Saturday, October 6, 2012

Day 11: Florence to Bandon, OR (and tales from the road)

During last night's dinner in Florence, OR our guide Patty told us the story about a whale carcass that washed ashore in Florence in 1970. At first the whale proved to be quite a local attraction, until it started to rot. In a stroke of brilliance state engineers attempted to dispose of the rotting carcass by blowing it up with 20 tons of dynamite. The explosion threw rotting whale flesh over 800 feet away. Local residents who lined the beach to watch the explosion ran for their lives as huge chunks of whale blubber began to rain down.  A quarter of a mile a way a car was destroyed when a large piece of rotting blubber landed on its roof.  It was a pretty funny story and I thought some of you might enjoy watching the YouTube video of the actual news footage from that fateful day. 

 
Another bit of local news that some of you may have heard about involved a Bandon, Oregon farmer who was purportedly eaten by his pigs.  According to news reports, family members became worried after a 69 year old farmer was gone for several hours after going to feed his animals, including several hogs that each weighed 700 pounds or more. They went in search of him and found his dentures on the ground in the pig pen. While police are certain that the hogs consumed the farmer's body, they do not know how he died. An investigation is continuing.

But back to today's ride. Well, it was another beautiful day. Clear sunny skies with temps in the mid-70s.  The 77 mile ride from Florence to Bandon included a good number of hills and a couple of bridges.  


Sag stop around the 50 mile mark
Due to construction, we had to walk our bikes 1.4 miles across this bridge into North Bend, OR.


View of coast in Bandon, OR

Bandon, OR lighthouse


Rock formations off the coast in Bandon, OR
Map for today's ride from Florence to Bandon, OR. 



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