A pictoral essay: My Bike Tour of the Oregon Coast

Yes, I'm back, and I had a grand time. The only bummer is going back to work. It was like being retired (I think, never been retired yet). Bike touring is where life becomes very simple. You get up and break camp, eat breakfast (not necessarily in that order), and ride. Stop for lunch or snacks, ride some more, then stop and make camp and then dinner. Finally you go to sleep, and then do it all over again the next day, and the next...you get it. Everything else just fades away. Except for the big scary bridges, trucks, RV's, and the occasional pickup truck of people who don't think you sould be on THEIR roads. And before I go any further, a HUGE shout-out to Scott and Rachel for not only picking us all up at the Portland Airport (where we dropped off our rental SUV's), but taking us into their amazing home for a wonderful dinner, and then taking us to Astoria the next morning to begin our adventure. Thank you SO MUCH! It was a wonderful way to start our trip! And while I'm doing shout-outs, I'd be quite remiss if I didn't throw out a HUGE one to Steve for taking this from a general concept (hey, lets go ride the Oregon Coast!) to a full-on Military assault plan with detailed maps, routes for each days ride, picking all the campgrounds, lunch stops, making all the hotel reservations needed in the to/from legs, and finally actually driving the 4 California riders to and from Crescent City in his van. This never would have happened without Steve, so thanks again Steve! OK...now that I have all that out of the way, on with the trip! And so....I Took a LOT of pictures during this ride, and here are some of my favorites:

Day 1, 8/25: This is the Astoria Bridge. I'd call that "SUPER BIG SCARY BRIDGE" and I am SO very thankful we are starting on the Oregon side and not the Washington side (the bridge spans the Columbia river).

Here I am ready to ride, starting our journey in Astoria Oregon. In the background is the SUPER BIG SCARY BRIDGE.

This is "Haystack Rock". It's a big-un for sure! Just the first of MANY MANY rocks sticking up out of the ocean I took pictures of.

Looking back north at Haystack Rock.

Arrival at Nehalem Bay State Park, our Day 1 campsite.

8/26, Day 2: Tillamoc Creamery, Tillamoc Oregon.

Cape Lookout beach. We are camped just off the beach. They have the marine layer just like we do here on the Central Coast!

Me at the Cape Lookout sign.

Big Scary Bridge.

Day 3, 8/27: The view looking back north.

BLACKBERRIES! They are EVERYWHERE! FREE FOOD!

The Son of Haystack Rock? Looking south along our route.

Detour off of the 101 (hooray!). Beautiful woods and NO TRAFFIC!

More scenic forest and still less traffic.

Back on the coast (on the 101).

Our motley crew, from left to right: Steve, Greg (my brother), Steve-2, Greg-2, and Paul. Greg-2 and Steve-2 are on a tandem.

Selphie of the crew, same order with me now in the picture.

Day 4, 8/28: Greg coming across a small bridge (zero shoulder...you do NOT want to be passed by a logging truck or RV here!) Thankfully it's very short.

Some more beautiful coastline.

More coast with the marine layer, looking south.

There's a lighthouse in that mist!

The sign talking about the lighthouse.

Greg at the Yaquina Bay State Park sign.

The Yaquina Bay lighthouse.

Big Scary Bridge into Newport.

Here is the bike-portion of the bridge. Elevated about a foot off the road surface, with short guard rails (that you could just flip over into oncoming traffic very easily with a top-heavy bike).

Beach Panorama with marine layer.

Nonplussed seagul enjoying his very humid morning.

Now the route starts to get VERY interesting! You can see in the distance where the road has climbed to on the rugged coastal mountains.

Looking back north from high up.

Looking south again.

That big dome off in the distance in the prior picture is much closer now.

Cape Creek bridge sign.

Cape Creek bridge. Wasn't scary to cross at all.

Heceta Head lighthouse turnoff.

Hecata Head lighthouse...nice!

Looking south again.

Day 5, 8/29: Now THAT'S how a shoulder should be for bikes! Especially on a bridge!

Umpqua River bridge.

Having a 2nd breakfast at McDonalds...YUM!

Umpqua River Lighthouse.

Another Big Scary Bridge off in the distance.

Going up the Big Scary Bridge into North Bend/Coos Bay. Turns out the bridge wasn't "scary", it was "Terrifying!" Also, even tho I have no pictures, brother Gregs bike had a major malfunction about 12 miles from our camp for the night. During a gear shift his rear derailleur was ripped off the bike, the chain was damaged, and the derailleur was destroyed. We were able to cut out the damabed portion of the chain, remove the derailleur, tape the cable and housing to the frame so it wasn't flying around, and re-make the chain so he had ONE gear: small ring 5th. Not the best scenario but much better than nothing. He was able to complete the days ride with just that one gear.

Day 6, 8/30: A beautiful inlet. Also, my brother Greg isn't with us today, as his bike broke for good yesterday afternoon about 12 miles from our camp (the single gear we had for him was spinning on the freewheel, thus no forward motion unless it was downhill). So now he's in a hotel with his broken bike, will get it to a shop in the morning ahead of us in the route (he called and talked to the guy who will be there to work on it), and hopefully will be able to re-join us before we get to our campground for the night.

Steve on a very quiet detour off the 101.

Greg P (Greg2) and Steve2 on the tandem enjoying the peace and quiet of an off-the-101 road.

At the corner of Whiskey Run and 7 Devils Rd. There were DEFINETLY more than 7 Devils (if you're counting climbs), there were closer to 21 Devils if I recall correctly!

Log Man cyclist, very clever!

I'm drafting on Log-man!

Taco lunch at Wilsons Market, BEST TACO EVER (seriously)!

Me kicking back at Wilsons Market before we roll again. Greg showed up as we were finishing up, his bike is fixed, he had a quick lunch, then drove back to Coos to drop off rental car, and ride to the bus station to catch teh 12:30pm bus (last of the day).

And another lighthouse. Oh...and blackberries! (did I mention they were pretty much EVERYWHERE?)

Looking back at the lighthouse on the jetty.

A sunny day with a beautiful coastline. That's Face Rock just right of the middle of the picture.

The Face Rock sign.

Here you can see Face Rock from a better angle in the left of the picture. The hair is white and the face is looking up at a 45 degree angle to the right.

Some more beautiful coastline. It just doesn't get old.

Look...a Salty Dog at the Salty Dawg!

Greg rejoins us at the Safeway parking lot (also the bus stop). We have about 6 miles to camp. He missed a beautiful day but glad he's back. Wasn't sure the mechanic could fix it, wonders never cease!

Looking ahead the large mountain in the far-off middle is Humbug Mountain. Our camp is very close to that.

Humbug Mountain. Campground for the night is about a mile or so away now, the road goes around Humbug to the left and camp is right there.

Day 7, 8/31: Breakfast (oatmeal) with all the blueberries I can stand. Nice little calorie boost every day...free blackberries. All I need to do is bleed for them (the brambles are vicioius!)

Looking back at Humbug Mountain.

Here I am being attacked by a T-Rex. Thankfully someone a bit chunkier came along and he went for them and I escaped. I was asked if I'd rather be chased by a T-Rex or a bull...I answered T-Rex. There you have a chance...none at all with the bull. He won't be lured away, he will just hit you with all he's got. At least that's what I've heard...(from someone who knows).

Humbug Mountain again, this time from much further south.

An amazing little cove we rolled by.

Looking south along our route.

And now looking back the way we came (north).

This is Janson...we met him the first night at our campground...we are doing the same exact days, only we leapfrog all day (we stop for a while and he passes us, we get rolling again and pass him, etc etc). We always beat him to camp tho, and he loves it that we are already there and set up when he arrives, giving him a warm welcome every evening.

So it seems the MIGHT have a bit of wind here...there are some very subtle clues if you know where to look.

And yet another Bit Scary Bridge for us to cross...or is it?

The Tandem rides the Big Not-so-scary bridge (very little traffic, we just rode across like we owned it). Couldn't do that to the other scary bridges...that would be suicide.

Food-truck lunch stop (we were told about this one earlier in the day). Fresh seafood based items (you can't see it but just behind them a hundred yards or so is the fishing/crab-boat fleet at dock).

My choice: the Crab Melt Sandwich (and chips). YUM!! LOADS of fresh crab!

After lunch dessert: Homemade Tiger Milk fudge. WOW! Now THAT is some serious cycling calories...I'd call it rocket fuel~

Shark Fin Rock (no idea what it's really called, it's just what I'm calling it).

Shark Fin Rock 2 (same as before).

Oh...so NOW it starts to get "Scenic" apparently.

OK...it is pretty scenic (but is it MORE scenic? Debatable for sure).

Ooh...an arch in the ocean!

And yet another awesome cove.

Just WOW.

Another Arch in the ocean...two of them actually!

And yet another beautiful cove (far below us).

Yes, it was indeed pretty high up.

Looking down from the highest bridge in Oregon. Yep...that's high.

They sure do have a LOT of rocks in the ocean up in Oregon, don't they.

I'm pretty sure all these 'rocks' have actual names. However, I don't know them, so I'll just name them myself. This is "Hector"...a very nice looking rock in the ocean. It's the last picture of a rock in the ocean that I'll show you (on this trip anyway). HA! Had my fingers crossed when I typed that! There MAY or MAY NOT be more rock pictures. It's a secret. Shhh.

Ahh....I was wondering just who Samuel H. Boardman was, and why the Scenic Corridor was named after him. Now I know...and you do too!

And this is the last "looking back north" picture I'll show you for this trip. That's becasue the trip is almost over...boo hoo...getting all weepy already.

Dinner out, our last night at a campground.The OxenFre Public House. It was very nice actually!

I'm having the Miso Rock Cod, with a cucumber salad and garlic mashed taters. And an awesome German Weiss Bier from the oldest brewery in the world (and yes, it was on draft) YUM!!! This sure beats hot noodles and salmon in a bowl (like I've had the last 6 nights in a row).

Day 8 (last day), 09/01: the last day on the bike. A final loaded shot of my much lighter loaded Checkpoint ready to roll (almost all my food is now gone).

OK, so THIS is Juanita, and is the VERY LAST last picture of a rock in the ocean I will show you...seriously...I promise. No fingers crossed this time (as far as you know).

Greg, ready to roll on the final day. It's a miracle he's riding with us at all with the damage his bike sustained along the way.

Steve and Paul are on the move.

Janson again! We will see him once more in Crescent City for lunch before we start driving south headed for home.

Steve and Paul again.

The Tandem Crew Greg and Steve on their final day.

Selphie looking back at the guys (I don't do this too often...it would be VERY easy to drop my phone and then I'd be quite upset for doing that).

And now we are officially done with Oregon. BOO HOO! It was pretty awesome (mostly).

And now a shot from the back of the pack. HA! Didn't drop my phone there eihter! (don't get cocky Matt)

These are the last blackberries of the trip. We ate a LOT.

And finally, the restaurant after we loaded the van and drove to meet Janson and the Tandem crew (they were faster than we were packing up). And by the way, finishing wasn't quite as easy as just rolling to the Crescent City airport where we parked. You see, 1.4 miles from the finish line Gregs bike broke a spoke on his rear wheel. And boy did that wheel taco-up in the frame! We couldn't get it out, it was totally jammed in there! Steve rode ahead to bring the van back and pick him up, but Paul rode ahead and found a guy in a pickup who volunteered to pick up Greg and his ONCE AGAIN BROKEN BIKE and take him to the airport. So I rode on and was soon passed by said pickup with Greg riding shotgun. So OFICIALLY Greg isn't listed as a finisher of the Tour of the Oregon Coast...he will have to start over and do it again, this time NOT breaking his bike and missing miles, including the final 1.4 miles! And I'll volunteer to go with him, you know, to verify said ride is complete. But that's just me...I'm a giver...the way I put myself out there for Greg is heart-warming for sure!

This is the final picture of this trip. It's my retirement plan, and I think it's a good one.