Part 7: Ocean, Sky, Freedom: West Coast Bicycle Adventure—Canada to Mexico—Devil’s Churn, Bridge of Art

By Frosty Wooldridge

Part 7:  Dining room with a view of Conde McCollough Bridge,  Devil’s Road, Cape Perpetua.

“When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day’s sensations: bright sun, blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay’s call, ice melting and so on. This helps me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else’s heart.” ~Diane Ackerman

(Sandi riding across the magical, artistic and stupendous Conde McCollough Yaquina Bridge out of Newport.)

After reaching Newport, Oregon, we settled into a quiet motel room on the beach.  One of the tourists suggested a fabulous dinner at a restaurant in Old Town Newport with a view of the bridge.

After our showers, we cycled down a spiraling road that cut under the Conde McCollough Bridge that led out of town.  We quickly found ourselves along a river street replete with every kind of tavern, diner and art shop imaginable.  Pungent fish smell punctuated the air.  Barking seals raised a ruckus out on the rocks near the harbor exit.

“Let’s take a walk down by the fishing boats,” said Sandi.

We placed our names on the wait-list and locked up the bikes to the restaurant metal racks.  The walk down to the big fishing rigs kept our rapt attention.  Seagulls floated, soared and squawked their lungs out all over the harbor.  Out on the rocks, seals barked, yelped and complained at each other.  Big fishing boats floated along the dock.

“This is really neat,” said Sandi.  “It feels like it felt 100 years ago.  Those buildings are at least 120 or more years old.  Generations of fishermen worked here. Neat to see it.”

After our tour, we stepped onto the second floor of the restaurant with a “wrap-around” glass view of the Conde McCollough Bridge spanning the harbor.  During dinner, we watched the sun go down that yielded to a stunning pink sky.  Pelicans flew across the sky against that pink backdrop.

Next morning, we ate another great breakfast at the Beachfront Grill with seats looking out over the ocean.  We watched seabirds, beachcombers and boats floating past the breakers.

We pedaled the bikes over the McCollough Yaquina Bridge with spectacular cathedral spires rising upward like gallant Roman arches. The bridge consisted of green steel girders, millions of tons of cement and almost poetic designs in its infrastructure.  Crossing it felt like riding over and through a piece of art.  

(Sandi riding through a tunnel of green along Route 101 of the West Coast in Oregon.)

For the rest of the day, we pedaled along the coast with not much to talk about.  We stopped for a lot of black berries that grew abundantly along Route 101.  Near dusk, we asked a lady on the beach if we could camp on her lawn.  She invited us to camp.  In the morning, we looked out the tent flaps to see a pot of coffee, cups and bagels. 

“I’ll be darned,” I said.  “Yet another random act of kindness.”

We packed up in heavy mist for a ride into heavier mist, intermittent rain and fog.  We pedaled along the crashing surf with openings in the cloud cover.  The road led up some 400 foot climbs until we reached Cape Perpetua where we saw the “Blue Hole: with a geyser that shot up 40 feet into the air with rough seas and big waves.

From there, we pedaled through deep woods to reach 400 feet of altitude and the “Devil’s Churn” where the ocean crashed into a long lava trough until it smashed into the end of it.  All along the West Coast ride, dramatic natural phenomena occurred daily. Some days more incredible than others.  We coasted from Heceta Head with more fog.  In the tunnels, we pushed a button that set off a warning light system to let cars know that bikes rolled inside them.   We clicked on our blinking red lights to make extra sure that everyone saw us coming and going.

After one downhill, we stopped on a bridge to see a fabulous 130 year old lighthouse still turning in the mist.  Below it, a pure white house gave the light keeper his abode. Lonely job!

From the bridge, we pedaled 500 feet up to the Sea Lions Caves. However, none of them inhabited the caves that day because lots of food beckoned them into the ocean.  We ate lunch at Nature’s Café in Florence before heading out in another dreary day.  We proceeded through deep green woods and massive clear cuts through mountainous terrain.  The road offered stunning views.

We reached Reedsport where we devoured a fantastic pasta dinner at the Lighthouse Restaurant. 

Next day, we pedaled up to the David Dewett Memorial where we stopped to look at another Conde McCollough Bridge.  Dewett died in Vietnam.  Several memorial plaques stated some powerful ideas:  “The willingness with which our young people are willing to serve in any war no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”  President George Washington.

(Amazing wood carvings from shops along Route 101. These humpback whales seemingly come alive.)

Another plaque read, “There shall not be peace until the power of love overcomes the love of power.” Latrine Wall, Pleiju, Vietnam 1968.

We crossed that extraordinarily stunning bridge into North Bend.  Once again, we “flew” over fabulous steel and concrete arches, elegant arcs and triangles that soared across the sky. 

At the visitor center, the lady suggested I run back under the bridge to see the amazing foundation of the bridge.  While Sandi read all the information for restaurants, I treated myself to the underbelly of the Conde McCollough Bridge.  What a fantastic time!

During my picture taking time, my kickstand bent after 20 years of use.  When I pedaled back to the center, I stopped at Mo’s Bicycle Shop to buy a new kickstand.

(Blow hole erupting while a photographer awaits the geyser to explode.)

We pedaled toward Charleston along Route 101. As the sun faded, we pedaled down Seven Devils Road until we found a quiet campsite overlooking a huge tree-covered valley.

“Look, I really don’t want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive, you’ve got to flap your arms and legs, you’ve got to jump around a lot, you’ve got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death.” — Mel Brooks

(Dewett Memorial just before crossing a Conde McCollough Bridge on Route 101.)

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Frosty Wooldridge
Golden, CO

Population-Immigration-Environmental specialist: speaker at colleges, civic clubs, high schools and conferences

Www.HowToLiveALifeOfAdventure.com

Www.frostywooldridge.com

Six continent world bicycle traveler

Speaker/writer/adventurer

Adventure book: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World

Latest book:  How to Deal with 21st Century American Women: Co-creating a successful relationship

Frosty Wooldridge, six continent world bicycle traveler, Canada to Mexico summer 2014, 2,200 miles, 100,000 vertical feet of climbing: