First self-supported bicycle tour: Oregon Ramble!

The thing about cycling that most sets me alight is experiencing new places from atop a bike saddle. I often say that I train so that, when I'm in a new place, I can get on a bike and go up any hill or ride any distance that suits me...and enjoy the ride. I just feel most alive coasting down a beautiful road in a new place.

So I've known for a long time that the next step for me is a self-supported bike tour and I'm finally taking that plunge with seven days of cycling in Oregon. I got a cheap ticket ($204) and then proceeded to spend many times that on a tent & footprint, sleeping bag & pad, camp stove, some clothing, frame pack, better lights and more. Oh, and the bike I planned to take turned out to need $600 in repairs. There goes my cheap vacation! Well, I tell myself, now I'm set to do this at least once a year.

I started putting this together and my good friend Daron decided to come along for as much as he could, which turned out to be three days; days 2-4 for me. So that pretty much ruled out a full Oregon coast ride and, while I've heard amazing things about the Oregon coast, I've also heard amazing things about other parts of the state. I love the coast but I also love river-side rides and forests. I figure I can put together a pretty good Oregon sampler with a loop that goes out to the coast and then back into the state interior. I have a couple major routes but will be able to adapt to weather and whims.

I'm using 75 Classic Rides in Oregon and the Travel Oregon list of Scenic Bikeways to help make sure I'm spending time on the most scenic roads possible. I also got the Moon Guide to Oregon Camping. I saved all the best campgrounds on a list in my Google Maps so I'll know what good campgrounds to try and plan to make each day. This is on my Kindle app on my phone so I can easily find more if I need them.

That first day, it'll be just me, exploring the Columbia River Gorge (east of Portland) while Daron is en route. After that, it'll most likely be up to Astoria (at the coastal border with Washington) and down to Tillamook/Cape Lookout. Those'll be Daron's three days and then I'll either spend more time on the coast or head east and try to make it to the Cascading Rivers Scenic Bikeway  That would involve about a 95 mile ride to the Salem area so, if that proves to be too ambitious, I'll head on up through the Willamette Scenic Bikeway and on back to Portland on ride day 7.

The big question for me was whether riding with 30 pounds worth of stuff would still be enjoyable so Daron and I loaded up to about 95% of our expected weight for a shake-down ride to a local state park on a route with some fairly big climbs. We were both very pleasantly surprised by how much easier it was than expected. I usually push pretty hard on climbs so I was actually less winded going easy with the full load than when I chug up those hills trying to get personal bests on my 19-pound road bike. Granted, I'm in good riding shape right now and my low gear is mighty low, but if you take your time, it's not tough at all.

So, the bikes are on their ways to Portland as I write (bikeflights.com) and I'm compulsively checking the weather report in various Oregon towns. Hopefully, this is the first of many adventures to come!

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park

View from the top!

Ride Summary: Bucket list Colorado ride up to the top of Trail Ridge Rd.
Distance: 50, with the Fall River Road add-on at Deer Ridge Junction
Elevation gain: 5300+ (my app tracked 5900, but I'm using the override/corrected number )
Roads: paved perfection
Driver tolerance: This is one of the most popular drives in the state of Colorado and RMNP is THE most visited national park. A local cyclist advised me to start early and I was on leaving the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center by 6:15 a.m. I experienced nothing but friendly drivers and relatively few at that. When I headed down at about 9:30, there were considerably more vehicles on the road. I think they would be courteous but it would compromise the experience if you had a lot of traffic.
The bad: $11 entrance fee for cyclist. See note above on traffic. Estes Park itself is kind of a drag to ride through. If you don't like climbing, this one's not for you. Oh, and it hits 12,000' above sea level.

Early morning on the way to Deer Ridge Junction

The good: Spectacular views, varying ecosystems, babbling streams, wildlife, epic descent. Nothing but sheer cycling bliss (unless you encounter tourist traffic hell).


I'll say it again, leave before 6:30 a.m. if you're going to ride this during peak tourist season (July and August) and do it on a weekday (I rode it on a Friday and was fine).

I'll let the photos do most of the talking here. Basically, the ride is pure heaven after you get through entrance gate. You will have already been climbing a bit at this point and it pretty much gets steeper and goes on and on from there, with a couple respites. The first drop is after the Deer Ridge Junction (a mile or two). I believe the steepest climbing of the whole ride starts at the switchback after this drop. You'll go up past an overlook that has a pull-off lot and then it starts to mellow.

Up, up, up you go, through pine forests and with glimpses of the terrain below. Rainbow Curve is a nice spot to take it in and see from whence you came. Continue up and you'll begin to get to the Alpine area where the trees disappear, allowing you to see peaks to the edge of the earth. So, so beautiful!

You'll get to the rock cut and I believe this is the high point, just over 12,000'. You'll get the second respite from the climbing as you drop a bit and rise a bit in this alpine ecosystem on a nice stretch of road that lets you savor the elevation, rather than sending you careening over the other side of a pass like so many other Colorado roads.

Another little drop and you arrive at the Alpine Visitors' Center, where the cacophony of tourists debate t-shirt choices will shatter your blissed out mind. I think I'd have just skipped this if I had it to do over again. Still, it's good to revel in their awe and shock as they realize that, yes, you rode your bike here.

After some photos and maybe a hot chocolate or something, it's time to descend.

How do you describe the feeling of soaring down a mountain for a good 25-30 minutes? I dunno. Give a try and get back to me. Just watch out for traffic, especially around that pull-off and lookout point a few miles after Rainbow Curve (I think it's called Many Parks something or another).

At Deer Junction, I chose to see something different and so took a left on Fall River. This is a great little section and the stuff after exiting the park is fun too (still descending). The only catch is you have to navigate the tourist crowds and traffic in Estes Park, which is about as bad an ending to this glorious ride as you could conjure up. Still, I like Fall River Road.

Bucket list ride for sure...