At least now we know how to change the tire.
This was another great stop with a dairy based motive. We used to get Bandon Cheddar Cheese regularly when we lived in Oregon. It has since changed its name to Face Rock Cheese Company and it is not that easy to find. Whenever we go through the Oregon coast, we always try to pick up some aged cheddar on the way. Our plan to bike over to the creamery was immediately thwarted by a flat on the rear tire of my e-bike.
Helpful. Wish I’d seen the little arrows before I spent a whole lot of time trying to figure out how to reconnect the motor wire.
Have you ever changed the rear tire on an e-bike? Rear tires are already a pita to remove because of the chain. When you add in the motor, wires connecting the motor, and big weird bolts holding the wheel on, I was ready to find a bike store and have them do it. I remember going to a bike store in Bandon last time and specifically talking to the owner about how hard it is to change the rear tire of an e-bike. Like, I wanted to buy tools to carry with me in case of flats. But after talking to him, it sounded like the best tools to have on hand are snacks so I can wait patiently for Richard to ride back to the car, come pick me up, and take me and my flat e-bike to the nearest bike shop. So we called the place and discovered it is out of business. Sad. But also, now what? I was so convinced of the improbability that we could do this ourselves, I was ready to go with, “Flat tire? Well, I guess I need a new bike.” Fortunately, Richard was more reasonable about the whole thing, and without that much trouble, was able to get the tire off. We did have a spare tube cause I’m prepared for all problems, even if I don’t believe I can solve them. It was tricky lining up the bolts, and it could have been tricky to know how to plug the motor wire back in, but they put little arrows on both sides to help with that. All told, we spent maybe a half an hour problem solving, and we were on our way to cheese.
Facie at Face Rock
First, we toodled around the very cute town old town of Bandon and rode down to the Face Rock view point. We took the requisite facie, and rode directly to the Face Rock Creamery. We got the aged cheddar and made a separate trip to the Ray’s grocery store to get makings for nachos. Super fun!
Richard does not like sand.
The next day was pretty windy, so instead of doing more biking, we walked out to the beach and lighthouse. Richard did a dunes loop trail in the morning, which taught him he hates sand. I think he bailed mid loop and found the road so that he could stop trudging through all the sand. He says that, in addition to the sand walking, the loop trail is covered with horse shit and bugs. One star review. We avoided that trail and stuck to the pavement until we got to the beach.
Coquille Lighthouse
There is a fun little gift store inside the lighthouse and I recall making it a plan to see all the lighthouses up and down the Oregon coast. I think we’re missing a couple, but have been to most of them. That could be a fun theme treasure hunt some summer. For dinner, we had a delicious Blue Apron Romesco chicken with red onion, poblano pepper, and scallion couscous. Lovely two night stay!
Total miles from Jessie Honeyman: 66.9, 16.0 mpg, 1 hour 47 min. Site C20 hookups. Great cell for both. Ok dump. Curbed with a sideways notch.
