Sights From Bikes

In a month we will be embarking on a new adventure. Travels with Harley will continue

Update: Since visiting ER in Palomar and following Doctor's orders we have been slowly making our way back to Portland. John Welte has family in the San Francisco area and we took the opportunity to visit some. During these side trips. we have been exposed to COVID. Fortunately we are both Vaxed and boosted. Should hit Portland today.

Day 6: I ended the trip today with a trip to the ER in Palomar. Acute Viral Bronchitis. That explains the shortness of breath. The good news is everything else checked out good..heart, blood work, x rays. The doctor recommended avoiding the desert and postponing ride until it clears up.

Day 5 : Lake Henshaw to Borrego Springs
While doing touring be expecting the unexpected. The day started well. 12 miles into the trip I had an asthma attack. The grade was nothing but I was gasping for breath. We were still 15 miles out. A road angel saved me. Maybe literally. Thank you. Chris.

Home last night

Day 4: Escondido to Lake Henshaw.
38.6 miles, 3652 ft of elevation gain. It was a very hard day with a 5 mile hill with little birm that we walked . A lot of traffic today. The last 6 miles was courtesy of Augustine, a nice line worker with a pick up truck. A late dinner and turning in. Hartley is exhausted.
Dean Derek

Day 4: Dean Derek
Start out of Escondido. 38 mile day with two big climbs. Thank you to Jeff and Carol for being such gracious hosts. Hartley met Roo and Lucky

Day 2 : Harleys Adventure continues.
This fine gentleman is Julio and he was our attendant during our train ride. He made sure we had what we needed and took care of our roomette for the trip. Julio lives in LA has worked for the railroad for almost 20 years. Gracia, Julio.

Sights From Bikes

Today we catch the train. All packed, repacked and then repack again. I am sure the day before we peddle I will shift again. Heavy load but we expect shifting temps from mountain passes to desert to SE humidity. This morning was a surprise and Hartley is ready!

Last day of tour had us start with a great breakfast at Studio One Cafe. Super French Toast. Then I checked out two bike shops in Eugene that I visited 4 years ago. Big changes. Caught the train back to Portland where Barbara met me. 134 miles logged. Nice ride.

Brownsville to Eugene. 36 miles. 480 ft elevation gain. Our Albany host gave us a nice route to take. It was an enjoyable ride if not for the headwinds. The first 27 miles were flat but felt like we were going uphill. Nice lunch in Coburg. Our Eugene host directed us to a great milkshake. Our host also had a wonderful dinner in her beautiful home.

Bicycle tan and home for the night

Albany to Brownsville. 27 miles 480 ft elevation gain. We deviated from the WVSB and had our WS host lead us to the Mill (15.1). Had a continuation of the leaky tire. Our WS]host gave me a ride to the Albany Bike shop. They could not find the source of the leak.. I had them install a Kevlar band. Visited an old flour mill.. it still runs demonstrations. Tire held..Great route basically flat. Tomorrow is on to Eugene.

Salem to Albany. 41 miles 989 ft elevation. The GPS gave me the wrong direction out of Salem so we ended up going 5 miles out of the way. To get back on track we had to go up over the "Salem Heights". Nice climb early in the morning . Brought us back to River Road. We went to Independence and I remet a guy I met 4 years ago on a previous ride. Independence, OR has grown. Still a nice town. We deviated from the WVSB route which resulted in some more hill climbs. Ya gotta love the hills. Not...
Saw Caesar the therapy Llama in downtown Albany.. Met our WS host whom I had stayed with 4 years ago. Had a great dinner at Gamberettis Italian Restaurant. Leave tomorrow for Brownsville.

Champoeg to Salem. 31.2 miles and 755 ft elevation. Mostly flat. We left Champoeg around 9:15. I want to say that Champoeg has the best hiker biker site with water, electricity, logs, access to showers and bathrooms all for $7. Just great. We passed a lot of hop farms and hazelnut farms. Nice ride with good roads and low traffic. Stopped and had our lunch at Willamette Mission State Park. Road through Kaiser to get to our hotel. A flat 1/2 mile from hotel is not bad luck because I changed it in AC . All in all a good day.

So it gets weirder each trip. I took Trimet MAX to Beaverton to meet John and catch WES to Wilsonville. As I got off MAX my rear rack came loose and spun down into my derailleur bending it. Upon further inspection the rack was not quite installed correctly (by others). Long story short , John's daughter rescued us took us to bike shop where rack was replaced, derailleur replaced and ready to go. John's daughter then drove us to camp ground where we will start tomorrow . I rode 4 miles, it took 7 hours and I was still hot. Happy trails tomorrow because today's scenario could have been a lot worse. Peace

Monday is here. 6 day ride around the Willamette Valley. It started with MAX train ride to Beaverton. We will meet there then short ride of 16-18 miles to camp site. Cheers

This summer has been a continuation of a weird year, for sure. Started a cross country trip that had to be stopped for medical reasons and unbelievable temperatures, We did a part of the Oregon coast on 101. This was a Bucket List item checked off but the riding left a lot to be desired. Monday we are doing a week ride around the Valley. I hope the weather and smoke cooperate but not holding my breath. One great thing is all the wonderful people you meet like Lois ( a great grandma), the woman in Cascade Locks that was inspired by us, Wendy and Sharon in Amity, Bill in Waldport, Andrew at Archie Knowles, and of course Marat and Alena. We hope to continue the introductions through the Willamette Valley. That is the best part of doing this. Meeting great people.

Today was Waldport to Archie Knowles CG East of Mapleton. 53.1 miles 2323 ft of climbing. There were beautiful views from 101 but horrible riding. No shoulder with large campers or trucks over your shoulder. We walked sections because too hard to ride. We had one pick up purposefully blow exhaust on us. Great milkshake in Floence right before getting off 101.

Tuesday July 20. Glenneden to Waldport. The ACA map takes you on Otter Crest Loop to avoid bad climb on 101with no shoulder. Big climb with 3 cars. Ended at cape Foulweather .
Spent some time in Newport because John had some stuff to take care of. Seal Rock is cool. Made it to campground about 1600 hours. . 36.6 mi and 1816 elevation gain.

Today was a down day. I rode to Chester's for some groceries this morning. 4 miles. Tomorrow we head to Waldport with a planned stop in Newport.

Cloverdale to Glenneden
We rode 101 which when between cities is nice but once around anything the shoulder goes away. . We got a late start since we thought it would be an easy day. Just south of Neskowin 101 does a big climb with nowhere to ride. As we were deciding how to tackle this, a road biker came along and suggested the Oregon Coast Bike Route. The road was the Old 101 and went up into the National Forest. It was about 7.5 miles uphill. John said max grade was 6.5%. The down hill was great. Lincoln City was not bike friendly. We made it to Glenneden. Tomorrow is a rest day.

July 17 - Amity to Pacific City. 51 miles. The map directed us to use Rte 18 then 22 to 130 to 101. I would not recommend this route. There was a lot of traffic and areas of no shoulder. I also dropped a front pannier after going over a really rough rr track. We also fought headwinds for the last 20 miles. Tough ride but we got here.

July 16 t Tualatin to Amity. Wendy and Sharon welcomed us with a great dinner and musical concert.30 miles and 1044 feet of elevation. Not bad for a first day.

Tomorrow John and I will leave on a trip out to the coast, down to Florence and over to Eugene back to Portland on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. The medical issues while not completely resolved are now in a manageable state. The bike fit last Monday resolved a number of issues. We will keep you posted.