Did you ever get in a fight as a kid? It was always OK to trade some blows until you got punched right on the nose. You know the kind; eyes water, stinging pain down your face, and the good ones always lasted a while. You always remembered for the next fight – NOT on the nose!-. Today’s headwind, which coincided with our longest travel day felt just like that.
Yesterday’s tailwind had turned into a 15mph headwind by the time we started our day @ 9am. When we approached Port Orford and saw the large yellow sign that read – "If lights flashing Extreme Wind Conditions Next 27 miles" – we knew today might be a challenge. The road would skirt the coast the whole way - stunning – but provide an extra challenge. 56km would take us 3.5 hours before we made a very regrettable lunch stop in Gold Beach, the only town on our route today.
We fared no better in the afternoon, actually looking forward to the hills as it provided reprieve from the wind which had doubled (maybe quadrupled) in strength. Thankfully, there was some spectacular (thud) diversions including Arch Rock, and Turtlehead viewpoints. We finally slid into Harris Beach @ 5pm with a solid 7.5 hrs in the saddle and some windburnt faces.
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| Dee at Arch Rock, Oregon |
Determined to make the best of first day of ‘work’ this trip we refreshed with a shower and bought the local grocer out there stock, returning to the park for this amazing sunset
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| Sunset @ Harris Beach State Park along with a new Pinot to enjoy. Rumour has it I was snoring by the time I hit the pillow… |
1 comment:
Sounds like fun!
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