August 2, 2017
Day 30 Coos Bay to Bullard State Park: We Did It! Well, we did the 7 Devils, anyways
Up at 6, we left the motel and headed back to Safeway and Starbucks where we had a breakfast sandwich and picked up some groceries for the day. Then it was off to get back on the route to Bullard State Park. I have been both dreading and looking forward to this portion of the ride, knowing that the hills coming up would be challenging and hoping I would be up for it.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
But first, we rode along a more quiet route, off of 101 to the small town of Charleston. We took a few minutes out to ride along the marina there and check out the mist on the water. Early mornings are so pretty!
Back on the road, we headed up a quick short hill out of town and took the turn onto 7 Devils Road.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The first section, which is about 1 mile, is pretty steep. We managed to get up with a few stops to catch our breath, but we rode up the whole way and that was really really satisfying!
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We stopped for a short cookie break and to put on sunscreen and there met a young couple from Switzerland who were also traveling south. I mentioned that I thought that hill was pretty steep and they said, “Oh, in Switzerland, the hill would be like that and then continue on for a few more kilometres” – yikes! They were very nice and mentioned that they are Warmshowers hosts, so if we ever get to Switzerland we could stay with them. That would be lovely – if I ever feel like I can tackle those giant Swiss hills, we most certainly will!
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We said goodbye to our Swiss friends (I’m sorry, I’ve totally forgotten your names!) and they took off, planning twice as much mileage on this day than we had. But hey, they are young and they are Swiss!
Jim and I finished our snack and actually enjoyed the rest of the 7 Devils. Yes, there were some tough Granny Gear ups, but there were also some great downs. It felt like being on a roller coaster, but this time I was in control of how fast I went – much more fun for me!
Towards the end, though, the heat was getting pretty intense, so we were happy when we reached the top of the final devil and got to enjoy a really long and fast downhill.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Our country road detour off of 101 ended and we had couple of short miles to reach our destination for this day, Bullard State Park. We paid our $10 for our hiker/biker site and set up the tent. After lunch and a short snooze, we went to investigate the hike to the ocean. It was a little intimidating when we started up, as it was all in deep sand and .75 miles long.
However, we persevered and oh my, were we glad we did!! We made it down to the ocean and I felt like a turtle, drawn to the water. I dropped everything, took off my sandals and walked to where I could let the waves come up to my feet. Of course, then I screamed and jumped back as the water was icy cold!
We walked along for a long time, enjoying the sounds of the waves breaking and the feeling of the sea wind on our faces. There were maybe 4 other people on the beach, so we felt like we were on our own private island – bliss!!
We stayed as long as we could and then headed back up to our camp site, where other bikers had now arrived and we found Sebastian was there! It turned out that he and his friend had decided to stay a couple of days in Bandon. We enjoyed catching up about the ride to here and chatted about life in general as we set up and cooked out dinner. It was lovely to see Sebastian again.
After dinner we hit the showers (love the facilities at Oregon Parks!) and then retired to our tent to play Gin before it was lights out. Another early day planned for tomorrow as we are planning to ride 42 miles to Humbug State Park – wish us luck!!!
Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 1,130 km (702 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |