Day 70: Pacific City, OR - Nehalem Bay State Park, OR (148/150)

The first part of today was along the Three Capes Scenic Route. The road past the capes was a succession of many steep climbs and descends, many of +10%. From time to time this did result in fantastic view points over the coast line. In Cape Meares State Park I came upon a closed road. I took my chances, hoping that I would be able to pass on my bike. Luckily I could and other a few bumps and bits of gravel it wasn't all that bad. And off course I had the complete road for myself for a few miles :)

Soon after, the route led over the main coastal highway. Due to very heavy traffic and varying shoulder width the riding wasn't all that fun. The views were still nice though.

Halfway the afternoon I reached Nehalem Bay State Park. The sign said the campground was full. Luckily they have so called hiker/biker sites here: a special place on the campground with places for hikers and cyclistst that cannot be reserved. The place itself is rather perfect and better yet, it only cost me 6 bucks... way to go Oregon state parks!

Day 69: Independence, OR - Pacific City, OR (146/150)

Today I'm gonna reach the Pacific, yay! Unfortunately most of the ride today was along highways with very heavy traffic. As today is saturday and this is one of the main routes towards the Oregon coast, one cannot be really surprised.

Just before hitting the coast the route turned away from the highway and led over a steep climb through a national forest. Very pretty and much nicer riding than those highways.

At Neskowin I reached the coast and got of the bike to get my feet in the water and take the necessary pictures. It's always hard to predict how you'll feel at the end of such a big trip (technically this isn't really the end, but it's the most symbolic end point). I felt mostly proud and happy, proud to have pulled this off by myself and happy to get towards the end and soon being able to see all my friends and family back home, even to get to work again...

From Neskowin I rode a little further along the very windy coast road to Pacific City. As I reached the campground the sign said it was full, but the camp host managed to find a small spot where I could fit and charged a reduced rate for that :). The Californians that I met in Idaho had told me I had to visit the Pelican Pub and Brewery, so that was where I was headed. There I treated myself to a nice seafood dinner with some special locally brewed beers. I realized that I was gonna miss the sunset on the patio of the restaurant, so I actually had to hurry to get on the other side of Cape Kiwanda. There I watched a perfect sunset and was simply comletely happy :-D

Day 68: Coburg, OR - Independence, OR (143/150)

Only two days to go before I hit the Pacific! Since the last two days were long days of around 100 miles and since I have plenty time to reach Seattle in time, the coming days will be bit more relaxed with shorter distances. Today I'm riding straight north, to turn west towards the coast tomorrow.

First part of today was a flat and windy ride towards Corvallis, where I had a very long lunch. The second part of the day was a more rolling terrain, with steep yet short climbs from time to time. Being this close the coast the wind is off course permanently on.

At the end of the afternoon I reached Rickreall, where I planned to camp at the county fairgrounds. Unfortunately just this weekend there was the county fair at the fairgrounds, so camping was not possible. The options at this point were to continue more than 20 miles for the next camping possibility, go more than 10 miles off route for a RV campground in Salem, go 5 miles off route for a very expensive hotel or try a WarmShowers host 5 miles back. I tried the last option and luckily Curt and Barbara were able to host me in Independence.

After riding back the 5 miles this time with a tailwind, Barbara welcomed me and showed me to their guestroom. After a shower I had a drink with Curt and Barbara before dinner. Things got really interesting when Barbara went to walk the dog and told Curt: "Why don't you show him my plane". It appeared that they live in a so called airpark. In the front of their house they have a garage and road for their car and in the back they have a hangar and taxi lane for their airplane. The taxi lanes lead directly to the neighboring airport. Curt showed me Barbara's plane and the kit plane that he is currently building. Then he led me to a hangar at the airport and showed me a half finished replica of a DeHavilland WW1 aircraft. Being an aerospace engineering I was amazed by all this and actually pretty happy that the county fair was exactly this weekend... After all the airplanes it was time for a very nice dinner and after that off to bed, with probably lots of aircraft dreams :)

Day 67: Sisters, CO - Coburg, CO (141/150)

This morning it was time for the last pass of this trip: McKenzie Pass. The first three quarters if the pass were through shaded forest. After that the trees made room for huge impressive lava fields, all the way to the summit. At the summit was a lookout point with great views of the Sisters, Mount Washington and Mount Jefferson.

A long and windy descent followed over curvy roads through thick green forests. After the descent there was only 1000ft if elevation left. All that was left was 'just' almost 60 miles of riding against the wind.

At the end of the day I reached the campground in Coburg. I tried to go for something different than mac'n'cheese for a change and made hot dogs for myself. They worked out surprisingly well :) Coburg is the end of section 11 out of 12... only one to go! The end of this trip is now starting to approach really fast: in only 2 days  I'll reach the coast, another 2 days and I'll finish the Transam trail by reaching Astoria and in only 2 weeks from now I'll already be back in the Netherlands and sitting behind my desk at work...

Day 66: Mitchell, OR - Sisters, OR (137/150)

First thing this morning was a ride up Ochoco Pass, the 2nd to last pass of this trip. During the ride up I saw a lot of burned forest. Yesterday I learned from two cyclists staying in the hotel in Mitchell that not even a week ago there were forest fires along this pass, blocking the road... good timing I guess :)

After the summit the all day battle against the headwind started. From Prineville untill Sisters I took a detour from the original route, which was suggested to me by my WarmShowers host of today, Jim. The detour led over much less busy roads and along the Smith Rock State Park. There I did a very short hike along some of the outlook spots... really cool rock structures, which are supposedly visited by climbers from all over the world.

From Prineville on the snow covered peaks of the Cascade Range, the last big hurdle to take before reaching the pacific started showing in the background. The detour was a bit longer than expected and the wind had picked up during the afternoon, so a little later than expected I reached my hosts for tonight in Sisters, Jim and Jill.

After a shower I was treated to a wicked banana and chocolate smoothie :) I could even borrow their car to ride into town to get dinner and so some groceries, awesome! Jim brews his own beer, so when I got back he showed me all the equipment and ingredients he uses for that. Shortly after I'm back from holiday I'm gonna try to brew beer with some friends as well, so the information was very welcome! For the remainder of the evening I sat on the porch together with Jim and Will, enjoying Jim's home brewn beer and home made peach sorbet :)

Day 65: Mount Vernon, OR - Mitchell, OR (134/150)

Today's first bit was an easy, slightly downhill and with tailwind, ride into Dayville. Some miles later I entered the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Here I rode through Picture Gorge, a gorge created by multiple layers of lava rock and whose vertical faces were used in prehistoric times to draw pictures on. Very impressive sight!

I decided to visit the fossil beds visitor center, two miles off the route. There I watched a movie about the site and saw an impressive exhibit of some of the fossils found there. Outside I had a look at the colorful, layered geological structures of this area, truly beautiful!

Then followed a long ride, slightly climbing towards Keyes Creek Summit. As usual the afternoon was getting hot, especially in the lava rock canyons. Later some good old headwind picked up. After the summit followed a short and windy descent towards the town Mitchell. Here I'm staying in the city park. Later in the evening a group of deer joined me in the park, who didn't seem to mind my presence at all and where happily trimming the lawn.