Day 4 Wed, Corvallis to Salem

Woke up and geared up to do the long day of 57miles. Turns out there was an alternative route that dropped 20 off that. Steve, Kim and Barry had decided that would be good considering the 90°+ temperatures. I certainly didn't object. Since we had been particularly unimpressed with the scenery along the "WVBikeway", I didn't feel like we'd be missing out. And the views were better today anyhow....still not a single winery or Vinyard along the route. We saw a sign for one though so that's an improvement. We saw many farms and orchards still....and more blueberries and blackberries than you can imagine. Kim feels we should nominate the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway Chamber of Commerce for an award in light of their exaggerated promotions for this ride. The pitch made us all think we'd be riding through an even more lush and prettier Napa-like Valley. I'd compare it closer to riding the backroads of Lincoln through farmland, pastures and orchards. Or say from Roseville out Baseline and Elverta with some small bits of the American River Parkway tossed in for interest and authenticity.

Now don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed this week immensely and the rides  have been good..it's just not the bill.of goods we were sold originally.

We finished up with a total of 37miles, done in 3 hours. Our ride ended mid afternoon right in downtown Salem not far from the capitol building. We are at our first big hotel...the Phoenix Grand Hotel. It is very nice and has a pool and Jacuzzi! (Which I just used...hence why I'm falling asleep trying to write this.)
We played games,innoventions and pirate flux, for a while in the afternoon. Then walked a ways around the capital buildings and past the university, all while scoping out dinner options. We narrowed the choices down to Bistro, Korean and Middle Eastern. Korean won, and was awesome! Unfortunately I'm certain I consumed way more calories at dinner than I burned off during the ride. Ah vacation...always tough on the scale!
Thursday is our last ride...44mi Salem to just on the outskirts of Portland.

Photo: Kim and Barry having a yummy lunch in Monmouth

Fairly typical view:

Day 3 Brownsville to Corvalis

Started the day in Brownsville. The loft was great, town super cute but no breakfast anywhere. So I ran to the grocery and made us all eggs, biscuits and bacon! That fueled us for the ride which was just about 27 miles today. Lots more farmland, hazelnut trees and empty fields. We crossed a few nice rivers and some small creeks where I saw trout and some huge carp.
We rode into Corvallis along a paved bike parkway path and ended up in a very hip brewpub area along the river for lunch.
Our B&B is a few miles out but also very nice. The Hansen Country Inn...each bedroom has a sitting room and bathroom too...it feels like each one is an individual apartment.
After checking in we decided to drive to the coast, just under an hour's ride. The beach was cold and foggy but the sand was so silky soft!
We ate the best meal so far at Ocean Bleu in Newport . Mmmm....fresh halibut picatta with asparagus and spinach bacon risotto. Clam chowder you could eat with a fork and...well you get the idea. Tomorrow we ride to Salem which is 57miles...I've decided that if I get too hot or tired of pedalling I will go hang out with Lisa in our air conditioned sag suv!

Bicycling Begins Eug-Brownsville

After a good night's rest and lovely breakfast at the C'est la Vie Inn, we spent much of the morning getting organized to ride out. Today's jaunt was getting out of Eugene and through farmland for most of the ride. Near the end it got prettier but also hillier. This week's ride is following Oregon's Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. 

After 32 miles pedalling in the heat with no lunch other than Gatorade and powerbars we were a bit of a cranky bunch. Nothing a shower, a big Mexican food meal and nap couldn't fix. 

We are staying in Brownsville in a place called The Historic CJ Howe building. Downstairs is a yarn store(closed unfortunately ) and we are upstairs in what they call the loft. It is the entire upstairs and has at least 5 beds. Town is vintage cute and only about 3 blocks total.

Panoramic pic is the common area of the loft with Kim, Lisa and Barry.

A pretty old (1887)bridge over the McKenzie river.

August Bike trip Eugene to Portland

Many years back, after one of the AIDS Lifecycle charity rides, Kim and I took the Coast Starlight up from LA. On the train we met our friends Steve and Lisa. Since then the 4 of us have done at least two more ALC rides from SF to LA as well as DC to Pittsburgh just for fun.

This trip is Eugene to Portland. We were supposed to take the Coast Starlight from Sacramento to Eugene and ride to Portland where we would catch the train back to Sacramento. Amtrak had other plans for us. Our 11:55 pm departure was pushed to 2 then 4 then 5. We made our way to the station for a 5:30 departure only to find out that it was still in Oakland, and due to the 6.1 Napa earthquake, wouldn't be moving for a while. Bridges and track needed inspecting after the quake. By 9 am we'd had enough of the station(4.5hours waiting on less than 3hours sleep that night) and found an SUV to rent that we could all fit in. With the bike rack we could carry the bikes too. So almost exactly 12 hours after our originally planned departure we got underway. After a dinner break at a lovely old train station in Medford(see pic) called Porter's, we made Eugene by 10:20pm. We were so grateful for the lovely B&B shower and bed by then. Our host at the C'est la Vie Inn was great and it was a shame we didn't have more time to enjoy the gorgeous place.