West Coast 2 - Second four days and Wow!!

I was told before I did this ride that the Oregon Coast was spectacular and now I can confirm that was an understatement. It truly is one of the jewels that the United States has to boast about! Okay, Oregon is not flat and resembles the constant hills of Devon where one climb runs into another and then another and then another, etc.. We have now cycled over 450 miles since we started and done some tough climbs along the way in 8 days. What is slightly scary is that we will do a similar distance next week in 6 days and do 10,000ft more in climbing. If I survive next week, I will have undertaken a major challenge!!

The first glimpse of the Pacific Coast was at Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach

I tried to contact my family to share the moment with them but could only contact my daughter and one of my three sons. My wife was also busy helping out at a ceramics workshop. Oh well! From Cannon Beach we then started to climb and then suddenly you are greeted with this panorama!

The sheer scale of the beaches is mind-boggling where they stretch for miles between rocky promontories. There are numerous rock forms off the coast which adds to the landscape and various bridges over rivers and estuaries linked to the ocean. The road varies from beach front to precipitous views down to the ocean so you need to focus on the cycling whilst stopping occasionally to really take in the views. Losing concentration could be extremely dangerous!

By the end of the week we had made it to North Bend, which for some reason is nowhere near Bend in Oregon! We are two thirds of the way down the Oregon Coast and incredibly next Tuesday we will enter California and soon we will cross the halfway point.