Cheese, beer and rabbits - Day 2 Rockaway Beach to Pacific City (40 miles)

It's Day 2 and already we are forgoing miles for some of life's little pleasures. Today we decided to take the alternate route through to Netarts shortening our day by 7 miles in order to have more time to enjoy a stop for second breakfast and some cheese tasting at the Tillamook Cheese factory (also home of the 2 foot pepperoni) followed by lunch and beers at Pelican Brewery at Pacific City where they make Katie's favourite stout.

Katie getting stuck into the cheese

We were under the illusion that the shorter route would have us avoid a decent climb over Cape Meares. Naturally this was not the case as we still had to get up and over the cape, just that we did it further inland.

"Cape" is a word that we have now come to associate with pain. Along with "view point", "lookout" and "pass", preferring to see words such as "bay", "ocean" or "promenade".

Coming up to Cape Lookout State Park (notice 2 of our least favourite words here!) we experienced our most severe incline yet, in some places kicking up to an 8-9% gradient. This climb was half an hour of agony as we ground our way up the hill at 4-5 miles per hour. We didn't know it at the time, but all three of us were climbing 1 ring short of granny gear, none of us wanting to use that smallest precious ring for the first time on this particular burner, each of us saving it in anticipation of what we know is looming in front of us in the days ahead.

I'm suffering from some back, neck and shoulder pain due to grinding up these climbs and gripping the handlebars and the brakes so tight as we fly down the other side. Getting the death wobbles around a bend at over 30 miles an hour is not a particularly pleasant experience. But the goods news is that all our legs are feeling good - so far.

Tomorrow will be a hard day as we aim to push just over 60 miles with 3 big (for coastal Oregon) climbs en-route. So tonight we're in our tents early surrounded by a plague of rabbits in a County campground in Pacific City.

The morning fog lifting over beautiful Netarts Bay

Our little road train

Katie setting up her solar panel on her BOB

One of the little burners that cause us pain

What we have ridden over in the first 2 days

CRANKING ODYSSEY STATS

Total odyssey miles: 104

Overall Fastest Speed: Steve (38 miles per hour) Mandy (34 miles per hour)

Bonks: nil

Dog chases: 1

Dummy Spits: nil

Flats: nil

Wrong turns: 3

Beer of the day: Pelican Tsunami Stout

Lesson of the day: if you ride at a dog it stops chasing you

Starting weight: Steve (90kg) Mandy (51.5kg)

 

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