Heading home

We regretfully left the beaches of Oregon Oct. 4 in advance of a new storm system that the folks at Tim's Crab Shack in Bandon (excellent fish tacos, their own smoked salmon and crab cakes) warned us about. We were heading south with the trailer to do a final day of riding from Humbug Hill south from Orford to the state line. So it wasn't going to be an early start. As we were enjoying a chat and food at Tim's, the weather started closing in. They said high winds were predicted that afternoon. After the two days of wet riding, there wasn't room for yet another. Jim will post an update of those two days soon. And we'll post a link to our series of high resolution photos of the entire trip at our pharkles.phanfare.com site.

Sunny morning on the beach

So we moved inland to Roseburg hoping to meet up with some ladies from California who we'd met through Airstream forums and Facebook. Their diesel truck runs on waste vegetable oil (something Marsha has been researching in Boulder for our next generation of tow vehicle). They have replaced their lights with LED lighting to save electricity. And they have installed a "Nature's Head" composting toilet instead of having a holding tank for "all that black stuff".

As for the bike trip, it was without a doubt, absolutely and totally, one of the most exciting things I've done in years. Following seeming secret roads through the dark forest; meeting other bikers from various countries and with different purposes; testing one's physical abilities for several days. It had its own stresses (the logistics, the weather, oh my) but they were a welcome change - which is what a vacation should do. No, I didn't ride all the miles down the coast - not sure I really ever expected to ride each and every mile. But I did ride about 250 total miles over five days. The highway measures about 365 total miles; the coast bike route (as we learned, there are a few variations of the route) measures somewhere between 365 and 390. 

Mickey and Buddy hated
to leave the beach, too.

There's no regrets; no "shoulda, coulda, woulda" in my head. We had a wonderful trip. Every day was a great cycling day, no matter the weather.