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Old 05-04-08, 11:00 AM
  #15  
BigBlueToe
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Originally Posted by staehpj1
Also see "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" by Spring and Kirkendall. This book has elevation views of the whole route. If you want numbers it would be pretty easy to use.
In 1992 I rode from Seattle to Santa Cruz. I knew my way from Seattle through Bremerton and southwest along Hood Canal. I joined the route described in this book at the end of Hood Canal and then I followed it all the way, staying at all the recommended campsites along the way. The climbs weren't epic, there were just a lot of them. The "big hill" everyone talked about fearfully along the way was the one from Highway 101 to 1. It was a push, but not that bad, especially in the shape I was in after all those miles. I ended up averaging about 55 miles per day for the whole route. I have no idea about elevation gains, but it's in the book.

If you're worried about steep hills, don't take the route out of Tillamook that goes around the bay, then up to the lighthouse. It was a killer! I did this route a second time three years ago. Some people I met who were also veterans of the route were telling us (the informal group of riders that had formed) about how great this route was. We all took it and suffered. It turned out the two who recommended it had opted for a bypass that didn't climb much at all. Aargh!

I've also ridden south from Bellingham to Seattle a couple of times via Whidbey Island. It's like the rest of the coast - lots of ups and downs but nothing major.

Last summer I climbed over the Cascades on the Northern Tier route - via the North Cascades Highway. Now, to me, that was epic! There's nothing like that on the coast route.
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