Day 25 July 12, 2001

Coos Bay, OR to Golds Beach, OR

81.03 Miles
Average Speed 15.15
5:22 and 11 seconds ride time
Departure Time 9:00 am
Arrival 5:15 PM

            As Coos Bay was a little off the coast, we had to head West as we continued South. It's always nice to see the coast after going inland for a while. This is my first update (Dan), so I don't know what has been written before, but there is some indescribable pleasure in riding with the water by your side. Perhaps like a fire keeps a man lost in the wilderness from going insane, the myriad features of the ocean shore accompany us.

            When there is no coast we find other ways to amuse ourselves. Whether it's coming up with new ways to call out an approaching bump in the road or just yelling out whatever the nearest sign happens to say in the local accent of some place we've visited. My personal favorite today was a town we passed through called "Sixes." Although Rocky seems to think he invented the term used to express apathy because of equality of choices, he is wrong. We still had fun taking a picture by the sign for this one-cafe-one-deserted-gas-station town.

            Port Orford provided a great place for lunch. Our bench on the grassy hill gave a stunning view of about 30 miles of coastline. And, although we approach ascetic adherence to a low-fat high-carb diet, we indulged in some great ice cream. Sitting there eating, we started to realize the reason we couldn't feel any wind the whole morning wasn't because there wasn't one, but that there was a fierce tailwind of about 20 miles per hour. It's interesting riding with that tailwind because the air is just dead around you. You can lick your finger and put it out to test for wind and you get nothing. That's okay, it's just payback for coming into Prosser, Washington on a 110 mile day with a persistent headwind.