Lincoln City

Pedaled from Neskowin to the Liberty Inn in Lincoln City yesterday. We plan to stay and rest today, leaving tomorrow. Right now it is raining very hard, and I am glad we are not out in it. Our short trip of 9 miles from Neskowin took three hours, mainly due to another steep, wet, long and exhausting climb. The most amazing thing happened during that climb. In my mirror, I had noticed a car pull to the side of the road about a hundred yards or so behind us. I didn't give it much thought until about 5 minutes later when a guy with a very nice camera came jogging up behind us, passed us, then turned and started taking pictures of us. We stopped and spoke with him briefly, though I can't remember every thing he said, the one phrase he said that sticks with me is "Only in America". I can only surmise that we were quite an astonishing sight to him.

As I said earlier in this post, today is a rest day for us, as we have made two of the steepest and longest climbs on the whole of the Oregon Coast since leaving Tillamook. I can tell I need it.

One thing about the Oregon Coast. It is not a cheap route to bicycle if you don't plan to camp in state and county parks. There is not a motel room to be had for less than $70. If we were inland, I think I could easily find rooms for $50. And restaurant meals are more expensive also. It seems like the average meal runs about 40% more than a person would pay inland.

We have found a few other cyclists on the road, so we don't feel like we are competely nuts for doing this. Looking at the elevations for the remainder of the Oregon Coast is encouraging, as I see only one more big climb between us and the California border. Tomorrow's weather is looking up, so I am sure we will be leaving then, feeling rested and dry. Ron.