Day 92 Sunset Bay to Humbug Mtn State Park

I woke up today in the beautiful surroundings of Sunset Bay where I finally managed to perform the wheel dipping ceremony, but without any sunshine. After cycling back to Charleston to grab some breakfast junk food, we were warned by the locals of the toil ahead up the notorious seven devils road. In the words of Dolores you might be able to describe it as a 'significant' climb Pah! Compared to some of the stuff on the Transam I tbought tbe  7 hills were small potatoes.

We then breezed into Bandon where we had an early brunch/lunch at the Bandon Coffee Cafe. The blueberry sour cream coffee cake was delicious.

After lunch we had magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean as we hugged the coast. This is what I had been waiting for. Yesterday's tailwind was still in evidence and even stronger. Are we going to be blown all the way to San Francisco?

Aftet a late afternoon teastop we stocked up on a few provisions and then headed for camp, hopefully arriving a little earlier than yrsterday.

Distance Today 60
Total              4785

Day 91 Florence to Sunset Bay

After a final farewell breakfast with Sally,Ellen Don and Hubert we finally started our journey south. The Pacific Ocean, supposedly on our right, was nowhere to be seen for the first ten miles and in it's place we had traffic, lots of it. But we were warned and it is high season.

Most of today we passed thtough the Oregon Dunes but unfortunately you don't see much of them on the bike with US101 being some distance from the ocean in this part of Oregon. We did though have the benefit of an all day tailwind, which helped to flatten out some of the coastal undulation.

We had decided to head for the strongly recommended hiket biket campsite at Sunset Bay State Park and it was an excrellent choice, located in a beautiful spot by the sea. And only 5$. A bit out of the way so we had dinner before arriving at a great little seafood restaurant in Charleston. So despite only cycling 57 miles we still managed to arrive in camp at the rather late hour of 7 30PM.

We met lots of friendly people today including six other cyclists all heading south. And it is a great feeling being able to tell people that we have just cycled over 4500 miles across America!

We also had a  very late map meeting at 9PM.

Miles Today 57
Total        4723

First View of the Pacific Coast

Day 90 Florence Layover

Woken up by seagulls  at 6AM  this morning so the planned sleep in didn't happen. This forced me into an early morning shower and breakfast followed by laundry, and a trip to Safeway to pick up a few ptovisions for the journey ahead.. Bteakfast will now be porridge cooked on the mini Trangia in the absence of anything better. I have also put my bike in to the excellent 101 cycles for a new chain and brake pads. Have to say that the bike has been excellent so far with no issues other than my well documented punctures.

Dolo and I are now lounging around coffee bars in the picturesque seaside town of Floremce waiting for the wheel dippers to arrive. It's a bit like a 'posh Whitby' here.

It has also been really good to see Jill who has driven up to join us all for the farewell dinner tonight. She is planning to do a car, cycle, camping trip down to San Francisco with her partnet so she may cycle with Dolo and I some of the way.

Understanderbly the group are on a massive high after completing the Transam and fiinishing the trip. For me it's a bit of a strange feeling as I dont feel that I have finished. It will be passing 5000 miles, cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and reaching my sponsorship target of £5000 that does it for me.

I have now exceeded my target including Gift Aid  but I am hoping that I will be able to raise £5000 in actual donations so that the Gift Aid is a bonus on top. 

So we all assembled tonight and had our farewell dinner. Speeches were made, awards were presented and tears were shed. The food was pretty good too. Would I do a long trip like this again? Definately. In a group? Possibly. On this I have mixed feelings and will no doubt elucidate on this subject at the many dinner party invitations ( or any kind of eating invitation)
that I am bound to receive when I get home:)

Donations      £4168.00
Gift Aid          £  832.18
Total              £5000.18

Day 89 Cobourg to Florence

Well this is it. The last day for some but not me of course as I have contractual obligations with my sponsors. Dolo and I followed  the official route today and did the 85 miles to Florence. The rest of the group took a 2 day detour so that they could dip their wheels in the Pacific. The problem is that it isn't 'Florence by the Sea'  it's 'Florence on an Estuary' a few miles inland.

So I will be in Florence one day before the main group which gives me a layover day and the time to prepare for the next  bit. Instead of turning right and hrading up the coast to Vancouver I am turning left and finishing in San Francisco where I will be spending a few days with Greg. This adds a couple of hundred more miles but hopefully Greg will be there waiting at the Golden Gate Bridge with champagne on ice.

I then intend to take the Amtrak up to Vancouver with a stopover in Seattle. A 26 hour journey but all part of the fun. I will also get a day in Vancouvet before flying home on 26th August and rejoining the real world.

So back to today's ride. What better way to start than a tried and tested Mcdonalds breakfast, where surprise surprise we found Ellen and Kelly. And Cathy too. Cathy and Kelly had also decided to go direct to Florence but at their usual warp speed pace.

After negotiating our way through the city centre traffic we picked up a cycle path taking us out of town and then had a glorious day cycling down ( with a few ups ) a river valley that took us all the way to Florence.  We arrived at the campsite about 6 30  after a long day and then had celebratory 'British Style' fish and chips at a waterfront restaurant washed down with a couple of large beers. Tonight we will be having our farewelll meal with the rest of the group.

San Fransisco is about 12 days  and 600 miles away.  Dolo will be riding with me some of the way and we intend to take a somewhat leisurely 50 mile a day pace.

Miles Today 88
Total         4663

Day 88 Mckenzie Btidge to Cobourg

Today was a day of two halves. First 30 miles were as dull as ditchwater on a horrible road with fast  cars, trucks and a not very wide shoulder. Second 25 miles were on a nice quite road thtough idyllic countryside not dissimilar to Yorkshire. Last 10 miles involved a detour into the very large city of Eugene to visit the REI Adventure store to buy fuel and bottles for my Trangia Stove.

I also visited the AMTRAK station and booked tickets for the final part of the trip. This is due to a slight change of plan which will add even more miles to the trip and which I will reveal in a subsequent post.

Tomorrow is an 80 mile + day to Florence and is THE FINAL LEG OF THE TRANSAMERICA TRAIL.

Miles Today  65
Total          4576

Day 87 Sisters to Mckenzie Bridge

I have to say that today has been up there with the best rides of the tour. After leaving the ranch early and riding the few miles into the 'boutique' trendy town of Sisters I could not resist calling in at the Sisters Coffee House for a latte and wholemeal apple muffin. On the eay out I bumped into Sally so I went back in and had another.

When the cycling finally started we had the small matter of the 10 mile ascent up to the volcanic lava fields of the Mckenzie Pass below Mount Washington. And it was glorious. No wind, good gradient, no RV's or trucks as road too narrow, and shade all the way up thanks to the tall trees on each side. And then at the top friendly tourists handi.g out ice cool water. The descent down the other side was even better. Ten miles of steep tree lined switchbacks all the way down, with a nice little deli at the end for lunch. Very civilised, only 46 miles, without doubt my kind of cycling.

And the icing on the cake. We are eating out tonight and only 2 more days before we get to Florence the official end of the route.

Miles Today  46
Total           4501