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Tuesday 24th August 2004

the bridge into NewportFrom Newport to Bunny's Campground, Neskowin Creek. A very damp cycle ride that had so many detours within it that we failed to get to Pacific City (still 10 miles to go) and could only get as far as Neskowin Creek by the time it was getting quite dark. After breakfast we tackled the bridge into Newport, again, see the photo - there's a howling wind up on that bridge and there's very limited room for bikes! We visited an excellent bookshop on the harbour bay area of Newport, where Steve bought some easy fiction in the form of the cat mysteries of Lydia Adamson + Mark Twain's Roughin It. Then on to lunch (! yes a bit early but that's due to getting up late due to rain), then on to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, which was wonderful on a wild and windy day especially. Interestingly, the lighthouse doesn't have rooms in its tower - its hollow with just a spiral staircase. It's the tallest lighthouse in Oregon. We'd hoped to see whales off the headland, but in the prevailing conditions - heavy continual rain with mist - there's little chance of seeing a seagull more than 200 yards away. We met Sebastian, a cyclist going from Edmonton (Canada) to Argentina, taking a year over it, and keeping a web log - but only in German and Finnish. Then on via Lincoln City to Neskowin Creek. Lincoln City is an endless development that spills along the coast road and has little to recommend it. It's on a par with Skegness in England, endless burger joints and heavy traffic. In the distance the tide retreats twice daily in shame at the horrible mess. There could clearly be some very good surf around here. We were very grateful to find a campground as the light disappeared, and Bunny's Campground has a swimming pool - indoor - so we swam, and we had bought some food in Lincoln City so we ate well!

One of the oddest things about cycling the transAm has been how quickly life goes from the very pits to heaven, all within the space of a few minutes. One moment you are battling with heavy rain and its getting dark, the next minute you are floating in warm water, with a warm(-ish) sleeping bag ready for you. It makes you grateful for very small things - the warmth of a fragment of sunshine, the coolness of cool water, the kindness of driver's being understanding when the windswept cyclist doesn't seem entirely in control of his bicycle. The rain had been endless recently - just three days now of almost continual rain. The coast is beautiful, just very very wet. We were assured that this is a break in a run of warm sunny weather that they were having.

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