and know when to fold them. Dear readers, it is time to fold them. Today we gave Highway 101 a 46 mile test drive, and we deem this road unsuitable for bicycle travel. The traffic today (a Wednesday at that) was loud, fast, close and relentless. Here's a selfie of me and a logging truck:
I am not smiling, and I am not enjoying it. Neither is Marie. This is simply no fun. We have ridden so many delightful country roads, that we are not willing to ride with this level of noise and 60 mph traffic.
So we are declaring the cycling portion of this vacation complete.
We did enjoy climbing the sand dunes:
We also finally saw the Pacific:
We ate lunch at this little cafe that just called to us.
They took great care of us, feeding us Umqua brand ice cream and recommending a chiropractor when they saw me walk.
Chain saw art is big here, as you might imagine in timber country.
This won first prize int the "pro" division of a contest.
At the end of the day, we had to cross this mile-long bridge over Coos Bay. As you can see, the sidewalk is narrow and without railings. So they expect you to ride in the road with the traffic. You push the button and that starts a blinking light and the speed limit is lowered to 30 mph. And a spell is cast over all drivers, transfixing them with feelings of love and patience for cyclists laboring up the bridge. Yeah, right. Marie and I walked our bikes on the sidewalk. We saw a couple of cyclists run the gauntlet, and it was scary to watch.
There are some pretty sights along Highway 101.
Thanks to everyone for the good wishes for my back getting better. It was better today. Fortunately, it feels best when I am leaned over riding- it stretches it out. I think I'll be OK in a couple of days. Even if I were 100% physically, I still wouldn't want to ride Highway 101, so the injury really didn't drive the decision to stop cycling.
I am so grateful to have been able to complete something I have wanted to do for 40 years. That is my overwhelming emotion- gratitude. For the support and endorsement of this trip by my law partners; for Marie's restraining good judgment and cheerful company; for the ability to share the journey with her and with each of you who are reading this; for the encouragement from you and from family and friends; for the good weather; for our good health holding (as I proved, that can change in a instant); for the drivers who made room for us on the road (especially the professional truck drivers); for the many friendly people we met, and for so many other things. Let's face it, a lot of things could have gone wrong that would have ended the trip or made it a painful experience. In our case, things went right for us, time and again, and virtually all of our experiences were positive ones. It helped to have patience, perseverance and a positive outlook, but the good fortune we had really made it easy to trust in a good outcome. I can't explain it; I may not deserve it, but I definitely appreciate it.