Day 13: May 21st; Lincoln City – Carl G. Washburne Memorial State Park (Florence…?) OR; 65 miles

Today we found out why it is more popular to ride southbound on the pacific coast. Today we got very well acquainted with tailwinds and they were fantastic.

We headed out early as per usual and went through the usual coffee routine. The sun was shining which could only mean one thing… wind was coming. I learned this during the Transam. The sunnier the day, the windier the afternoon. Whereas it was usually unpredictable on the Transam whether or not the winds would be in our favor, the prevailing winds of the pacific tend to go south. Just like us.

We were cruising along at a pretty substantial clip passing absolutely beautiful coastal landscapes. They sure weren’t lying when they said the Oregon coast is some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.

Oh! And we saw whales! Finally!! Doug was adamant about us riding Otter Crest Loop – he guaranteed us we’d see whales. Doug did not lead us astray – as soon as we pulled in, I saw one breaching, spouting and everything. Unfortunately, Sheena just missed it. We cycled a little more up the road to the final lookout, and sure enough there was one lone whale swimming around in the kelp. Now that she can cross “seeing a whale” off her list, Sheena’s only “must do’s” of the trip is not getting hit by a car.

We made a couple stops in some of the coastal towns – boy are they cute. We made it to our original destination, Yachats around 1:30pm, plenty of time to do some more riding. We stayed in town for a while, where we ran into a couple from Canada cycling from San Diego to Victoria. The winds were not in their favor, unfortunately and their mood reflected that. We saw a few more cyclists pass by. Definitely a record for the most cyclists seen in one day!

We decided to go another 9 or so miles to Searose when the wind was still kicking. We rode up some pretty substantial hills, but with the wind blowing us up as hard as it was, they were relatively easy. And apparently distracting because we blew (pun intended) right past Searose without even noticing. Maybe it was during the time I was experimenting with how far the wind alone could push me up a small grade hill without pedaling. 3/4 of the way in case you were wondering – it was that strong.

Because backtracking 1 mile against wind to Searose sounded like cruel and unusual punishment for missing it, we decided that 4 miles to Carl G. Washburn State Park was the more appealing option. And we flew there. It’s a nice park with pretty moss covered trees everywhere. But the wind is still kicking so we’re praying one doesn’t crash into our tents tonight! There are also bears in the area, so everything scented has to be placed in a bear box overnight. Should sleep well tonight!

We’re sharing the biker/biker site with a fellow biker who is cycling all over. Alan, a retired British bloke, is hiking and biking until “I’m in a wheelchair”. He’s hiked the John Muir Trail 3x in his lifetime and has loads of experience in the Sierras. I picked his brain a little to see his thoughts on the JMT. I guess since he did it 3x, he must really love it!

Another early night. No service so this’ll have to be posted tomorrow! Probably will get a bunch of frantic texts from my parents whenever we get service tomorrow… Fingers crossed we’ll have the same luck with winds!