Day Fourteen

Coos Bay to Humbug Mountain State Park, 62 miles

I still have about seven miles to ride to camp at Humbug Mtn., but on the map the campground appears to be in a hollow behind the mountain. I can get this post of from here in Port Orford and not risk having a bad signal in camp. 

Before I get to today, let me report on the last few days since “Day 13”. I reached Coos Bay on August 18 and stayed with Tom and Ken, who offer their home to cyclists coming through town on the Warm Showers network. Warm Showers is a global community of cyclists and hosts, who are frequently but not always also cyclists. When I was a day out of Coos Bay, I found Tom’s profile on the Warm Showers website and pinged him to see if he was hosting. Yes! I let Tom know that I was hoping to leave my bike with him for a few days and return for another night before resuming my ride. No problem.

When I rolled up I met Tom, his partner Ken and Linc the Red Heeler. All super friendly. Tom has cycled a lot. He also has a Moto Guzzi California, a Triumph and assorted other motorcycles, and a red, supercharged second generation Mazda Miata (“that car scares me”, he said). They like Warm Showers because the Oregon Coast is a dream destination for cyclists from all over the world, so it’s like having the world showing up at their door. Most cyclists are interesting people. Tom said he asks two questions: where is the best food you have found?, and who are the happiest people you’ve met. I said the seafood at Wanchese, North Carolina, just inside the Outer Banks, was the best food I’ve had on a ride. What came to mind for the happiest people wasn’t actually on a ride, but a couple of climbs, so I said the Sherpas we met in Namche Bazaar Nepal, and the folks we met in Tlachichuca while climbing Pico de Orizaba.  That’s what came to mind. Tom wants to travel where people are happy and the food is great. 

I had to get back to Missoula so Joan and I could take possession of a new apartment and move in. I took the bus to Florence and then to Eugene, hopped on the Amtrak Coast Starlight, and met Joan in Portland.

HATS

After driving to Missoula, we rented a U-Haul and haul we did!! We got enough hauled up the stairs to the apartment so Joan wouldn’t feel like she was camping there until I finish the ride and get myself back home. We got the big stuff (couch, dressers, bed, and desks) and enough kitchen stuff home cooking can resume. [Editor’s Note: Mark said that for the next move, we’ll hire people to haul the dresser and coach down the 21 steps. I’ll be holding him to that.]

Then it was up at 4:00 AM yesterday to hop a plane to Portland, then the MAX light rail, Amtrak Cascades to Eugene, bus, bus again, and Tom and Ken picked me up and we had a nice dinner together in downtown Coos Bay before returning to the house, where I collapsed into bed. 

Every single connection, except for Amtrak, were spot-on time, and even the Amtrak trains were only fashionably late. The run from Portland to Eugene was slowed by the heat. Train tracks warp in high heat, so they slow the trains to not risk a derailment. Good idea. 

Packing the bike this morning was fast. I took about 8 pounds of gear back to Missoula. If I hadn’t used it yet on the ride, it was probably cut from the kit. Coffee and out the door, and grabbed breakfast about 8 miles down the road. Tom recommended not taking US 101 out of Coos Bay, saying Seven Devils Road is more cycle friendly. He said the seven devils were the curves. Wrong. The seven devils are the hills! He also said my intended campground tonight, Cape Blanco, is too far off the route. He said Humbug State Park is farther but closer to the route. Go there. Yes sir. I should have mentioned: when Tom did his cross country cycling tour, he averaged more than 100 miles a day and dropped his co-riders because they were too slow, finishing his ride solo. If Tom doesn’t mind the hills or the miles, neither should I. 

Today’s ride began in low, clinging clouds and a temperature of 57. So nice after 100 degree Willamette Valley days. I twisted through the Seven Devils and rejoined US 101 as the north wind started to pick up. The promised West Coast tailwind showed up today! I rode most of the day is a windless bubble, on the smooth and clean shoulder of 101, with much lighter traffic than I expected for a Saturday. 

If Tom were to ask me today, who are the happiest people I’ve met cycling, I think I would say the South Oregon Coast, his people. Everyone here is pleasant. Right now I’m sitting in the Portside Cafe in Port Orford. As I have been eating my cookie and writing this post, at least half a dozen people have come in as customers who are also genuine, personal friends of the manager and/or the cook. People know and like each other here! I like it here too. 

Tonight I’ll be at Humbug Mountain SP. Victoria here at the Portside the best part of the ride south is about to begin, right along the ocean, and redwoods, redwoods, redwoods. I gotta go now, because I struck up conversation with a guy who needs someone to drive him in his car to Cape Blanco so he can walk back here to town. So Victoria will watch my bike while I give him a lift and drive his rig back. See? Nicest people.