Day 72: Crescent City to Gold Beach, Oregon, 59 miles
Day 73: Gold Beach to Bullards Beach State Park, 60 miles
Day 74: Bullards to Honeyman State Park, 74 miles
Day 75: Honeyman to Beachside State Park, 36 miles
Day 76: Beachside to Beverly Beach State Park, 27 miles
Day 71: 5/22/14
Today was a long day of riding in cool temps and headwinds in the 15-20 m.p.h. I rode 88 miles to Crescent City, CA just on the edge of the California/Oregon border and stopped at a warmshowers host which ended up being St. Paul's Trinity Church in right in Crescent. I met Katie, the host here, at the church and she showed me around the inside. There were a bunch of tables where they do free meals every other Thursday and then a few couches and a bathroom that were at my disposal for the night. After that she showed me where the key was to go in and and out and wished me luck on the rest of my journey and she left. I had the whole spot to myself! So I cranked up the pandora and went to shower up. As I was showering I started to hear voices out in the rec area and first thought that maybe God had finally come down to have a chat with me about my life. My second thought was damn! I didn't bring any clothes into the bathroom with me so I was going to be meeting God in my birthday suit... My luck.
So I finished the shower and wrapped up in my towel and walked out to hear what the Big Man had to say to me. But, when I got out there I was instead met by Bruce and Karen. I felt a bit more embarrassed standing in front of them being so scantily clad than if it had actually been Gosh from up on high but they forgave me just the same.
After getting some clothes on I ended up having a really good night cooking a DiGiorno pizza and talking with them. Bruce was a retired military man who had done a x-c trip himself back in '81 and Karen was his wife, an artist/interior designer. They hailed from Ohio where they also ran a B&B there in an old historic home and were headed down the coast and eventually across the country to Boston. They were also riding a pretty sweet custom-made tandem bike.
Day 72: 5/23/14
High temp for the day was 64 and winds from the North again at 10-15 m.p.h. I headed out from Crescent City at at 8:30 a.m. and at about 10:00 a.m. It started to rain and then just after that I got a flat on my front tire... Califronia didn't want me to leave!
After getting the tube replaced I crossed into Brookings, Oregon and officially left California. It was a bittersweet feeling. On the one side I was happy to be progressing along on this coast, but at the same time I was sad to be leaving Cali.
In Brookings I grabbed lunch and picked up a few more tubes for my stock and then road along the coast to Gold Beach with some pretty fantastic views of the coast the whole way. I stayed the night in Gold Beach RV Park and for the first time in a while I actually felt my legs being sore while I laid out in my tent that night. The wind has definitely been taking its toll along with the almost constant up and down terrain.
Day 73: 5/24/14
I still woke up feeling a bit tired and almost contemplating taking the day off but once I got up and going I started feeling better despite the 20-25 m.p.h. headwinds that I had for the entirety of the day.
I ended up doing 60 miles and ended at Bullards Beach State Park just north of Bandon, OR.
The campground was completely full with Memorial Day Weekend folks but thankfully they still had some hike/bike sites available which I gladly took for $5.
At the campsite I met Max and Eric, two grad students from Nashville, who were riding south down the coast and we got to exchange some advice/stories from the road. Max told me about this crazy old lady in a tent that he met a few days earlier (and funny enough I stayed with her in Beachside State Park...small world)
Day 74: 5/25/14
The winds had calmed for the day and I had a really nice day of riding. Ended up doing 74 miles to Honeyman State Park at another Hike and Bike campsite which was really nice minus the Mosquitos that were swarming everywhere.
After I started up a fire they dispersed a bit and the rest of the night was quite relaxing and peaceful.... Until about 4:00 a.m. when it started to rain. Thankfully, I had my rain fly on the tent and it did it's job and I stayed dry and warm in the tent.
Day 75: 5/26/14
It rained well into the morning and I laid in the tent hoping that it would stop, but by 8:30 a.m. it was still coming down so I decided I had to get up and deal with it. I was moving very slow and everything was damp and wet but I had already decided to do a short day so I was in no rush.
I rode 4 miles and stopped at a McDonald's for some spicy McChickens and a hot fudge sundae and of course a large diet coke and then rode to Beachside State Park to make it 36 miles for the day.
At the hike/bike campsite was the crazy lady that Max had told me about a few nights earlier and we had the whole place just to ourselves....
I walked into the space and she popped her head out of her little dome tent with a joint lazily stuck out of the corner of her mouth. "I thought I heard something," she said and gave me a crackly tooth little grin.
I ended up making some peanut butter and honey and banana sandwiches for the both of us and we ate sandwiches, and cookies (that I'd also purchased earlier in the day) and I scrounged up some abandoned wood at a few of the other sites and we sat around for the night talking and eating and enjoying the fire and the sound of the waves just on the other side of the trees that served as a barrier between the campsite and the beach.
All in all it was a pretty fun and interesting night with Dolores (the crazy lady) who ended up not being so crazy after all. Quirky for sure, but she still had her head on mostly straight..
Day 76: 5/27/14
After packing up at Beachside I rode into Newport where there was a bike shop (Newport Bike) that served as a "day hostel" for touring cyclists. I've gotten a shower and was able to do laundry and now am charging up the phone and relaxing in their upstairs lounge while they change out my tires for new ones... I finally gave in and decided after 4,500 miles that I should get some new tires on the old beast. Hopefully, these new guys will get be at least back to New York. Today will again be a short day and I'll be ending in Beverly Beach State park just north of Newport.
Tomorrow will be back to some more regular miles days en route to Portland and then Seattle.
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