Day 11 – Cape Lookout, OR. 70 km
Sunny and warm today – made for a good ride down the coast, overlooking the near total absence of any shoulder along the highway for most of the distance. Ironically, this could be seen as making for safer riding as you’re forced onto the road which requires drivers to slow down and actually steer a path around you. On narrow shoulders some drivers (thankfully not many) don’t bother to shift over at all, steaming past at full speed just an arm’s length away.
At one lookout spot over the coast we were watching grey whales spouting in the distance. I was chatting casually with an older guy who turned and said “So you’re a cyclist?” as if he hadn’t noticed before. “A lot of people around here really hate cyclists,” he added. I wasn’t sure if he was including himself in that camp – now whether he meant it as a warning or a caution. Most drivers are pretty respectful of cyclists on the roads here, but some are clearly aggravated. Like the guy who blasted his horn at us as he drove past – in the opposite direction!