Bennie and Julie invited to ride with them today. Our speeds are fairly similar. The only times I lagged behind was going down hill. At around 16 mph I top out with pedaling and rely purely on coasting. My bike also didn't seem to coast as fast as theirs but with 16 inch wheels I really didn't need to go any faster. From my GPS track it looks like the top speed was about 28 mph on the monster hill of Thursday.
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| Julie and Benny. |
Quite a bit of today's ride was away from the ocean. Either through the forest or behind the large sand dunes.
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| Sand dune. |
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| Ben and Julie on highway 101. |
At the end of the day we had to cross the Coos Bay bridge. We pushed the bikes along the narrow sidewalk of this huge bridge. At the middle of the bridge I dropped a flower and watched it's way to the water. It was amazing to see how long it took because the bridge was so tall. After the bridge I bid farewell to Benny and Julie as they continued on to the next state park. I kind of envied them for being able to continue on, especially since the next section would be away from highway 101. But I needed to head back to Portland tomorrow and attend to the real business of my trip to Oregon. Yes, I'll have to do some real work.
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| Obligatory bike route sign photo. |
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| Julie and Benny checking out the monster bridge we need to cross. |
Getting a bus ride is apparently quite simple. You just pay the Porter Stage Line driver and then get the Amtrak ticket in Eugene to continue to Portland.
The tricky part is that the bus leaves at 7:15am and all state parks and campsites are pretty far away. The RV park right next to the Casino in Coos Bay doesn't allow any tents. Neither does the city in any of their parks. Hotels are all full with the exception for some suites that have prices that should pay a taxi to Portland.
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| Arrived at Coos Bay |
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| Tugboats in Coos Bay |
When asking the pastor at the local Catholic church if he knew a place to pitch a tent, the church had a pretty nice grassy courtyard, he suggested the local shelter.
After having been turned down by hotels and the RV park I was going toward the shelter. On the way I rode through a residential area and saw Tim working on an inflatable boat in his yard. I tried my luck and asked him if he'd knew anywhere or anybody that would let me pitch a tent for the night. I told him my story about having ridden down the coast and catching a bus at 7 in the morning. He offered the open lot across the street. I asked if it's really OK with the owner and he assured that it is.
I went back to downtown and the boardwalk where I could use the public restroom and cooked my last freeze dried meal for dinner before heading back to the open lot at sunset.
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