Monday, August 17, 2009
Day 63: Eugene, OR to Florence, OR
Today started with a rush to look normal for the news cameras.
We answered some questions, unpacked and repacked our gear for the camera, and generally tried to sound like we weren't simply the really exhausted and half glad to be done cyclists we were.
Afterward we gave Aaron and Laura a call, and agreed on a place to get together. Riding through Eugene was pretty awesome. Cyclists were everywhere. Coffee with Aaron and Laura was fun, too. We would love to live in Eugene.
Our new friends helped us find our way to the bicycle paths that traverse the city, which were extensive. Both were on their way to work, which they rode to every day. We were a little envious. Bike infrastructure was really amazing. We stopped again at a gas station just west of town, and took a shot of a very important sign:
Just 53 miles left. Tomorrow we could even sleep in.
OR-126 wasn't that great of a highway to ride. The shoulders were tiny, and there was a good deal of traffic. But, this being Oregon, people gave us lots of space.
We stopped again down the road, and then again at another gas station even further on in Noti. I felt exhausted and beat up.
From Noti we had a hill to climb - but it was less than 800 feet high.
On the far side of that climb, we saw an important sign.
I needed some Espresso. We stopped. Jillian wanted some berries, but wasn't sure she could eat an entire container and I simply wasn't interested. After some discussion with the clerk, she decided to go for it.
She ate them all without much trouble. We finally dragged ourselves away and rode on, along wonderfully shaded roads. We soon arrived at a tunnel, which had some awesome features for bicycles. Before entering, cyclists were supposed to press a button, which activated a light above the tunnel.
We love Oregon.
On the other side of the tunnel we had our last downhill of the trip. Unfortunately, it was marred by construction. We had to wait some time for our turn to go.
At the bottom of the hill was Mapleton, where we stopped, once again, for coffee at the Mapleton Caffeination Station. We had awesome frozen coffees before dragging ourselves onward, in an effort to arrive at the beach at sundown. I made friends outside with a very thirsty dog.
From Mapleton we had a very flat ride along the Siuslaw River. There was some road construction, but a lot of it seemed to be for widening the road and adding shoulders - we can't complain about that.
It wasn't nearly as bright as we'd expected when we got close to Florence. We were going to have to move pretty quick to make the beach by sundown. Jillian's parents met us, to tell us that our original beach location wasn't actually a beach. Instead, they'd found us an alternate beach where we could actually wheel the bikes into the water. We weren't sure how to get there, so her parents leapfrogged us, playing human signpost.
They were pretty excited about our finishing, and that really helped us keep pushing.
We pulled into the Oregon Sand Dunes Recreation area, and found her parents car. There we rapidly put on every article of clothing we could easily find. It was very, very windy.
In order to reach the beach we had to climb over the top of a dune (note to others: if you keep going down the road, you can completely avoid having to climb the dune). It took some effort, but we carried the bike to the top.
There is no real way to describe the feeling of seeing that beach for the first time. Two months of riding. Almost quitting in Maryland, Indiana, and Denver. Outrunning dogs. Breaking down and being rescued by strangers and friends in Idaho, Kansas and Ohio. Going to bed hungry because we couldn't find any food. Freezing in the Oregon during crazy night time descents. Freezing and purple feet in Laramie. Tears. All over in one instant.
The way we'd ridden through Florece we hadn't even seen the water. Our first glimpse came as we crested that dune. We were a little awkward going down.
Our first task was to officially finish - we had to dip the wheel in the ocean, as we had back in New Jersey. We raced down and lifted the bike high above our heads in triumph.
Our second task was to start making phone calls, while we waited thirty minutes for the sun to start dipping down. I called my parents, thanking them for all the weather reports they'd given us, and letting them know they didn't need to worry any more. I called the Staphs, who we missed meeting in Wyoming by a day. I called Pickle, who had lent us her house in Denver. I called Jester, who had originally planned to ride from Boise to Florence with us. I reassured him that he'd made the right decision not coming. We'd changed our plans so many times that the route we wound up doing was nothing like what we'd originally planned on. Jester wouldn't have had any fun at all.
The calls were made extra difficult by the wind, which swept our tracks clean moments after walking on them. We had to spend most of our time facing south, to avoid sand in our eyes. Mostly it was nice to just sit, and not move. I was cold, but didn't care too much. We were done.
Today was the first day I missed the kick stand.
Finally the sun went down, and we hoisted the bicycle above our heads one last time.
Pictures taken, it was time to pack up our gear and find some dinner. We didn't have a bike rack, so we had to carefully disassemble the bike in order to fit in the back of the car. Our apologies to the rental company - it was a little sandy.
We drove back to Eugene, covering a day's worth of distance in a little over an hour. Her parents took us out to the Steelhead Brewery for dinner.
Then it was on to Portland, where we stayed with some of Jillian's extended family. We arrived a little late for a welcome party, but they left us a little something.
We didn't have a chance to enjoy it - we were simply too tired. We took showers, enjoyed the view of the city from the back deck, and crashed into bed.
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| posted at: 04:05 |
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