by Philip

Day’s mileage : 41

Running total : 861

Last night we sat on our balcony watching the sunset when the evening “light show” began – initially a 15 minute film about Oregon, its geography, fauna and flora, and then, surreally, the Sound of Music, edited to 10 minutes long, with accompanying lighting effect. Bonkers, but quite fun!

We woke to a slightly calmer sea this morning, a bit grey, with flights of pelicans parallel to the beach. We had a new experience with a “grab ‘n go” breakfast – a muffin, fruit salad, juice and water as well as tea and coffee. We ate it in our room looking out over the ocean, and saw a whale breaching – prompting a scramble for the binoculars! After breakfast we walked down to the beach but saw no more whales, and then packed up.

Riding out of Gold Beach started with a gentle pedal along the coast for a mile, but then gave us a 700’ climb in 3 miles – fortunately the road was quiet and pretty with spruce lining it, birds singing and only a few spots of rain. We came across roadworks with a sign warning of 20 minute delays – it looked as if they needed to close the whole road for periods, then let traffic through in both directions at once. Once through, we climbed a very steep (~15%) hill to the Cape Sebastian viewpoint, named after the saint’s day on which it was discovered. Here we met a couple on a road trip, on their hands and knees photographing a giant snail – we had a good chat and got more whale watching tips. As they heading down to the cape itself we opted out of the prospect of another steep climb back up and returned to the main road. 

With a 700’ descent we returned to sea level, to a magnificent view with rugged lumps of rock in the ocean, some describable as islands, and then cycled with a wonderful tailwind past huge lagoons and extensive amounts of driftwood on the vast beaches. The scale of things here is enormous! As we were cycling another couple came up behind on bikes and had a chat – they are Canadians living in Boulder (Colorado) and are cycling from Portland (Oregon) to LA. After some more hills we stopped for a snack, continuing to enjoy the spectacular views. 

The road continued in similar fashion – long ascents, lots of viewpoints with amazing views, then whizzing downhill before the next climb. “A hilly day”, said Liz. We had a chat with the Canadian couple when we found them having lunch and discussed the route south of Monterey which is where we will be in 2.5 weeks’ time and where there’s a road closure around Big Sur – they have a route we didn’t know about so we will revisit the map.  Then onwards, stopping at a viewpoint in the hope of a picnic table where we were enchanted by an autistic man who trains service dogs – obviously very successfully! A few miles further on we found a tree’s shade for lunch, high up above the sea, just outside Brookings.

Brookings (pop 6,829) is a bustling town with lots of small and large shops. We went to a supermarket to buy dinner – we still have 10 miles to go today, but this is the nearest “proper” food shop. The sun is fully out now, and it’s warm … California is a few miles away!

With dinner in a pannier, we headed off down the hill, cycling on a quiet road past the extensive marina and fishing industry buildings, then on a lovely residential road past houses looking out on the sea. We passed smallholdings with goats and horses, and one field of jet black cattle, and noticed a huge rock in the middle of a field as if it had wandered over from the ocean. Within a mile or so back on the highway we crossed the state line and are now in California! There was no substantial difference other than some warning signs … $2,000 fine for animal abandonment, warning of speed tickets being issued by aircraft … the mind boggled. After a while we turned onto Ocean View Drive, with five miles to get to our accommodation. The first person to greet us in California was a lady riding her horse in a field – the countryside here could easily pass for England apart from the occasional unusual plant, and the yellow central lines on the road.

 We are staying in a room in Melissa’s house along with another couple who have not yet arrived. With a cup of tea in hand I’m finishing this blog, and then we will enjoy our evening and dinner, celebrating both our bikes ticking over the 900 mile mark – and, of course, entering our third and last state of the trip.

Additional notes

Gold Beach, Curry county, OR, to Smith River, Del Norte county, CA.

Left at 9.45am. Arrived at 4.30pm.

Weather: Sunny spells and light showers. Later just sunny with a tailwind.

Landscape: Homes and businesses along the 101 then only beautiful coast. Lagoons, sky blue as we approached and deep green when we were alongside, A long hill out of Gold Beach with spruce forest rising up on our left and dropping down on our right. Cape Sebastian. Big rock stacks out at sea and lots of surf. Large quantities of driftwood on empty beaches. Undulating roads. Long climbs, many viewpoints, amazing views, then freewheeling down before the next ascent. Off the 101, homes, a marina and some smallholdings. A big rock like the ones out at sea but this one was inland in a flat area of farmland. Along Ocean View Drive, very much like the UK, winding, with hedgerows on either side.

Towns: Brookings.

Trails: None.

State roads: The 101.

Breakfast: A grab ‘n’ go breakfast from the hotel, with chocolate muffin (delicious), fruit salad (ok) and orange juice (terrible).

Lunch spot: Under a tree just before Brookings, near Harris Beach State Park, overlooking a small car park and the sea.

Dinner, made by Liz: Prawn stir-fry, readymade.

Wildlife: A whale sighting? Pelicans. A herd of elk this evening at Smith River.

Plants: Wild pale lilac irises. Foxgloves. Seeding grasses.

Things we saw: Traffic cones not to be messed with, two feet across at the top and barely tapered. Road signs I took photos of for Cathy’s class (like ‘Low grades ahead’). A field of jet-black cattle. A road sign in California that read ‘Speed enforced by aircraft’.

People we spoke to or saw: Maya and Grant who were taking a photo of a not very giant snail at Cape Sebastian. A young Canadian couple on bikes cycling from Portland to LA. They told us about another cyclist who is riding to Patagonia, working in the mornings and biking in the afternoons, don’t know where he started but he’s been going for 18 months. A man with a van full of adorable, beautifully trained service dogs he works with. A lady on her own and a much older couple outside Mackay’s in Brookings. The first person in California to wave to us was a woman on a horse over the hedgerow, the first horse rider we’ve seen on the trip.

Incidents: Waiting at roadworks, we listened to a conversation about a very big rockfall (we didn’t want to hear that).

Shopping: McKay’s in Brookings.

Accommodation: A room in Melissa’s house. We didn’t like it.

Today’s sound: The Canadian cyclist behind me. A heron squawking overhead.

Special moments: Philip seemed happier today. Meeting Maya and Grant. Meeting the Canadian cyclists. The dog trainer and his dogs. Entering California! We took some photos on the other side of the road, as though entering Oregon, as we actually entered the state nine days ago on the Astoria Bridge where we were at risk of death and definitely not going to stop. Reaching 900 miles.

Positive experience from my journal: Meeting Maya and Grant, such a nice connection.

Appreciation from my journal: Being as positive as I can be here at Melissa’s.

Blog comment from Juliet: ‘900. That’s such an achievement. And it seems like all is going to plan re accommodation etc. I’m loving reading your updates’.

Social media reply from Ian Clark-Jones.

Mementos: McKay’s receipt, Crescent City.