Day 7 report - Centralia to Castle Rock

Total Miles 43.4
Average Speed 13.7mph
Total ascent 518m

A shorter day, but just enough climbing to keep me honest! Highest maximum speed of the trip so far today - 38.5mph on a long straight empty road. I could see for miles and decided to leave off the brakes for a change (see later for reason!)

Today was intended to be shorter for a couple of reasons. First it had been a longer day yesterday and I don't want to burn out. There's still 5 weeks and c1500 miles to go! Also, to stay on my planned route and with quiet roads I'd have needed to have done another 35 miles on top over some "steep climbs". Mini cornwall was only called "moderate" so I decided to leave the "steep" ones until the start of a day rather than the end.

Another option I hadn't thought of until this morning was mentioned by a cyclist I'd already met a couple of days before - coincidentally staying in the same motel last night he checked out as I was eating breakfast. He (sorry I've forgotten his name- Steve I think but I'm probably wrong) and another tourer (Dave - I do remember this name) had met and teamed up up a few days ago and they were going to go "off piste" and push on to a bigger place called Longview. This would mean a longer day today - on some busier roads to finish but a shorter, flatter day tomorrow. But I'm not scared of a few "steep climbs" - or I'd like to find out what they're like at any rate. I've not had to walk any climbs yet - maybe tomorrow! Also, maybe I'll get a good view at the top.

Anyway, tomorrow will be about 65 miles and hilly! Just as well today was short!

Another significant thing about tomorrow is that it will be the last on map 1 of the 5 I'll be using down to San Diego. Here they are...

Each one of these covers about 400 miles (except the last one, which I think is just under 300). Inside these little beauties it splits into little, detailed maps of circa 30 miles like these...

So after tomorrow I get to switch onto map 2!

What about Day 7? Here goes...

I had a continental breakfast in the motel (some motels give you a "complimentary" breakfast, but it isn't a great breakfast and you just end up paying the same overall). These breakfasts tend to be cereal, bagels, pastries, waffles, toast. All fine except there's only so much of this carb stuff that can be stomached in one sitting and I feel hungry again quite soon after. I think I'll stick to eggs, hash browns etc in future if I can.

Ok, so not 100% satisfied by breakfast I pedalled off. The morning climb was quite  along one relatively speaking but I knew it was a short day so I was not perturbed. Another cloudy day which was fine by me.

The highlight of the morning session was a quick stop off at the Lewis and Clark state park. No, Lewis and clark are not from the New adventures of superman from the early 90s (That was Lois and Clark - this strapline was presumably a clever play on words with a nod to the real Lewis and Clark). Lewis and Clark are quite important figures in US history and Washington State in particular - although it seems they haven't had the credit they deserved (according to wiki!). They explored and mapped out much of the area in 1804. It was the first expedition to the Pacific coast and had both scientific and commercial aims. Check out "Looking for Lewis and Clark" but the Long Ryders - one of my favourite Alt Country bands of the 80s. I don't think the song is really about them - more about being disillusioned and harping back to simpler times. Anyway, it won't be to everyones taste but then again what is?

The park itself was lovely - a big old pine forest. To me these pines seemed enormous - wait until I get to the Redwoods eh? The overwhelming thing in these forests is the silence, the trees really block out the sound.

Another notable occurence this morning was being chased by a couple of big dogs! Now, I've lost count of the number of dogs that have barked and chased me so far - from behind a fence! No worries there. These two seemed to have escaped and I passed them foraging in the undergrowth. Now, these two brutes were quite large. They didn't bark so I'm not sure if they were only interested in playing or biting but I wasn't going to hang around to find out. I got out of the saddle and kicked in with overdrive. After a couple of minutes at full speed I looked around - I'd opened up a decent gap but they were still following! Were these canine versions of Anrie in Terminator?  At this stage I was very thankful there were no steep climbs coming up soon. On the contrary, there was a nice long straight descent - top speed of the trip so far was set! (see above).

A shortish morning (28 miles I think) and an early lunch was welcomed at Toledo- 2 big pizza slices and a diet pepsi -  all for 7 bucks - nae bad.

During the short afternoon session (of about 15 miles) I reflected that I was now entering countryside that looked quite a bit like Scotland. The trees were shorter and the grass was quite green. I was passing what must have been good fishing rivers as there were a few pickups and guys dipping a line in the water <Pause - I'm in a library in Castle Rock writing this - there are 8 PCs - on my left there is a woman who seems to say out loud everything on screen - two PCs to my right there is a guy listening to music on headphones and humming along! You have to laugh!>

So here I am in Castle Rock. Unfortunately there are no Motels in the town centre. Much like a lot of the towns here a lot of the restaurants and accomodation is next to the big main road just outside town. It's a shame because I think it's keeping people and business away from some of these small towns. It's also bad for me as I have to walk a long way into town - or cycle as I did today. These evening miles will not be included in my totals.