Day 17: Mid-Point (Pacific City to Beachside SP)

14 Jul Day 17: Mid-Point (Pacific City to Beachside SP)

House on the cliff

Today marks the first day of the second half of our trip.  We planned for 32 days on the road and here we are waking up at a questionable county campsite in Paciific City with our sights set on a 70 miler day.  We couldn’t have had it any other way.  Although sunshine would have been nice for today’s ride, but we didn’t get any of that except the dense haze of fog lingering through the coast.

Fatigued

Riding into the fog

Our camp site remained deserted through the night, much like when we jumped in our tent.  We had a visit from a pair of raccoons and people walking by our tent site right next to the sidewalk.  Definitely not a comfortable stay as our paranoia was on high alert.  We woke up at 6:30AM for a 8 AM departure.  We rolled out through Pacific City and joined the 101 highway into Oretown.

I’m not sure if it is because of the cold, fog, malnutrition, or all of the above, but I just wasn’t feeling good.  I guess I was bonking early.  Sang Hyun rolled ahead in front while I patiently spun my pedals to keep pace.  We finally made a left onto Slab Creek Road in the resort town of Neskowin.  It was premature as we were rerouted back on the 101 again.  That confused us for a few minutes as we tried to figure out where to go.  We finally hopped back on the 101 and found another Slab Creek Road.  Apparently, we turned on the North Slab Creek Road as the right one had the Oregon Coastal Route directing us to follow.

Sunshine For a Second

Johnny riding through Otter Crest Loop

We started our 10 mile ascent through Old Scenic Highway, which took us through quiet 2-lane roads with few cars.  We climbed 680 feet up with a bit of sunshine and was rewarded with a long 4 mile descent down to the little town of Otis.  We stopped at the Otis Cafe for our second breakfast.  This meal actually helped regain a feeling of normalcy, as I consumed a huge meal with several cups of coffee.  I felt good as we rolled out of Otis and piled on miles through Lincoln City, which included several ups and downs next to Devil’s Lake.  We even stopped by a Tangiers Outlet in Lincoln City for a bathroom break.  It felt like we were back in society as we joined the rest of the shoppers window shopping.

Beautiful Detours

Devil’s Punch Bowl

We continued on our route to follow the 101 through several beach cities.  Unfortunately, the fog became more and more dense.  We stopped by Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint park to check out the foggy view and put on our riding jackets and turn on our rear blinkers before continuing.  The route directed us off the 101 for a few miles in Otter Rock, where we were once again rewarded with the beauty of the Oregon coast.  We rejoined the 101 highway to ride to Newport and was told to go through another neighborhood street.  In Newport, we got to ride through a small town with several coffee shops and boutique shops into Yaquina Bay State Park.  As we took our break there, we ran into another bicycle tourist named Peter who was surfing while bicycle touring.  We figured out we will be at the same campsite that night and promised to reconvene there.

Next, we had to the Yaquina Bridge, which was a narrow 2-lane bridge with a small shoulder.  We both agreed that the best option was to walk the bikes across the bridge.  We got over to Newport and hopped back on our bikes to finish our ride through Seal Rock and finally through Waldport.  Neither one of us had cash in hand to pay for our hiker / biker camp for the night, so we searched for a grocery store to buy some food and get cash back.  Luckily, we found Ray’s Market in Waldport before heading into camp at Beachside State Park.

Camp Friends

Yaquina Bridge

The site was full, but the hiker / biker sites were available so we eagerly took a spot.  There was another person there before us who had the same exact bike as Sang Hyun.  We later found out it belonged to a lady who was touring the Pacific Coast after dropping out of riding the Great Divide from Banff to Montana.  Her destination was to Crescent City to visit family and then figure out how to get back to Houston.  She told us that she was 66 years old and had been on the road since April.  Truly an inspiration for us as we get older.

Walking across the Yaquina Bridge

Peter, the surfer, came in and we chatted up about his adventures.  He maintained trails in past jobs and was on his way down to San Diego from Cape Disappointment.  His timeline was going to be 2 months as he wants to surf in Oregon as much as possible.  You can read all about him on his blog, http://bikeandsurf.blogspot.com.   The final 2 bike tourists came in and it was a couple that we had met on Day 8, when we were coming back to the Washington from Canada, Jeff and Mikhaila.  It was their second day on the coast from taking some time in Portland.  It’s crazy how we see each other again even though our paths diverged at first.