitably get you.
Suffice it to say that we mounted up at the first break of rain and rode south to Newport as quick as we could in the hopes of finding a couch to surf. While we sat in a Hawaiian themed cafe (is that the universe messing with us?) we patrolled the pages of Couchsurfing.org in the hopes of some kind soul helping us out. Amie answered the call and we were at her doorstep in no time at all. She and her dog, Jager, have a lovely little beach side studio just outside of town. Lani and I will be spending the night on the floor, sleep over style. Since we called our day of riding early due to weather we just relaxed and dried off until we got ancy and ventured into town. We met the kind folks at Newport Bike Shop, who actually have a full lounge, complete with TV's, WiFi and SHOWERS for passing bike tourists, unfortunately we didn't realize that until after we got to Amie's. Damn.
Now that you're all caught up to the minute with us...let's regress a bit back to Otter Rock. This cliff lined beach was nothing short of breath taking and we got to camp FOR free for 2 lovely nights. We actually met 2 other bike tourists from Holland named Joost and Michiel, who started their journey at the tip of Alaska in the arctic circle and it only took them 2 months to get to Oregon. They are cycling down to the tip of Argentina over the course of 18 months. When there they will deposit a bottle of water from the arctic as a symbol of the water cycle. They are raising awareness about the global water crisis, which leaves 1 billion people without access to clean safe drinking water. Check them out at www.cycleforwater.com...the coolest part is they are on BAMBOO bikes. Trippy stuff.
Otter Rock is also home to the Devil's Punch Bowl, which is a tide pool you can frolic in when it's low tide...which I did of course...only slipping a half dozen or more times. All the creepy crawlies were out and I was quickly freaked the hell outta there, the fear of being infested coupled with the threat of the tide suddenly rushing back in made for a quick, but THOROUGH go around. Also there was a dead seal on the beach and that made me feel some feelings.
View Ride a Damn Bike in a larger map
From here we sit...Newport, OR in Cafe Mundo, a hip little joint near the coast where our host for the night, Amie, works. The food was too delicious for us to pass up and I feel ok about spending money on yummy home made food.
Today we woke up on Otter Beach just north of Newport to a blustery, cold, wet and miserable coastal rain. I mean our luck had to run out at some point, no? Yes gang...we spent a full day laid out on the beach yesterday, I mean we're talking Waikiki style, clear skies, hot sun, and the beach to ourselves. We figure we need days of rest in between the days of hard riding up and down the coast and why not do it on the beach? But as we've come to realize here, the nice weather never stays long and the cold front with inevitably get you.
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| The only picture I took all day |
Suffice it to say that we mounted up at the first break of rain and rode south to Newport as quick as we could in the hopes of finding a couch to surf. While we sat in a Hawaiian themed cafe (is that the universe messing with us?) we patrolled the pages of Couchsurfing.org in the hopes of some kind soul helping us out. Amie answered the call and we were at her doorstep in no time at all. She and her dog, Jager, have a lovely little beach side studio just outside of town. Lani and I will be spending the night on the floor, sleep over style. Since we called our day of riding early due to weather we just relaxed and dried off until we got ancy and ventured into town. We met the kind folks at Newport Bike Shop, who actually have a full lounge, complete with TV's, WiFi and SHOWERS for passing bike tourists, unfortunately we didn't realize that until after we got to Amie's. Damn.
Now that you're all caught up to the minute with us...let's regress a bit back to Otter Rock. This cliff lined beach was nothing short of breath taking and we got to camp FOR free for 2 lovely nights. We actually met 2 other bike tourists from Holland named Joost and Michiel, who started their journey at the tip of Alaska in the arctic circle and it only took them 2 months to get to Oregon. They are cycling down to the tip of Argentina over the course of 18 months. When there they will deposit a bottle of water from the arctic as a symbol of the water cycle. They are raising awareness about the global water crisis, which leaves 1 billion people without access to clean safe drinking water. Check them out at www.cycleforwater.com...the coolest part is they are on BAMBOO bikes. Trippy stuff.
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| Our humble abode...bottom left |
Otter Rock is also home to the Devil's Punch Bowl, which is a tide pool you can frolic in when it's low tide...which I did of course...only slipping a half dozen or more times. All the creepy crawlies were out and I was quickly freaked the hell outta there, the fear of being infested coupled with the threat of the tide suddenly rushing back in made for a quick, but THOROUGH go around. Also there was a dead seal on the beach and that made me feel some feelings.
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| Low tide |
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| Devil's Punchbowl |
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| Right NEAR DA BEACH |
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| Taking a break before another climb up Cascade Head |
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| Shaboom. |
This appears to be a Memento style backwards post because I have no chronological pacing in my free form writing style....or I'm just forgetful. So before Otter Rock, before Newport, we parted ways with Karen and Joe in Neskowin and headed up to tackle Cascade head...CLIMB CLIMB CLIMB CLIMB...for about 2 hours...only really covering about 2 to 3 miles of ground. We opted to take the Slab Creek Road, gentler grade climb rather than hit the 101 and go straight up. I mean...I'm pretty sure we would have dropped dead of a heart attack if we tried to go straight up, but those gentler grades that seem to go on and on and on forever push me to the edge of sanity. Especially Cascade head that offered NO flats or breaks...just creeped up winding climbs. We took a break for Lani to stretch and for me to lay on my back and collect myself for a moment, for if I didn't a would lose it in the middle of the Suislaw National Forest and you never know when I park ranger will be able to come and collect the pulpy mess that was once Maggie.
Anyways...with every climb comes the inevitable downhill on the otherside...and this one was EPIC. We're talking a 6 minute free fall at 30 miles per hour...I just about pooed myself at those speeds.
After that it felt like smooth sailing all the way through Lincoln City and to what we thought was our campsite at Fogarty Creek, but it turned out to be only day use so we were told to press on towards Newport, another 10 or so miles down the road to Beverly Beach where they offered camping for bikers. BUT FIRST we had to brave Cape Foulweather...while not as intense as Cascade Head, at the end of a 30 mile ride, running on fumes, I was yet again pushed to my mental and physical brink. After tipping over twice, one from exhaustion the other from attempting to take a picture and subsequently smashing into a rock wall...MAN DOWN!! Thank god Lani was feeling fresh as spring and was able to drag me along with her. We eventually were spit out on the other side of the cape after another sweet free fall, where we ran into Paul and his dog Lucky, who offered us beer (changed to pop for me) if we went and looked at the point at Otter Rock at sunset before pressing on to Beverly Beach. Long story short we ended up camping at Otter for 2 nights and never went to Beverly Beach.
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| Paul is not really in the pic, but Lani and surfer, Guy, made small talk by the fire. |
Well faithful readers, that's all I got for now. I think I'll sign off and make an effort to relax and enjoy the vibe in Newport. Hopefully tomorrow we make it to Yahacts or beyond. Forecast says CLEAR SKIES!!
Oh wait...the 6 minute free fall video down Cascade head. It's kinda poor quality and shakey, but it's fun and has some funny bits in the middle.
Also...an updated map:
View Ride a Damn Bike in a larger map
Until we find another hotspot!!
Marge and Lani
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Serendipity...one more time
Hello Boys and Girls and Everyone in between,
I hate to make this a quick entry, but it's been quite a long day, but there have been so many exciting moments that I felt it necessary to share while they were fresh on my mind.
SOOO...we woke up this morning in the beach house near Pacific City and got to a late start because Lani wanted to stretch out and run over to the post office to send some stuff home that wasn't really necessary. Anyways, I went to Cafe Stimulus again to use the web and drink a bit of coffee, while I waited for Lani to finish up her errands (one of those errands being map procurement...very key). We shoved off at about 1pm just in time for the clouds to part and the sun to come out, fortunate since the storm the night before really cooled things off. Our tentative goal for the day was about a 20 miles ride to Lincoln City, but we weren't gonna go crazy with the goal setting because despite sleeping indoors we didn't really catch a good night sleep for some reason and we hadn't really had a hardy meal, mostly just snacks.
We arrived in Neskowin, OR at about 3pm and it was here that we had a decision to make: Do we try to camp around here for the night and attempt to brave the HUGE incline (800 ft elevation) towards Lincoln City, do we try to hitch a ride from someone, or do we take the round about way and go a distance out of our way? TICK TOCK TICK TOCK. We literally were sitting at the fork reviewing our maps when from across the highway we see a woman flagging us down and waving in the direction of the side road.
After a brief ping pong of exchanges she drove over to us and told us not to even TRY and bike 2 miles up the pass and to just go around it on the side road. We got to chatting with this woman, Karen was her name, about where we were heading and where we wanted to end up at the end of the day and she GRACIOUOSLY offered to host us in her home just under 2 miles down that very side road. She wrote the directions down for us to follow to get to her home, instructions that involved passing not one, but 2 meadows and taking various wooden bridges over creeks.
Less than 10 minutes later we were standing outside the amazing home of Karen, meeting her husband Joe and their dogs, Lava and Augusta ( Augusta is actually their neighbors dog, their neighbors being Karen's brother and his wife). From under the wisteria tree that is wrapped around the support beam of their porch Joe welcomed us into his home, offering us both of the guest beds, hot showers and free reign of the LAUNDRY ROOM!
There was a stretch of about 10 minutes where Lani and I just stared at each other in disbelief, breaking our gaze and slack jawwed amazement only to nuzzle with the kitties, Ash and Scatter, and talk baby to the dogs. We were quickly showered and settled in and decided to go through the meadow and have a look at Karen's HUGE organic garden, complete with green house, and feast on various varieties of tomatoes, peppers and greens.
I hate to make this a quick entry, but it's been quite a long day, but there have been so many exciting moments that I felt it necessary to share while they were fresh on my mind.
SOOO...we woke up this morning in the beach house near Pacific City and got to a late start because Lani wanted to stretch out and run over to the post office to send some stuff home that wasn't really necessary. Anyways, I went to Cafe Stimulus again to use the web and drink a bit of coffee, while I waited for Lani to finish up her errands (one of those errands being map procurement...very key). We shoved off at about 1pm just in time for the clouds to part and the sun to come out, fortunate since the storm the night before really cooled things off. Our tentative goal for the day was about a 20 miles ride to Lincoln City, but we weren't gonna go crazy with the goal setting because despite sleeping indoors we didn't really catch a good night sleep for some reason and we hadn't really had a hardy meal, mostly just snacks.
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| Bikin' on the 101 |
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| Check the view |
We arrived in Neskowin, OR at about 3pm and it was here that we had a decision to make: Do we try to camp around here for the night and attempt to brave the HUGE incline (800 ft elevation) towards Lincoln City, do we try to hitch a ride from someone, or do we take the round about way and go a distance out of our way? TICK TOCK TICK TOCK. We literally were sitting at the fork reviewing our maps when from across the highway we see a woman flagging us down and waving in the direction of the side road.
After a brief ping pong of exchanges she drove over to us and told us not to even TRY and bike 2 miles up the pass and to just go around it on the side road. We got to chatting with this woman, Karen was her name, about where we were heading and where we wanted to end up at the end of the day and she GRACIOUOSLY offered to host us in her home just under 2 miles down that very side road. She wrote the directions down for us to follow to get to her home, instructions that involved passing not one, but 2 meadows and taking various wooden bridges over creeks.
Less than 10 minutes later we were standing outside the amazing home of Karen, meeting her husband Joe and their dogs, Lava and Augusta ( Augusta is actually their neighbors dog, their neighbors being Karen's brother and his wife). From under the wisteria tree that is wrapped around the support beam of their porch Joe welcomed us into his home, offering us both of the guest beds, hot showers and free reign of the LAUNDRY ROOM!
There was a stretch of about 10 minutes where Lani and I just stared at each other in disbelief, breaking our gaze and slack jawwed amazement only to nuzzle with the kitties, Ash and Scatter, and talk baby to the dogs. We were quickly showered and settled in and decided to go through the meadow and have a look at Karen's HUGE organic garden, complete with green house, and feast on various varieties of tomatoes, peppers and greens.
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| Dirt road to paradise |
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| Puppaayz and kittayz |
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| Just a lil' somethin' Joe threw together |
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| Lani and Ash |
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| Me and Lava |
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| HOME |
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| My own bed |
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| Best tomato...ever...seriously |
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| A stroll to the garden |
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| Oh Ash you HAM |
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| Joe and Karen in their kitchen with us. |
UNTIL LATER...
Maggie and Lani
Monday, September 20, 2010
Multi-media Post
I didn't have a chance to post this stuff yesterday...so why not now?
View Ride a Damn Bike in a larger map
All mapped out for you!!
Dumb luck
We went up and down that several times...sheesh.
View Ride a Damn Bike in a larger map
All mapped out for you!!
Dumb luck
We went up and down that several times...sheesh.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Hello Mr. Pacific Ocean, how are you today?
Hello Team,
Well...we're still alive, big high five to us on that. If you all have been following my facebook rants you will know that we scraped the initial plans of biking from Portland, to Salem, to Corvallis and then Eugune. Turns out that biking out of Portland is like trying to escape from David Bowie in the Labyrinth, i.e. fucking impossible. After some extensive research and some heavy contemplation we opted to take the Tillamook commuter bus from Portland to Tillamook, OR near the coast.
I know, I know, I know...why didn't we just try and bike it? Well kids, we spoke with a reliable source by the name of, David, at the Community Cycling Center in Portland and he told us that due to the lateness in the day (it was about noon by the time we got there) and the fact that Portland is a roach motel for bikers, you check in, but don't check out AND our goal is to RIDE DOWN THE COAST, we all agreed that this was our best option. Call us cheaters, call us lazy, call us whatever you want, but I regret nothing. At the moment I'm sitting in Stimulus Cafe in Pacific City, Oregon and I feel rather pleased.
Between Portland bus waiting and now we've seen pretty much every type of climate you can imagine. We arrived in Tillamook last night at about 5pm to a steady downpour. After a few confused moments of gathering our whits we happened upon a campsite. We meet Barbara, a lovely older gal, who seemed a little shocked to find 2 young ladies inquiring about campsites, in the rain, on bicycles. She told us we COULD pay for a patch of land for the night out in the open OR we could walk 20 feet and post up under the bridge. HMMMM...that was a tough one....dry, free and directly next to us??? OR pay money to camp out in a field where cows graze, in the rain.
That's where we are for now kids. Tune back in for more adventures on a god damn bike.
Well...we're still alive, big high five to us on that. If you all have been following my facebook rants you will know that we scraped the initial plans of biking from Portland, to Salem, to Corvallis and then Eugune. Turns out that biking out of Portland is like trying to escape from David Bowie in the Labyrinth, i.e. fucking impossible. After some extensive research and some heavy contemplation we opted to take the Tillamook commuter bus from Portland to Tillamook, OR near the coast.
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| On the bus to Tillamook |
I know, I know, I know...why didn't we just try and bike it? Well kids, we spoke with a reliable source by the name of, David, at the Community Cycling Center in Portland and he told us that due to the lateness in the day (it was about noon by the time we got there) and the fact that Portland is a roach motel for bikers, you check in, but don't check out AND our goal is to RIDE DOWN THE COAST, we all agreed that this was our best option. Call us cheaters, call us lazy, call us whatever you want, but I regret nothing. At the moment I'm sitting in Stimulus Cafe in Pacific City, Oregon and I feel rather pleased.
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| Current view, so suck it |
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Fast forward 10 minutes later>>>>>
Tents are erected, camp stove is set up and vegetable parmesan is on it's way to being rehydrated for our eating enjoyment.
We had some extra special luck since it steadily rained all night and we have yet to scotch guard our tents SUPER well....again...I know, I know, I know.
Tents are erected, camp stove is set up and vegetable parmesan is on it's way to being rehydrated for our eating enjoyment.
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| Bridge Life |
I set up my 1 man tent and Lani set up her 2 man tent and off to bed we went. It didn't take long for me to realize that sleeping under and bridge in a one person tent next to creepy, old, rusty lawn furniture and network of spider webs COMPLETE with enormous spiders wasn't going to fly and I subsequently knocked on Lani's tent to bunk up with her. A decision we were both extremely pleased about. I mean...if we're gonna sleep under a crazy bridge, in some town we've never been to under the advice of some stranger (even one as kind and demure as Barbara) we we're gonna do it within inches of each other.
We woke up to the sounds one might hear if you were to be, say, sleeping under a bridge...the thudding and whooshing of cars, trucks and the occasional big rig flying over us made for an interesting night sleep to say the least and I use the term sleep liberally. Though neither of us slept well or really wanted to get up we decided to pack up camp and make some really nasty dried eggs for breakfast, in the hopes of finding greener (and quieter) pastures.
We hit the 101 about 11:30 and headed south. For the most part we were in farm country, nesteled in a valley between the Cascades and some hills near the coast. The smell of cow pies every hundred feet or so really reminded me of biking through parts of rural MN... fantastic.
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| Oregon or MN? |
We decided to deviate from 101 after 15 or so miles to head west towards Cape Outlook, on the recommendation of David from CCC in Portland. After 5 minutes on this road we quickly realized we MAY have made a mistake. It was a steady climb for the better part of an hour an a half, making almost no progress and feeling like I might keel over and die at any point. Still determined, we trudge up and up and up and up, until finally we had to stop to catch a breath, eat some food, drink some water and have a deep conversation about what the hell we were doing. We kept experiencing extreme shifts in temperature, from high humidity to freezing head winds to SAND DUNES??? and we seemed to be making no progress.
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| Wait....sand dunes? |
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| Heading up hill....sucks..... |
We reviewed the map and learned that we were on the only road in and out of the Cape Outlook region and then we really got pissed. We were trudging up this hill only to take a picture near this spot and then ride back down again? Apparently that's the case, we even confirmed it with a car we flagged down that was heading up to the cape. We saddled back up and headed back down the hill we had been painstakingly climbing up with 100+ pounds of shit for the last hour and half.
.....
2 minutes later we were back on track and heading south again towards Pacific City. We maxed out at top speed of 31 miles per hour on that fucking hill...even with a head wind. After a few more hills and stops to try out my "you go girl" pee funnel we landed in Pacific City, OR and have landed a nice little spot to camp for the night with a resident of this fair city named Don. He offered to let us camp in his yard/on the beach, which turned out be free reign of his BEACH HOUSE that was under construction.
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| Ocean...Ocean...Ocean...and 2 nerds |
-Marge and Lawn Gnome
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