Easy day today with 40.1 miles over relatively flat terrain from Nehalem Bay to Cape Lookout State Park.
Still the lightly-shouldered SR 131 was heavily-trafficked and one of the scariest sections I have ridden thus far on this tour.
Stopped in Tillamook outskirts to help Carlos, a fellow touring cyclist who had been stuck on the side of the road for hours with a flat tire that had a bad stem and couldn’t be repaired.
Britanny gave Carlos her spare tube to help him get back on the road again, and he was born-again thrilled. Cyclists selflessly helping other cyclists. Love it.
Fortunately, Brittany was able to find a suitable replacement tube at the Fred Meyer store a mile farther down the road in town.
A couple of the nice things about riding the coast route with other cyclists is that drivers seem to be less likely to buzz you (pass too closely) or coal-roll you (blast you with diesel smoke) or pull other dangerous stunts if there’s an independent witness around.
Riders in groups can also take turns shopping so somebody is always available to keep an eye on the bikes while the other riders are inside the store.
(Sadly, in many towns on the coast these days, with all the drug abuse and homelessness, theft can be an issue.)
In this case, Tom, Brittany’s partner, kept an eye on the bikes while Brittany and I shopped at the Fred Meyer store.
It’s much cooler today than is was yesterday, and it was so windy at Cape Lookout that I decided to not even attempt to light my stove. Fortunately I had enough fruit and canned food to prepare a cold dinner.
Among the other cyclists who showed up at the hiker-biker site, top to bottom below:
Matt and Taylor, vegan missionaries from Australia and Kansas City MO, respectively. Turns out that this is the duo that awakened me eight nights previously at Belfair State Park! More on these two later.
Other cyclists included Paige and Alex, Orange County, CA.
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| Brittany to the rescue, with new tube for Carlos! |
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| Matt and Taylor |
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| Paige and Alex |
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