Ore-gone - Day 29 – 50 miles

After making breakfast I spoke to a new cyclist who'd arrived the night before. His name was Paul and he was travelling from Alaska to the bottom of South America. I asked him about his route through Mexico and he said he would travelling through Baja at the same time as me. He was also looking for safety in numbers so gave me his contact details. This was great news as I've been losing hope of being able to visit Mexico. While talking to Paul I noticed an unusual creature in the bush behind him. I went to take a look and just as I'd thought, it was a hummingbird. I'd never seen one before so was quite exited. It was much smaller than I'd imagined and moved more like an insect than a bird. It hovered briefly, sipping nectar from the small flowers on the bush before darting to the next flower. Its wings moved so quickly that they were just a blur. It flew right in front of me, completely unconcerned by my presence. I felt very honoured to have witnessed its fleeting visit to the park on its journey south.

The homeless man left before 8am, saying good morning to me as he left. I was happy to see that he looked ok but wondered where he was headed. We were far from anywhere, even by bike.

We all left at roughly the same time but mostly, as usual, other than Beth and Brian we cycled individually. I saw a 20 foot Tyrannosaurus Rex on the horizon, luckily it was just a model. As I neared it I could see everybody else had pulled over to have their photos taken with their bikes and the T-Rex. I stopped and did the same of course. I looked around the gift shop for stickers. I wanted to find something to make it look like my bike was called a Long Haul Truckosaurus. I didn't find anything suitable unfortunately so headed on down the road.

I headed off the main route 101 for a scenic route, I met Paul and we rode together for a while. I really enjoyed talking to him about the trips he'd done in the past. He has cycled in many of the places on my wish-list. As we rode together my cycle computer ticked over to 1,000 miles since starting the trip. I was glad to have Paul around to share the moment. He's done 4,000 miles of course since starting his trip but was still good enough to shake my hand and congratulate me.

The route today took in the last parts of Oregon. Tomorrow I cross the border to California. The whole of Oregon has been filled with highlights but the coastal scenery today was the best so far. Every mile or so there was a place worth stopping to take in another collection of enormous sea-stacks.

I met with Beth, Brian and Kate for lunch. We all sat on the pavement outside a supermarket in the town of Gold Beach. Shoppers seemed bemused by our little picnic. We are outdoor creatures now. We eat wherever we get hungry.

10 miles down the road I pulled into a lay-by to find everybody gathered around talking. I noticed Elon's bike lying on the ground, the back wheel was severely bent. He'd had an accident and fallen off at fairly high speed. He was ok but the bike wasn't even rollable. He'd managed to hitch-hike this far and was trying to hitch to the next town of Brookings where there was a bike shop. This was really bad news. Elon was unsure whether there was further damage to his beloved bike and he didn't know if he'd be able to afford the necessary repairs to get it back on the road. This accident could end Elon's tour.

For the rest of the day I think we all rode a little slower, sobered by Elon's accident. It must have been 2 hours later that a truck sped past and I heard Elon shout, 'Hellooooo!' It was good to know he'd been picked up but he'd obviously had to wait a very long time to find someone willing to take him and the bike.

It felt like a long ride today and I was glad when I rolled into Harris Beach State Park at the end of the day. We all set up camp next to each other but it was very quiet with Elon's loud voice. I tried something new for dinner, cheese-flavoured instant mash with cherry tomatoes. It was a great success and I shall be having this in rotation with my other 2 dishes now which should liven things up a bit over the next couple of months.

Brian got a message on his phone from Elon. He'd managed to get a ride to his friend's house a few days further south. He'd been planning a stop off there anyway. It should be a good place to spend a few days sorting out his bike. I hope we'll get to meet up with him when roll through there in few days.

Tomorrow we cross the border to California. It's set to be my longest and most challenging ride ever. Around 70 miles and 2 climbs of over 1,000 feet. Let's hope my legs are up to it.