From a conversational standpoint, I couldn’t improve the general perception of my trip beyond what it was. Once you’ve crossed the country, in the eyes of most people, you’ve crossed the country. It doesn’t matter if it was from Bangor, Maine to Ana Cortez, Washington or Savannah, Georgia to San Diego, California. It certainly doesn’t matter where you went in between.
For people not familiar with a subject, details aren’t important. What’s the difference between a $300 violin and a $1 million dollar violin? What’s the difference between a plasma and an LCD? What’s the difference between American and European soccer?
Depending on your life experiences or personal preferences, some the above questions may seem inconsequential. I promise you, there are some people reading this that could talk for days on the differences between the choices.
I bring this up because I can’t give due justice to cycling far from home for the hell of it. It’s an entirely different world when compared to your local twenty mile bike ride. The best advice I can give is just go out there and do it. Just do it. Go somewhere for a week, three days even. If you don’t like the taste, just spit it out.
The past two days I’ve run into two of the best campgrounds of the whole trip. Tonight I’ve set up at Cape Lookout, another hiker/biker friendly state park. For five bucks I get a hot shower and a clearing no more than 200 yards from the ocean.
The park is beautiful. There’s a great sandy beach. To the South, a rocky divide protrudes into the ocean. To the North, a couple strange rock formations are stranded out at sea. And here I am just soaking it in. I wouldn’t recommend riding a bike from south to north (just go the other way) on the 101, but I would definitely recommend taking the trip out to Oregon to see the coast. It’s priceless.
The day was pretty much uneventful. I got my tire replaced in Newport and spent a while there charging my phone. I was in and out along the coast all day, just following the road. It got pretty cold at points. When the wind was blowing it was fall weather. When it stopped, it was August.
All in all, it was another great day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen three sun sets in a row before. I have to say it gives incredible closure to the day. As simple as it sounds, it feels very natural.
