75 miles in a very chilled 8hrs 40mins
Before I start, whatever has happened to Matthew Kelly. Can't say I care, but...
Anyway, after yesterday's not-so-pacific Pacific tempest I was delighted to look out the window this morning to see blue sky. Despite this it actually turned out to be the coldest day so far with a chilly morning temp. of 2C and a high of only 7C. Thankfully, though, the kit is doing a great job of keeping me warm and did so again today.
The day started off with me racing to dodge the showers through fields full of Tillamook cows but I quickly became aware that both knees were aching, slowing my progress somewhat. Probably a combination of the cold from the occasional hailstorm in the morning combined with all the in-the-saddle hard pedalling into the wind I did yesterday. However, I was in no rush today and cruised down the coast through more picturesque towns with my only delay being my first puncture of the trip, just north of Depoe Bay.
I then decided to drop off highway 101 for the first time for an extremely leisurely spin along Otter Crest Loop and to finally take in some sights such as Cape Foulweather and the Devil's Punchbowl, which were both considerably better than their names suggest and well worth the detour, as the pic hopefully shows. Particularly enjoyable was watching the ground squirrels at the punchbowl (at least I think that's what they were - they looked like squirrels and living in burrows). From there I buzzed along in the cold sunshine over the bridge at Newport choosing my motel purely because it's near proximity to the Rogue Brewery.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, the weather system is moving across the country and as a result, the wind that was my Nemesis in Sunday, is forecast to turn into a 20mph NNW tailwind. Could well be a fun day.
Apologies for the short blog today. The bar in the Brewery was strictly mobile-free. Despite this, it was a great little sample house not least because I got I.D'd before getting any of the great beers, but also because it served a Kobe beef chili - which is either a genius or madness recipe.
