Leaving Gold Beach was easy. Throughout our trip we have been noting spots we'll want to explore a little more with a car as we head home, and Gold Beach didn't really make the list. We started out in a fog so heavy we got wet from riding through it. I figured it would burn off in no time but it didn't. I started with lots of clothes and lighted vest, then removed extra layers and just had the lights, because it wasn't that cold, just misty - my glasses and skin then got dew covered and I was verging on uncomfortable until I got hold of myself and did a reality check ... we had just ridden nearly 400 miles down the coast of Oregon in September without a drop of rain!!! Even this fog, was a minor inconvenience; it just collected on us as we moved so fast through it, LOL. We each found a tolerable combination of clothes and kept moving, up several climbs and then down. I found it most comfortable without glasses or jacket as I warmed on those up hill challenges ... at the top of the first big one the pavement was graffitied "nice warm up" and we figured it was prepping us for what was ahead. Yikes!
Over the course of the last week, have made a few observations about riding a highway that you don't see ... or see differently, driving a car. Some we liked, others we didn't, here are a few:
..... I scratched my head, perplexed when I saw signs reporting "BICYCLES ENTERING ROADWAY". Mostly, we were ALWAYS on the roadway. Still every hundred miles or so ... maybe in a narrow place ... maybe not, they remind the drivers we are out there. Hmmm. I guess its like when we were in a construction zone in Northern California today, with those flagger people with orange vests, walkie-talkies and a duel stop/slow sign in hand. This particular flagger lady had us wait until last to proceed through an area of one-way traffic. As the last of the north-bound cars cleared, she got a message from her south-end buddy "white toyota pick-up" and then released our fellow south-bound travelers with engines. As she held up the stop sign for the next transition and let the two of us have our turn at the tail end, we heard her call into her walkie-talkie "18wheeler, unloaded, Dickens Company logo on door".
"WHAT ABOUT US," we screamed as we rode fast to try to catch that 18 wheeler! Sometimes you just don't count when you're on a bike.
Here's another ...
...... "ROUGH ROADWAY". You just don't get a good sense of "rough" from your car, or even walking, like you do from a bike. Even when it's not posted, it's often rough. There are miles of new roadway down hwy 101, owing mostly to unstable coastal soil. Cracks in the existing pavement are painted, no doubt under the scrutiny of the highway department's watchful eye. Anyway, old and new layers of pavement meet irregularly ... yes ... in the bike lane. Exactly where you feel it most.
...... "Passing lane 1/2 mile ahead" Not a good sign. On pedal-power, that means you're coming to a hill, probably a very, looooooong one.
..... On the other hand, "RIGHT LANE ENDS" is a very, VERY, good sign. From my bike, it is a sign of hope. We are approaching a DOWNHILL! Yeah! :)
..... Strangely enough, I learned to appreciate those big trucks for there ability to draft me just a little. Every bit helps when you've been on a hill for an eternity and your quads feel the burn.
Well, we made it to California, cold and cloudy, but our trip wasn't over yet ...
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