Cycling for the Arthritis Foundation: Day 2: Tillamook to Otter Rock

Monday, Sept. 8

I'm not sure what happened, despite getting up at 6 am, I was almost the last one out of camp. The few of us left had to hurry for about 3 miles to get past a particular spot before the road got closed for road work.

We hit a very peaceful section after that. We were off the highway, so there were very few cars and a lot of quiet. The tide was out and there were a number of people digging for clams.

That section led into our first climb of the day. It was not too bad compared to some of the hills at home. At the top Mr. Incredible was waiting (see photo below). There was a nice descent and then we headed into some mixed terrain that had both flat and rolling parts.

At the rest stop I met up with Keith. We rolled out together. Just before the second climb of the day, my gears stopped shifting on the cassette. In his youth, Keith was a bike mechanic before becoming a racer. He took out a multi-tool and reached for the cable only to find that it was broken. He jimmied a quick fix while we called the mechanic. Fortunately, Darrin, the mechanic (with Chris the EMT), showed up right away and replaced the cable. Turns out, when checked, the other cable was about to go, too, so he replaced that as well.

I was at the back of the pack again, but at least on the road with gears that worked. Keith and I continued on to the second rest stop. The sun came out during the climb leading into the rest stop. It was great to have the sun out.

At the rest stop, we met Mary, Rita, and Sue. We all continued together until Lincoln City where the ladies and I stopped for lunch while Keith rolled on.

After lunch we were on the highway again. It was noisy and busy. I didn't have any more patience for it and wanted to get to camp in time to set up my tent and take a shower, so I put some pep in my step and high-tailed it out of there.

Near Otter Rock, our route thankfully took us off 101 and we were rewarded with a beautiful, albeit climb-y, ride into the Inn at Otter Crest.

We camped overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was beautiful, the the wind was blowing like crazy. It was hard to put up the tents. Once they were up, the wind would blow them into all kinds of unusual shapes.

We walked to the Flying Dutchman Winery. They hosted us for a wine tasting and appetizers (with Rogue Creamery cheese).

After the wine tasting we had an excellent dinner back at camp with marinated tuna, brought fresh from the port at Newport that day. We had a great dinner, as usual, followed by the evening program where we learn why some of the riders have decided to be part of the tour. After I am home, I'll add a link to the website of Jeff Fredericks, a Bay Area rider whose daughter has juvenile arthritis. He's done some phenomenal things. Here's Jeff's website for this year: http://cancal14.weebly.com/. Last year he rode from Canada to Mexico, including this ride and the CCC (which I did last year) is at http://www.bikethecoast13.com/blog]

The wind calmed down after dark. That made sleeping easier.