Ask And Ye Shall Receive!

We awoke this morning to a soaked campground, but dry skies.  Mom stopped by just as we were finishing packing up.

Here we are a few hundred feet from our camp site, it would be a really awesome place with decent weather.

We started the climb a little intimidated after the horror stories from Gabriel the night before.  It was two miles to about a thousand feet, but we blew right through it (more on this later).  Here's a view almost at the summit.

After descending the other side we entered this weird section of landscape with trees in the middle of dunes.  It was like the entire other side of the hill was made of sand.

A bit farther on we picked up sandwiches in Pacific City.  We ate on a bluff somewhere above Neskowin.

After passing through Neskowin we hung a left onto "Old Scenic 101", per the Oregon Coast Bike Route.

The guy at the ranger stand the night before had also recommended taking this router to avoid a 12k' climb on the regular 101.  So we started out down the road, a nice gentle climb.

The only problem was this is exactly how it looked for almost 10 miles!  I don't want to speak too early, after only two days on the road, but elevation gain being equal I much prefer the shorter more severe option.  Or at least some flat sections to recover/relax on, rather than just constant incline for extended periods.  Todd and I both found this part the hardest of the day.

As an aside, I really despise lines on the map that contain any of the following: view, vista, mountain, hill, ridge, crest, summit, inclined,grade, and last but not least, scenic.  I'm sure this list will grow as we continue on our tour.

After continuing on some monotonous but demanding rolling hills, we stopped for a respite next to the beach in Lincoln City.

Tempting to just spend the rest of the day ast the beach, but we continued on.  We were offered awesome views (I think around Boiler Bay).

After passing through Prudhoe Bay, apparently a big whale watching destination, and home to "the world's smallest harbor" (no joke), we split off the 101 onto Otter Crest Loop.  It's a cool little road with one way (almost nonexistent) traffic, and a bike lane.  It was steep to say the least, with a very severe drop off to the ocean.

But definitely worth the effort.  Sweet views next section of coast.

(from left to right): seals on unnamed beach, Devil's Punch Bowl State Park, Beverly Beach State Park, Yaquina Lighthouse.  

After getting down to sea level again, I realized we were in the middle of The Transit of Venus!  Since it's a once a century event we donned our solar glasses (courtesy of my mom's friend Caroline) and checked it out.

Exhausted, ravenous, and parched we pushed on to the Rogue brewery in Newport.

It's a serious brewery here.

We had dinner and were finishing up at the bar when Todd realized some buddies of his from Eugene were across the room.  They caught up on all the summer's music festival plans before last call.  Since it was dark and freezing, and we'd had "a few" beers, we opted for the holiday inn express across the street rather than the campground further down 101 (which is now bringing you this update).  

Since I have reliable internet access and a constant source of power, I mapped the previous two days rides:

The Lodge to Cape LookoutShare your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Cape Lookout to NewportShare your bike routes @ Bikely.com

So that makes 2 days, 160 miles, and 15K' of climb.

Tomorrow's forecast calls for more rain, so let this be my official ask: More sunshine please!