Big Ride Pacific Coast 2008

DAY 8, Saturday 9/20
Bullard’s Beach State Park To Harris Beach State Park

Ride Time : 6h30min
Max Speed: 39.0 mi/hr (63 Km/hr)

After David’s route debriefing, Bursley, Bloxom and I headed back to Old Bandon (on-route) to load up some caffeine. We took the bike route this time, off of 101 (which I probably should’ve used last night). Not very far from the State Park, (Wild Bill) Bloxom stopped by this crumbling home mailbox to show and explain to us what had happened to his handlebars the night before (the yellow tape was all messed up). Turns out the road was pretty dark last night, so he ran over the darn thing, leaving the rusty tin can facing anywhere but in the right direction? Bill, however pointed out to us that, regardless of his ‘episode’ he had still been able to beat Bill Rice’s car, who gave the rest of us a ride back to the campsite last night… How come we’re not surprised? After cracking up for a few minutes and giving him shit about ‘Bandon’s moving mailboxes’, we scouted the local Coffee Shop, while the rest of the riders were long gone. Once again, and consistent with our ride habits, we privileged the good conversation, the mutual jokes and a badass warm-well-made cup of coffee. We’ll hammer it down later and catch up with everyone else somewhere along the way, if not at campsite.

In general, and mostly due to our outfits and (duh!) the numbers in our bikes, we get asked a lot about the Big Ride and how to get involved in future versions of it. This time, at the Coffee Shop, we met a really enthusiastic 70-something gentleman and his wife, who told us they would love to do it next year. The ride that is… I mean the Big Ride… well, you know what I mean. It is actually really inspiring to find that level of enthusiasm at such age, and I am sure they would be able to make it.

After heading out of Old Bandon, back on our bikes and only a few miles from town (pretty much around the corner) right where the Beach Loop Road connects back with 101, and frankly with the sole intention of buying a couple AA batteries for my camera, we found Jim’s Gems Rock Shop & Museum’. This funky establishment with all kinds of weird ‘products’ but, of course, no batteries whatsoever… That’s how we met Barney, the person in charge of the shop… and the ‘museum’. One of the main features, among sharp gems of all kinds and Jolly Roger’s, was a motorized-rusty-non-functional 1932 Schwinn Bike and a couple 1920’s cars (in really good shape, by the way) that, when we asked him about the price of them, he said "Let’s put it this way: if I would sell you one of these puppies you’d have to give me cash and half an hour to disappear, and the owner would never see me again!".

At this point, we have spent most of the am goofing around and we only have 8 miles in (ha!). We haven’t even reported at check point #1 yet, but we can’t leave this venue without immortalizing this Kodak moment with the ‘Whizzer’, the Jolly Roger’s and, of course, our buddy Barney.

We did have another 78 miles to cover, and an upright ascent of over 700ft (215m) to get over the summit of Cape Sebastian, but that was only at mile 64. First, we had to get to Gold Beach (mile 59) where we arrived around 3pm, not without a few ups and downs near the coast (Humbug Mtn) and some crumbling but very cool internal roads (Old Coast Road), always keeping a good eye on the Cattle Guards along the way…

Humbug Mountain

After checking in at check points #1 and 2 and upon reaching Gold Beach, right after crossing Rogue River Bridge, Bursley and I made the last pit stop, this time for a mega-dish of Ribs & Fries at a waterfront restaurant. Fuel looks better on a dish, even when it’s deep fried (but don’t try putting Powerbars on a plate… it’s just not the same). After an hour there we realized we had to hammer it down now if we wanted to get in campsite before 6pm. And so we did; we knocked out the final 30 miles of the day in less than two hours, including the final climb at Cape Sebastian and a wobbling full-speed 700ft descent that made me pull the reins at 39 mi/hr or you wouldn’t be reading this log… We’re getting used to slacking & sweeping, by the way.

Cape Sebastian (left) -- Brookings OR (right)

As we arrived in campsite just before 6pm, we learned that two of our riders had crashed and were at the hospital (crap). Amber (‘Ale’) and Eric (at this point ‘Crash’) had had an accident somewhere along the Old Coast Road. Fortunately only bruises and road-rash, nothing too serious, but they will probably not be able to ride tomorrow. I found a spot at the ‘Village’ to set up my tent in this incredible Park with huge pine trees (we’re getting closer to the Redwoods), kicked the ball around for a bit with Spoke and then had some dinner. Chilean wine and IPA’s (she knows our taste by now) is what Linda had bought for the night, so after getting a quick bite, I went back to the ‘Village’ where most everyone was pretty exhausted, but still hanging out around a table. I grabbed my windup radio, spun the lever a few times and looked for some signal in this green spot in the middle of nowhere. Sure enough, we caught this radio station playing something like ‘80’s on demand’. The ages among us seven around the table ranges from 28 to 35, so we did not have much trouble guessing songs and artists, and cracking up with stories about the 80’s. It was pretty funny however, to find out that George Michael had sang on most of the tunes we heard that night; either doing choirs in the background, or even playing instruments, according to general consensus among us fellow riders present around the table that night. We’re running out of IPA’s (I grabbed the last one from Bill’s personal stash at the ‘Cribbage Club’) so I’m outta here… Tomorrow we’re heading to California and I can sense a heavier night coming, since Zeta, a good ol’ friend from Chile that has been globetrotting for over 8 years and currently lives in Humboldt, will join our group at Patrick’s Point, most likely with some sort of shocker booty.

-–Peace out.