Bandon to Gold Beach-58m

After last night's mussel feast and a day of recovering it felt good to be back on the Oregon bike route, with our gleaming clean chains whurring beneath us.

The stage today of the Tour of the Pacific Coast was shorter and so extra time for supping chai teas and nature spotting.

As we've been riding, for days there have been little creatures that dart across the road, with bushy tails as long as their bodies. And today we realised, they're chipmunks!

Super cute!!

Amongst the tall trees today we also got a glimpse of a less friendly inhabitant!

Colin managed a trio of punctures today, so we caught him up at this jurassic location.

Steve rode with his gun in his shorts (!!) making the most of the last couple days in this gun state (see his blog from yesterday).

We also left the fields of cranberries behind as we headed for Gold Beach, through some winding coast and forest road.

Time to muse a little today from the saddle on a chicken and egg conundrum. What came first the supersize american or the supersize lifestyle? There are so many ways to limit physical exertion here and promote unhealthy living- drive through pharmacies/banks/ food and coffee stores and RVs (recreational vehicles) the same size as coaches, that perhaps people just grow into?!

So, our leaders are able to wash their hands of us all by 3pm today and go on the hunt for a happy hour. 

After some standing around shooting the breeze and looking at bikes.