We left Bandon, Oregon in the usual fog
that seems to have been tailing us from the start. I'm starting to
get a bit tired of this cold moisture in the morning. When will it
let up? Once started, we came upon a rock formation in the ocean
water known as “Face Rock”. The rock can be viewed as the face of
a person leaning backwards. People typically mimic the rock, lean
back and line themselves up for a picture opportunity.
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| A foggy "Face Rock" |
I have been trying out new seat
positions on my Roark, as the previous one was pushing me forward too
much, causing me to constantly be pushing back. This resulted in
improper use of the leg muscles, when more gluteus muscles were to be
used. It also caused my hands to to go numb after a while. The new
seat adjustment is a step in the right direction, but not quite
perfect. At least I am not being pushed forward improperly anymore.
On these long-distance bike rides, it is critical to have the most
perfect fit as possible, as the miles exaggerate any flaws.
Along the way, Baltimore Mark had a bit
of a mechanical issue that almost caused him to crash. It seems his
left side crank just fell off when he tried to get going again. It
must have been a strange feeling to just have this piece dangling
from the cleat of his shoe. Jim, our ABB mechanic was called and he
was able to get it reattached and properly set.
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| Baltimore Mark's bike is missing a crank |
It seems that I won the bet! If you
recall, we were taking wagers on when “The Duchess” would kick
Toronto Mark out and he would end up riding with the 3 of us, making
it “The Geldings” once again. Well, today, Mark had a flat tire
and “The Duchess” abandoned him and went on riding. The 3 of us
later came up on Mark still trying to change his tire and since we
stopped and waited, Mark was once again riding with “The Geldings”.
I declared victory on the bet and after some deliberation by the
others, the honor was fully recognized.
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| Toronto Mark making a face of desperation |
“The Geldings” rode together until we got to the Myrtlewood store in Port Orford, where Toronto Mark ventured on by himself, getting himself back with “The Duchess”. The riding brought back plenty of great memories from our ride together across the country.
Once at the SAG, we were able to see
Battle Rock and the art gallery next to it. Baltimore Mark headed on
ahead of Joe and me, thinking that we would catch him on the climbs,
but Joe and I took an extra long SAG break and took our time along
the coast. We never caught Baltimore Mark, until we called him to
join us for chowder at Gold Beach. He had already made it to the
hotel and had a shower.
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| Battle Rock |
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| Art gallery at Battle Rock |
Gold Beach is a total tourist trap, but
has some pretty sights as well. On the way into town, we managed to
get off of route 101 and take back-roads in, which was a pleasant
change to being riding on unused country roads. Sheep and cows could
be seen grazing. We took the long bridge over the river, where a
salmon fishing tournament was underway. My dad would have loved
participating in an event like that.
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| The bridge into Gold Beach |
Our hotel, the “Inn of the
Beachcomber” is a reasonably nice hotel, with a great view of the
ocean and lighthouse behind. The 2 beds look great to sleep on, but I
won't be able to avail myself of that pleasure, as a small, thin
roll-away cot seems to be in my immediate future. It's my turn for
the unpleasant sleep, as the 3 of us are sharing the room.
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
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