Today was the hardest day yet. Not so much physically but mentally. I woke up first thing and got out on the road early to be greeted with little or no shoulder for the first 30 miles. The climbs weren’t bad but I kept getting whizzed by logging trucks and my panniers hit the guard rail multiple times. It didn’t end there!

Check out nine more photos below!

I took a bit to chill when I got to the top of this one lookout. I know these self-shot photos are cheesy but they capture my mood quite well. Sitting here, I just wanted to take it easy after 50 miles. My legs were sore and the number of times I almost got hit had me shaking.

It wasn’t until I met a couple of motocycle tourers who were from Texas that my nerves loosened up a bit.

Purple bikes for the win!

I left Florence for Dunes City.

Where I saw the second biggest sand dunes I’ve ever seen. These things were massive and they sometimes got so big that they spilled into the road, engulfing the shoulder.

What followed was a good 40 miles of back-country towns. I got honked at, had cans thrown at me, got called names and had multiple dogs chase after me. It was the first time that I found myself drifting and getting bummed out but once I got to Barview and Charleston, I just kept pushing.

When I hit 7 Devils Road it was like getting an uppercut. After 80 miles I got nailed with another hefty dose of climbs and I couldn’t get into my biggest sprocket so it was a lot of out of the saddle climbing.

When I saw this sign, I laughed and that was all I needed to push on to Bandon.

This quiet little fishing town is the most beautiful outcropping of civilization I’ve seen so far. Tomorrow I’ll wake up and tackle another 100+ miles, hopefully making it to Crescent City, CA. If I do, that’ll be over 400 miles in 4 days.

Here’s the route from today.

What did I learn today?

-Ignore pissed motorists. They’re just trying to get to you.
-Bring a dog horn or something while touring.
-Good music lifts spirits.
-All hail Bongripper!