Day 65: Eugene, OR to Florence, OR

August 5, 2006

95.27 Miles, 6:59:23 Ride Time, 13.87 Average Speed, 33.8 Maximum Speed
Note: These figures include several miles of riding around Eugene in the morning, and Florence in the afternoon

I was in no real hurry to get up on this, the (almost) last morning of the trip. It felt like the end had somehow sneaked up on me, and I regretted that I had rushed through the last several days. I got my things together, much more quickly now that I was carrying only the two small panniers, and went to the motel's office to return my key.

The "continental breakfast" was in progress in the office, and I waited behind a couple of older ladies as they took their time preparing their bagels - which they then dropped on the floor, sticky side down of course. I decided I had waited long enough, so, as they bemoaned their bad luck, I stepped in front of them, tossed my key on the desk, grabbed a couple of muffins, and left.

I stopped at the 7-11 down the street for some snacks, and noticed again that food was more expensive in Oregon (it wasn't just this 7-11; everyplace I had stopped in the state, including supermarkets, had noticeably higher prices).

The Adventure Cycling map had me leaving Eugene on one of the many bike paths in town, but I had trouble finding it, so I just started riding West on one of the less busy streets. After several blocks, I found my way onto the Fern Ridge bike path, and rode several pleasant miles to the outskirts of Eugene.

The next twenty or so miles were on low-traffic country roads, my favorite kind of riding. I stopped in the small community of Low Pass, and had lunch at Joe's Diner, one of the friendliest places since Virginia. The grandmotherly waitress warned me to be careful of the traffic and the upcoming "hill" (which I wasn't too worried about, since the town was named Low Pass, not "High" Pass...), and told me about the large group of cyclists that had stopped in yesterday (the Adventure Cycling group, I assume).

"Low Pass" lived up to its name, and the hill wasn't very difficult. Traffic got a little heavier around Triangle Lake, nine miles from Low Pass, but it was otherwise a very enjoyable ride.

Somewhere between Triangle Lake and the tiny community of Deadwood, I spotted a young guy standing next to a fully-loaded bike leaning against a picnic table. "Where are you going?" I called out. When he responded "Virginia", I turned around to talk to him.

He was Will Blank, a recent college graduate who had started his West-to-East TransAmerica ride this morning in Florence. It was very cool meeting him on my last, and his first, day. He was carrying much more stuff that I had started out with, including the largest sleeping bag I'd seen on anyone's bike. We talked for about 15 minutes, and hopefully I didn't bore him too much as I imparted all of my accumulated wisdom...

Not long after I left Will, I saw a series of signs that I thought were apropos: "At The End", "Of The Road". I'd been slacking off on the picture-taking the last few days, but I thought these were worth photographing.

The quiet, pleasant ride ended several miles later at Mapleton, where I had to travel the rest of the way to Florence on the extremely busy State Route 126. The Saturday, people-driving-to-the-coast traffic was very heavy, and while the shoulder was wide, it was terrible - rough, gravelly, full of glass and other junk. After about seven miles it did get better; around this time I stopped to help a woman and her daughter change a flat tire on their truck.

The afternoon was still sunny when I arrived in Florence, which was obviously a popular tourist destination. I was glad I'd reserved a room a week ago - all the motels had their "No Vacancy" signs on.

I checked into my place, the Lighthouse Inn, which was nice, and not much more expensive than the dump I'd stayed in last night. After getting some (vague) directions, I rode North to find access to the ocean, which I hadn't seen yet. As I rode along the Siuslaw River, I saw sea birds, and could smell the ocean. It became cloudy, chilly, and very windy in a few miles. After about four miles I turned onto a road that I hoped would provide access to the beach, but I couldn't find a way to get to it (later I would read in someone's journal that it was possible to get to the beach from there, but it wasn't easy).

By now it was extremely windy, and sand was blowing everywhere. After I had someone take my picture along the Siuslaw River (it wasn't the Pacific, but it was salty, and there was a beach), I decided to ride back to Florence, and go farther North to Heceta Beach (and the Pacific) tomorrow when the weather would hopefully be better.

As soon as I got back to Florence, it became sunny again. I rode around looking for the Adventure Cycling group, but I couldn't find them - they must not have stayed in town after reaching the Coast yesterday.

After I showered and changed clothes, I checked my email and saw that Lori, a friend of my friend Tina, had left me a message - she was in town. I called her, and we met for dinner in the "Old Town" section of Florence, a short walk from my motel. It was nice to have someone to talk to at the end of my trip, especially after weeks of (mostly) solitude. Thanks, Lori.

I went to bed later than usual, still a little keyed-up from reaching my destination (well, almost reaching it - I still hadn't dipped my tire in the Pacific... but that could wait until tomorrow).

The bike path I rode out of Eugene on was pleasant - once I found my way onto it.

I met Will Blank, who was about 30 miles into the first day of his West-to-East TransAm - I was about 30 miles from finishing...

The Siuslaw River, near where it empties into the Pacific Ocean

Not quite the ocean, but getting close...

There was some sort of classic-car show in the area today - Florence was full of these things

Today's ride: 95 miles (153 km)
Total: 4,283 miles (6,893 km)

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