Cycle
Day 16
Today was brutal: I progressively got more ill throughout the day. My body felt drained, and I had a gnarly headache, but I had to keep moving today since I am supposed to meet my father in Crescent City, CA, tomorrow.
The day started out really gloomy, the temperature was nice and chill so that helped as I struggled with every stroke of the pedal.
It was still early, and I had just climbed a hill, so I took a slight break to admire the view. As I’m doing this, a car pulls up right next to me, and it was a nice older couple offering me some snacks and a drink. They said they had seen me earlier this morning and had to turn around to see if I needed some “fuel.” It was really kind of them because out of all days, it sure seemed like this was the one I needed a little pick me up.
Rolling into Gold Beach was beautiful, I crossed the Rogue River and set my aim for a beach to nap on. The gloomy fog rolled back in, and I made a nice spot on the beach for a nap. The sand was still warm from the sun beating down on it so it put me to sleep in a hurry. I probably slept for an hour or so which helped me feel a little better, but I was still worried my body would be suffering for the hills I had ahead of me.
The next 30 miles would be hill, after hill, after hill. Luckily the coastline was incredible, so it made up for the pain of pushing up the hills. Today was the first day it felt like a pure sufferfest, I had to dig deep for some of these climbs.
The Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor is a must-see. It’s hard to say if this has been my favorite coastline so far, but I can’t believe the rock formations that stand like giants on the beaches. Viewpoints like Natural Bridges made great much-needed breaks.
I enjoyed the remoteness of this section, but I was looking forward to a warm shower and sleep to see if I could power through whatever illness I was battling. I arrived in Brookings, Oregon, the last major town before the California border. I pulled into Harris Beach State Park to camp. It was the busiest hiker/biker campground I had seen so far, and most of the people were hikers.
There were a couple of guys that were tripping on something intense, and not in a fun way. One was very schizophrenic, harassing other campers and climbing all over things, screaming a painful cry. I’m not familiar with street drugs and the effects it has on their users, but this was freaky. I kept my head down and tried not to catch his attention because he was a wild card, I had no idea what he would do. Other campers shared their frustration and annoyance with him.
I plan on meeting my father in Crescent City, CA, tomorrow. He drove all the way from Iowa to ride with me to San Francisco, so it’ll be interesting now that I will not be riding alone, not sure how that will go. As for myself, I need to get rested up because I still feel ill.
Eventually, I fell asleep as the chaotic screaming and a manic episode from the guy at camp raged on.
Stats from today:
- 50 miles biked
- 2,500 vertical feet climbed
- 2 tired legs
- 1 noisy neighbor
