Life in the slow lane: Another perfect day

We had bright sunshine all day today and a very good tailwind to finish the ride. It was cool at the start with temperatures in the upper 40s. We are enjoying the cool weather as it seems like we have all been riding in 80 and 90 degree weather for months. We left Lincoln City at 8 this morning. Traffic was quiet for most of the morning, though it began to pick up after our second SAG. Tracy was in the van to start so the four guys rode together to the first SAG. It is nice to have such an evenly matched group. We took turns with one mile at the front before rotating to the back. The picture shows Ron in the lead, Doc in the middle, and Jim H., while I take up the rear and taking a picture. As you can see, we had a nice wide shoulder and did so for most of the day.

We took a small old man's relief break at Boiler Bay. I have seen whales here in the past as the area of Depoe Bay one mile away has a year-round pod of whales. Not today, but we did see a whale 40 miles down the road in Yachats. Still, the scenery at Boiler Bay was quite nice as always. It was low tide so we did not see the blowhole in action. The wave action was sufficient enough to have produced another awesome act of nature. There was a light residual fog which filtered the sunlight as you can see in the picture below.

We took another scenery break at Otter Rock. At least that is what some would say. We had ascended a few hundred feet so others would say it was a rest break, well deserved I would say. Another scenery observer took our picture. From L to R below -- Doc, Ron, me, Jim H., and Tracy. The view was spectacular. We had a nice descent afterward and returned to Hwy 101. We continued on to the first SAG where Jim H. joined Tracy in the vehicle and bumped her a few miles down the road. Doc, Ron, and I hustled over the bridge in Newport with a break in traffic. We were at 38 mph on the descent so the drivers behind us at that point could not complain too much about us holding them up. At the SAG, a busload of elderly tourists got off to see the sights. Doc said "Look at that. They are our age and being helped onto the bus while we cycle down the coast." It reminded me of the quote from The Shawshank Redemption--"Get busy living or get busy dying." That is why we cycle.

After Jim dropped Tracy, he came back to meet me at our designated spot and I took over the driving duties. I drove forward to check on Tracy, who has fixed her electronic shifting problems, to make sure she was OK. It was a number of miles before I caught sight of her and what a sight it was. She was on a slightly curving, two mile descent in a full tuck position taking the middle of the lane and doing 40 mph. The RV behind her gave a respectful distance. I went down the road and waited for her and gave some liquids for the remaining 6 miles. I then went back to the top of the hill and waited for the others. As they approached, I waved them on and told them I would trail them and prevent cars from passing them. They loved the freedom to let it loose without worrying about traffic. It was a great day.