Sunday, October 18, 2009

60 Miles to California

James and I are getting some food in Port Orford, OR while I catch up on the Browns game.  I was able to get some pictures up from the past month, but the upload time is very slow.  I have some great pictures of Eugene and Coos Bay, but will have to get them up in the next few days. (We are about to hit the road again.) 

The Oregon coast is beautiful.  We have slept in 50 - 60 degree weather the past 4 nights, two of which were on the beach.  The mornings and nights produce heavy fog and light rain, but the middle of the day is a slight overcast, but very humid. 

We are finding that riding at night right now is not an option and the days are getting shorter and shorter.  The first night we were on the coast from Eugene, we planned to ride about 5 miles into the night.  The sun started going down and we could see fine.  As soon as the sun was completly out of sight, and the fog came in, we were struggling to find the road.  Two miles into the fog, I had a car crest a hill in front of me and I didn't know where I was.  I tried to shield his headlights, but couldn't.  I was not about to wonder left, so I tried to stay as far right as I could.  I ended up dropping the front wheel off the burm and into 6 inches of sand.  I was traveling at around 12mph when I dropped the wheel, and in 6 inches of sand, a wheel doesn't spin, it sticks.  My back end came over the top of me as I flew over the handlebars.  Being the athlete that I am, my instincts took me into a "tuck and roll" position.  I rolled about 20 feet or so and jumped up to make sure I was out of the road.  I ran to the bike, dusted it off, and then checked it and myself for scratches or worse.  The bike had two small scratches, but it landed in a bed of sand.  I then examined myself and couldn't find one scratch or bruise.  Amazing!  I think the next 3 miles to camp I bike around 6mph or slower.  We are not biking in the dark again until we get off the coast.

We should make it to California later today.  I hope to have more pictures and a few more stories soon.

Thanks,
Steve

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