Biologist on a Bike

Stats
Distance 60.05
Average Speed 11.0 mph; Max Speed 25.2 mph
Elevation Gain 2,895
Average Temp. 65.5 F; Temp Range 53.6-82.4 F

I woke up feeling much better than I had when I went to sleep. I don’t plan to spend many nights in hotels, but it was most definitely the right choice for last night.

Where I woke up, Day 2

I stretched, ate breakfast (oatmeal, protein powder, & peanut butter, with two cups of coffee), and headed outside for a spectacular view.

The view outside my door

I stopped at a small market before leaving town for a bit of food to bring along the way, and then hit the road. To ward off the kind of mess that happened yesterday, I set my phone timer to 90 minutes. Every time it went off I would stop for a few minutes to eat (and drink, though I was drinking while riding as well).

They forgot the “Two” before Wheeler. No? It made me chuckle as I rode by.

Fifteen miles later, I arrived at the place I had planned to spend the night. The house was awesome, and the view was even better. I would have loved to have watched the sun set from this porch. Ah well, it wasn’t meant to be. I had a great lunch there, though.

The view from the porch of last night’s intended stopping point.

Today I saw some wonderful wildlife, to sweeten the deal.

Blue heron

Almost got it…

Majestic Duo

And then there was this.

Um…

Road closed? And I would have to backtrack 4 miles to an alternate route that the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) had noted as unsafe? Dilemma. Thankfully I was in an area with cell service. A few minutes later and I had located a few posts on the ACA forums mentioning this road, saying that some slides had made it impassable to cars, but a cyclist could walk over the gravel. I crossed my fingers and gave it a go.

I get it now, no cars.

The posts were, thankfully, correct, and I made it back to un-closed roads with only a little bit of pushing the bike over gravel.

From there on out, it was more of the same, a few climbs, a few views, and some more wildlife.

That’s a lot of seals

I set up camp in Pacific City at Webb Park and Fairground. My strategy for eating and drinking helped somewhat, in that I didn’t bonk, but I did still feel a bit nauseated at the end of the day. I don’t think it was a matter of calories today. I suspect it was more water and electrolytes. I must make a note to eat more salty foods.

After pitching my tent, I walked a block over to a pizza place for dinner. The first slice was difficult to get down, but by the end of the second my appetite was kicking back in. All told, a successful day, I think.

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