Rest Day
I am currently on a rest day in Lincoln City, Oregon. It was great to be able to sleep in for a change, especially after a really long day yesterday that included three long climbs and 93 miles of riding. Granted, if I did not get lost or back track, the official mileage would be 86 miles. The total trip mileage will be 960 miles but I think I will easily break a 1,000 miles by the end of the ride.
I really loved all three climbs. Two of them were in the Three Capes scenic route. It reminded me a lot of the climbs I used to do in the Bay Area through the redwoods with bone chilling descents (it was cold). The scenery was wonderful but the road was very rough with some serious holes in it - much like Maine's roads. The last climb was a very doable grade and I was able to fly up the first part of it in the big chain ring at 15-19 mph. The descent was pure heaven with switchback turns and a smooth surface. I ate so much yesterday but it was probably a good thing. I decided not to bring my heart rate monitor on this trip but another rider mentioned he burnt over 5,000 calories.
After I wrote my last blog post Monday, we had a couple of long climbs, including one through a tunnel with a narrow margin for bicycles. The only safety reassurance you had was to push a button that would flash a sign at the top of the tunnel entrance to instruct traffic to slow down to 30 mph due to bicyclists on the road. Carol and I just got out of the tunnel right before a semi bolted out the opening. It was probably the second knarly part of the day but a great adventure. Once we got to the top of the last hill, it was one of the best rewards ever. The sky was crystal clear blue and the Pacific was a bright and inviting blue. You could see for miles down the Oregon coast. Then we descended the hill and the Pacific was on our right, as if we were riding right on top of the ocean. It was a perfect day. Yet we haven't seen the sun since.
I am hoping for sunshine tomorrow and so far, there' no rain in the forecast. I am off to eat some more now.
Take care.
