Sunday, July 3, 2011

Lincoln City, Tillamook and More Rain

  There hasn't been a whole lot going on the past few days.  I did a super easy ride into Lincoln City where I spent most of my time in the public library.  The clouds parted for the day and I threw a bunch of my wet things, which was pretty much everything, out on the grass to dry.  That night I camped with three touring ladies.  One was new blood like me but the other two had been on multiple tours and had ridden about 90 miles the day before.  A gnarly day for anyone.  Even though I didn't ride very far I still ate a massive amount of pasta and an entire loaf of garlic bread and called it a successful day.
 
     The next day I, again, was in a heroic battle with my ancient enemy.  The rain was brutal.  Well, for a kid that grew up mostly in desert climates the rain was brutal.  Even if a local wouldn't necessarily call the rain "brutal"... or even a sprinkle, it was still enough to re-soak everything that I had.  Alco, I realized that my "water proof" side bags aren't exactly 100% waterproof.  I made it just south of Tillamook to this really beautiful state park called Cape Lookout. At least it would be beautiful it it wasn't raining.  Fortunately I had some dry clothes to sleep in and it didn't really rain throughout the night so it was bearable.  Actually, the rain didn't bother me as much as I was expecting.  It made me think about how miserable I was on the first day when just a little bit of precipitation was basically ruining my life.  I think after all these miles I've finally just grown to accept what the conditions are around me.  I know now that it's not going to rain forever and that the more rainy and damp I get one day, when the sun comes out I'll appreciate it that much more.  The next day the sun did come out and it was glorious.

    On the way to Cape Lookout there were two notable stops that I made.  One was a really cool brewery called Pelican Bay Brewery which brewed its own bear and had an amazing in house food menu.  This time I decided to get a sampler of all their house beers and I was not unsatisfied.  The second thing was the coffee shop right across the street from it called Stimulus Coffee.  This is the place where I first came into contact with the legendary Stumptown coffee company.  Stumptown is one of the more renown specialty coffee roasters that is based out of Portland.  These are the beans that Stimulus was using and after two cups of coffee I was satisfied that Stumptown's coffee lived up to its reputation.

     I had a couple days to kill before I was expected to arrive in Portland so I hung out in Tillamook for a couple days.  There's not a whole lot going on there except for the dairy community.  There are multiple cheese factories there and one of them has a tasting room... where I did spend a portion of my time.  So after about four days of taking it easy I plan on making the 80 mile trip from Tillamook to Portland tomorrow where I will be hosted by someone that I have never met in person.  We were connected through this network called "WarmShowers" which is a place online where cyclists can exchange information and receive housing and a warm shower in the middle of tours.  My decision to go into Portland was a last minute one and I'm really excited that someone is willing to host me through the holiday weekend.  I continue to be excited and am ready to get some serious riding in.  I feel like a slug.

1 comment:

  1. you are getting so close!!! im very excited. let me know when you get here, if you need a place to stay, and all of that. i love reading stories of your adventures and re-living mine. and i love that part about eating the whole loaf of garlic bread and calling it a successful day. totally how you live the life of a tour cyclists, even if you didn't ride far that day. haha. cant wait to see you, beau. enjoy the ride! oregon and washinton are beautiful places to ride.

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