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!
1 comment:
Hi to everyone reading these posts. It was easy to separate along this ride due to the long hills, Brian and Eric generally kept a faster pace, Miranda also pushed the pace, I rode more slowly up hills with the trailer, and Mark was behind. So as we spread apart, sometimes the connections were lost. I rode ahead day 3 and took the 3 Capes tour, adding about 12 miles and an hour, but it was worth the climbs, great views and a ride along Tillamook Bay at the water's edge. The next day I ended up ahead at Beverly Beach while the others hung back, Eric was sick. In Newport I rode ahead, having had breakfast expecting Brian to catch me. However, Eric's knee was a problem and I spent another night with the other groups at Honeyman State Park south of Florence... Well, cell phone connections brought everyone up to speed, Brian and I were to meet at Umpqua Lighthouse. We met down the road, Brain toughed out 90 miles and I rode about 60 as we kept pace at Humbug Mtn St Park. Then on to Harris St Beach, then met my son, Kevin in Crescent City on Saturday about 1pm, on schedule...
More of our story will be posted after Eric collects photos and adds to our site...
A fun but challenging ride. I carried too much stuff, would take a rest day every 3rd or 4th day but I liked the 45-60 mile days.
Thanks to Eric for setting the trip up for us...
Jerry
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