Friday June 5, 2015

Sometimes you just ride, because it feels good to put your head down and go. Today was one of those days. We knew we had a hill to climb, but when we got to the top, we were both surprised that this was the summit – Murphy Hill Summit 756 feet. It didn’t even feel like much of a climb, and I didn’t think it was worthy of a photograph.

As we headed inland we had a north-westerly wind, we were heading east. The sun was out and it was warm from the outset. By the time we got McMinnville at 1:30 it was 32 degrees C.

We had put sunscreen on for the first time since San Diego before leaving Lincoln City and we were very glad we did.

Highway 18 was described on the Lincoln City Bike Map as a narrow road with low traffic. The road had a good shoulder for the most part and was a busy road, lots of traffic. Most of them gave us plenty of room, even when we had a wide shoulder.

We stopped at a small picnic area and spotted our first Bald Eagle, soaring above us in lazy circles.

The scenery today was a mix of forest and rural farm lands, nothing spectacular, but worthy of singing the Sound of Music songs as we cycled through a green valley.

We stopped at a DQ that was along the highway for a pee break and decided we needed an ice-cream, sometimes the opportunity presents itself and you have to take it.

We arrived in McMinville and had a few hours to kill before meeting our warmshowers host at his house at 5:00.

McMinnville seems to have dozens of wine tasting rooms, along the Main Street of the historic downtown. We decided to have a pub lunch and had some local cider and Ralf had a stout made in the area.

A young man (Joel) stopped to chat about our tour and told us he is planning on going on his own cycle tour starting this November. His route will take him in a counter-clockwise route of the US. Down the Pacific Coast, West to East of the Southern Tour, up the eastern seaboard to Maine and then the TransAm back to Oregon. Good luck Joel – enjoy the ride. He will be taking his pet poodle with him.

After lunch we had a wander up and down the main street where we met Ben Franklin.  A piece of advice first everyone.  When sitting next to a statue on a hot day, check the temperature of the bench – it was very hot.

After burning my legs on Ben\’s bench, we headed to the library and a nice shaded place where I updated the blog.

We called Steven at 5:00 to let him know we were in McMinnville, he was home and told us to come over. When we arrived, dinner was on the stove and we had time to shower and get settled in.

Steven had a major bike accident a couple of years ago, resulting in a plate in his shoulder and a steel rod in his leg. He is back on his bike and looking forward to doing some touring in the future.

We chatted about his family, one of his sons is in Japan and he hopes to go over to see him and maybe do a bike tour with him.

We had a nice wander around his garden and chatted about gardening. Steven was a really nice guy. Later after we had cleared the dinner things away, I was folding the laundry and when I came back Ralf and Steven were chatting about the accordion. Steven’s Dad used to play one and a few years ago Steven decided to learn how to play. He gave us a quick tutorial on how they are played and how complicated they are. Two hands doing completely different things, he also had to control the baffles and concentrate on the melody. What a complicated instrument, but he got our toes tapping and we really enjoyed his enthusiasm for the instrument.

Consequently, we kept him up way past his bedtime and ours. Steven had to get up at 5:00 am and it was past 10:00 pm when we made the move to go to bed.

A lovely evening to top off a great days riding.