GO PANTHERS!

Day 16 – Gold Beach, OR – 40 km

We took a rest day today, booking into a motel in the first town we reached. Sophie was particularly bagged this morning, hardly able to maintain 14 km/hr. To be fair, we had a stiff headwind most of the way. As soon as we checked in – at 2:45 – I suddenly realized how exhausted I was. After long hot showers we both just lay around for the balance of the day before walking down the street to a late dinner at La Casita de Oro. As we ate a couple of 20-ish guys came in. They did not look local. First of all, neither was wearing anything resembling camo fashion. Then Sophie heard them speak to the waitress (this is a tiny restaurant – just four tables). It turns out they’re from Maple Ridge, riding down to San Francisco – but carrying only a change of clothes and staying at motels all the way, they’re travelling at twice our pace.

I was surprised by how tired I feel. We sleep 9-10 hours a night. In a campground there’s not much to do after it gets dark. But in retrospect, it’s kind of like working hard for two weeks straight without a break, but also eating and sleeping at your worksite. Being off the bike and walking around this little town (proud home of the Gold Coast High School Panthers football team, who this evening are hosting the Myrtle Point something-or-others) was a bit surreal. First because small town America is really foreign to me. But more because our routine of riding, eating, sleeping, repeat has been broken and I suddenly feel adrift and without a purpose in a strange place. And the only way of escape is by bike.

The forecast is for rain tonight and through the next few days. With that prospect we’ll probably take another easy day tomorrow and overnight at a motel in Brookings, just 30 miles down the road.