Saturday morning after sleeping a real bed, and I’m already missing my hammock. So comfortable! (I will be sleeping in it tonight though when I make it to my next camp.)

First item on the agenda after getting ready for the day was to deal with my first flat of the trip. It was the rear wheel (of course), so I popped it off and went to work changing out the tube. I checked the inside of the tire and didn’t find anything to cause the leak, though the tube did have a small tear/hole in it. One of the rear brake pads looked like it may have been rubbing the tire, so I adjusted it (and ended up making them too loose). I got the new tube in, filled it up, and mounted the wheel back on my bike. I loaded up my bike for the day and was just heading out when I looked down and saw the tire was flat again. Arrrgh!

about to roll out (or so I thought…)  

Luckily my friend was just driving by and saw what happened, so I grabbed the wheel, hopped in the car, and we headed over to Moe’s Bike Shop in North Bend. They had just opened and were able to get it fixed up in under 10 minutes. Turned out there was a staple in the tire, which apparently is the nemesis of the Hulk bike, as the only other time I’ve ever had a flat with this bike was also due to a staple.

Got back to my bike, popped the wheel on again, attempted to wash the grease off my hands again, and got going. All said I was only running about an hour late from my normal departure time, which isn’t bad for my first calamity. I stopped at a gas station to wash my greasy hands for the umpteenth time and to readjust my rear brakes, which were way too loose. Ended up getting my hands dirty again, of course.

Finally rolling, I started heading in the direction of Bandon. The first hill I hit had me chugging along slowly, but the next one after that I somehow had more go power. I discovered as I rode throughout the day that I was apparently starting to adjust to the riding, and was pushing a faster pace than the previous days. Hills that had me at 6mph I was now chugging along at 8 to 10mph.

I stopped in Bandon to scarf down some pizza and work on the blog a bit. I found a store heading out of town where I picked up a few treats, including some caramel apple trail mix that would later find its way all over my handlebar bag and sleeping pad (no idea how it managed to do that).

I’d like to have my own studio in the middle of nowhere someday

I reached Port Orford at about 5pm and stopped at the hardware store to see if they had metric hex wrenches. I don’t know if it was the bike getup, the request for something metric, or the fact I was an outsider, but the lady at the store definitely gave me that “you’re an outsider” vibe. (Later I heard some other campers ran into this same vibe in town… hmmph.) She said they didn’t have metric but they actually did; I found a set on the shelf that had the size I needed, but it came with 9 other wrenches I didn’t need, including a couple that could have doubled for crowbars they were so big. Between fixing my kickstand and carring several more pounds or just leaning my bike on something, I went with the leaning the bike option.

Next stop was the local market, where I picked up a pack of hot dogs and some cheese curds. These would be for my culinary masterpiece I’d be preparing for dinner that evening; Super Chili, the gastrointestinal sledgehammer. I roasted a couple hot dogs on my neighbor’s fire, cut ‘em up and threw them in the chili with a handful of cheese curds and some crushed red pepper. BAM! Eat it, Emeril!

heating up the super chili. good thing my pot is rugged enough to handle its sheer awesomeness.

I ate my dinner as I chatted with the hikers a couple spots over, two women who had been hiking for a month straight. They’d started at the top of Oregon and were working their way down to the redwoods, averaging around 20 to 30 miles a day on foot. Pretty amazing stuff. I shared some of my chocolate covered hazelnuts from Cape Foulweather, and stuffed my face with roasted marshmallows from their fire. One of the girls ate at least five s’mores while I was there… much respect for their beastly metabolism. There was also a biker in another spot from Finland, who said he’d come north from California to avoid the heat, which I was heading straight for.

The hiker/biker area at Humbug Mountain was quite nice – there were distinct spots for each person, instead of one big area like the previous ones I’d been to. I took spot #6 in the back by some trees that looked like the best candidates for my hammock.

got my own picnic table and everything! not bad for 4 bucks.

I had to wrestle with the hammock for a while in order to get it up, and ended up being only a few inches off the ground. There were approximately 40 billion mosquitos, but I prepared with some bug spray and made it through unscathed.

I’d been setting up the hammock as I was cooking, and then got distracted talking with the hikers… before I knew it, it was dark. My headlamp has proven to be invaluable during the trip, and this was no exception – I strung up my rain fly, hung my food bag, and packed up the rest of my stuff under the glow of its red light setting.

The night was a real treat. The moon had been full when I left but had been unable to see it with the cloud cover, but tonight it was perfectly clear. I don’t think I’ve been able to see the stars that well since I lived in Montana.

Most Exciting Moment
I guess I’d have to say the last bit of riding from Port Orford into Humbug Mountain. There was some climbing to do and it was at the end of the day, but I was really happy with how I tore through it. It was awesome making it to the camp with some time to spare as I wasn’t sure how the hills were going to treat me on the way.

Roadkill Report

• a robin
• my kickstand