Day Total - 31.9 miles
Trip Total - 883.1 miles
We only had a short day of riding today, dictated by the locations of campgrounds along the coast. Because of that, we didn't have any real reason to get on the road until early afternoon. I went into town at about 10:00 to hang out at the bike shop while Kevin slept in a bit. I met the Starving Cyclist there. He was working on building a new wheel to replace one that was severely cracked. We talked for awhile before I headed inside to use the internet. Kevin, meanwhile, went to the library. He was supposed to meet me at noon, but he got lost in town before a stop at Subway. Because of that, we didn't end up leaving Newport until about 1:00.
We followed side roads along the beach until we were finally forced to rejoin 101 just inside the northern limits of Newport. Traffic was heavy, but good shoulders made it bearable, and the weather was great for riding. It was partly cloudy and in the mid-60s, not to mention dry, which made it better than the average day.
After several uneventful miles on 101, we turned onto the Otter Crest Loop, a narrow side road that took us to the top of the Cape Foulweather headland. It was quite a climb, but the view from there was excellent. Patches of low clouds were rolling in, which cave the whole coast a constantly moving shroud. After a few minutes at the viewpoint, we dropped the wrong way down the one-way road leading back off the Cape to the north. Fortunately, there was a pedestrian lane (with no pedestrians) that we were able to use to avoid going head-on with traffic. The winding descent atop the sea cliffs was one of the most fun of the trip so far, and with decent views to boot.
At the bottom, we met a cycle tourist who was in major trouble after his trailer attachment had failed. There wasn't anything we could do to help, but he's been touring for years, so he was quite calm in the face of it. Of course, that may have been a result of the vodka that he was drinking. He seemed to be having a good time just watching an Oregon State Police car chase drivers up and down the road.
A few miles later, after passing through Depoe Bay, we entered a stretch of coastal development that just went on and on. A mixture of shops, hotels, and vacation homes continued all the way to Lincoln City, which is itself just a slightly more dense area of buildings rather than a traditional town.
Once in Lincoln City, 101 got treacherous. The shoulder was all but gone and traffic was as busy as you would expect on an average suburban commercial street. Fortunately, the Oregon Coast Route map (produced by the state, not the ACA map) gave us a solution. But as it turned out, their choice of roads wasn't much better. Instead of dodging traffic, we faced several extremely steep hills. It was something of a pick your poison scenario, but I suppose we made the right choice - you can't get run over by a hill, after all.
Our campground for the night was listed as being in Lincoln City, but we didn't realize that it was in Lincoln City. Devil's Lake State Park is a half block from 101 in a residential neighborhood, and the hiker/biker camp felt like it was in someone's backyard. Our tents were no more than 10 yards from a house! Camping with us was an older man named Doug. He's a veteran tourist, but he just got back on the road for the first time in a few years. He had been sleeping in his hammock there for a couple days, taking a rest and getting his knees back into shape. He was it for other cyclists though, so it was pretty empty in the biker camp, especially compared to the last several nights.
Trip Total - 883.1 miles
We only had a short day of riding today, dictated by the locations of campgrounds along the coast. Because of that, we didn't have any real reason to get on the road until early afternoon. I went into town at about 10:00 to hang out at the bike shop while Kevin slept in a bit. I met the Starving Cyclist there. He was working on building a new wheel to replace one that was severely cracked. We talked for awhile before I headed inside to use the internet. Kevin, meanwhile, went to the library. He was supposed to meet me at noon, but he got lost in town before a stop at Subway. Because of that, we didn't end up leaving Newport until about 1:00.
We followed side roads along the beach until we were finally forced to rejoin 101 just inside the northern limits of Newport. Traffic was heavy, but good shoulders made it bearable, and the weather was great for riding. It was partly cloudy and in the mid-60s, not to mention dry, which made it better than the average day.
After several uneventful miles on 101, we turned onto the Otter Crest Loop, a narrow side road that took us to the top of the Cape Foulweather headland. It was quite a climb, but the view from there was excellent. Patches of low clouds were rolling in, which cave the whole coast a constantly moving shroud. After a few minutes at the viewpoint, we dropped the wrong way down the one-way road leading back off the Cape to the north. Fortunately, there was a pedestrian lane (with no pedestrians) that we were able to use to avoid going head-on with traffic. The winding descent atop the sea cliffs was one of the most fun of the trip so far, and with decent views to boot.
At the bottom, we met a cycle tourist who was in major trouble after his trailer attachment had failed. There wasn't anything we could do to help, but he's been touring for years, so he was quite calm in the face of it. Of course, that may have been a result of the vodka that he was drinking. He seemed to be having a good time just watching an Oregon State Police car chase drivers up and down the road.
A few miles later, after passing through Depoe Bay, we entered a stretch of coastal development that just went on and on. A mixture of shops, hotels, and vacation homes continued all the way to Lincoln City, which is itself just a slightly more dense area of buildings rather than a traditional town.
Once in Lincoln City, 101 got treacherous. The shoulder was all but gone and traffic was as busy as you would expect on an average suburban commercial street. Fortunately, the Oregon Coast Route map (produced by the state, not the ACA map) gave us a solution. But as it turned out, their choice of roads wasn't much better. Instead of dodging traffic, we faced several extremely steep hills. It was something of a pick your poison scenario, but I suppose we made the right choice - you can't get run over by a hill, after all.
Our campground for the night was listed as being in Lincoln City, but we didn't realize that it was in Lincoln City. Devil's Lake State Park is a half block from 101 in a residential neighborhood, and the hiker/biker camp felt like it was in someone's backyard. Our tents were no more than 10 yards from a house! Camping with us was an older man named Doug. He's a veteran tourist, but he just got back on the road for the first time in a few years. He had been sleeping in his hammock there for a couple days, taking a rest and getting his knees back into shape. He was it for other cyclists though, so it was pretty empty in the biker camp, especially compared to the last several nights.
View Day 24 - Newport, OR-Lincoln City, OR in a larger map
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