Wednesday - North Bend - Port Orford

Our first challenge for the day was crossing a bridge - all kinds of warnings were posted about what speed a vehicle could be going when travelling up the steep bridge and that no vehicle (bike included) could hold up traffic. A button could be pushed at the bottom which made lights flash warning motorists that there were bikes on the bridge and then the motorists could only go 30 mph - strong wind gusts are also prevalent at the top of the said bridge. Already last evening this caused a bit of stress - one suggestion from a local was to call the local police and ask for a police escort over the bridge - call was made but we did not give enough advance warning so it could not be arranged - who would have thought that!

Decision was made this morning - let's walk the 2.5 kilometers to get to the other side - probably a good choice after observing all the lumber trucks going across while we eating breakfast. The SAG wagon waited a while and then followed the cyclists across and waited at the bottom for them to pass - they passed and then we realized we had run the battery dry and we were in a spot where we were blocking traffic and couldn't get out of the way. A "good samaritan" came to our rescue and called a tow truck to come and get us. Meanwhile a sheriff showed up and tried to assess our problem as well. If only he had been there 1/2 hour earlier to be our escort, we would not be in this dilemma! CAA to the rescue and we were on our way.

We also knew we could be sharing the roads today with 2200 cyclists participating in the Cycle Oregon tour - these cyclists were on the road for a week and were doing some of the same roads we were. Coffee stop was in Bandon, a quaint sea side town. We scouted Bandon out for a coffee shop and had it all figured out just before our 11 and at least 1,000 other cyclists descended into Bandon along with lots of tourists. Our cyclists swapped cycling stories with the others for a while and we were on our way again. The scenery became more breathtaking as we travelled south. In Bandon the SAG wagon made a detour to the Post Office and when we came back 10 minutes later, the fog had rolled in from the ocean and we could not see anything. The cyclists did see the beauty.

Right from Bandon to Port Orford both sides of the road had many cyclists travelling either south or north. The Cycle Oregon tour had a free day and their cyclists could go as far as Port Orford and come back to Bandon. They had the head wind and our cyclists were blessed with a tail wind. Lunch was just before the town of Langois and we found a blueberry stand which was closed today to set up for lunch complete with table and chairs and a wonderful couple who owned this property who were checking out their blueberry bushes. Their sign promoting the goods for sale showed this on it...

The last hour of cycling before reaching the motel was along the ocean again with beautiful scenery. I should mention that this morning's ride for the cyclists was on roads that had signs posted about "Seven Devils" - these devils were good sized hills...I should also say that this was a day of sunshine after 3 days of cloudy weather. A great day to ride the 112 kilometers with no flats at all - we were blessed!