Alsea to Florence today. FINAL DAY! Nice cool ride from Alsea to Waldsport where we all met up for coffee at Rays before proceeding down the coast to Beachside State Rec area for the ceremonial wheel dipping in the Pacific. We wanted to go together as a group. We finally saw the great Pacific as we turned left on Rt101. What a sight! I can just imagine when Lewis and Clark saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time as they approached the mouth of the Columbia river at Astoria! But their trip was a lot longer than ours! And a lot tougher. But nevertheless, it gave me considerable pleasure to see this grand ocean after 2 1/2 months on the road. What a trip this has been! I was worried these past couple of days that something might happen to screw it up- a flat, an accident. But the bicycle God was kind to me. Other than 3 flats I have not suffered any misfortune. No accidents, no illness, no muscle problems. I actually feel great right now- bicycling every day gets one in good shape!! After the wheel dip, we had a glorious ride along the coast south to Florence. Kind of like the Champs D’Elysee ride on the last day of the Tour de France. Taking it easy, enjoying the beautiful coastal scenery. The 101 is not the best road to bike on- it is twisty with narrow shoulders in many places and a lot of traffic. You really have to keep your eye on the road. Plus there is ALOT of up and down- a lot of ascent footage today. But we all got into camp at the Heceta Beach Resort noonish. It is cool and windy here- in the 60s, so it will be a cold night tonight as we sleep in our tents for the LAST TIME! Looking forward to not having to pack up tent and sleeping bag for awhile, after tomorrow! We are going out for a celebratory dinner tonight, in Florence. Then off to Eugene in the van to drop our bikes off at the bike shop there, to be shipped home. My wife and son are meeting me there at noon and driving me back up to Portland to spend a few days with my son’s family. Looking forward to getting some normalcy back in my life.
Below are the RidewithGPS stats:
Biking across the USA with Mike 
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