Pacific Northwest - Shifty's 4th of July Oregon Coast Century

You are all invited to join me this July 4th for a 100 mile ride on the Oregon Coast. The ride will start at the Port of Siuslaw in Florence Oregon at 6:30 am and ride north on Highway 101 to Newport for lunch at Nye Beach. We will turn around and ride back to Florence with the aid of the tail winds along the beach.

The route will take us to Heceta Head, don't forget your camera!
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/telehammer/P0007315.jpg

Then we continue on this beautiful road to Cape Perpetua, and the road shown here:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/telehammer/P0007334.jpg

Then to the charming village of Yachats, Waldport, Seal Rock, then across the bay bridge into Newport and rest and food at Nye Beach.

Here is the route map http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=982273

It is 100 miles of riding, I start early to beat the traffic, and to get to Newport before the wind picks up, avoiding the headwind going north.

You are all welcome, if you'd like information on lodging in Florence, please send me a PM, I'll be happy to assist.

Put me as tenative. :)

Hey Shifty:

Be sure and bump this as July gets here.

I live in Newport, and although we don't like to ride south in the summer, depending on the weather some of the riders here might ride back down to Waldport or even Yachats with your group if the NW wind isn't screaming when you start back.

You might also want to take this little side trip between Waldport and Ona Beach to get off 101. It is usually out of the wind and fog if that's what the weather is doing. Adds a short distance, but it's alot nicer than riding on 101.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=996404

There's also a nice trail in South Beach that winds through South Beach State Park, comes out on the south jetty and then back to the bridge.

Yes, the July 4th Oregon Coast ride is coming up, this is the finest that the Oregon Coast has to offer. Ride as much as you wish, it's an out and back, turn back when you've had enough.

I would love to do this ride...though I will be moving the weekend before that, and since I found a burley piccalo, my wife won't let me ride without one of the kids ;) I've all but written off this summer for rides....maybe by august I can do a few...but with my lack of riding lately and with my wife's new work schedule (Wed-Sat) I don't find alot of time to get the miles in. :mad:

Anyone wanna buy a 54cm Torelli? I've got three... ;)

On what I can afford I will not insult you with an offer :) I would love to do this ride also but I will be a t the Blues festival at the water front which is a normal thing to do for this time of year. I will be riding that morning and will be available for some sufferage.
Mike

Looks like it will be a beautiful day on Wednesday, and I bet we can find some berry pie along the way. The fun starts early, 6:30 am! Parking lot of the Port of Siuslaw, Old Town Florence.

Very tempting Shifty.....even with the berry pie......
But I got a bunch of stuff to do up here, thanks anyway and let us know how it goes.
If anybody want to do a shorter ride in PDX let me know, I am flexible.
Have a great ride!
Ciao
Paolo

I was in Manzanita this last weekend and the ride up to Seaside was awesome there is so much up hill and challenging down hills that pay for the efforts. Have fun Shifty turn one crank for me.
M

Shifty, how about a ride report?

Ditto shifty give up the news

Good idea!!

July 4th 6:30 am, Old Town Florence, OR

It was a sunny morning , and a pleasant 55 degrees when we met up. There were four riders to start with, three from Eugene, and the other from Portland, but she was staying on the coast for the summer, and joined in the fun. Later in the ride we would join up with a Bike Forums regular from Newport.

We were riding by 6:45, enjoying the nice temperature and no car traffic that early. As we came to the first of the climbs on Heceta Head, there was still no traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway, no fog on the beach and the sun was warming us up as the road climbed hugging the cliffs above the ocean, spectacular morning! After Heceta Head, we continued north along the beach past State Parks, coastal rivers, then over Cape Perpetua and the second climb of the day (this section is pictured in the first post, pic #1 is Heceta Head, #2 is Cape Perpetua).

On the downhill run off Cape Perpetua we met up with BF member Skiph, and three other riders from Newport. We rode together from Yachats to Newport, with a coffee stop to visit in Waldport. From Waldport it is 16 miles along the beach to Newport, during this leg of the ride the head wind and the traffic picked up, so it was nice to have a paceline to deal with the winds. After a ride over the Yaquina Bay Bridge, we cruised into Newport for a lunch break in Nye Beach at a sidewalk cafe, sunny and 70 degrees, just about perfect!!

After lunch we said so long to skiph and the other Newport guys, and turned our bikes south toward the bay bridge and Florence. This is where it gets really fun, the winds from the north were really picking up now, and continued to get stronger as the afternoon progressed. The traffic was increasing too in the Newport area, but the Coast Highway has a wide shoulder, so it was a noise problem more that one of sharing the traffic lane, so it worked. When we rode into Waldport, most of the traffic stopped, or turned off the coast highway, and the road was once again ours, with a wide shoulder and strong tail wind.

After a rest stop at the art fair in Yachats, we were off to ride the last 25 miles on the most beautiful section of the Oregon Coast (IMHO), over Cape Perpetua and Heceta Head. Traffic on this section was light, and we passed and greeted several bike tourists along the way, maintaining a 20 mph average on this section thanks to the wind at our backs, then 25 mph when we came off the headlands and on the flat smooth road into Florence. Temperature when we finished in Florence was 76 degrees, just about perfect!!

Total miles = 102 riding time = 5.6 hours

Perfect day, great riders, and the beautiful Oregon Coast, I can't ask for more than that!!

Sorry, no one had a camera.