Rest Day? I Don't Need No Stinkin' Rest Day

Anyone who has followed the Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, etc.) knows that during a three-week bike race there will be a couple of rest days. On these days the teams still go out for rides of three or more hours. I never really got this until I was doing a Norcal fund raising ride with Bob Roll and asked him. He said, "Man, if you don't ride you will be tight as a drum the next day." Never having ridden long distances for multiple consecutive days I had no idea. After four consecutive days of riding 40-80 miles, however, I took a rest day in Portland and did not ride. The next day it definitely took a long time for the legs to loosen up and feel right. This, combined with the fact that I was a few miles behind my planned itinerary caused me to skip the rest day originally slated for Port Orford. Before doing so, however, it had to stop raining. With a steady drizzle still coming down as check-out time neared I asked if I could extend and was given until 1 pm. Miraculously, at 12:30 it began to clear and I was able to set off on roads that were starting to dry. It turned out to be quite a good thing that I stopped in Bandon, rather than making it to Port Orford as planned as the former is a much nicer town with far superior hotels (Too bad about the weather). My plan now was to ride past Port Orford to Gold Beach, making the next day's ride to Crescent City a more manageable 60 miles. Port Orford, however, does have a few things going for it such as Cliff's Seafood Restaurant at the Port. First you follow this rather conspicuous sign,

which gets you to this view of the port

and then you find this restaurant.

Don't let the appearance fool you. Probably the best fish and chips I have ever had, made with incredibly fresh snapper and the lightest of seasoned bread crumb coatings. A very good salad and quite friendly service. As I was paying my bill the waitress asked where I was headed:

SK - I'm riding to Gold Beach.
Waitress - 27 miles....27 haaard miles.
SK - (I looks up from my wallet) Hard?
Waitress - Yeah, lots of hills; especially the switchbacks in Humbug Park.
SK - (Humbug Park? Really?) Oh, ok. Thanks.

Just as was the case of my concerns about crossing the coastal range, however, this warning turned out to be all bark and no bite. The ride was actually quite easy and remarkably beautiful as the weather had changed much for the better and the Oregon Coastal Highway finally made its way back to the coast. For the previous 100 miles I had only seen glimpses of the ocean. Now it was a steady companion and looked like this:

But it wasn't all spectacular natural beauty. There were also serious educational opportunities along the way!

When Dinosaurs Ruled Oregon! Note the green eyes.

Shortly after passing this display I arrived in Gold Beach and grabbed a room at the Ireland Rustic Cabins - highly recommended with great rustic rooms, fireplaces and balconies with full on ocean views all for $100/night.

It's all downhill                                        Evening View of Gold Beach