Tag Archives: oregon

Day 22 – North Bend to Bandon

72.2km out of 1436km so far

It has been 3 weeks into this trip now. Images and experiences have been so vivid, that Vancouver and my life there already feel like a distant memory. Despite any doubts I may have had in the beggining, the hills I am climbing every day and the storm I have encountered over the past week, a long and slow trip such as this is the best way for me to transit from one chapter of my life to another.

All this time I had forgotten about the earplugs I was carrying and last night I thought I would try them out. It rained really hard again overnight, but earplugs and the double tent accomondation provided me with a solid sleep up until 9am. The owners of this KOA treated us extremely well and we were happy to stop by for the night. The sun was out when we got up, together with a nice blue sky. Of course the weather changed again as me and Garry were leaving the campground. That was the last act of rain though, as by noon the sky together with the horison to the west had cleared for good from any dark clouds. Yesterday we were worried about crossing the long bridge of North Bend in bad weather, but this morning was so nice that we decided to walk it and enjoy the view of the bay.

The bridge of North Bend, while it was still raining

The bridge of North Bend, while it was still raining

Alleluia!!! Sun is out.

Alleluia!!! Sun is out.

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In the town we stopped for some picnic supplies and continued further south. The suggested bike path took us away from highway 101, to some quieter and more scenic routes over a big forestry hill. By that time the weather reached the perfect conditions, with the temperature around 16-18c degrees, cool enough for a pleasant ride, but with a bright sun to dry and warm clothes, body and mind. I was in such a good mood seeing the blue sky after a grey week, that was feeling I could ride for ever.

Oyster shells

Oyster shells

Space cabin

Space cabin

At the summit of the hill we stopped for lunch at a spot where part of the forest was cut down, allowing a clearing with a view to the east. Another cyclist stopped by for a bit. He was part of a small group of three and they were all carrying their surfboards, heading to Sant Diego, surfing at every beach on their way.

Lunch spot

Lunch spot

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The descent was very pleasant as the wind finally changed direction to our favor, allowing me to cycle at a great speed effortlessly. We crossed another small bridge as we entered Bandon. We were planning to camp further south, but the town was so nice that we decided to call it a day and stay there. Bandon is a fishermen village and it has an old picturesque part by the water with interesting buildings.

Creepy seal

Creepy seal

WIP

WIP

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Bandon's coastline

Bandon’s coastline

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After a stroll we headed to an Irish pub for food and a couple of drinks. A bit risky to drink before setting tents, but we knew there was a campground just a couple of miles up north. On the way to the campground, the highway was almost empty and very dark, allowing the sky to shine above us. It’s probably the first time in the trip I get to see such a clear and bright night sky. If it wasn’t that late at night and cold, I would have loved to spend some time outdoors to enjoy the sky. But we need to have an early start tomorrow and by the time we got to the campground, we set tents and went right in.

Irishman in an Irish pub

Irishman in an Irish pub

Day 21 – Florence to North Bend

61.4km out of 1364km so far

Embrace the rain George, it’s part of the adventure! It seems like the more it rains, the easier it is to deal with it. It rained hard for most of the night, or at least that’s what it sounded like in my tent, acting like a drum with every drop. Rain and sun kept playing games with us all day long. It started raining again as we were packing up the tents, just to stop 10 minutes later. While we went to see the dunes, the sun came out, so we thought we should let the tent dry in the sun to dry. But by the time we got back the rain had started again, so that was no use at all. The dunes were spectacular though and someone could spend a whole day there hiking all around the area. Apparently people use sandboards there which sounds like a cool idea, but I am not so sure about the motor vehicles that we also saw in the area.

Leaving our campground spot

Leaving our campground spot

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The near by dunes

The near by dunes

As we continued south, we spotted an interesting viewpoint so we stopped to check it out and have a snack. As we stopped the hot sun came out and this time a big portion of the sky was blue. So we took our gear out again. Until we finished with the snacks and talking to a fellow cyclist, everything dried out as the rain started again. We were so lucky to take advantage of such a short window and we managed to dry everything. On the road the rain hit us really hard, but I was glad that my tent was at least dry.

The viewpoint. Check the coming clouds

The viewpoint. It took 10 minutes for these clouds to hit us

The rest of the road took us through some forestry hills and a couple of small towns. We stopped at Reedsport for a little break. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant where they served us an epic sized burrito, enough to please our cycling stomachs. Then a quick coffee and internet stop at the nearby McDonalds.

Interesting how they leave a strip of trees by the road.

Interesting how they leave a strip of trees by the road.

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At Gardiner

At Gardiner

Crossing the bridge to Reedsport

Crossing the bridge to Reedsport

The weather still kept been indecisive. The warm sun would come out for 10 minutes followed by yet another hard rain. Maybe I should have invested to a waterproof cover for my camera, so I could take more photos on the way, in days like these.

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Excavator doing its thing

Excavator doing its thing

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We decided to end the day just before North Bend. There were a few campsite in the area so we were trying to decide which one to use. We stopped at the KOA, which happened to be the first one on the road. After a long conversation with the owners, we got convinced that this would be by far our best option. They charged $6 for bikers and apart from the typical KOA comforts of showers, laundry, wifi and dining area, they let us put the tent within another big tent to protect from the rain. After spending the past couple of days in the open, this fells like a 4 star accommodation!

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Not bad at all!

Not bad at all!