Hey everyone,
Well, it's been 10 days since we set out on our adventure and we are all home safe and sound. Brian and Jerry made it all the way to Crescent City, Ca on Friday and Jerry's son picked them up on Saturday. They were home by dinner! Congratulations gentlemen! Wish we could have been there to join you so we could have all ridden together the entire time, but it all worked out for the best in the end!
As for Mandy, Mark and myself, our final destination was Cape Blanco which is 20 or so miles south of Bandon. It did not end easy either...the last 1/4 mile of our ride was very steep and of course the wind was in our face! It felt great to make it and be done riding. We built a large fire in the biggest fire pit I have ever seen! We made a very nice pasta and a great curry meal...with a nice red wine for Mark and myself while Mandy enjoyed a brew or two! The temp last night was great and it continued into the morning...very comfortable!
Al and Susan arrived at 9am and helped load our gear into his pickup...it all fit with room to spare. As we rode down the road, it seemed weird to be moving so fast over the same road we averaged roughly 10mph just days before. It was kind of a bummer to drop everybody off and say goodbye, but at the same time it felt good to be home! I'll put more pics and video on later...after I get my fill of lounging on my very soft couch!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Oh yeah
Lisa, thanks for asking about the knee. Actually they both hurt now, and it's been pretty bad. I jumped up 3 stairs 2 days before the trip and screwed up the good one! Each day I have favored one and the other hurts the next day! Today was the best...I was actually able to push it pretty hard and get a good workout!
I'm kinda glad my knee was hurting though, again, it caused me to slow down and enjoy the scenery. We have all taken turns up front and in back! We wait for each other at each intersection or no longer than 5 or so miles to make sure we're all accounted for. This is a great group to travel with!
Catch you later!
E
I'm kinda glad my knee was hurting though, again, it caused me to slow down and enjoy the scenery. We have all taken turns up front and in back! We wait for each other at each intersection or no longer than 5 or so miles to make sure we're all accounted for. This is a great group to travel with!
Catch you later!
E
Finally made it to a computer!
Hey everybody!
As you can see by some previous posts, we made it to my friend Greg Smith's place here by the Bandon golf course. Again, three of us are going a bit slower than we expected due to my knee and because we really want to enjoy the experience...we found that hard to do at 50+miles per day. Now we can stop and smell the roses, have some coffee if we want and actually do laundry! This has made it a much more fullfilling trip for the three of us (Mandy, Mark and myself). We all agreed that we would not shoot for more than 35 miles a day if/when we do another tour.
Brian and Jerry however, have a different motivation...they want to make it to the original destination. I believe they will do that today.
Since I have been sending updates via my cell phone, we have been pretty terse...so let me expand a bit. Overall, we are having a great time. For the most part the weather is grey and chilly, but at times the sun comes out and bakes us when the wind is blocked! We all have wind burn on our faces and the hills are very tough on all of us. For the most part we have room to ride...but at times, there is simply no shoulder at all. We just hope people move over!. We have been buzzed several times by motorhomes and log trucks within a foot from us, but most folks are polite and move over. There seems to be a local joke about screaming at the bikers while driving by to see how much of a reaction they can get out of us. Just remember, Karma is a $#@&!
Oh yeah, we have crossed over at least 3 big bridges and 2 out of the three had really small shoulders. I videotaped my crossing over one and it was fine till I looked in my mirror and saw huge semi's coming behind me...a bit hairy! Good footage though! I'll add it later.
Camping has been fun. We stay at hiker/biker sites and pay $4 a person. It's cool because we typically stay with the same folks we have met from previous days each night. We ran into one family that is traveling on a three person tandem bike! Their son is 7 years old!!! We'll try to get a pic of him tomorrow if we catch back up with them!
We have one more day of riding left to do. We're not sure where we will ultimately end up, but that is OK, we just want to enjoy the ride along the way. I'll do my best to continue to send pics and descriptions along the way.
We do expect Al Eggers to pick us up on Sunday at our final destination somewhere 30-40 miles south of Bandon. Thanks Al!
Oh yeah, we have been reading your comments...keep them coming! Morgan, I saw yours and I hope you are having a great time in Florida. Lisa, we are being safe...thanks for the well wishes!
Eric
As you can see by some previous posts, we made it to my friend Greg Smith's place here by the Bandon golf course. Again, three of us are going a bit slower than we expected due to my knee and because we really want to enjoy the experience...we found that hard to do at 50+miles per day. Now we can stop and smell the roses, have some coffee if we want and actually do laundry! This has made it a much more fullfilling trip for the three of us (Mandy, Mark and myself). We all agreed that we would not shoot for more than 35 miles a day if/when we do another tour.
Brian and Jerry however, have a different motivation...they want to make it to the original destination. I believe they will do that today.
Since I have been sending updates via my cell phone, we have been pretty terse...so let me expand a bit. Overall, we are having a great time. For the most part the weather is grey and chilly, but at times the sun comes out and bakes us when the wind is blocked! We all have wind burn on our faces and the hills are very tough on all of us. For the most part we have room to ride...but at times, there is simply no shoulder at all. We just hope people move over!. We have been buzzed several times by motorhomes and log trucks within a foot from us, but most folks are polite and move over. There seems to be a local joke about screaming at the bikers while driving by to see how much of a reaction they can get out of us. Just remember, Karma is a $#@&!
Oh yeah, we have crossed over at least 3 big bridges and 2 out of the three had really small shoulders. I videotaped my crossing over one and it was fine till I looked in my mirror and saw huge semi's coming behind me...a bit hairy! Good footage though! I'll add it later.
Camping has been fun. We stay at hiker/biker sites and pay $4 a person. It's cool because we typically stay with the same folks we have met from previous days each night. We ran into one family that is traveling on a three person tandem bike! Their son is 7 years old!!! We'll try to get a pic of him tomorrow if we catch back up with them!
We have one more day of riding left to do. We're not sure where we will ultimately end up, but that is OK, we just want to enjoy the ride along the way. I'll do my best to continue to send pics and descriptions along the way.
We do expect Al Eggers to pick us up on Sunday at our final destination somewhere 30-40 miles south of Bandon. Thanks Al!
Oh yeah, we have been reading your comments...keep them coming! Morgan, I saw yours and I hope you are having a great time in Florida. Lisa, we are being safe...thanks for the well wishes!
Eric
Seven Devils Road
Laundry time!
3 strikes and he was out!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Tuesday Morning Update!
Sorry we missed the webcam...blew right by it and didn't have the energy to go back! Yesterday was tough on all of us...we are going to take it easy today! Had a great breakfast and now we are heading out for an easy ride down the coast!
Brian says...all is going well, even though I got clipped by the motorcycle, I was just a little ticked off, it's all good. I almost caught up to him Depot Bay, but he still kept running like a sissy! Hi Jessica! Depot bay was great...saw some whales spouting.
Day 4 into the Ride!!! Everything feels ooooooooooh so great . . . except my tushy is getting a little sore. OUCHY!!! I think next summer I will get a bike seat . . . very similar to a Lazy Boy! Beautiful views everywhere we look; and I am still holding out for a nice sunny day on the beach. Fingers crossed on that one. Alrighty we are off to ride like the Wind . . . . phew. Later. Miss Mandy. Hey Braedyn . . . can't wait to give you snuggles soon!!!
Brian says...all is going well, even though I got clipped by the motorcycle, I was just a little ticked off, it's all good. I almost caught up to him Depot Bay, but he still kept running like a sissy! Hi Jessica! Depot bay was great...saw some whales spouting.
Day 4 into the Ride!!! Everything feels ooooooooooh so great . . . except my tushy is getting a little sore. OUCHY!!! I think next summer I will get a bike seat . . . very similar to a Lazy Boy! Beautiful views everywhere we look; and I am still holding out for a nice sunny day on the beach. Fingers crossed on that one. Alrighty we are off to ride like the Wind . . . . phew. Later. Miss Mandy. Hey Braedyn . . . can't wait to give you snuggles soon!!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
We made it to Astoria!
Hola all,
Eric here. Well, we made it to Astoria after a 4 hour delay due to Enterprise not having a truck for us! After a bit of scrambling, we managed to get 2 vans for the same price...so that was cool and it all worked out! We eventually met up with Jerry at our campground in Fort Stevens and had a great night chatting about the ride to come! This morning we woke up to a bit of a drizzle, but we expect it to clear up (fingers crossed) later today. We are now enjoying coffee at the internet cafe and enjoying the heat...then we'll take the vans back and hit the road! More to come later! Here's Mark...
So far so good...the bikes seem restless. One of them got spooked by a dog last night. Hope I don't see that happen again. The squirrels are eye'ing Brian again. I think we better get underway. Jerry will ride ahead and start making salt for the winter. Technology's let us down in this harsh environment - Eric was unable to transmit a photo to the blog; he'll try later. Mark.
Wahoo!!! We are officially beginning the bike tour. We are really roughing it out here . . .as I sip on my Americano and check my email at the internet cafe :D . . . but there is all kinds of rain coming down outside . . . so I guess we will be roughing it soon! Not much to report as of yet. Miss you lots Braedyn boy!!! Later . . . Miss Mandy!
Eric here. Well, we made it to Astoria after a 4 hour delay due to Enterprise not having a truck for us! After a bit of scrambling, we managed to get 2 vans for the same price...so that was cool and it all worked out! We eventually met up with Jerry at our campground in Fort Stevens and had a great night chatting about the ride to come! This morning we woke up to a bit of a drizzle, but we expect it to clear up (fingers crossed) later today. We are now enjoying coffee at the internet cafe and enjoying the heat...then we'll take the vans back and hit the road! More to come later! Here's Mark...
So far so good...the bikes seem restless. One of them got spooked by a dog last night. Hope I don't see that happen again. The squirrels are eye'ing Brian again. I think we better get underway. Jerry will ride ahead and start making salt for the winter. Technology's let us down in this harsh environment - Eric was unable to transmit a photo to the blog; he'll try later. Mark.
Wahoo!!! We are officially beginning the bike tour. We are really roughing it out here . . .as I sip on my Americano and check my email at the internet cafe :D . . . but there is all kinds of rain coming down outside . . . so I guess we will be roughing it soon! Not much to report as of yet. Miss you lots Braedyn boy!!! Later . . . Miss Mandy!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Cell Phone Postings!
Technology never ceases to amaze me. Our worries about finding coffee shops are now over! On Blogger.com, you can send updates to your blog directly from your phone! Very cool.
Believe it or not, this is a pic of my bike on my patio sent directly from my phone! I should also be able to add videos too!
The challenge will be adding text via the cell phone...especially since I'm not that great at texting! I'll do my best to not mis-spell words too much!
Our Bikes
4 out of the 5 of us have gotten new bikes for the tour. Jerry is pimping an older mountain bike that he uses for commuting, its a Soma Groove with a bob trailer pictured below.
Mark is riding an Aurora Elite shown below.
Mandy is riding a Trek 520 shown below:
Brian is pimping this sweet ride!
OK, not really, Brian is riding a Redline Conquest shown below.
And I'm riding a Surly Long Haul Trucker...pics below.
Peace.
Tour Map
Here is an updated map with our proposed camping locations and dates we plan to be at each location! Double click on it for a larger view!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Coastal Web Cam
Here is an update for those of you who are planning to watch the web cam to see if you can catch us. We will be going by the Lincoln City web cam on July 20th sometime between 11am and 1pm. We would like to give you a better estimate of time, but that's as good as it gets!
If you go to the ODOT web cam site here: http://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/RCMap.asp?curRegion=1&mainNav=RoadConditions and click on the southward facing camera in Lincoln City, we'll congregate on the grass next to the road.
I'll give Al Eggers a call on my cell to give him estimates of when we think we'll be there so ya'll can take some screen shots of the group!
We will hold up some signs that hopefully you will all be able to read...all G rated of course.
More to come later!
If you go to the ODOT web cam site here: http://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/RCMap.asp?curRegion=1&mainNav=RoadConditions and click on the southward facing camera in Lincoln City, we'll congregate on the grass next to the road.
I'll give Al Eggers a call on my cell to give him estimates of when we think we'll be there so ya'll can take some screen shots of the group!
We will hold up some signs that hopefully you will all be able to read...all G rated of course.
More to come later!
First Post
Oregon Coast Bike Tour 2008
Welcome to our Oregon Coast Bike Tour blog for 2008! Back in January a couple of us started talking about how cool it would be to take a bike tour this summer. After researching a few trips, we settled on riding the entire Oregon coast as it is considered a great first tour not only for the scenery, but also for the manageable total mileage (390 miles) and the fact that the Oregon coast is actually very well suited for biking. According to the experts (others who have toured it), it is well marked, has adequate space for bikes, typically has a north to south wind to push us along and has special campgrounds/amenities for bikers the entire way.
After soliciting all of the bikers I knew at the time, 5 people (including me), signed up for the adventure. They include: Mark Rebhuhn, Mandy Weaver, Jerry Wonnacott, Brian Mellander and myself!
Once we had the location, we picked a date and then started preparing for the trip. Our preparations included getting our bikes and bodies in shape, identifying (and purchasing) the critical few things we want to carry with us and most importantly securing rides to Astoria and from Crescent City. Those rides have actually been one of the hardest things to coordinate, but I think we have it covered for now!
Our itinerary for the trip was taken from a book entitled Bicycling The Pacific Coast by Vicky Spring. She has toured the coast several times and gave great advice for daily distances, places to see, routes to take and places to stay! Our intention is to have a rough plan like this to shoot for, but to remain flexible as we go to accomodate our realities along the way.
Here is our planned itinerary:
07/19 - 44 miles, Astoria to Nehalem Bay State Park.
07/20 - 48 miles, to Cape Lookout.
07/21 - 58 miles, to Beverly Beach State Park.
07/22 - 60 miles, to Honeyman State Park.
07/23 - 55 miles, to Sunset Bay State Park.
07/24 - 57 miles, to Humbug Mountain State Park.
07/25 - 66 miles, to Crescent City.
07/26 - No miles unless we fell short from the itinerary or want to ride and enjoy the Redwoods for the day!
07/27 - Shuttle back to Corvallis!
For those of you who have expressed interest in meeting us along the way for lunch or camping, please keep in mind that this is our plan, but that it is subject to change! I (Eric) have given my cell phone number to those that are interested in meeting up so that we can confirm where we actually are during the trip!
Well, that's our story at this point. We are a week away from leaving for Astoria as of today and I think we are all ready for the most part minus a few last minute adjustments with our gear and bikes. Our intention is to take pics along the way and stop at coffee shops to update the blog as we go. Please feel free to login to view and leave comments if you like!
Welcome to our Oregon Coast Bike Tour blog for 2008! Back in January a couple of us started talking about how cool it would be to take a bike tour this summer. After researching a few trips, we settled on riding the entire Oregon coast as it is considered a great first tour not only for the scenery, but also for the manageable total mileage (390 miles) and the fact that the Oregon coast is actually very well suited for biking. According to the experts (others who have toured it), it is well marked, has adequate space for bikes, typically has a north to south wind to push us along and has special campgrounds/amenities for bikers the entire way.
After soliciting all of the bikers I knew at the time, 5 people (including me), signed up for the adventure. They include: Mark Rebhuhn, Mandy Weaver, Jerry Wonnacott, Brian Mellander and myself!
Once we had the location, we picked a date and then started preparing for the trip. Our preparations included getting our bikes and bodies in shape, identifying (and purchasing) the critical few things we want to carry with us and most importantly securing rides to Astoria and from Crescent City. Those rides have actually been one of the hardest things to coordinate, but I think we have it covered for now!
Our itinerary for the trip was taken from a book entitled Bicycling The Pacific Coast by Vicky Spring. She has toured the coast several times and gave great advice for daily distances, places to see, routes to take and places to stay! Our intention is to have a rough plan like this to shoot for, but to remain flexible as we go to accomodate our realities along the way.
Here is our planned itinerary:
07/19 - 44 miles, Astoria to Nehalem Bay State Park.
07/20 - 48 miles, to Cape Lookout.
07/21 - 58 miles, to Beverly Beach State Park.
07/22 - 60 miles, to Honeyman State Park.
07/23 - 55 miles, to Sunset Bay State Park.
07/24 - 57 miles, to Humbug Mountain State Park.
07/25 - 66 miles, to Crescent City.
07/26 - No miles unless we fell short from the itinerary or want to ride and enjoy the Redwoods for the day!
07/27 - Shuttle back to Corvallis!
For those of you who have expressed interest in meeting us along the way for lunch or camping, please keep in mind that this is our plan, but that it is subject to change! I (Eric) have given my cell phone number to those that are interested in meeting up so that we can confirm where we actually are during the trip!
Well, that's our story at this point. We are a week away from leaving for Astoria as of today and I think we are all ready for the most part minus a few last minute adjustments with our gear and bikes. Our intention is to take pics along the way and stop at coffee shops to update the blog as we go. Please feel free to login to view and leave comments if you like!
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