We left out of Cannon Beach on 101. There were lots of 'terrain features' as our Southern Tier leader, Carol Wilder used to say. In fact there were 4,100 feet of climb on our route, although the views were beautiful. We can always tell when we are in for some long climbs when our cue sheet indicates 'scenic lookouts.'
Janine and I were riding together, and we both missed a turn. After calling the Sag driver, Jean, she suggested that we just stay on 101 since the road we were supposed to turn on winds back to 101 anyway. It would have been a quieter ride, but since we were about 5 miles past our turn, we just kept going.
At one point we were in a long climb and we had a 'near miss.' It was the 'perfect' storm: two side rails, two trucks going in opposite directions, no shoulders and 4 bikers, all meeting in the same place. They go so fast on that road! The brakes went on, but fortunately, the truckers were expert at maneuvering their rigs to keep them from jack-knifing. They made so much noise, I thought the rigs sideswiped, but it was just the brakes. Everyone was thankful there was no accident!
On our route we went by the Tillamook Cheese factory. The Sag driver had stopped at that point since so many of us were there. Many had lunch, ice cream sundaes (instead of lunch!), or samples of cheese and fudge. Mike had arranged to meet three of her quilting friends for lunch there, too.
There was a cool breeze coming from the North today (yay! Tail wind!) so there were stretches where Patti H., Mike S and I sailed along at 20-22 mph!
Tomorrow we head for Newport, OR, and then a day off.
