Day 6: Gentle hills and nice people
Great day today. I learned last night that if I only half inflate my pillow, it is so much more comfortable. I sink into it more and the hard creases that are there when it is fully inflated are not there. The more you know..
The cycling was much the same as yesterday. Mostly flat or gently rolling hills. Seen a silly amount of police cars today with full sirens on. Must be at least 30. Wonder what happened?
2 small problems with the bike. The first was a weird sound, but after a couple of stops and starts, I found it was just one of the bags touching off of a wheel. Easy fix. The other problem is I can’t seem to get into my lowest gear and there is a small bit of skipping on the lower gears. No real hills today so a problem for another day, I think.
Given how early I tend to start cycling and how “few” miles I am doing a day, I have been arriving at camp very early in the day. I like the early start so I think I need to take longer breaks during the day. So today I stopped in a small town called Raymond for lunch. Got talking to a couple of hunters. They had been hunting elk for the last 2 weeks but so far without luck. Seems like a tough job from their description. We exchanged book recommendations. Now I have to read “To shake the sleeping self” on their recommendation and I recommend “The Comfort Crisis” to them. This is a great book if you haven’t read it.
After 70 km, I am checked into Bruceport campground, where I have learned another valuable lesson. In the USA, even if you have a wallet full of notes, it doesn’t mean you have much money. This I learned when trying to pay for the campground which cost $20 (v. expensive), and my fist full of greenbacks turned out to be mostly $1. I managed to gather together $16 and an apology…
Speaking of apologies, A Canadian bike tourer called Simon cycled up to me at camp. He gives me a beer, then gave me a strap (useful to have on a bike). Then he fixed that gear shifting problem I was having. And then he thanks me… Fucking Canadians! Mad lad was touring on a folding bike too.
The book recommends going to Astoria next which is 106 kms via the book route and would be more hilly than the last few days. It gives an optional idea of camping at “Cape Disappointment” to break up this into 2 days. While I like the idea of getting to Oregon tomorrow, breaking up into 2 days Is probably smarter. A decision for the future me to make.
Good Night
