Oregon Coast Cycling Tour - Day 3

Pacific City to Newport – 50 Miles (81km) http://t.co/RruLsbc5

So today was my favorite day. I woke up to the clearest day of sunshine that I've had to date. I was stoked. I left Pacific City at about 9:00am. I knew I had a mountain to climb today, so I started off by cycling for about 20 minutes to Neskowin, just before the big climb. Neskowin happened to be having a farmers market, so I stopped for a cinnamon roll and coffee, and to read my map.

My Oregon cycling map "strongly suggested" I took the detour route around the Neskowin mountain, using Stab Creek Road. This road was the same incline as the highway, but offered nicer views, and softer grades. It also added about 10km to the trip. I asked some of the locals about the detour, IE: how far away it was, and how to find it. After some feedback from the locals, (who btw also suggested I do NOT attempt to climb the mountain using the freeway), I headed out. I found the turn off for the slab creek bypass ok, but about 500 meters in, there was a "road closed in 4 miles - Local traffic only" sign prominently displayed.

I suppose this may not have applied to cyclists, but I didn't want to cycle 4 miles just to find out I couldn't pass, and have to turn back. So, I turned around, and headed back to the freeway.

The freeway up the hill was everything I expected given the multiple warnings: No shoulder, fast moving vehicles, and steep. Nonetheless, I killed it. I realized at this point in my journey, hills were inconsequential. My legs were totally fine, and I never even needed my lowest gear. I powered up that mountain in about 30 minutes. If that's the worst I'm going to see, I'll be fine.

The rest of my day went flawlessly. I spent a lot of time stopping and taking pictures. I stopped in boiler bay to actually do some whale watching! I was there for about 45 minutes, just watching the whales off the shore. It was spectacular. I actually didn't arrive in Newport till about 3:30, and about 80km later. Not my farthest day, but it was the longest day just because I spent a lot of time sight seeing. Good thing nothing matters.

So today was a bit of an interesting day in a few ways. I can see that this trip is going through a bit of an evolution spiritually, emotionally, and physically. I mean, during my first few days, I was nervous about the trip, and I also wanted to make sure I could do it and that my knees would be ok, and that I had all the tools, and tried to plan a daily quota for miles, and all that shit. As I go on, I'm less and less worried about all that. Partly because I feel physically stronger, but also because I could care less. Maybe I needed to learn that, and that's ok.

The only company I have while riding is the music on my iPhone, and the voice over GPS girl, who very precisely alerts me of the time and distance. I mean, how many times can you hear "The time is one hour, and forty five minutes. You have travelled thirty six point one kilometers" every 3 kilometers. Every time I hear her, I wonder what she looks like, and I also wonder what she sounds like saying "ninety three kilometers". So far I guess I'll have to wait.

Another very important aspect that I cannot ignore about this trip, is the soundtrack. I am wondering if its too early to get into that now, but my life revolves around music, so avoiding the subject would be dishonest. Before I left, I loaded my iPhone with about 25 artists complete discographies. I had a really hard time deciding what to bring. There are a lot of bands who's songs I like, but do I want to hear the whole record? I knew I was going to shuffle my songs, so I had to be selective. It's actually a hard process to do. I can honestly say, I picked the best artists I think I could have. I have songs that have brought me to tears, and songs that have inspired me to pedal on. Sometimes it feels like a certain song comes on at just the right time like from some kind of killer DJ right at the right moment. I often hear songs that I never knew the band even played (more on this later). Cycling for 6 hours a day is a great way to really listen to music. I love this part of my trip so much.

I am really tired, so I am going to get into the music part of my trip more tomorrow cause I have a lot more to say about it. I also want to talk about my bikes performance, my emotional and spiritual state at times. Haha I said spiritual. Twice. And for anybody wondering what I mean by that, I have seen some absolutely amazing scenery on this trip, that God had absolutely no part in making. That is so fucking obvious.