Day 44 Loot July 25, 2001

! went to Sambo's for breakfast. It's a little like Denny's. Way back in the 70s there
was a whole chain of them. Then people started getting pc and decided it was just
wrong to mention that Sambo was black. The chain tried a few things, but ended up
bankrupt. The one in Lincoln City, OR wasn't part of the chain so it survived as did one
in Santa Barbara, CA. ! figured today would be about as far as what ! estimated
yesterday would be. ! took a cutoff onto the Old Scenic 101 that added about 4 miles.
Then a section along the coast to Tilamook, OR. Coming into Tilamook ! was feeling a
bonk coming on. Or maybe it was a little dehydration. Anyway, ! stopped for a Power
gel and headed into town for lunch. !'ve been eating lunch in some funny sounding
places lately. Tilamook and Yachats, OR. From there it was on up to the campground.
It didn't look like it was that far and ! felt a lot better after feeding. ! decided to skip the
backtracking to the bike shoppe since it sounded like a place that mostly sold videos
and did some bike work on the side. ! had a busted spoke on the drive side and since !
was concerned about weight ! left MY tools to remove the cassette @ home. No telling
how long it had already been. ! figured it could last 50-60 more miles. Around Tilamook
Bay is a really tough place to make any progress w/ a camera. About halfway around !
spotted a RR track just 50' from the road w/ some action going on. Tilamook Bay Line
short line had a pair of diesels pulling a flat car w/ a shovel chained down to it and
several gondolas full of spools of tubing. It looked like they were putting it into a trench.
Right where ! stopped the shovel ran into a snag. They were stalled. It tried to pull it
up, but just managed to rock the flat car. It was quite interesting. On the other side of
the road was the bay and a good shot of the harbor. Just around on the other side a
junk yard w/ a couple cranes and then another shot of the harbor. Just a bit farther up
an old steam engine w/ a few cars and a speeder. ! forced MYself to continue onward.
When ! got to camp ! found a picnic table w/ a bunch of stuff abandoned on it. 2 pairs
of tyres. One had a Mr. Tuffy liner in it. And a jar of organic peanut butter unopened.
Two cans of spray paint. The paint had scraped off the dropouts on the B.O.B. so !
painted them to stop the rust. Then ! sprayed another coat of orange on them just for
fun. ! thought ! was carrying a bunch of stuff until the Germans showed up. They had a
tent over twice the size of mine w/ 3 rooms and as many clothes on their clothes line
as ! have and more in the tent. All that on 2 mountain bikes. There were also a pair of
Canadians and a pair of Californians. ! was the only American there that night. And
also the only one going North getting stronger. Almost everyone goes South to get the
tail wind. They are getting weaker. 84 miles.