August 8, 2019
Day 4: Halsey to Corvallis
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Breaking with the all you can eat Continental breakfast routine of the other motels, our place last night instead had an arrangement with the attached restaurant. They distributed a chit, good for your choice of one of three basic cooked breakfasts. It's a tossup. Would you rather have all the yogurt, etc. you can eat, and all bagels you can toast, or would you rather have a fried egg or pancakes cooked for you, but in limited quantity?
The cooked breakfast turned out to be quite reasonable, but something - hot chocolate - was missing for the kids. Dodie had figured this out, and brought along two envelopes of instant hot chocolate powder. So she asked the waitress for some hot water. This was refused. The lady said it was against health regulations to have your own food. When I heard this going down over by a slightly distant counter, I felt briefly sorry for the waitress. Her chances of coming out of the encounter unscathed were low! But unpredictably, Dodie just expressed disappointment and returned to our table. A surprise came when within seconds the hostess (as opposed to the waitress) brought two hot chocolates (with whipped cream!). She said another customer had overheard the exchange and picked up the cost. But since there was no one about, we think it was the hostess' decision. She must have rightly judged her waitress unreasonable. Anyway, nice gesture.
It had rained in the night, and was still misting heavily. We put on the minimal extra clothing we had brought, and set off across I-5 and towards the tiny town of Halsey. Avi suggested I take a photo of the grey sky, and I did that. But looking at the shot, which also showed two trucks and no shoulder, I was thinking "How do I avoid making this blog too negative, when a random shot of the cycling environment looks like this?".
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Fortunately, after a while we found a bike path (or sidewalk) extending all 2 km into Halsey. And after Halsey, and after an intersection with 99, the shoulder became OK and the traffic not bad. We carried on happily, and soon were retracing part of the road (Peoria Road) that we had followed yesterday. We even stopped at the same tables in the little park by the river. And we encountered there a touring cyclist, heading for Eugene, and one of the few we have met on the route.
We knew we had only to make it back to Oregon 34, which we had crossed yesterday, and then to hop on it for a couple of km into Corvallis. But just before 34 Dodie came down with a flat. Poor Reise Mueller bicycle- it had ridden thousands of km in Netherlands and France and even Canada, with never a flat. But its "flat free" Schwalbe tires proved no match for 300 km in the US. I think what it's about is the extent to which cyclists and trucks are mixed together down here. The truck tires leave those pesky little wires when they disintegrate.
This time Avi seemed uninterested in the repair, but Violet was still in there, assessing whether the pin hole we found was really the one, and only, and helpfully holding on to the small parts during the operation. Flipping Dodie's bike, with all the doodads that are bolted to its bar (GPS mount, etc. etc.) is a bug. So we did this one right side up. It recalled the parting wish of that cyclist we had just met: "Keep the rubber side down!"
Highway 34 actually had a bike path all the way along, so we were soon and easily crossing the bridge over the Willamette and into Corvallis. Our motel, an older one without much appeal, was just over the bridge (Rodeway Inn), and we had arrived before 1 p.m. However check in was OK. We then spent some time getting oriented, and trying to spot on a map the location of restaurants that had advertised in the motel's welcoming literature. In the end, we just walked out to see what we would hit.
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What we hit was yet another Mexican restaurant. Given that the kids like this food, and the Grampies still have fond memories of Yucatan, we went for it. I have come to realize that the Mexican restaurants here are the functional equivalent of the Doner/Kebap ones in Europe. The commonality is that an immigrant population is offering a fast food from back home, based on little bits of meat and salad type stuff. It's good, but you can also get too much. I think now we are almost at that point.
The kids had no enthusiasm for going out to see more of Corvallis, so I sallied forth on my own. As I tried to penetrate deeper into what I took to be the old town, I stepped off the curb at a crosswalk, noting some oncoming cars, and taking care that they would stop for me. They did stop, but I had the impression during the little "negotiating session" they and I had, that they were stopping as you would for a drunk or a crazy in the road. Too expensive to actually hit him. Uncertainty about crosswalks is something we have run into in many cities we visit. In Toronto, people will stop as soon as you set foot off the curb. In Paris, they will absolutely stop, but not before you have firmly convinced them that you know your rights, and you are not afraid. Later, it's interesting to ask a local driver what the actual law is. I think in every country the pedestrian does in fact have the right of way.
As I walked, I stopped two or three couples to ask where they thought the centre of town might be. Each time, I had picked on people who were not from here. But one did volunteer the opinion that it might be that "church-like" building. I had noticed this building too, on the way to the Mexican restaurant. I commented to Avi that in Europe the centre could be found by spotting the church. So yes, this could be a good bet.
The building turned out to be the courthouse. Built in 1888-89, it is still in use. But, it is not really the centre of town.
Falling back on yet another useless Europe based touring skill that is in my quiver, I thought to locate "the bakery". Bakery is not a big thing in this country, so that was a dumb idea. Still, there is the Panera Bread chain, and maybe that would have to do.
Panera turned out to have dramatically few breads or pastries. But ever the optimist, I put down $3.29 for a small slice of coffee cake. So now what can I say? I still don't want to be too critical in this blog. But back home at Superstore, for about $3.29, they have a ring of "coffee cake" that I have long ago given up on buying because it is so disappointing. The Panera coffee cake was amazing, because it was exactly the same thing - exactly! There must be some club of national chain bakery managers where they pass around these cost saving recipes?
I did settle on a few streets and buildings as being representative of old Corvallis. People who know the town may perhaps laugh, and looking at the track declare that I missed the whole thing. Let me know.
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Having rejoined Dodie and kids at the motel, we are just resting. Tomorrow figures to be the toughest day, as we try to cycle beyond Salem to Keizer. Scott Anderson has helped enormously by setting out a Ride With GPS track for us that gives the shortest possible, safest route.
The route is loaded in the GPS and we will be ready to pull the trigger soon after dawn. Only thing, we can already see that the breakfast that Rodeway is getting ready to offer will be of no value. So our plan is to head over to the by comparison high quality McDonald's before setting out!
Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 338 km (210 miles)
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