Turn Around Bright Eyes

Day 11 - 53 miles (Newport to Glenada)

After yesterday's unexpected strain, we had a difficult time waking up for today's ride. We woke up at 8, ate some breakfast and decided to go to Rogue Brewery for some beers and lunch. The brewery didn't open until 11 so we took our time getting ready for the day.

By the time we were done with lunch and checked out of the hotel, we were stuffed full of two meals eaten within hours of each other and it was already 12:30pm! This was our latest start to the day yet. Fortunately, the first 30 miles were relatively easy.

We spent the day riding in Siuslaw National Forest. It was dangerous and beautiful. Sinuous roads, steep downhills and breathtaking views made up our afternoon. There's nothing like the sheer force of wind rushing against your body as you stand on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The magnitude with which the wind pushes the waves is incredible. Ever changing, never fading. It's enchanting, it's cathartic, it's whatever you want it to be in that moment. Pain, torment, fear, strength, peace, joy...you can see it all depending on where you look.

The last 20 or so miles were tough. We surmounted another behemoth and headed into Florence for a fast food dinner. We rode a few more miles to Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park (what a mouthful) and set up camp for the night.

If you get a chance, stay in this lovely park. I've never seen deciduous vegetation growing among sand. It's a beautiful juxtaposition. Tomorrow we'll be going another 60 or so miles. I'm getting excited for our recovery day. I am actually not as sore as I thought I'd be. My lower back doesn't hurt nor do my joints outside of a few occasional aches. My thighs and hands are the only things that are really sore so I'm feeling good about the rest of this journey.

Day 12 - 72 miles (Glenada to Bandon)

I woke up today and realized I get to have breakfast in bed every single morning! Maybe I should make a pro and con list to see what else is super cool about being smelly and dirty for 40 days...

Today was our longest day yet. We faced plenty of challenges and had no shortage of gummy bears in our mouths (another great exercise food). Over the course of 12 days, I think it's safe to say our theme song is officially Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler It started when one of us told the other to turn around for a picture and the rest is history. We randomly break out into song on our breaks and at our campsites. Great tune.

I am slowly beginning to despise semi-trucks. The drafts they create can be unpredictable but I think I've narrowed down the usual pattern they follow. As the truck passes, it pushes you backwards and off the road and then immediately tugs you forward and slightly into the road. Super fun when you're going over 25 mph or when the shoulder of the road is against a ledge. Super fun.

I didn't take too many pictures today since we rode so far but I did have a lot of thoughts while pedaling. One of the things I was worried about when I signed up for this trip was my diet since I have a lot of environmental and food allergies (eg cats, dogs, pollen, grass, trees, wheat, soy, corn, peanuts, etc.). For some reason, I have not had any allergic reactions to food and limited reactions to environmental allergens in the form of itchy eyes. I would like one of you reading this to speculate or directly inform me of why this is. Here's my theory: my body is burning so many calories every day that my metabolism has been boosted and my body is processing all of the calories I put into it; regardless of the source. And maybe my food allergies didn't manifest themselves until adulthood because my childhood metabolic rate. Could I be on to something? Please do tell.

In any case, it has been awesome. I can smell again (I used to get congested from beer and other wheat/yeast products), my stomach doesn't hurt (I used to get gassy and bloated from corn/soy/wheat products) and my physical endurance is increasing. Life is good.

Speaking of endurance, today I conquered the most difficult hill I have ever encountered: Beaver Hill Rd. It was about .8 miles uphill with no resting points. Elevation gain was 500 feet so...you do the math on the average % incline. Felt like 45 degrees. Except for the very beginning when my chain came off my gears, I rode the entire thing without taking a rest! Made me feel good about all the work I've put into this trip so far.

After conquering the beastly road, we ate dinner at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort; where guests can play golf for the small fortune of $310! I'm not sure if that's for 18 holes, 9 holes or per hole, but really...each of those options is ridiculous at that price. I must say, however, that the food was delicious, abundant and well-priced. Worth checking out if you're in the area.

We arrived at Bullards Beach State Park shortly after 8pm, set up camp and enjoyed a much deserved respite. Tomorrow we're heading to Gold Beach where they mined for gold next to the ocean! We'll spend our recovery day there too so I hope it's hip and happening.

Oh and you may have noticed...the hair and the clothing. I am not cutting any of my hair until I'm done with this trip. I think the longest I've grown my facial hair is 10 days so day 30-40 will be interesting. And you've probably noticed that most (maybe all) of the pictures I'm in contain the same shirt and buff combo. No, I do not have multiple versions of those clothing items. They are indeed the same articles worn day after day with minimal showers and laundry so you do the math (lots of math in this entry)

Leave a comment if there is anything you want to know that I haven't included and I'll try to work it into the next entry. Until next time!

Day 13 - 60 miles (Bandon to Gold Beach)

It's the weirdest feeling when you're going uphill and having no problems climbing because the wind is pushing you forward and the hill may not be as steep as your eyes think.

Today's wind was brutal. There was a point where I was being pushed 11 mph in the wind without even pedaling! If there's one thing that will kill me on this trip, it will be the wind with an assist from an inattentive motorist. We're almost halfway done with our trip and this is the first time the wind has felt dangerous though so I'm sure we'll be fine.

The first half of the day was fairly flat and we covered 30 miles in about two hours. We stopped at The Crazy Norwegian in Port Orford for lunch feeling pretty good about the remainder of the day. The food there was decent. We both had fish and chips and some pie a la mode.

As we started on the second half of our day, we were greeted by the fierce ocean winds and some unforgiving hills. Bo doesn't do so well exercising on a full stomach so he took the hills easy in an effort to keep his meal down. Although challenging, we saw a lot of Oregon's natural beauty as we navigated the terrain. I also set another personal record today: going 40mph on a bicycle! As such, I can't complain about any of the challenges we faced today.

Once in town, we set up camp at the Indian Creek RV Park and rode into town for dinner and drinks. We found an Italian restaurant with some great food and an awesome owner called Mangia Buff. If you're ever in Gold Beach, make sure you stop there and tell Kevin hi. He's an awesome dude who gave us free food just because. After dinner we checked out the Sea Star Bar and played some pool and Keno. It was fun but both of us left congested from some unknown airborne allergen. After that we stumbled home on our bikes and happily drifted to sleep knowing tomorrow was our rest day.