A non eventful ride from McKenzie Bridge to Coburg Oregon. Hot today! This morning we woke up to the low 50s, much warmer than it has been. Bright sunny sky and it quickly climbed into the 80s with the forecast for 90 some degrees this afternoon. Summer has finally come!!! Complaints about cold mornings are no more. I tell you, I am glad we started this trip end of April instead of middle of May as in past trips. Rather deal with cold mornings than really hot riding days. Ah, soon we will be over the coastal range to the Pacific side and it will be cool once again. Our ride followed the McKenzie River for a long ways. Much of the McKenzie River valley was burnt to a crisp- the entire mountains on both sides were just covered with charred tree trunks. Looking up on the internet apparently there was the Holiday Farm fire in 2020 which destroyed over 170,000 acres in this valley. I didn’t see many little trees poking through- it looks like it will be awhile before the valley recovers. A shame because otherwise it would be a beautiful area. There are a lot of cottages built alongside the river and it would be a beautiful place to hang out on the weekend, were it not for all the charred tree trunks staring you in the face when you open the curtains of your floor to ceiling windows in the morning. Much of the road had no shoulder or little shoulder and it was a fast two lane road so it was not so comfortable riding, but fortunately it was on the average slightly downhill and with no wind we made it into Coburg before noon, before the heat really set in.
Two days to go!!! We are all excited to see the Pacific Ocean and dip our front wheels in day after tomorrow! All except Chet- he left us today. He is Mel’s brother, the guy who ACA booted from the trip several days ago. He has not been happy with the leaders and after one last altercation with Dan, he was fed up and made the decision to end his ride and be driven to Eugene to leave his and Mel’s bikes at the bike shop and catch an early plane home. A real shame- he and Mel were much fun to ride with and will be missed at the Ocean on the final day. ACA made a real mess of this and spoiled the experience for many of us. But I will try not to let this impact my own personal experience. In spite of the ACA leadership issues, it has been an incredible trip for me. Wasn’t sure I could really do it but fortune has been with me (knock on wood three times…..).
Below are the RidewithGPS stats:
Biking across the USA with Mike 
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