Gretchen, who plans to ride with us in Utah, did the Salem Bike Club's Monster Cookie roundtrip from Salem to Champoeg State Park this Sunday. It is a metric century (about 62 miles). This is what Gretchen had to say:
It was a GREAT ride! My kneees feel good today but my quads are tired! I rode the first 30 miles at about 14 mph. Some friends met up with us at lunch and rode the second half with us (with their fresh legs) and we rode the 2nd half at about 16-18 mph. Mostly flat only a few small/short hills. The weather was great though the wind seemed to sit at 8-12 mph (just my guess). I know now that I am going to ride the 80 mile route for Reach the Beach.
You go, girl!!!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Training Rides
Some of us have had the opportunity during the past couple of weeks to do some training rides together. Last Thursday, April 15, Dana, Gale and Nancy met in Sheridan, Oregon and rode almost to the end of Rock Creek Road; there was 3 miles of nonstop fairly steep incline. We then rode about halfway back down then took Buck Hollow Road (another hill) over to SW Willamina Road, which we rode for awhile in the direction of the Coast Range. We backtracked, rode a bit further on SW Willamina Rd., then backtracked again and rode back over Buck Hollow Road to Rock Creek Rd, and back to our cars. This was a ride of about 30 miles, with LOTS of climbing - a good training ride! It was also a beautiful day - we rode in shorts and took off our jackets!
Yesterday, April 21, Dana, Lucinda and Nancy met at Champoeg State Park. Lucinda took us on a route through St. Louis and St. Paul, then back to Champoeg where Nancy and Dana were able to take some extra time to ride around the park. It was the perfect time of year for this ride as everything was in bloom. This is really a beautiful ride with few hills and little traffic. We rode 40.8 miles.
Yesterday, April 21, Dana, Lucinda and Nancy met at Champoeg State Park. Lucinda took us on a route through St. Louis and St. Paul, then back to Champoeg where Nancy and Dana were able to take some extra time to ride around the park. It was the perfect time of year for this ride as everything was in bloom. This is really a beautiful ride with few hills and little traffic. We rode 40.8 miles.
Dana and Nancy's Most Excellent Adventures - Day 3 Friday
We got up Friday morning after a great night's sleep and had the "free" continental breakfast near the hotel lobby. We were ready to start our day! Nancy had one more idea she wanted to check out. She had looked at the map and saw a road that paralleled Hwy. 42 between Hwy 101 and Tenmile. If it worked it would be shorter and we would be able to start at the ocean (Powers is several miles inland from the ocean). The first thing we noticed about the road is that we quickly came to a very STEEP mountain that would have been very difficult to climb on bikes, and, because the road was also quite narrow and windy, impossible for the RVs to maneuver. But, we kept going anyway because the road was beautiful and we needed to get to the coast anyway. We got over the mountain and down into a valley then the road turned to gravel/mud, and it was that way for 15 miles! But, we both agreed it was one of the most spectacular drives we had ever taken. Nancy's car and our bikes were filthy, but we now knew for sure which road we would use on the tour (and this one was NOT it!). We had decided on the Glendale to Powers Bicycle Route, but now just had to figure out if there was a way we could get from Bandon to Myrtle Point where we could be transported by car the few miles south to Powers. We tried two routes out of Myrtle Point that definitely were not safe for bikes (no shoulder, lots of traffic, windy). We decided to have lunch in Bandon, as we were about to give up. Dana asked the hostess in the restaurant if she had any ideas and she told us of a road just north of Bandon across from Bullards Beach State Park (http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_71.php) that she thought might work. We drove it; there was little traffic and cyclists on the road - it would work! It would take us to a safe part of Hwy 42 and leave us with a short ride into Myrtle Point. We, FINALLY, know how we are going to get from the ocean over the Coast Range!
Nancy and Dana's Most Excellent Adventures - Day 2 (Cont.)
After hearing a second recommendation for the Loon Lake route we decided we better check it out. It was beautiful; there was absolutely no traffic; Lucinda and Jill had been correct when they told us it was impassable! There were landslides, wash outs, and one big bolder that Nancy thought would be impossible to get around! Dana convinced Nancy that she could get around that bolder so into 4 wheel drive they went with Nancy wondering who and when anyone would ever get there to help them when they got stuck. Dana was correct - whoopie! It was a breeze to get around that bolder and the rest of the drive was uneventful. We are convinced that in the summer this would be a good route to take, but we also kept thinking that we wanted to end up a bit further south.
By now we were wondering if perhaps Hwy 42 between Bandon and Winston wouldn't be our best bet, so we drove to Winston, checked out the road between Winston and Myrtle Creek, then started heading west on Hwy 42. For much of the road we thought it was ok, with a good shoulder, with a bit too much traffic, but, with the wide shoulder, probably safe. However, we came to a 10 mile stretch with no shoulder in most places, so decided Hwy. 42 would not work. We had planned on trying to figure out a route between Bandon and Hwy 42, but since we didn't think we wanted to ride Hwy. 42 we decided that was not necessary.
We had a last option that we had heard about - the Glenwood to Powers Bicycle Route used each year by the Tour de Fronds. http://www.tourdefronds.com/ The town of Powers is a few miles south of Hwy 42 so we took the Powers Road between Myrtle Point and Powers. We had no problem deciding it would not be safe to bike that stretch of road as it was very windy, narrow and the traffic was FAST. When we got to Powers, a very small town with very friendly people, we stopped at the city hall to find out about the bike route. The man who helped us was a cyclist, loved the route, and gave us a map. We had been in the car too long and were ready for a bike ride! We got ourselves and our bikes ready, rode about 1/2 mile, and the sky opened up. We hid under a tree and in a few moments the rain had passed and we took off up the Glenwood to Powers Bicycle Route. It was beautiful and with almost no traffic. We were only able to ride about 6 miles up the road as it was getting late, but our minds were made up - this is our route!
We decided we better drive back to Canyonville to spend the night and figure out exactly how we would get around that area by bike as we knew it could be a bit tricky. We drove back on Hwy. 42 to Canyonville and checked into the Seven Feathers Casino and Hotel. We had a good dinner, spent 5 minutes at the slot machines (Nancy immediately lost $17!) and collapsed in bed. The Seven Feathers has a very nice hotel with wonderful beds, and is not expensive. http://www.sevenfeathers.com/
By now we were wondering if perhaps Hwy 42 between Bandon and Winston wouldn't be our best bet, so we drove to Winston, checked out the road between Winston and Myrtle Creek, then started heading west on Hwy 42. For much of the road we thought it was ok, with a good shoulder, with a bit too much traffic, but, with the wide shoulder, probably safe. However, we came to a 10 mile stretch with no shoulder in most places, so decided Hwy. 42 would not work. We had planned on trying to figure out a route between Bandon and Hwy 42, but since we didn't think we wanted to ride Hwy. 42 we decided that was not necessary.
We had a last option that we had heard about - the Glenwood to Powers Bicycle Route used each year by the Tour de Fronds. http://www.tourdefronds.com/ The town of Powers is a few miles south of Hwy 42 so we took the Powers Road between Myrtle Point and Powers. We had no problem deciding it would not be safe to bike that stretch of road as it was very windy, narrow and the traffic was FAST. When we got to Powers, a very small town with very friendly people, we stopped at the city hall to find out about the bike route. The man who helped us was a cyclist, loved the route, and gave us a map. We had been in the car too long and were ready for a bike ride! We got ourselves and our bikes ready, rode about 1/2 mile, and the sky opened up. We hid under a tree and in a few moments the rain had passed and we took off up the Glenwood to Powers Bicycle Route. It was beautiful and with almost no traffic. We were only able to ride about 6 miles up the road as it was getting late, but our minds were made up - this is our route!
We decided we better drive back to Canyonville to spend the night and figure out exactly how we would get around that area by bike as we knew it could be a bit tricky. We drove back on Hwy. 42 to Canyonville and checked into the Seven Feathers Casino and Hotel. We had a good dinner, spent 5 minutes at the slot machines (Nancy immediately lost $17!) and collapsed in bed. The Seven Feathers has a very nice hotel with wonderful beds, and is not expensive. http://www.sevenfeathers.com/
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Dana and Nancy's Most Excellent Adventures - Part 2 DAY 2 Thursday
Thursday was supposed to be our only day of "scouting". We got an early start and planned on first checking out the road between Cape Blanco and Bandon to see if it was suitable for cycling; Cape Blanco is the western most point in the US and we thought that it might be the perfect starting point for our cross country adventure. Since at this point we were still planning to use Hwy 42 between Coquille and Winston to get us from the Oregon Coast to the valley, we were next planning to check out the safety of Hwy. 42S between Bandon and Coquille to see if it was safe as Lucinda and Jill had told us that the highway between Coos Bay and Coquille was not safe. Our last chore was going to be to check out the safety of our route between Hwy 42 and Canyonville.
Our plans changed completely after we stopped into Moe's Bike Shop in North Bend (http://www.moesbikeshop.com/) to talk with the owner about our proposed plans. He really did not like the idea of us using Hwy. 42 during the summer as he said the traffic would be extremely heavy, particularly with RV's and logging trucks. He suggested we check out Hwy. 38 between Reedsport and Elkton as he said it had a decent shoulder, was much less hilly, and had less traffic. He also suggested the Loon Lake route, and the Glendale to Powers Bike Route. We knew that Lucinda and Jill had driven the Loon Lake route and found it washed out with boulders in the middle of the road and certainly not passable for our RV support vehicles; the bike shop owner assured us that was only because the road had not been cleared since the winter storms and that it was always completely repaired in the Spring.
With this new information we decided to drive back north to Reedsport and drive Hwy. 38 to Elkton. Hwy. 38 is beautiful, but it is a well-travelled highway. We felt it was doable but Nancy thought if we are going to start that far north we should go ahead and ride the Smith River Route that was originally planned as it has absolutely no vehicle traffic and is beautiful; it's main drawback is that using it would mean our first day would be 90 miles with two long climbs. We stopped in Elkton at Brandborg Winery (http://www.brandborgwine.com/) to find out about good cycling roads south of Elkton and were lucky enough to have the woman who helped us be an avid cyclist. She told us of some roads but also strongly suggested the Loon Lake Route, and also assured us that the road would be cleared and very rideable later this spring. We bought some wine (of course!) and decided we better see the Loon Lake Rd. for ourselves.
Our plans changed completely after we stopped into Moe's Bike Shop in North Bend (http://www.moesbikeshop.com/) to talk with the owner about our proposed plans. He really did not like the idea of us using Hwy. 42 during the summer as he said the traffic would be extremely heavy, particularly with RV's and logging trucks. He suggested we check out Hwy. 38 between Reedsport and Elkton as he said it had a decent shoulder, was much less hilly, and had less traffic. He also suggested the Loon Lake route, and the Glendale to Powers Bike Route. We knew that Lucinda and Jill had driven the Loon Lake route and found it washed out with boulders in the middle of the road and certainly not passable for our RV support vehicles; the bike shop owner assured us that was only because the road had not been cleared since the winter storms and that it was always completely repaired in the Spring.
With this new information we decided to drive back north to Reedsport and drive Hwy. 38 to Elkton. Hwy. 38 is beautiful, but it is a well-travelled highway. We felt it was doable but Nancy thought if we are going to start that far north we should go ahead and ride the Smith River Route that was originally planned as it has absolutely no vehicle traffic and is beautiful; it's main drawback is that using it would mean our first day would be 90 miles with two long climbs. We stopped in Elkton at Brandborg Winery (http://www.brandborgwine.com/) to find out about good cycling roads south of Elkton and were lucky enough to have the woman who helped us be an avid cyclist. She told us of some roads but also strongly suggested the Loon Lake Route, and also assured us that the road would be cleared and very rideable later this spring. We bought some wine (of course!) and decided we better see the Loon Lake Rd. for ourselves.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Dana and Nancy's Most Excellent Adventures - Part 2 DAY 1 Wednesday
Before doing any scouting Dana and Nancy needed to have some lunch then wanted to do a bike ride (nothing like putting off work!). They went to lunch at La Maison in Newport, Oregon, a favorite of Nancy's, and now a favorite of Dana's. This small restaurant serves breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Saturday and a special dinner once a month. It's a bit hard to find but well worth the effort (address: 315 SW 9th Street, Newport, OR 97365; phone 541-265-8812; http://www.lamaisoncafe.com/ ).
After lunch we rode 20 miles on the Bay Road in Newport (it is a lovely ride along Yaquina Bay; it is fairly flat unless you decide to climb the hill and goes to the town of Toledo). After our ride we drove to Florence, Oregon, checked into the Three Rivers Casino Hotel (http://www.threeriverscasino.com/), then drove to Mapleton to visit Dana's grandmother and her family. We had a great visit and Dana's grandmother took all of us to dinner at the casino's Prime Rib and Steak House. We had an excellent dinner and lovely evening - thank you, Pat! The Three Rivers Casino is a perfect place to stay in Florence - it's off the main highway a couple of miles out of town (off of Hwy 126 - the Eugene-Florence Highway), so is very quiet. The rooms are large and very comfortable and the prices are very reasonable.
Needless to say, we did no "scouting" on Wednesday!
After lunch we rode 20 miles on the Bay Road in Newport (it is a lovely ride along Yaquina Bay; it is fairly flat unless you decide to climb the hill and goes to the town of Toledo). After our ride we drove to Florence, Oregon, checked into the Three Rivers Casino Hotel (http://www.threeriverscasino.com/), then drove to Mapleton to visit Dana's grandmother and her family. We had a great visit and Dana's grandmother took all of us to dinner at the casino's Prime Rib and Steak House. We had an excellent dinner and lovely evening - thank you, Pat! The Three Rivers Casino is a perfect place to stay in Florence - it's off the main highway a couple of miles out of town (off of Hwy 126 - the Eugene-Florence Highway), so is very quiet. The rooms are large and very comfortable and the prices are very reasonable.
Needless to say, we did no "scouting" on Wednesday!
Dana and Nancy's Most Excellent Adventures - Part 1 WILD TURKEYS
Last Wednesday Dana and Nancy had agreed to do some "scouting" for the August bike trip. Dana wanted to stop and see her brothers in McMinnville and Sheridan before heading down to the Oregon Coast. Nancy decided to get in a quick 15 mile bike ride before Dana arrived. The ride was uneventful except with an encounter with a wild turkey. While riding down the road Nancy saw the wild turkey in the field next to her; as she rode by the turkey suddenly took off and flew right in front of her almost knocking her off of her bike. When Nancy got home Dana had arrived and Nancy told Dana and Steve about her strange encounter (chasing dogs all cyclists are accustomed to, but wild turkeys!?!); Steve said he didn't even think there were wild turkeys in Oregon; Dana said "Oh, yes there are!". Dana had never seen wild turkeys before that day but when she was at her brother's he pointed out a flock on his property. These encounters must have been an omen because throughout the next 3 days everywhere Dana and Nancy went they kept seeing wild turkeys. It must be the season.....!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Training and Nutrition
Not that we're competing (and, we really aren't) but Dana beat me "big time" in her total bike mileage for March, and this as she was recovering from knee surgery! Of course, I will always find an excuse: mine is that I was vacationing for 2 weeks in Colorado, had no bike available, and experienced 3 snowstorms. But, I have to admit that I was NOT recovering from surgery.
I had an interesting thing happen today that has gotten me looking into nutrition for our cross-country tour. The weather was not conducive to biking on the Oregon Coast today so I went to the gym and spent about 40 minutes on a recumbant bike (primarily to work on my aerobic fitness) then another 45 minutes on strength training. I also decided to step on the scale and learned I had lost 4-5 lbs in just a few days. Now, I had planned to lose 5 lbs. over the next 4 months to make climbing a bit easier, but certainly hadn't planned to lose it in less than a week. I am not a dieter and exercise is how I normally lose weight. I started thinking about the past week and my eating habits and realized that most of the time I was exercising during what is normally lunchtime and that I had basically forgotten to eat most days - not good! Coincidntally, Bicycling Magazine had some really good information on nutrition this month (May 2010, starting on page 44). I consider myself pretty savy about nutrition and exercise but I really learned some things from these articles, along with a couple of good sounding recipes. What I did not need to read, and that I already know, is that I need to eat frequently during the day, especially when I'm in training! When we are on our tour we will probably burn over 2000 cal. each day just from our riding - learning how to keep "fueled" is essential!
I had an interesting thing happen today that has gotten me looking into nutrition for our cross-country tour. The weather was not conducive to biking on the Oregon Coast today so I went to the gym and spent about 40 minutes on a recumbant bike (primarily to work on my aerobic fitness) then another 45 minutes on strength training. I also decided to step on the scale and learned I had lost 4-5 lbs in just a few days. Now, I had planned to lose 5 lbs. over the next 4 months to make climbing a bit easier, but certainly hadn't planned to lose it in less than a week. I am not a dieter and exercise is how I normally lose weight. I started thinking about the past week and my eating habits and realized that most of the time I was exercising during what is normally lunchtime and that I had basically forgotten to eat most days - not good! Coincidntally, Bicycling Magazine had some really good information on nutrition this month (May 2010, starting on page 44). I consider myself pretty savy about nutrition and exercise but I really learned some things from these articles, along with a couple of good sounding recipes. What I did not need to read, and that I already know, is that I need to eat frequently during the day, especially when I'm in training! When we are on our tour we will probably burn over 2000 cal. each day just from our riding - learning how to keep "fueled" is essential!
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