Day 81: 49 Miles

Florence, OR to Newport, OR

Today was officially my last day of riding. Yesterday I made it to the ocean, but today I made it to my final destination on the bicycle. I was hoping for some good views of the Oregon coast and ocean after being totally underwhelmed yesterday. The views we’re stunning but did not come easy. There were some decent climbs along with a strong headwind that I battled the entire day.

It took about 10 miles of riding north out of Florence before I got my first view of the ocean. I had been climbing uphill for those 10 miles so I had a great vantage point from the cliffs. I rode from Florence to the town of Yachats and had amazing scenery the entire way. The headwind was another story. It was constant at 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. The wind has been the hardest element to deal with this entire trip, so it was fitting that I spend the entire day fighting against it.

When I got to the town of Yachats I stopped for brunch. Since this was to be my last pit stop while riding, I of course stopped at a brewery. Yachats Brewing had an awesome brunch menu, but I went with the special of the day which was a smoked halibut benedict over freshly baked sourdough bread. I wasn’t ready to have a beer, so I stuck with the house made galia melon kombucha.

After my meal I got back on the road for the final 23 miles of the trip. The road moved slightly inland, so I didn’t have a view of the water. The wind picked up, so I put my head down and just tried to finish out the day. I ended up averaging under 10 mph today. It was a tough day of riding. After a few hours I had arrived in the town of Newport and headed straight to the cheapest motel in town.

After 49 Miles today, the grand total for the trip was 4,311 miles. That total seems ridiculous, but it was only 53 miles per day. After all those miles, I could still get on the bike tomorrow and keep riding. Spending 6+ hours on the bike each day has become such a routine that I’m not sure how I’ll handle not being as active everyday.

After settling in at the motel, I did a load of laundry and began to separate my things into bags that I will ship home tomorrow and bags that I will bring with me to Portland. All of my things have been in the exact same place in each bag for the last 81 days, so it was weird to start rearranging things.

Tomorrow I will ship some bags home and then head to the bike store where they will box up my bike to be shipped to the local bike store I use in New Jersey. I will then catch a bus to Portland where I will try to relax and rest before catching a flight to Boston on the 27th. From Boston I’m heading to a wedding in Maine and then I’ll head back to NYC. All of my things are in a storage unit and I have no apartment to go back to. I’ll see how long I last couchsurfing and then I’ll have to figure out what comes next.

It has been an amazing trip. I want to thank everyone for their encouragement over the last 81 days. I will try to make one more post as a recap of the trip. Until then, those of you daily readers will have to find a new adventurer to follow.