San Fran Tour - Day 1

Murphy enjoying some cherries with lunch.

"The Ubiquitous Map"

Stats: Newport, OR to Florence, OR - 56.8 miles

We didn't know what to expect today. What is the weather really going to be like? Is there really a tailwind? Are we going to breathe exhaust fumes? Are the hills going to torture us into asking for a slow painful death in its stead? What does the map really trying to tell us? Can we reach our destination before dark? Will the campground be "rustic"?

Not knowing what to expect is kind of nice. Because then I'm not disappointed if things don't meet my expectations. However, it's still hard for someone like myself. I am the "task master" of the group. I'm the time keeper, the pace setter, the little-Suzy-know-it-all. Except when it came to this trip.

We purchased bike maps for our tour, and I've spent many hours looking at the map. I've figured out the distance, know where to look for possible campgrounds, and understand the symbols. But the elevation map is what gives me an anxiety attack. It's not specific enough for me. We were pleasantly surprised to find the weather AMAZING, the salty breeze refreshing, and the initial traffic and hills to be a snap. But we knew that our first "hills" as indicated on the map were after Yachats. On this ubiquitous map, we see about 3 large hills and 1 small hill between Yachats and Florence. So that's 3.5 hills, right?

Nope.

It's 3 significant hills, and the rest are "fun rolling hills" that aren't as significant but still count as hills in my book. I don't even know where the 0.5 hill went. So we have now concluded that the map makes up its own rules regarding hills, because many of them don't make it on the map.Which makes Gold Beach more foreboding, because it's a "really" big hill on our map...

Actually, our day went swimmingly. We made amazing time, enjoying the weather and the tailwind. We arrived in Florence at 4:30pm and had dinner at a tasty pizza joint called Restobar (the best place in town according to many of the locals we met). We rolled into our campsite around 7pm and feel like we live in a commune with a bunch of hobos. We met a number of wanderers today, most notably a young guy who rode from Fort Collins, CO to the ocean and is going to ride to Portland for a wedding. We felt a certain solidarity with him, since we're going to a wedding, too.

Sabrina and Eric wish they brought a dictionary, so they can throw Ben under the bus when he makes up words and/or meanings. Like ubiquitous. Which, although it's a real word, meant almost the opposite of how Ben used it. We've decided we'll be including in each post a "word of the day" as brought to you by Ben.