I have to admit I'm a little tired this evening! I rode 44 miles today from just south of Florence Oregon to Coos Bay Oregon. I rode part of the day with one of the guys I met in the campground last night. I like being on this journey alone, but it is nice to meet other people and ride with other people once in a while. We would pull off at some of the scenic areas and talk about how hard it was to get up that last hill or how the challenge of working hard to get up the hills was so worth it when we were coasting down the other side gaining miles without even peddling. I got to thinking while riding some of the hills today. I was thinking about how important it is to work hard to get through the hard times in our live (the hills) so we can enjoy the good times (coasting down the other side). The larger the hill the bigger the pay off on the other side. I like to look at the hills that way. It helps motivate me to get up them.
There were quite a few construction areas today. I have decided I don't care for riding through construction areas. The road surface is unpredictable and most times I have to ride in the traffic because there is no shoulder to ride on. Although I did enjoy one construction zone today. I was riding next to a school bus filled with kids and when I looked over they were all waving at me and cheering! The bus driver even slowed down so they could all see me riding. It was very cool! I waved to them and they all waved back. It made me miss my third graders and my school family!
I didn't take many pictures today because I wasn't along the beach hardly at all all day. I kept looking for it, but it was hidden by trees or sand dunes. Below is a map of my ride for today. You can see how a lot of it was inland away from the ocean. You can also see the crazy hills in the elevation graph below the map. Yikes!
The pictures below show the wildest (scariest, creepiest...) part of my ride today. This bridge going into North Bend Oregon was super high and it was blowing at least 40 miles per hour up there. Also, there was only about a two foot wide walking path. There was no way I could safely ride over this bridge, so I got off and walked my bike all the way across. It was a long walk in hard soled cycling shoes but I think it was the safest thing to do for sure. I'd like to live to ride another day! For sure! (My mom will be so happy when she reads this) Love you mom!
Here is a short video I shot from the highest point of the bridge:
Tonight I am staying in a hotel! It will be so nice to sleep in a real bed and have wifi so I can blog for my third graders! I am also going to try to create a poll or some way for you all to vote on a name for my bike. I have gotten some really good suggestions and it's time to vote on one. I will figure that out and post a link to the vote as soon as I figure it out!
Speaking of my bike! Below is a picture of (insert bike name here) in an elevator! When I called to make the reservation I told them I was arriving on a bicycle and hoped they could put "us" on the ground floor. I guess all the ground floor rooms were taken. We're on the second floor. I think the elevator ride was a little scary for (insert bike name here)!
good decision on walking across that windy bridge! Cross winds are scary, especially when going slow and traffic is roaring by right next to you.
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