Port

I have been disappointed in myself since we arrived in Cape Blanco......disappointed because I have not taken advantage of the great riding conditions here.  While all the roads are basically two lanes, there is very little traffic.....even on HWY 101.  Finally, Monday, I resolved to get out my Cannondale and ride Cape Blanco Road out to HWY 101 and back....it's a little over 5 miles to 101 from our campsite, so that would have made it a 10 mile round trip ride with plenty of challenging hills to make it interesting, and good exercise.

Before all that "fun" could happen, though, it was time to empty the black tank.  Whenever it is "black tank time" all you really hope for is that it will be uneventful, and 99.9% of the time it is uneventful just as it was this time around.  I love the water pressure here a lot.....it takes no time at all to fill and flush the black tank making the entire process much faster than normal.

Once the black tank was dumped and flushed out it was time to get dressed and ready my bike for the ride.  I was on the road by 10 am flying east on Cape Blanco Road towards HWY 101.  Cape Blanco Road is not flat by any means.....once you get to the turn off for Hughes House it dives steeply at a 9% grade down to the valley where the Sixes River meanders it's way to the Pacific Ocean, then up a similar grade on the other side of the valley for quite a ways.  Then it becomes a rolling country highway until you hit HWY 101.  As I came up the last incline to the intersection I was feeling strong and decided on the spur of the moment to ride all the way to Port Orford.....another 5 miles.

The shoulder on 101 is pretty wide 85% of the time, but even when it narrows it is still adequate.......except when the very large semi's pass by with their long trailers....then it seems a little close for comfort.  Thankfully, the traffic is very light on this stretch of road.  I reached 8th Street in Port Orford around 10:45 and turned around to make the ride back to the Cape.  I hadn't realized it, but apparently I was riding south into a slight headwind before making my turn around.  Suddenly I was running 17-20 mph going back north when I was happy to hit 13-15 going south, which is kind of weird because the wind out at the lighthouse was coming directly out of the north, and it still is this morning (Tuesday), so I'm a little puzzled.

I was back home by 11:30 having covered just over 20 miles, and 1,457 calories gone with the wind.....now to build on this and ride on a more consistent basis.  The forecast called for showers most of the afternoon, so I got my bike put away, as well as the camp and lounge chairs.  I had no sooner done that when the skies lowered, and the rain came.....a couple of hours sooner than we expected, so the rest of the afternoon was spent inside napping and reading.

I got an e-mail from our friends Krash and Karen around 6:30 advising they had just arrived in Port Orford, so we are looking forward to seeing them on Tuesday.  I watched MNF on ESPN where the Kansas City Chiefs annihilated the New England Patriots....something I did not expect.

At 9 we watched Scorpion, then the season premier of NCIS L.A. at 10......thanks for stopping by!