I underestimated the mental effort needed to write consistently. When I'm not riding, I'm doing some form of eating, unpacking, cleaning up, sleeping, and packing. This leaves surprisingly little time to write these monologues. Frankly I'm not sure who I write these for - I know I have friends who might be checking in once in a while, but it doesn't feel like I'm talking or having a conversation with them. (I still have some active text communications for that.) It feels a little silly and self-aggrandizing, but I'm in too deep.
Anyways, here's a brief recap of what's happened since the last entry. For each day, I'm going to save myself some time by injecting the Strava activity for the ride. If you click into it, there will be a short commentary and potentially even pictures.
Day 2: Seaside to Barview
The Oregon coast is pretty stunning.
Set up camp whilst severely dehydrated (self-induced) and suffering from digestive ailments (maybe seafood induced). My dad ran to the toilet 4 times in 4 hours before we turned in for the night. I ended up eating 2 freeze-dried meals to recover. I had bought a beer to drink for the night but decided that wasn't wise. I intentionally removed the diarrhea tablets from my first aid kit before leaving, thinking it wouldn't be useful. Oh yeah, my glasses broke too, but I fixed that up with superglue.
Day 3: Barview to Pacific City
Man, the climbing was insane here. I did some research after, and it turns out we took the "new" route at Cape Meares which included some nice 12% grades. The "old" route was an unmarked gate that we stopped at to catch our breaths before continuing up the new route. In hindsight, this day did my knees in, since I'd lowered my saddle sort of randomly for no reason the day before. That, and it was just a lot of climbing that I wasn't acclimated to.
Day 4: Pacific City to Corvallis
A real slog. My knees were not happy with me. Nothing really notable otherwise. Ate Panda Express for dinner.
Day 5: "Rest" day
We went to Elmer's for brunch and it hit the spot.
We then went to a local bike shop to pick up some bike accessories. It was here that I impulse bought a set of fenders, since the price was right. I paid $40 for a set of SKS B55 fenders, which I happened to be looking at before I left on the trip anyway. I proceeded to spend the next 6 hours installing them. The installation continued into the morning of the next day, where I stopped at a Home Depot to borrow a bolt cutter. Not gonna lie, this wasn't super relaxing. I finished so late that I ate Panda Express for dinner again, and didn't really explore the city much. Not sure if I would recommend.
Day 6: Corvallis to Eugene/Springfield
Not much to add here.
Up next
In the next few days, we'll be heading up and over the mountains nearby. We're hoping to take the Old McKenzie Highway over McKenzie pass, but sources say that the road will be closed well into June. Regardless, we're planning on camping before the highway forks into old/new.