Seven Devils Road...It Lived Up To Its Name

Due to the lousy Wi fi (just like the motel) 2 pictures have since been posted that we were unable to before.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

We were on the road by 7:50...we could not wait to get out of the motel...I will just leave it at that.

North Bend is a long drawn out town. We rode for 8 kilometers before we left it behind only to enter the small community of Charleston. Charleston has a commercial fishing harbour and we saw lots of fishing vessels being unloaded. It is the first non sport fishing community we have seen on the coast.

We then turned onto 'Seven Devils Road'. It quickly became apparent how it got its name. There were 7 steep climbs adding up to well over a 1000 feet. I think ACA throws this off route section in just to torture tour cyclists...actually it is a 'scenic byway'...but wait...it was foggy again so we saw nothing except the clear cut forest at the top of the climb. Yes the Oregon Coast was shrouded in fog again today despite the prediction of the Weather Network. It also never made it above 12 degrees today. The sun seems to have abandoned us!

Near the end of the day we rode through an agricultural area. The major crop south of Bandon is cranberries. Some of the fields were flooded ready for harvesting while others were being harvested. I guess that is the reason we saw an Ocean Spray processing plant in the edge of Bandon. The area around Langlois is known for sheep grazing. The pastures were up the sides of hills...for a while we thought we had made a wrong turn and ended up in Scotland!

We learned a new term today while talking to the ACA tour guide just before the start of the climb up Seven Devils Road. He said he was the 'sweeper' today. It means that he left later than everyone else and then makes sure everyone gets to their destination. Sue and I were definitely the 'sweepers' today. We brought up the 'rear' of a pack of tour cyclists today...18 in total. I guess that says something about how slow we really are!

We have rented a cabin in the KOA Campground located between Langlois and Port Orford. It is a cute little cabin and it even has a small electric heater which we are putting to use.

Trip Distance = 78.57 km. Time on the Bikes = 5 hours 10 minutes. Average Speed = 15.20 km. Maximum Speed = 45.56 km. Wildlife Sightings = Canada Geese, Stellar Jays.

Charleston Harbour

Seven Devils Road Conquered