Aug. 14, 2004 -Tour De Oregon
(Astoria, Oregon to Crescent City, California)
The Start of Tour De Oregon – 8/11/04
I cleaned the van off and on for a week but it finally got finished. It looked great, better than it has ever looked.
Ray was driving in from Lompoc, California. He got to Grants Pass where he had reservations around 3:30 p.m. and said, “It is 5 hours until dark. What am I going to do?” He got back in his car and arrived at our house around 8:30 p.m. It was good to see him.
The next day, August 12, we went on a ride from Government Camp to Timberline on the old highway and then down the Glade Trail. It was only 5 miles up and three down – a little 8-mile ride. It had some big rocks and some soft sand that made it a hard ride down, probably too hard of a ride before a week ride down the Coast, but it was a great ride with a wonderful view of Mt. Hood and summer skiing. After that we went over the road to Hood River and did a short 3 miler that was a lot of up hill.
Friday the 13th – We went for a two-block ride. Ray’s brake pad was missing so we had to buy a new one. Vellen let us use his Jet Blaster jet skies and we had a blast. They are very hard to get back on out in the water. I fell off a few times. Ray did well. Yes, Vellen made us look bad.
We picked up Kathie and Rich Gracyk at the train depot, kept their bikes to take to the Coast for them and delivered them to their hotel. They were going to take the Lewis and Clark Train to Astoria the next morning.
Saturday, August 14th
We picked up 8 more people at the Portland Airport. Of course the plane is late just like the train. Why have schedules? I guess it is a reason to put ink on paper, a suggested starting point. The train was 4-1/2 hours late – the plane 3-1/2 hours. I guess that proves that planes really are faster than trains.
Sunday, August 15 – 90 miles for one of us
We started the day at 6:00 a.m., had breakfast at the Pig and Pancake in Astoria. I told Vellen I would take him to breakfast. He drove Barbara and Dana Manchester to Astoria. Their plane came into Portland around Midnight. They got to the motel in Astoria around 2:30 am.
Lieven and I went over the Astoria bridge on his tandem – my first time on a tandem. I kissed the ground when we got back. There is a definite knack to riding a tandem.
Some of us went over the Astoria Bridge to Washington and back and some from Astoria. The first group started out about ½ hour earlier. My group went by Fort Stevens and saw the place where the foreign (Japanese) bombs landed in Oregon during WWII. We also stopped in Seaside and saw the Salt Works where Lewis and Clark made salt out of ocean water. We stopped at a view area North of Manzanita and climbed over the retaining wall and down a trail, but it was still too foggy to see the Big Blue Thing. The rest of the day was spent riding down the Beautiful Oregon Coast to our first night’s destination, The Shilo Inn at Tillamook.
Monday, August 16 – 68 miles
After we left Tillamook and the wonderful smell of cows “cutting the cheese,” (This was a comment made by Carolyn) we headed a little North to Cape Mears where we saw the Octopus Tree and Cape Mears Lighthouse, then South past Cape Look Out and Cape Kiwanda (Pacific City) where we lunched at the Grateful Bread. Going down 101 there was a bike route that went up a side road. It was just breath taking. It was all downhill after Pacific City (yeah, right!) to Lincoln City where we spent the night at the Liberty Inn. Their pool felt soooo good.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 – 58 miles
The day started great and just got better (22 wheel weights and 16 CD’s in a case).
Some of the things you notice when riding: the bike tires making a whirring noise against the pavement, the chain rubbing against the sprockets, the wind in your ears changing volume as you ride, and you slowly feel your skin producing more and more moisture and sometimes dripping into your eyes, trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the seat, a nice drink of water as you ride along. There are a lot of other really good things happening to each individual.
We saw numerous lighthouses including the Yaquina Lighthouse and Heceta Lighthouse. The Heceta is the most photographed lighthouse in the world. The views from the side of the road were just awesome with the sighting of whales and seals. The walk along the beach edge and the brown black rocks was a lot of fun. Elke and Nikki got to pet a jellyfish; they are so cuddly. A must on every day’s journey is to stop for ice cream. The portion looked like about a pint for $1.65; I had a very hard time eating all of it
We went across the Newport Bridge on the side walk because the road wasn’t wide enough. We stopped at the top and the view was really spectacular. We proceeded down the other side, which proved to be quite a thrill. The sidewalk was narrow. The handrail was low and the drop off into the traffic was about a foot high. The only time I looked I was going 20 MPH. At the ice cream place someone told us that one or two people were killed there after being blown off the sidewalk into the traffic by a gust of wind.
We stopped at a restaurant and told the waitress that collecting wheel weights was what biker’s collected on the road. We got “The LOOOK.”
Tonight’s stop was at the Adobe Resort in Yachats. It was right next to the ocean, tidal pools, rocks and sand, a beautiful backdrop for dining.
Wednesday, August 18 – 51 miles
Oregon weather again. Sun, sun, 364 days of sun. I found 9 wheel weights on the bike and 3 walking to dinner.
An interesting side note: People would recommend we don’t start until 9:00 a.m. and then drive a car.
A stop at the Sea Lion Caves was a must. I walked to the truck and dug out the 40-power telescope. I would let people look through it and see the seal lions and seals blink their eyes and they would ooh and aah. There were a lot of them.
Another stop took us to the top of a sand dune – it was a good hike up. I hiked up with Alana. Her dad watched the bikes. We ran down like most people do.
There were a lot of bridges this day. I walked part of one because the wind was blowing hard. The old bridges are very narrow and the new ones are very wide. The new ones lack that old architecture and character the old ones have. Three ice creams today - glad I am exercising.
We stayed at the Great Western Inn in Reedsport.
Thursday, August 19, 2004 – 67 miles -10 wheel weights
It started out as a typical day. Everyone started out at the same time. Everyone viewed the Umpqua Lighthouse and Oyster beds.
Ray found a crescent wrench which he let me carry the rest of the day. Rich and I saw a bathroom after a few miles and went with the old rule of thumb “when available, use them whether you need to go or not.”
Yes, yes, yes mom, Rich and I missed the turn, but the riding was great. There was a strong tail wind and a smooth road and we were making great time, right up until we ran out of road. There was a map and we said, “Oh blankity, blankity, blank, quietly. We went back three miles to the rest rooms where we missed the turn. This road was rough and a really good strong head wind.
The rest of the loop was good. We did Beaver Loop with houses and lakes in the woods then back onto the road. We crossed the big bridge out of Coos Bay. The wind was blowing about 30 or 40 MPH. I was thinking of walking the bridge but was able to ride up along side the cement rail. After I passed the cement rail, the steel rail didn’t break the wind. I put the brakes on hard and started to walk. This was even hard to do because when you walk behind the post, there was a back draft and it pushed and pulled you back and forth. I waited for Rich at the top so he could take my picture. I looked up and saw the braces moving back and forth about 2 or 3 inches. Rich took the picture and we got off the bridge.
We stopped for lunch and went to the bike store. A UPS gal was there and Rich made the comment that she was the cutest UPS driver he had ever seen. Old “Mr. Big Mouth” said to her that she was the cutest UPS driver and she grabbed me by the arm and said, “I love you.” Rich was upset because he thought of it and didn’t get credit.
We rode the Seven Devils. It was a good climb. Up at the top we met a man who had come from Canada and was riding through to Mexico. He told his boss to “take this job and shove it,” bought himself a bike, and had been on the road for two months.
I had an oyster burger for lunch. No ice cream today. I had a great time chatting with Rich the whole day long. The other people were so lost that we did not see them all day.
We stopped for the evening at the Great Western Inn in Bandon, OR.
Friday, August 20 – 68 miles – a really bad wheel weight day
The ride started out with a side trip to Cape Blanco. The fog was really thick and the wind was blowing 45 MPH. Stephanie, Chuck, Larry and I rode all the way to the lighthouse. Stephanie talked me into it! We took a tour of the lighthouse, the only lighthouse you can tour in Oregon. The lighthouse was very interesting. They explained how a thousand watt light bulb generated 320,000-candle power. Stephanie noticed that all the fog was disappearing, but the wind remained and would remain with us the whole day. Riding your bike in the high wind can be very invigorating. Yes, there was a Pioneer Cemetery and I went to it.
After the cemetery we toured the Hughes House. They had looked for gold but made their fortune selling butter.
Rich and Ray went into Port Orford and spent an hour visiting the Motorcycle Museum.
Stopped for ice cream at Port Orford, and finished the last 27 miles down to our next destination, Gold Beach and the Sand N Sea Motel.
Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 2 wheel weights today
Today, our last day of riding, was just a ride day. The viewpoints were awesome. Lots of fog and wind again, but this time it was a very refreshing head wind. One sad note – Pam made it all the way except for the last five miles. She bumped her husband, Bob’s, rear wheel and went down. She ended up in the middle of the road. The good part was there were no other cars on the road. She broke her helmet and badly bruised her shoulder and hip.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
We woke on Sunday morning to something we had not seen all week. RAIN! When we got to the Oregon border we received Oregon’s one day of rain.
The touring riders and support crews headed home in all different directions. Hugs and handshakes all around.
There were a total of 123 Wheel weights, about 11 pounds, collected. Our first place winner is Rich!
Congratulations. Thanks for all your support in cleaning up Oregon’s highways.
As Stephanie would say, “Go along with Byran and be Byranized.” I do like to smell the roses along the way.
(Astoria, Oregon to Crescent City, California)
The Start of Tour De Oregon – 8/11/04
I cleaned the van off and on for a week but it finally got finished. It looked great, better than it has ever looked.
Ray was driving in from Lompoc, California. He got to Grants Pass where he had reservations around 3:30 p.m. and said, “It is 5 hours until dark. What am I going to do?” He got back in his car and arrived at our house around 8:30 p.m. It was good to see him.
The next day, August 12, we went on a ride from Government Camp to Timberline on the old highway and then down the Glade Trail. It was only 5 miles up and three down – a little 8-mile ride. It had some big rocks and some soft sand that made it a hard ride down, probably too hard of a ride before a week ride down the Coast, but it was a great ride with a wonderful view of Mt. Hood and summer skiing. After that we went over the road to Hood River and did a short 3 miler that was a lot of up hill.
Friday the 13th – We went for a two-block ride. Ray’s brake pad was missing so we had to buy a new one. Vellen let us use his Jet Blaster jet skies and we had a blast. They are very hard to get back on out in the water. I fell off a few times. Ray did well. Yes, Vellen made us look bad.
We picked up Kathie and Rich Gracyk at the train depot, kept their bikes to take to the Coast for them and delivered them to their hotel. They were going to take the Lewis and Clark Train to Astoria the next morning.
Saturday, August 14th
We picked up 8 more people at the Portland Airport. Of course the plane is late just like the train. Why have schedules? I guess it is a reason to put ink on paper, a suggested starting point. The train was 4-1/2 hours late – the plane 3-1/2 hours. I guess that proves that planes really are faster than trains.
Sunday, August 15 – 90 miles for one of us
We started the day at 6:00 a.m., had breakfast at the Pig and Pancake in Astoria. I told Vellen I would take him to breakfast. He drove Barbara and Dana Manchester to Astoria. Their plane came into Portland around Midnight. They got to the motel in Astoria around 2:30 am.
Lieven and I went over the Astoria bridge on his tandem – my first time on a tandem. I kissed the ground when we got back. There is a definite knack to riding a tandem.
Some of us went over the Astoria Bridge to Washington and back and some from Astoria. The first group started out about ½ hour earlier. My group went by Fort Stevens and saw the place where the foreign (Japanese) bombs landed in Oregon during WWII. We also stopped in Seaside and saw the Salt Works where Lewis and Clark made salt out of ocean water. We stopped at a view area North of Manzanita and climbed over the retaining wall and down a trail, but it was still too foggy to see the Big Blue Thing. The rest of the day was spent riding down the Beautiful Oregon Coast to our first night’s destination, The Shilo Inn at Tillamook.
Monday, August 16 – 68 miles
After we left Tillamook and the wonderful smell of cows “cutting the cheese,” (This was a comment made by Carolyn) we headed a little North to Cape Mears where we saw the Octopus Tree and Cape Mears Lighthouse, then South past Cape Look Out and Cape Kiwanda (Pacific City) where we lunched at the Grateful Bread. Going down 101 there was a bike route that went up a side road. It was just breath taking. It was all downhill after Pacific City (yeah, right!) to Lincoln City where we spent the night at the Liberty Inn. Their pool felt soooo good.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 – 58 miles
The day started great and just got better (22 wheel weights and 16 CD’s in a case).
Some of the things you notice when riding: the bike tires making a whirring noise against the pavement, the chain rubbing against the sprockets, the wind in your ears changing volume as you ride, and you slowly feel your skin producing more and more moisture and sometimes dripping into your eyes, trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the seat, a nice drink of water as you ride along. There are a lot of other really good things happening to each individual.
We saw numerous lighthouses including the Yaquina Lighthouse and Heceta Lighthouse. The Heceta is the most photographed lighthouse in the world. The views from the side of the road were just awesome with the sighting of whales and seals. The walk along the beach edge and the brown black rocks was a lot of fun. Elke and Nikki got to pet a jellyfish; they are so cuddly. A must on every day’s journey is to stop for ice cream. The portion looked like about a pint for $1.65; I had a very hard time eating all of it
We went across the Newport Bridge on the side walk because the road wasn’t wide enough. We stopped at the top and the view was really spectacular. We proceeded down the other side, which proved to be quite a thrill. The sidewalk was narrow. The handrail was low and the drop off into the traffic was about a foot high. The only time I looked I was going 20 MPH. At the ice cream place someone told us that one or two people were killed there after being blown off the sidewalk into the traffic by a gust of wind.
We stopped at a restaurant and told the waitress that collecting wheel weights was what biker’s collected on the road. We got “The LOOOK.”
Tonight’s stop was at the Adobe Resort in Yachats. It was right next to the ocean, tidal pools, rocks and sand, a beautiful backdrop for dining.
Wednesday, August 18 – 51 miles
Oregon weather again. Sun, sun, 364 days of sun. I found 9 wheel weights on the bike and 3 walking to dinner.
An interesting side note: People would recommend we don’t start until 9:00 a.m. and then drive a car.
A stop at the Sea Lion Caves was a must. I walked to the truck and dug out the 40-power telescope. I would let people look through it and see the seal lions and seals blink their eyes and they would ooh and aah. There were a lot of them.
Another stop took us to the top of a sand dune – it was a good hike up. I hiked up with Alana. Her dad watched the bikes. We ran down like most people do.
There were a lot of bridges this day. I walked part of one because the wind was blowing hard. The old bridges are very narrow and the new ones are very wide. The new ones lack that old architecture and character the old ones have. Three ice creams today - glad I am exercising.
We stayed at the Great Western Inn in Reedsport.
Thursday, August 19, 2004 – 67 miles -10 wheel weights
It started out as a typical day. Everyone started out at the same time. Everyone viewed the Umpqua Lighthouse and Oyster beds.
Ray found a crescent wrench which he let me carry the rest of the day. Rich and I saw a bathroom after a few miles and went with the old rule of thumb “when available, use them whether you need to go or not.”
Yes, yes, yes mom, Rich and I missed the turn, but the riding was great. There was a strong tail wind and a smooth road and we were making great time, right up until we ran out of road. There was a map and we said, “Oh blankity, blankity, blank, quietly. We went back three miles to the rest rooms where we missed the turn. This road was rough and a really good strong head wind.
The rest of the loop was good. We did Beaver Loop with houses and lakes in the woods then back onto the road. We crossed the big bridge out of Coos Bay. The wind was blowing about 30 or 40 MPH. I was thinking of walking the bridge but was able to ride up along side the cement rail. After I passed the cement rail, the steel rail didn’t break the wind. I put the brakes on hard and started to walk. This was even hard to do because when you walk behind the post, there was a back draft and it pushed and pulled you back and forth. I waited for Rich at the top so he could take my picture. I looked up and saw the braces moving back and forth about 2 or 3 inches. Rich took the picture and we got off the bridge.
We stopped for lunch and went to the bike store. A UPS gal was there and Rich made the comment that she was the cutest UPS driver he had ever seen. Old “Mr. Big Mouth” said to her that she was the cutest UPS driver and she grabbed me by the arm and said, “I love you.” Rich was upset because he thought of it and didn’t get credit.
We rode the Seven Devils. It was a good climb. Up at the top we met a man who had come from Canada and was riding through to Mexico. He told his boss to “take this job and shove it,” bought himself a bike, and had been on the road for two months.
I had an oyster burger for lunch. No ice cream today. I had a great time chatting with Rich the whole day long. The other people were so lost that we did not see them all day.
We stopped for the evening at the Great Western Inn in Bandon, OR.
Friday, August 20 – 68 miles – a really bad wheel weight day
The ride started out with a side trip to Cape Blanco. The fog was really thick and the wind was blowing 45 MPH. Stephanie, Chuck, Larry and I rode all the way to the lighthouse. Stephanie talked me into it! We took a tour of the lighthouse, the only lighthouse you can tour in Oregon. The lighthouse was very interesting. They explained how a thousand watt light bulb generated 320,000-candle power. Stephanie noticed that all the fog was disappearing, but the wind remained and would remain with us the whole day. Riding your bike in the high wind can be very invigorating. Yes, there was a Pioneer Cemetery and I went to it.
After the cemetery we toured the Hughes House. They had looked for gold but made their fortune selling butter.
Rich and Ray went into Port Orford and spent an hour visiting the Motorcycle Museum.
Stopped for ice cream at Port Orford, and finished the last 27 miles down to our next destination, Gold Beach and the Sand N Sea Motel.
Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 2 wheel weights today
Today, our last day of riding, was just a ride day. The viewpoints were awesome. Lots of fog and wind again, but this time it was a very refreshing head wind. One sad note – Pam made it all the way except for the last five miles. She bumped her husband, Bob’s, rear wheel and went down. She ended up in the middle of the road. The good part was there were no other cars on the road. She broke her helmet and badly bruised her shoulder and hip.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
We woke on Sunday morning to something we had not seen all week. RAIN! When we got to the Oregon border we received Oregon’s one day of rain.
The touring riders and support crews headed home in all different directions. Hugs and handshakes all around.
There were a total of 123 Wheel weights, about 11 pounds, collected. Our first place winner is Rich!
Congratulations. Thanks for all your support in cleaning up Oregon’s highways.
As Stephanie would say, “Go along with Byran and be Byranized.” I do like to smell the roses along the way.
posted by Byran on the side at 8:48 AM
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