Florence, OR to Newport, OR
Today was officially my last day of riding. Yesterday I made it to the ocean, but today I made it to my final destination on the bicycle. I was hoping for some good views of the Oregon coast and ocean after being totally underwhelmed yesterday. The views we’re stunning but did not come easy. There were some decent climbs along with a strong headwind that I battled the entire day.
Eugene, OR to Florence, OR
The goal for today was simple, pedal for as long as it took to get to the Pacific Ocean. I left the motel around 7:30 and got onto a bike path that took me from the center of Eugene to the outskirts of the city. It was a nicely paved bike path, but nothing great it terms of scenery until I got back onto a real road. I headed north for a few miles and saw some hills to the west. Getting over those hills was my last obstacle to reaching the coast.
Blue River, OR to Eugene, OR
Sticking to my normal schedule, I was the last one awake and packed up this morning. I rolled out of my tent a little after 6:00. After packing up my tent and eating some food I started riding just after 7:00. Everyone else had a head start on me today, but we were all planning to stop 20 miles down the road to grab breakfast at a cafe in the town of Vida.
Bend, OR to Blue River, OR
My plan for today was to get over McKenzie Pass and then determine the best place to stop. It is about 125 miles from Bend to Eugene and I wanted to get as close as possible to Eugene today. The ride started out with 24 miles from Bend to Sisters. My trip into Bend was off route, so the 24 miles to Sisters just got me back on route. Luckily the ride from Bend to Sisters was mostly downhill on smooth, freshly paved road. I had a nice view of the snow covered mountains on my left the whole morning.
Redmond, OR to Bend, OR
I had a late start to the day this morning, which was a nice change of pace. It was only 20 miles from Redmond to Bend and I was in no rush to get to Bend early. Although I covered 26 miles today, the day was really a rest day.
Mitchell, OR to Redmond, OR
I had a great night of sleep at the Spoke’n Hostel last night. When we got back from the Painted Hills trip, we walked back into the bunk room to find all of the privacy curtains closed around our beds with individual reading lights turned on over each bed. Pat and Jalet, the owners of the hostel, knew how to add all the small touches to make our stay great.
Dayville, OR to Mitchell, OR
I woke up to the smell of pancakes this morning. Joe was up first and had started to make breakfast with the pancake mix provided by the church. I had a couple of pancakes and a PB&J sandwich and then got my stuff together. I was on the road just before 7:30 for a short 38 mile ride to Mitchell, OR.
Mt. Vernon, OR to Dayville, OR
I woke up late this morning knowing I was in for a short day. It felt nice to sleep in and not worry about spending 6 hours on the bike today. Since leaving Yellowstone I have put in some big mileage days, including 5 days of 80+ miles. Prior to Yellowstone I had only done 2 days of 80+ miles. Now that I have a flight booked to head back to the east coast, I know what my schedule is and have some flexibility in taking a couple short days.
Baker City, OR to Mt. Vernon, OR
I got a good night of sleep at the hostel last night and was up early to start what I knew might be a long day. I got out on the road around 6:45 and had 25 miles of slight uphill before I hit today’s 3 big climbs. We had originally planned to stop after climb number 2, but we got through those 50 miles quickly and it didn’t make sense to sit around a campsite all day.
Richland, OR to Baker City, OR
I somehow convinced myself last night that today was going to be an easy day. Only 43 miles and the elevation profile didn’t look too bad. I knew there was a climb towards the end of the day, but before the day started I was ready to consider today as a rest day.
Cambridge, ID to Richland, OR
Today was another day that started off immediately with climbing. That’s three days in a row where the climbing has started within the first 5 miles of the day. Luckily, today’s climb was the easiest of the past 3 days. It was 16 miles to the top of the climb and then there was a nice 6 mile descent down to the Snake River and into Hells Canyon. I was surprised to see some snow covered peaks off in the distance, but I know there is a lot of climbing left to do before I get to the Pacific Ocean.
Riggins, ID to Cambridge, ID
This morning was the first time my alarm has woken me up in weeks. I usually set an alarm just in case, but I’m up before it goes off. The time traveling yesterday did not help my sleep. We lost an hour by going back into Mountain Time from Pacific Time. My body decided it was still on Pacific Time this morning. The alarm went off at 5:30 but I fell back to sleep. I woke up again at 6:45 and got up. The group of 3 older guys were already on the road by that point. By the time I packed up my tent and had breakfast it was later than I would have liked. I got on the road at 7:45.
Kooskia, ID to Riggins, ID
When I set up my tent under the pavilion in the park last night, I was excited to be under a shelter. It makes it much easier to setup and take down my tent without having to stake it down or put a rain fly on. While I was completely fine, Stephen probably could have used his rain fly. Around 3:00 AM the sprinklers turned on and he was in range of them, even though he was under the pavilion. I heard the commotion and was very confused until I realized what was going on. With the sprinklers going off and the lights in the park being very bright, it wasn’t a great night of sleep.
Powell, ID to Kooskia, ID
When I got out of my tent this morning it looked like it was going to be a miserable day. There had been light rain on and off since 3:00 AM and when I woke up there was thunder rumbling. I haven’t had phone service since Missoula, so my phone had not changed to the new time zone. I set me alarm for 6:30, knowing that meant it would wake me up at 5:30. I’ve generally woken up before my alarm goes off, but I was still the last one out of my tent. The only place to get food this morning was the lodge, but it did not open until 7:00. There were also no stops from the Lodge all the way to Lowell, 65 miles away. That meant I had to survive on pop tarts and dried fruit until lunch time.
Missoula, MT to Powell, ID
Last night was a great way to end my time with the group I’ve been riding with the last week. Missoula was the point where we were all going our separate ways, so we decided to meet up at a bar for one last drink together. Mike, Dave and Camille were all headed north from Missoula to Glacier National Park. Liz had always intended for her last stop on the bike to be in Missoula. Noah and I are continuing on the Trans America Route. I also found out that Stephen was still in town, so I shot him a text and he also joined our group for a drink.
Ramblin' Dan: Bike Touring Adventures 