Arcata, CA and then some..

Our legs are getting some much needed rest and our hearts are being filled with even more gracious hospitality from some new friends. We spent the night in Arcata, CA after a gorgeous day of riding from Crescent City.

Our ride featured a lot of time on 101, with a foray onto the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. That stretch of road (the parkway) was the highlight of my trip thus far. Riding through a redwood forest is an experience that I can't even begin to describe - the energy in those trees isn't quantifiable, and the atmosphere is truly otherworldly. I've included some photos with this post, but they don't even begin to do the place justice (noticing a trend with my recent posts?). The sheer scale of the trees and the serenity of that place is something I'll not soon forget.

The rest of our ride was fantastic, and the weather has been steadily improving every passing day. As I write this from our hostesses' porch in Arcata, there isn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature is hovering around 80 degrees. Even better, the forecast shows nothing but positivity for the next week from here to San Francisco. That alone makes me smile.

We head out tomorrow to Leggett, CA via the Avenue of the Giants - a true redwood forest. Our hostesses have confirmed that we're in for a treat, and I'm brimming with excitement. Thus far, this adventure has been unbelievable. The sights, the hospitality from new friends, and the fresh perspectives have been much more than I could have ever anticipated.

California seems to be a very special place.

Be sure to check out our video updates at takeyourbike.org, and on our YouTube channel for some additional perspective on our trip!

The Oregon Coast into CA!

Wow. The Oregon Coast from Port Orford to California is ridiculous. A kindhearted woman that we met in Gold Beach mentioned that it's the most photographed beach in the country, and with good reason. We stopped so much it took us 5 plus hours to cover 55 miles. Fortunately, that resulted in a lot of good photos. We've been sleeping on the beach every night next to a bonfire, and morale is as high as it's ever been. Arriving in California boosted spirits even more, and we're excited to keep exploring. We met a fellow traveler named Max yesterday - he was camping on the same beach with us last night. We wish him all the best in his own travel, and hope to cross paths again.

I've got a lot more to say, but I'll let the photos do the work.

If that's not enough, check the video updates on www.TakeYourBike.org

No Eye Candy Today... Yet

I'm going to start with an apology - I left my camera outside and am enjoying my coffee just a bit too much to go get it now. Rest assured, when the photos do go up tonight/tomorrow, you'll know it was worth the wait.

The Oregon coast is ridiculously beautiful - if we stopped to take it all in every time we turned and saw some jaw-dropping scenery, we'd still be riding. It's that good.

We were blessed with near-perfect weather all day, and we didn't take one minute of it for granted. It's a real treat to be dry and (relatively) clean, and we're very grateful. Spending a few days in the rain really reminds you how pleasant a clear day can be.

Our 93 miles yesterday were some of the best of my life, and I'd turn around and do it again today if I could. Fortunately, the alternative is 81 miles south on the same gorgeous coastal road to Port Orford, OR. I'll let you know how it went in a few hours....

Keep posted on TYB.org for video updates and some additional photos, and let us know how you're doing! Email me chris@takeyourbike.org and say hello - I'll pass the love on to the rest of the team.

Also, if you haven't checked out our swag yet - go to www.takeyourbike.org and take a look at our extensive line of fashion apparel. By "extensive" I mean we have shirts and wristbands. You'd look good in them - we do.

The Oregon Coast is One of the Most Scenic Places in The World

If you keep a life goals checklist (and you should), add bicycle the Oregon coast to it NOW. Seriously, this is some of the best scenery I've ever seen. Every turn is a gateway to a new panorama worthy of a postcard, and the roads are fantastic. I'm enjoying some of the best riding of my life.

Yesterday was a day to remember as well, rewarding our 103 miles from Portland with a beachfront campsite and PERFECT weather all day. We said goodbye to our new friends Alisha, Jordan, Savannah, and Kathy and rode out of Portland under sunny skies. The roads out of town were primarily busy main thoroughfares, but with a very conspicuous lack of precipitation and fresh legs they were very enjoyable.

We rode through Oregon wine country all day, all the while enjoying sights of vineyards, mountains, and valleys. With no rain, our only issue was a coastal headwind that blew defiantly in our faces all day. That being said, when the direction the wind is blowing is your primary complaint for a day, it's a good day.

With the coast in our sights our 3rd century of the trip didn't even bother our legs, and we arrived at the 101 with the sun still shining and the skies still dry. It was FANTASTIC.

Arriving in Lincoln City to a sunset was one of the biggest rewards I've ever received for anything. Since the "work" for the reward was flawless bike ride, I'd say we had a good day.

We camped on the beach and had a spirit fire to celebrate dry weather and our first day on the Pacific Coast bicycling highway. Falling asleep to waves crashing after a day of cycling is my zen.

Highlight: today is Eric's, my cycling partner for this trip and dearest friend, birthday. Happy birthday, brother.

Portland!

Our rest day in Portland (the first of two as we we wait for the rains to pass through and clear our way for the coast) was highlighted by a walk though the Hawthorne District, vintage clothing and antique shops, a PHENOMENAL americano, some great art, the quirkiest donut shop I've ever heard of or seen, and some delicious pho.

Our "host family" of Alisha, Savannah, Kathy, and Jordan live in a quaint little house on the outskirts of the Hawthorne District in southeast Portland with their dog Jack(son). Actually, according to their Wifi connection, it's "Jackson's House". They've been more than hospitable, and we're very grateful. I'm writing this entry from the comfort of their home, and I'm full of delicious blueberry pancakes that we contributed for breakfast (for the family). I'm listening to a Jose Gonzalez record. Life is good.

The Hawthorne District is an arts district in the soulful part of Portland (that statement is based off of nothing but the personalities of our hosts and the awesomeness of the surroundings), and is apparently sustained solely by secondhand stores and antique shops. It's very cool. It'd be easy to bleed rock and roll if you had access to this kind of style every day - you can see why there is such a vibrant arts and music scene here. We stopped in to browse in a few shops and found a lot of cool apparel and trinkets. I almost bought a Hall and Oates LP. Eric almost bought a military jacket. Amy almost bought every purse/umbrella/girls' accessory she saw. Then we remembered that we're all homeless gypsies. C'est la vie.

My personal highlight of the day came when we strolled past a cafe that had an original Banksy piece on the outside wall (disclaimer: Banksy hasn't taken credit for the piece, but he hasn't denied that it's his, either). If you haven't checked out his art yet, do. Cool stuff. The cherry on top was the perfect americano I was served inside. I love a good espresso drink, and this was one of the best I've had in some time. I may go back today.

The group highlight of the day was undisputedly our stop at Voodoo Doughnuts, which was recommended by our hosts. Quirky dosn't really cover this place - they serve all sorts of weird doughnuts (they were cited for health code violations last year after adding a Nyquil-filled donut to their menu) and have a very unique style about the place. In addition to serving doughnuts, they offer civil unions conducted by a legitimate reverend on site. I thought this was a joke on the menu, but a couple was getting married when we walked in. Seriously.

The photos above give you an idea of what they're working with.

We ended our day about town with a heaping bowl of pho at a local Vietnamese restaurant, and it hit the spot. Something about the Pacific Northwest - they do pho right out here.

We're taking an extra day here to let the storm system pass though and clear our way to the coast and the Pacific Ocean. Tomorrow, we set out for Lincoln City, and a night's sleep on the beach.

I can't deny the feeling that the real adventure begins tomorrow.

Taking Us To Portland

Rainier to Portland!

Today we woke to more dry weather (!) in our tent in Rainier, OR. The forecast didn't look too promising last night, so we set our alarms for 6:30 in hopes of getting some miles in before the rain started falling (again).

That plan didn't work out, but we were able to get our tent broken down in dry weather and clean up before our ride (as clean as you can get using a gas station sink). Moreover, although it didn't stay dry for us all day, it wasn't exactly pouring either. Compared to much of the last few days of riding, today ended up being quite manageable.

We rode the 53 miles into Portland without interruption (other than one flat tire) and only two quick stops (to fill up water bottles and refuel with some some Bear Naked granola bars), and got in just after 11. It was nice to get to our destination early in the day and have plenty of time to take in the city and enjoy ourselves leisurely.

Unfortunately, the weather got progressively less pleasant as the afternoon wore on, and most of our activities were postponed. We made the most of it though with a family lunch at a salad bar restaurant that was fantastic. We took our time there and enjoyed a nutritious meal, coffee, and ice cream. The rain can't keep our spirits down!

Our post-lunch destination was the home of our new friend Alisha, who I met on Couchsurfing.org (a great site if you haven't heard of it). She's offered her home (and her roommates as well) to us for the weekend, and we couldn't be more grateful. Their generosity has given us a great launchpad to go out and meet some people/promote the TYB cause in Portland.

Rochester to Rainier

Yet another day of waking up in the rain...

Either we offended the powers that be, or we're just paying our dues. We spent the first few hours of the day in our tent, waiting out the rain and listening in vain to the drops of precipitation falling on our ceiling. Fortunately, we were extended a tremendous amount of hospitality by a local church in Rochester, WA and had a place where we could comfortably wait out the storm.

We gave it until noon, and with the weather as light as it had been all day we set out to make a dent in our riding. We're getting pretty good at riding in the rain, and knocking out a few miles in less than ideal weather didn't bother us.

After about 20 miles in the drizzle, things started to clear up. Our spirits lifted, blue skies shone overhead, and optimism started to prevail. It's funny how simple of a pleasure dry weather can be - and how overlooked it is from the comforts of home. This trip is sure to teach me a lot about myself and about the way I view life, and from this point on I'll be sure to never take pleasant weather for granted.

It turned out to be a great day for riding with some great scenery in the Pacific Northwest. The precipitation held off for the rest of the day, which was extremely pleasant.

We rode all through the day toward the Oregon border, with the feeling of progress that comes with completing a state's worth of riding as our motivation. Biking through Washington is a pretty big achievement, and we were excited to taste that accomplishment at the border.

Fortunately, our solid pace throughout the day brought us to the Lewis and Clark Bridge (crossing the Columbia River into Oregon) Longview, WA with about 15 minutes of pure daylight to spare. Unfortunately, I'm an idiot and thought I had "smarter" directions over a different bridge that was "up the road" and would take us "right into a great place to make camp for the night". As Wikipedia would so eloquently point out later:

The Lewis and Clark Bridge is the only bridge crossing the Columbia River from Washington to Oregon anywhere between Rainier, OR and Astoria, OR.

Oh, how that information could have served us well. Instead, we followed my magical secret directions on a 22 mile sightseeing trip around Longview (well, it would have been sightseeing if it wasn't dark out). We rode through the dark for over an hour, with me insisting all the while that we were on the right track. My directions did work - they took us right back to the same bridge we stood in front of some 75 minutes earlier (in the daylight). With no lights and a sense of recklessness, we tackled the bridge at night (sorry Mom). It worked (although we were less than thrilled to ride on the shoulder of a main highway cluttered with debris in the dark), and we made it to Oregon safe and sound. Lesson learned: use the tools at your disposal. Going into this trip, I was dead set on leaving the day-to-day directions to physical map-checking and word-of-mouth directions. I learned today that it's not worth risking our safety rolling the dice like that, especially when we have turn-by-turn directions at our fingertips via the blessing/curse of cell phones. I'll be struggling to find balance with the technology input to our route-making, but I'll be content to not put us in a precarious situation again.

Thrilled about setting our tent up in dry weather, we went to sleep happy and comfortable. My favorite night's sleep of the trip so far.

More Photos...

these are of our time in and around Olympia - that wristband looks good on you, Elizabeth.