The route
My classic favorite… PDX-SF via the Oregon coast
The twist
Heavy. transit. help.
I’m able to get this ride done in half the time with the help of a series of transit agencies starting in Portland and ending in Santa Rosa, CA. What normall takes 16 days is going to take me 8. Assuming it all works.
The gear
We’re going fully loaded
Going to try to minimize the weight within that load
Going to fly the big bike, so that means a measurable portion of a pannier will hold my Dogsbody Ground Effects bike bag.
Flying back and forth on Alaska Airlines, which means the bike is free to fly (I’m MVP and get two free checked bags)
Big duffel handles the rest of the gear and will be critical for the transit fast forwards
I have to figure out when the last time I had the Safari out west… it’s been more than a few years, so this is exciting.
The weather
Likely a bit of a chill in the air, except for one notable portion
Rain is possible, but reasonably unikely this time of year
The basics on schedule
Fly into Portland on a Saturday night
Bus out to Tillamook Sunday late AM
Bike and camp at Cape Lookout SP
Combination of bike and bus
to Newport day 2
to North Bend day 3
to Brookings day 4
to Avenue of the Giants day 5
to Fort Bragg day 6
to Samuel P Taylor SP day 7
All bike to SF day 8
Transit agencies – 8 different ones!
Contiguous opportunities all the way to Benbow, CA and then you need to bike
Technically only about 66 miles of this route is completely uncovered by transit – and it’s up and over Leggett Hill
The timing of this is critical because many agencies don’t run on some or all of the weekend… to avoid a forced zero, this has to go as is.
The compromises
Some stellar parts of OR coast
South Crescent City Hills + Elk Prairie CG
Major chunk of Mendocino coast
What I still get
Much of the best of OR coast
Favorite 2 campsites in OR
Brewers on the Bay
Seven Devils
Bandon
Harris Beach – maybe 3rd fave campsite?
Eel River Brewing
Burlington
FF past Garberville
Leggett
Hotel in Fort Bragg – North Coast Brewing
Samuel P Taylor
Golden Gate Bridge
SF
So much fun, looking forward to sharing this with you!
Programming reminder – next week we’re slotting in the August best of a few days early
The following week… we’ll start the tour journal!
