I hope you enjoy the random selection of pictures above!
Here we are in Tillamook, Oregon, 8 days into our cycling, and we are FINALLY able to make a post. Where to begin...
First of all, I don't believe the leg soreness will ever really go away until we give our legs a rest from at least 50 miles a day, but Brent we feel stronger every day! Of course there are days when one feels like they could bike forever, and days when you'd like to hitch a ride on the RV/tour bus that just passed you on the road. So far we have ridden roughly 470 miles with an average of 50-60 miles/day. There was one 75-mile day that luckily ended with grilling oysters over a fire while enjoying free beer. :) (It is widely believed there is no better cure for a sore ace than fresh oysters and beer).
The highlight for both of us has been the great folks we've met, whether they be townies, travellers, or fellow cyclists. Last night we rolled into the Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon and knew everybody staying at the Hiker/Biker Campsite! From the lovely swiss couple, Peter and Franzisca, to Rose who lent us goat cheese, to the older German couple on their honeymoon with whom we shared a seafood feast, to Sarah and Donny who plan to cycle all the way to Argentina, and all of the other friendly faces we've been lucky to encounter, Brent and I are not yet bored with only eachothers' conversation. ;)
It was great to start off the trip well in Seattle, and also to have some time to hang with Jeana (Katie's friend from Peace Corps) and her roommate Melissa and do all the 'touristy' stuff in the city. The first week of the trip spent cycling around Olympic National Park was beautiful and a part of the country that neither of us had seen before. We camped our first night at Squim Bay State Park, where a wonderful random lady told us about a bike path right off of 101 as well as a groocerty store where we could get some veggies for our pasta diner. She actually showed up at the campground that evening with a bunch of produce (and a chocolate bar!) for us just in case we hadn't been able to find the store. (We realize this sounds creepy... but it definitely wasn't! She was a completely innocent nice older woman who knows that exactly what two bikers need after a full day on the road is some dark chocolate.)
First of all, I don't believe the leg soreness will ever really go away until we give our legs a rest from at least 50 miles a day, but Brent we feel stronger every day! Of course there are days when one feels like they could bike forever, and days when you'd like to hitch a ride on the RV/tour bus that just passed you on the road. So far we have ridden roughly 470 miles with an average of 50-60 miles/day. There was one 75-mile day that luckily ended with grilling oysters over a fire while enjoying free beer. :) (It is widely believed there is no better cure for a sore ace than fresh oysters and beer).
The highlight for both of us has been the great folks we've met, whether they be townies, travellers, or fellow cyclists. Last night we rolled into the Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon and knew everybody staying at the Hiker/Biker Campsite! From the lovely swiss couple, Peter and Franzisca, to Rose who lent us goat cheese, to the older German couple on their honeymoon with whom we shared a seafood feast, to Sarah and Donny who plan to cycle all the way to Argentina, and all of the other friendly faces we've been lucky to encounter, Brent and I are not yet bored with only eachothers' conversation. ;)
It was great to start off the trip well in Seattle, and also to have some time to hang with Jeana (Katie's friend from Peace Corps) and her roommate Melissa and do all the 'touristy' stuff in the city. The first week of the trip spent cycling around Olympic National Park was beautiful and a part of the country that neither of us had seen before. We camped our first night at Squim Bay State Park, where a wonderful random lady told us about a bike path right off of 101 as well as a groocerty store where we could get some veggies for our pasta diner. She actually showed up at the campground that evening with a bunch of produce (and a chocolate bar!) for us just in case we hadn't been able to find the store. (We realize this sounds creepy... but it definitely wasn't! She was a completely innocent nice older woman who knows that exactly what two bikers need after a full day on the road is some dark chocolate.)
The next fews days we went through Port Angeles (where we spent 3 hours at a bike shop but brent was able to get a new bottom bracket!), and Forks (crazy 'Twilight' overkill but yummy ice cream and naps in the shade), and we spent nights mostly at State Parks such as Kalaloch, right on the coast (cold!), Lake Quinalt (where we met our awesome swiss friends biking from Anchorage to Panama) and Bay Center (tiny oyster ghost town, but we shared a site with the lovely older German couple I mentioned before. I think the best part of this night was when Reimev pulled cans of budlight out of his panniers and offered us one while rolling his post-trip smoke.
We made it to Oregon on Monday and are falling in love with the beautiful coastline and bike-friendliness of the state. We hiked up to Ecola point overlooking cannon beach (where the goonies was filmed!) yesterday, spent another night on the coast at Nehalem Bay State Park last night, and have roughly 12 miles still to go this evening from Tillamook to Cape Lookout (where we will again most likely know all the campers at the hiker/biker site.) We are currently filled up on cheese and ice cream, and with our panniers full of clean clothes after a stop at the Laundromat and fresh groceries after a stop at Safeway we'll follow the sun the rest of the way to the cape.
We are staying safe on the roads, warm at night, and we keep going through jars of peanut butter... If you haven't sent us your address please do so! We've picked up some pretty rad postcards.
Much love from the Oregon Coast. Take care and we'll try to write again soon!
B&K
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