PC_Day10

Day 10

Tuesday, 8 June 2004
Tillamook, OR to Lincoln City, OR
70.9 miles, 5h37m, 12.6 mph
Elapsed Time: 7h46m, Max speed: 38.8mph
Total Climbing: 3826ft, Max elevation: 825ft
Total mileage: 553.3

After sitting around in Tillamook for a day, we were anxious to hit the road. So anxious that we overslept and didn't get started until nearly 9 o'clock.

We were hoping for better weather but we were denied. The sky was overcast and cool, but warmer than before. Amazingly it did not rain all day. The temperature hovered right around the difference between needing a jacket and not needing a jacket. This meant that we would overheat when climbing and freeze when descending. Nothing new there.

We took the scenic route to "The Capes" west of TIllamook. This yielded sweeping views of cloud-obscured coastline and big climbs to attain those views.

A sweeping view of cloud-obscured coastline.

We stopped at the entrance to Cape Meares State Park (which was at the top of the first big climb) to adjust JT's brakes. For some reason he wanted to be able to slow down during the descent. From there we rode down into the park to see the lighthouse. Unfortunately, you can't get far enough away from the thing to get a good picture. Then we had to climb back up to the top of the hill.

There are some big trees around Cape Meares.

Cloud-obscured shoreline south of Cape Meares.

We stopped at the post office in the small town of Netarts to mail some stuff back home. I mailed back maps and receipts that I no longer need to schlep around and JT sent back some film (he is still using ancient camera technology).

A few minutes later we were grinding up the biggest climb of the trip so far. After climbing forever we reached an overlook with another one of those cloud-obscured views.

Another cloud-obscured....yada yada yada

We pulled out of the overlook figuring we were near the top, but then the road kept going up and up. The climb ended up being 2 1/2 miles long and 800 feet high. The descent was screaming.

One thing about the climbs along the coast: you never climb up and stay up. You always climb up and drop right back down. But at least you never climb the same hill twice.

We stopped for lunch at a deli in Pacific City. On the way out we noticed that the town was overrun with bunny rabbits. Not wild rabbits, but domesticated bunny rabbits. Strange. I don't know what else to say about that.

Soon we returned to busy US101 and rode through a small town called Neskowin, best known for its excellent comfort station (at least to us). A couple of miles later we turned up a road that turned into Old Scenic 101. It climbed slowly for about 6 miles into the National Forest. The climb was so gradual that we were able to make it without resorting to granny. I'm sure the tailwind helped too.

The top part of the climb was through some really cool forest on a poorly maintained stretch of practically abandoned highway.

JT crosses a cool bridge in the forest.

But the coolest part was the 4-mile descent on the winding roads through the woods. It was just about the most fun I've ever had going downhill on a bicycle. It certainly tested the handling characteristics of my fully-loaded Cannondale T-800 (I only had to brake once on a 180-degree hairpin turn).

Too soon we returned to US101 for the last few miles into and through Lincoln City. Just before we reached the city limits we crossed the 45th parallel--and so were briefly just as far from the north pole as we were from the equator. Woo-hoo. No, I'm not carrying a GPS--there was a sign along the road.

Once we checked into the Best Western we has some trouble finding food. Lincoln City is a resort town and there are many restaurants, but our motel is actually in Taft, a small suburb of Lincoln City. There is a nice restaurant across the street that is closed, and three bars, all of which seem to have karaoke in progress. Eventually we visited the local market and bought a big pile of food. Then we went to the Subway and bought sandwiches. Then we fed. We have a long day planned for tomorrow.

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