You Devil

Day 18: Coos Bay to Port Orford

Today's Distance: 61 miles

Total Distance: 825 miles

My day in Coos Bay was just what I needed. It was hard to leave but eventually I got back on the road.  It's a beautiful day so I have nothing to complain about.  The biggest challenge of the day was early on at Seven Devils Road. It's another one of those scenic routes that makes you work for the views.  The 7 devils are the seven super steep hills you go over during this 12 mile long road.   The first one was probably one of the steepest in all of the Oregon Coast so far. It also didn't help that there was no shoulder and there are blind turns.  You can't stop and rest when you need to most because a car might turn that corner and not have enough time to react.  I started to catch on when I noticed that at the top of some of the steeper climbs, there are spray painted notes written on the road specifically for cyclists.  Some messages were nice and encouraging but most just really felt like taunting. For instance, there was one that was strategically placed after the 3rd or 4th devil that said, "Did you know there was a shortcut?!"  Right after you're good and tired and pot committed to this road.  That's pretty messed up!

I don't know what's gotten into me but I actually enjoyed Seven Devils Road.  It's really difficult, but I started looking forward to what was written at the top of the hill.  Reminded me that I'm not the only one who's suffered on these climbs and I was proud to conquer the challenge.  And what goes up, of course must come down...and it was awesome. The descent was a long, narrow, curvy road that kept me at 30mph consistently.  There weren't really any cars, but if there were, I would be going faster than all of them.  Super fun!

After Seven Devils I stopped in Bandon for lunch at Tony's.  I ended up talking to a lady with a walker about my trip.  She thought I was nuts but also mentioned that she was envious.  I made a bad joke along the lines of, "we're both rolling along!"  Hoping that I read her correctly and luckily I did.  From Bandon I left the coast and went inland.  The landscape changed from water to pine trees and cranberry farms.  Got to Port Orford around sunset and caught a beautiful view from Battle Rock Beach before calling it a night.