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!
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