Day 13 (3)

I made it to Coos Bay, staying at Tony’s place. The Internet comes through again, and the kindness of strangers!

The wheel didn’t give me any trouble, but I know that it’s better not to press my luck. I’m going to hang out until Tuesday, then I’m going to replace the thing- but this time I’m getting a new tube and tire, and will go ahead and get an extra tube or two. Tony warns me that some stretches of the California coast get kind of remote.

In addition to stocking up on repair stuff, I’m also going to mail home a few tools that I don’t need. I’ve decided that Seattle to Oakland is enough biking for me this time around, so I won’t need my pedal wrench again. If I get the strong new wheel, I can lose the big crescent wrench and freewheel removal tool. Apparently I’d need a chain whip for those to do me any good anyway. I’m doing OK not blowing up my ground pad most nights, and I could probably do without my U-lock, and just use the heavy cable that I normally use for my wheel, and the padlock that I brought for hostel lockers. I could wrap some length of duct tape around a pencil so that I’m not still carrying the extra large roll.

I’m doing alright physically, but I know that if I carry less weight then less things will break, and I will make more miles per day. This has been an amazing journey, but I am ready for it to be half over. I’ve done 13 days and 542 miles, and have seen and done some cool stuff. I’m fairly sure that if I do just that much more then I will be good and ready to go get a regular job and start working on other endeavors.

Some pictures from today- first, a triangular jetty thing that they use in Winchester Bay for cultivating shellfish:

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It looked quite large!

Next, the bridge that I was so strongly encouraged to walk over:

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The wind was gusting like crazy, so I carefully put my phone away. I wanted better pictures, though, so I said “no way did I haul this heavy DSLR and lenses for 500 miles on my bike to not take a picture of this!” So I think you can look forward to a few good ones when I do the Flickr gallery.

Here’s the plaque, if you’re curious about the bridge:

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Notice the quantity of finger in the shot, due to my death grip on the phone. I was actually using a two handed grip here, for two reasons. First, I dropped my iPhone back in Shelton due to ‘cycling hands’ and so I’ve been careful ever since. Second, the wind was gusting hard enough that I could imagine the phone being ripped from a weaker grasp. I must have been over a hundred feet above salt water (AppleCare protection plan does not cover this).

That’s all for tonight, unless I think of something else. Now I get to make some couscous and read my book.

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