Tour Summary

I'd like to thank everyone involved with the tour;  Fern, Susan, Joan, Gail, Lois, Doug, Walter, Ken, Jeff, and Merle.  Your experience as tourists and now friends is much appreciated.  A special thanks goes to Fern for putting together such a wonderful tour and to Susan for being such a great SAG driver and guardian angel.

Here are the final statistics for the ride:

Total Distance: 646 miles

Saddle Time: 58 hours and 15 minutes

Moving Speed: 11.09 MPH average

Climbed: 28,559 feet

Max Speed: 44.25 MPH (yep, recumbents can be speedy downhill)

Calories: 50,137 (this allowed for much Marionberry pie)

Avg. Heart Rate: 121

Group Flat Tires:  4

Group Broken Spokes:  2

Memories Made:  Unbelievable

Until next time,

"Recumbent" Steve

Day Thirteen -- Last Leg -- Salem to Portland

Today we continued the tour on the fertile farm lands of the Willamette Valley.
For the first 50 miles of our journey, we traveled where farms and ranches were abundant. Berries, wheat, hops, horses, cows, sheep, llama, and many other crops and farm animals were along the path.

We passed through many small towns including Pratum, Mt. Angel, Canby, and Oregon City before returning back to the greater Portland area.

Today's trip had another surprise in store for us; it was HOT! Temperatures reached into the '90's so it FORCED us to have an ice cream stop.

There were several highlights of the trip today including a stop in the small town of Mt. Angel. This small town had a very German feel to it. The town even featured a two story cuckoo clock and was the home for an Abbey that was nestled into the verdant hillsides no doubt looking like something out of Bavaria.

We also had a nice surprise for us when we were approaching the greater Portland area. The city has installed a very space-age looking elevator. There is even a full time elevator operator on board.

We finally arrived at our hotel for the terminus of our adventure tired but with smiles on our faces.

We are having a celebration dinner tonight.

Final Stats: 68.81 miles -- about 1678 feet of climb

Day Twelve -- Junction City to Salem

Today's ride was entirely different than all of the others.

The first thing is that the ride was mostly through rich farmland. The second thing was that it was nearly flat!

Upon leaving Junction City early this morning, it was quite cold. The temperature was only around 47 degrees at the start of the ride and it was quite overcast. It appeared that rain might be imminent, but it never materialized. In fact, after 1 P.M., temperatures were in the low 70's with crystal clear skies.

Our ride followed along the path of the Willamette River Cycling Path for the most part. In doing so, we passed thousands of acres of orchard grass (a cousin to wheat) that is mostly used for cattle feed; fields of blueberries, acres of herbs, and many thousands of acres of nut bearing trees with the largest percentage being filberts.

One other crop of note is grapes. While small, Oregon has many wineries. Gail, Ken and I stopped for a little wine tasting today at a very small winery called Ankeny Vinyards. They grow 7 different kinds of grapes and mostly sell their grapes and wines to other wineries. However, we sampled six of their private label wines and enjoyed a number of them. We enjoyed meeting two "winery dogs" on the premises and had fun rubbing some appreciative bellies.

We went through a number of many small towns including Albany, known for their Victorian architecture.

As we weaved across the landscape today, we even had a chance to take a small ferry ride across a part of a tributary to the Willamette River.

We saw many raptors again today and evidence of their massive nests are everywhere. It's not uncommon for the utilty companies to put a piece of plywood about 4X4' on the top of a number of poles in the region. Apparently the eagles will build a nest that is constructed of large tree branches, twigs, and so on, that sometimes may take the birds many years to construct. People in the know say that the birds return to the same nests each year to raise their young.

Stats for the day: 71 miles, about 1500 feet of climb.

Day Eleven -- Florence to Junction City

We started the day with an early breakfast anticipating the trip over the coastal mountain range to Junction City. Junction City is just outside Eugene, Oregon and is the starting point for our trip up the Willamette River to take us back northbound to Portland.

The day started great and only got better. For a great period of time, we paralleled different forks of the Siuslaw River. We enjoyed gentle grades for long distances. As we increased in altitude, the gorgeous foliage improved (if that is even possible) and the terrain features and variety of wildlife increased as well.

We saw many raptors flying in the area. My riding partner for day, Doug, and I were passing a mown field strewn with bound hay bails. As we looked across the field, we observed what we think was an eagle approaching at high speed looking for prey. He was heading right for us and passed right over our heads. We noticed that his wing span was at least as wide as the width of the hay bales!

We crossed over many beautiful and interesting bridges and encountered our first covered bridge.

The weather was perfect today;  clear skies and temperatures in the 70's. One of our first shirtsleeve riding days.

I think that all of us are getting stronger on the rides. Our nearly 69 miles today actually felt easy! Having little elevation gain compared to our previous day's rides and the perfect weather must have contributed to this feeling, I'm sure.

We're starting the home stretch. Tomorrow on to the state Capitol, Salem, then the last day returning to Portland.

Today's stats: 68.68 miles and 1482 feet of climb.

Day Ten -- A layover day in Florence

Florence, Oregon is a remarkable town in the contrasts of old style architecture and magnificent scenery.

We are staying at a newer hotel right in the heart of a restored section of town. Our hotel is the River Front Inn aptly named as it sits on the bank of the Siuslaw River as it intersects the Pacific Ocean.

There is a great deal of tidal action here as you find in most northern latitudes. The river's ebb and flow approaches 15 knots or more.

Our hotel is right on the edge of the Bay Street tourist section. There are many small shops and bistros catering to the tourist crowd. Last evening most of the group enjoyed a dinner together.

Today, some of our group chose to sleep in, do laundry, read the paper and just plain relax to recharge our internal batteries for the balance of our ride. Some chose to explore the area.

Doug and I ventured out on a hike of the nearby sand dunes. Picture being in the middle of the Sahara Desert surrounded by pine tree and rivers, if you can, and you will get the general picture. The dunes are also an off-road vehicle park and you can see many varieties of dune buggies and quads active on the rolling slopes of the dunes.

Doug and I were later joined by Fern and Gail. We hiked to the top of the dunes near a beach overlooking the Pacific and watched many people enjoying the wide, sandy beaches. Although it was crystal clear and warm in the bright sun, the winds caused it to be fairly cool. No one appears to venture into the water here.

Late this afternoon I plan to enjoy another refreshing massage and a light dinner. Then, it's preparing the bike and packing in anticipation of the morning's climb over the coastal range as we venture out to Junction City.

Day Nine -- Depoe Bay to Florence

Today's ride from Depoe Bay to Florence started out cold again. We never really got the sun today at all. The good news is that there was a tailwind for most of the day.

Once again, we were treated with all-day stunning views and changing scenery. We had a lot of climbing today, but, either we are all starting to get used to long distances or the breathtaking scenery takes your mind off of the physical side of the rides.

We were very close to the ocean all day today. It seemed as though one set of views was replaced by even more stunning views at every turn and every hill.

We enjoyed rainforests, crashing breakers, lighthouses, natural blowholes, sea lions, eagles, and much, much more.

Tonight we are staying in Florence. Our hotel is right at the intersection of a river and the beach. Florence is a tourist destination point most known for its miles of sand dunes along the ocean.

We will be exploring Florence on our day off from riding tomorrow.

Today's stats: 66.7 miles about 3500 feet 5312 calories (had a BIG chocolate malt)

Day Eight -- Tillamook to Depoe Bay

I've been reading all about the heat wave in Southern California and Arizona. Today in Oregon is just the opposite -- kind of chilly.

We started the day chilly, 95% humidity and lots of clouds. I thought that we would get our first day of rain, but lucked out all day. The day started out damp in every way, however. You simply couldn't shed any perspiration through evaporation, so, until about 2 PM it was clammy and cold.

As you probably know, Tillamook is famous for their dairy products. As a result of that, the "raw material generators" take up abundant field space. You go through many miles of dairy farms for the first ten miles after leaving Tillamook.

Soon, we were again going along scenic coastal routes and many small towns. My riding companion for the day, Jeff, and I saw many deer. One even jumped over the road as we passed nearby.

We stopped at a little general store out in the boondocks somewhere for a snack. The owner said that yesterday a black bear had taken up residence to feed in a field across from the store.

About halfway through the ride today, we explored a bypass road from the main route that took us through an area called Slab Creek. This road took us into a rain forest that was primordial in nature. It lead us through a beautiful old-growth region where the trees were very close together and covered with hanging moss. It must have rained in the area just minutes before our arrival as the mist was still in the air, and the wonderful smell of the forest energized us for the rest of the ride.

Tonight we are in Depoe Bay. Our room (my room mate is Ken tonight) overlooks the Pacific. Apparently it is not uncommon to see migrating Gray Whales from right out our window.

It's on to Florence tomorrow and a lay over day there including another massage!

Today's stats: 65 miles, 1950 feet of climb.