Ride 2019 Day 10
It was a sunny day when I left Bandon. Today was going to be one of my shorter days, so I was in no hurry. I stopped a little under 2 miles outside of town to take off my jacket and put on some sunscreen. As I was repacking everything, I noticed that I did not have my water bottles. I had to ride back to the hotel and get them, adding 3 1/2 miles to my trip for the day. The day’s ride summary is here.
Today, Highway 101 did not go very close to the coast. There were no ocean views until I got to Port Orford, 27 miles away. There were the usual set of hills and gliding along the way to Port Orford. This was about the halfway point of my ride for the day. There were not going to be any significant towns until my finish in Gold Beach. I decided to have lunch.
From Port Orford until Gold Beach, there were many incredible ocean views. There were usually other people at the viewpoints. I could have my picture taken, as well as capturing my own pictures of the ocean scenes.
Halfway to Gold Beach I saw another biker ahead of me. He was loaded down with two sets of panniers. I caught up with him and asked where he was going. He shook his head like he didn’t hear me or didn’t quite understand what I was saying. I heard a response with a strong German accent and realized he probably did not have a good command of the language. So, I wished him well and pedaled on ahead of him. At the top of a long hill, I pulled over to the side of the road so I could take a picture of him. I got out one of my business cards from my wallet, tucked it at the edge of my bike shorts near my leg, and pedaled on to catch him. When there was a break in the traffic I pedaled up to him and gave him my business card. I told him to email me and I would send him the pictures. I thought that would be the last I saw of him. Several miles down the road I found a secluded spot where I could take a bio break. As I was getting back on my bike, the German passed me by. I never saw him again because I was stopping too often to take pictures of the beautiful ocean views. When I got to the hotel at the end of my ride, I was surprised to see the German! It turns out we were staying at the same hotel. He had started his ride in Vancouver, Canada On Sept. 1. He noted that I was traveling much faster than he. I told him I wasn’t carrying half the gear as him because I was not camping!
Early in the day, when I knew my destination was Gold Beach, it made me think about golden sands. The mental jukebox dialed into Bobby Darin’s Beyond The Sea (Sailing). There’s a line that talks about golden sands. When I got to Port Orford, I wrote down the lyrics to the song during lunch. At one of the viewpoints I asked a couple to help me record my own version. They cut off the beginning but it still came out okay, given all the wind noise.
The rest of the night was filled with the usual logistics of laundry, shower, dinner, planning, and of course, blogging! Every day brings encounters with new and interesting people. Tomorrow is supposed to be very wet, but I guess that’s part of the adventure as well!
The Lone Rider
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