McMinnville to Lincoln City

Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010
After leaving McMinnville in the rain, rode for about an hour before the sun came out. I shot this in the area SW of McMinnville:

The odometer had started at 0 at Cape Flattery/Neah Bay and here just hit 500 miles. One-tenth of the way to Key West!

Once in the mountains (Oregon Coast Range), the rain started again and this time it came with a vengeance. It was my first torrential downpour. With hail.

You know how your shoe feels when you step into a puddle up to your ankle? That's how my feet felt within 5 minutes of the downpour. Water also quickly found its way into my rainpants and jacket.

The temperature had dropped to 39° (from about 50° when the video was shot). All I could do was keep pedaling, thinking about getting to a hot shower and into warm, dry clothes!

Fortunately, my panniers kick ass and didn't permit a drop of water in. All six of them are Ortliebs.

By the time I arrived at Motel 6 in Lincoln City the rain had stopped but I was still soggy and chilled. Once again, it was so incredible getting out of the wet and into dry clothes!