OSBT Day 14-Lots of Climbing and Lots of Brown Signs

My new hiking friends, Rachel and Wexler got packed up about the same time as me. They were hoping to hitch to Gold Beach. We took this photo as I was leaving, and they were waiting. 

Gotta love Wexler’s hair!

The first stop of the day was for the obligatory photo with the dinosaurs.

A family pulled up with two young boys. Unfortunately, the place wasn’t open yet. 

It was just steady riding along the Coast until Ophir Wayside. There, I stopped for a break. 

As I was getting ready to go, I saw Montreal Mark go by. I caught up to him pretty quickly. I told him that the Old Coast Rd. would be coming up soon. It’s well signed for the bike route, so I didn’t worry that he would miss it. 

This used to be the “highway”. Didn’t see a single car. 

Crossing over the Rogue River into Gold Beach was the easiest bridge. There still wasn’t a shoulder, but it’s a flat bridge, and the wind was at my back. 

I cruised through Gold Beach without stopping. It was too early for lunch, and I didn’t see any bakery sign. 

Just out of Gold Beach the climb up Cape Sebastian begins. It’s not a terrible climb, just kind of long. At the top, I started pedaling as hard as I could to see how fast I could go down the other side. Last time, 9 years ago, I hit my highest speed ever of 49.7mph. I knew I couldn’t hit that, but I did get up to 41! It was exhilarating! I was back down to sea level for a mile or so. 

Before long, it was back up. The Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor is the collective name for all the brown signs (scenic viewpoints) all the way to Brookings. I stopped at Arch Rock for some lunch. 

Then it was on to Natural Bridges. 

Then, over the Thomas Creek Bridge, the highest bridge in Oregon. Unfortunately, they were doing construction, so I couldn’t stop on the bridge. It was down to one lane, and a traffic signal. I pulled up and got in front of a State Patrol car. He stayed behind me the whole way across the bridge. It was great!

One more stop at Whaleshead Rock, then on into Brookings. 

Since I was last at Harris Beach, they have built a bike path that goes right into the park. Because I hadn’t climbed enough already, there was one more hill to the park on the bike path. Yay...

Now I am sitting in a laundromat that is clear on the other side of town. I probably should have just stopped on my way tomorrow, but...I didn’t. Now I get to go back 2.8 miles against the wind to Harris Beach. Can’t wait!