Oregon Trail

Sunday was my last day in Portland before heading to the coast. I got my swim on in the morning and then explored Portland a little looking for some tasty coffee. While walking around, I ventured past this sign:

Apparently, if you ride a bike with no front wheel you might fly over the handle bars. Good thing I now know. I also came across the "Brewcycle". I was just imagining riding past that in the middle of a race or seeing it racked in the transition area next to all the TT bikes.

The coastal destination was Lincoln City, OR, which is approximately 100 miles Southwest of Portland. On the way to the coast, I met my sister and her husband at Left Coast Cellars for some vegetable soup, carrot cake, and pinot noir.

I got dropped off and rode my bike for the final 25 miles to the coast. There was a pretty nasty headwind, but luckily the majority of the route was flat or downhill.

The Oregon coast weather pattern this time of year consists of cold, wet, foggy mornings which eventually clear up in the afternoon.  Below is a picture of the beach near our vacation home on Monday morning.

I went for a ride late Monday morning after the fog cleared and the roads started to dry. The green Oregon landscape is a nice change of scenery from Redondo Beach.

Part of my ride took me past Chief Kiawanda Rock. Looking at the rock from the shore, I thought it might be a neat open water race to swim out, around the rock, and back to shore. Only downside is that the water temp is around 50F, pretty cold even with a wetsuit.

Lincoln City is right on the Oregon Coast Bike Route. I rode North for 27 miles and then turned around and returned on the same route. It was generally rolling hills other than a 3 mile Cat 3 climb at mile 6 and 48. The first climb was fun, the second...not so much. I believe the temp stayed around 60F which was sort of chilly.  It's going to be quite a change later this week in Sonoma. Overall, I only lost two oxen and luckily my carriage did not get stuck in the river.

Me at the end of the ride...

With the wet roads, my bike was quite dirty at the end of the ride. It's OK though because I already cleaned her up.