Adventurelaus

Finally caught up with the blog posts of the Oregon Coast Ride. The night went OK. I setup the tent at dusk behind some trees out of sight from the street and neighbors. I was a little worried about the neighbors not knowing what was going on but nobody bothered me. I got up and tore down the tent at the crack of dawn and left the area. For the morning wash-up I stopped by the public restrooms at the tourist information again. At the bus stop and Porter Stage Lines office quite a few people gathered to ride the bus. Quite a bit of the discussion was about the bad economy in this area and that the logging restrictions/environmentalism is the major cause of it. It was surreal riding on the bus and seeing how quickly we rode through most of yesterdays ride. In Eugene I purchased the Amtrak bus ticket to Portland and had a delicious brunch at the Morning Glory Cafe right next to the station. The next week I spend mostly working with my team at the hotel but I did get some nice r...

Bennie and Julie invited to ride with them today. Our speeds are fairly similar. The only times I lagged behind was going down hill. At around 16 mph I top out with pedaling and rely purely on coasting. My bike also didn't seem to coast as fast as theirs but with 16 inch wheels I really didn't need to go any faster. From my GPS track it looks like the top speed was about 28 mph on the monster hill of Thursday. Julie and Benny. Quite a bit of today's ride was away from the ocean. Either through the forest or behind the large sand dunes. Sand dune. Ben and Julie on highway 101. At the end of the day we had to cross the Coos Bay bridge. We pushed the bikes along the narrow sidewalk of this huge bridge. At the middle of the bridge I dropped a flower and watched it's way to the water. It was amazing to see how long it took because the bridge was so tall. After the bridge I bid farewell to Benny and Julie as they continued on to the next state par...

Today I rode by myself again.  In the morning I passed a surf shop that wasn't open but had a photo-op place outside by the road. Today's ride was pretty nice as the road goes close to the ocean.  I set a pleasurable pace and stopped here and there.  I once went out on a sandy beach, wanting to push the bike along the beach for a while but I just got the bike sandy.  The tide was coming in and the beach wouldn't have been great to go a distance along it.  So it was back to the road again. Brompton out on the surf. Siletz Bay. The Pacific coast. Self portrait. I'm not sure if Depoe Bay does really have the smallest harbor, it still looked kind of big to me, but it has an impressive narrow entrance through rock walls over which the 101 bridge spans. If the sign says so it must be true. The Otter Crest Loop south of Depoe Bay was the best stretch to ride.  It runs parallel to 101 and due to it's narrowness is primarily a one-way str...

With the fog over night nothing dries. Even my helmet pads that were dry in the evening are soaked in the morning thanks to the salt deposits from sweat. Not much one can do about the helmet but to dry clothing you'd just have to hang them out on your bike and become a moving clothing line. Daily clothes drying ritual. Views along the road while crossing a monster hill. Devil's Lake state park is quite neat as it's nestled in the middle of Lincoln City by a lake.  Right across the street (Hwy 101) is the ocean.  So after setting the tent up I headed over there to stroll a little along the beach. Lincoln City beach. Message to home. Proof that I was really there. At the campsite I meet several other cyclist.  A guy with a trailer did down and up loop along the coast and was on his way back home.  He considered this a training ride for a bigger and more remote ride to come.  That at least was his excuse for hauling way more than need...

Frank cooked me oatmeal and tea before we headed for the Peter Iredale shipwreck right at the Fort Stevens state park.  A nice asphalt trail leads to it as well as the rest of the park.  Its a really nice park and wouldn't mind to spend there a long weekend with the family.  The kids would really like it. Video of the shipwreck in eerie fog. Onboard the Iredale. The remnants show the size of the ship. I rode with Frank a portion of the day. We stopped together for lunch in Cannon Beach and went through the Arch Cape tunnel.  Frank decided it was better to push the bike through the tunnel.  I looked for a large gap in the traffic and rode quickly through the tunnel.  Only a couple cars passed me at the end. Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach. Frank emerging from the Arch Cape tunnel. Apropos traffic, it's horrible on highway 101.  There was lots of traffic especially midday when the weather was nice.  Nobody is giving...

Portland, Oregon is where I will spend a week for work.  To spice the trip up a little I added some personal days up front to ride my Brompton folding bike down the coast.  This is the first of several blog entries about the bike tour. Flying always seem to cause a long day. Got up at 4 am to catch my flight out to Portland and after a long layover there I made camp at Fort Stephens State Park at about 10pm. Bike in hard shell, T-bag packed and ready to go along with tent and sleeping mat in other suitcase. Oh, yeah some stuff for the work part of the trip as well. At a park in Portland where I killed some time. On the bus to Warrenton I meet Frank with whom I rode in the dark to the hikers/bikers campsite.  He's from California riding the coast for nine days south to California.  There I also met Anders ( http://bicycle.plato.se ) from Sweden who rode his bike across the US and will finish soon in Seattle. High tech schedule board at the Amtra...