Saturday, July 11, 2009

Route Notes: Out of Tillamook


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Follow the 131 out of Tillamook (In the city it is Third Street, turn right onto it if you are heading south on hwy 101.) "Cycling the Pacific Coast" wants you to take the long way around, but unless you really want to see the lighthouses, stay on 131 until you get to Whiskey Creek Road. Follow Whiskey Creek Road to Netarts Bay Rd. This puts you back on the book route.

Upsides: shorter, very scenic.
Downsides: potentially more climbing (all very easy grades), no lighthouses.


(Robert)

Summer Grifter IPA

From the bottle: "A Deliciously wayward ale lurking wherever thirsts gather."

(Disclaimer: I wrote this review after imbibing perhaps a few of these. Thus the, um, poetic description. It sounded really accurate at the time.)

This beer lives up to it's name. It starts out strong, coming up to you with a smile and finishes with a sly wink that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. Seriously though, it's hoppy even for an IPA. Good with the Pacific Coast Corn though, with the lime and all.

(Robert)

Crossing Paths

View from the beach at Nehalem Bay. We rode over the cliff earlier in the day.

7-10 was bright and clear, but due to a laundry stop (Steve took care of this for all of us) we didn't break camp until about 2pm. Ride was good, fast for about the first 15 miles, then hilly with a tunnel. The tunnel was far less scary than the Astoria Bridge. At the Nehalem Bay campsite we met two women walking the Oregon coast. Their trip is also expected to take about 30 days, and they left 8 days ago from Portland. Eden and Kendra were really welcome company after 14 days on the road with the same 6-8 guys. Eden does biochem, which is right up John and Daniels' alley. I didn't catch Kendra's interests, but she broke out some marshmallows which was nice.

Sadly, we won't be seeing them again, as we cover about three times the distance per day that they can, and they aren't hiking along the freeway. They did leave a charming note, so we'll have to get in contact after our respective tours are over to see how each fared.

Today, 7-11, we're looking to hit Tillamook and visit the cheese factory there. Should be excting, I've been there before, but I hope that it lives up to the memories and the hype I've been telling the rest of the dudes.

Another interesting note: Dried sweat will bleach out bamboo shirts (and wool jerseys) fairly quickly. Rinse them nightly to prevent this.
(Robert)
@ tillamook. good icecream.
from txt (Robert)

Tacos La Provindia

$4.50 for a burrito, 1-2 miles south of Tillamook Cheese Factory on Highway 101.

The group rated this roach coach higher than the last, citing the $.50 cheaper burritos and the the side salad as pluses. The rice and beans were better, but my asada was a little overcooked. The side salad is chopped lettuce and tomato without dressing, leading me to believe that it is actually intended to be added to your burritos as you see fit. Either way, it was a reasonable burrito at a good price.

The tacos however were the hit of the day with multiple people returning to order more. Almost every meat available was ordered, and satisfaction was expressed by all. The onions were sauteed in some delicious mixture of oil and pure flavor, and are almost worth ordering on their own. The locals also recommended this stand highly, "... The best restaurant in town!"

(Robert)
Brief thunderstorms and rain last night but cool and cloudy today. Great riding weather. met two girls hiking the whole oregon coast route.
from txt (SteveJo)

Friday, July 10, 2009

Amazing views of coast everywhere- climbed three huge hills around a mountain, thru a tunnel. Wind swept sand dunes here.
from txt (SteveJo)
Made it to oregon yesterday, had to ride across a 5 mile bridge. Was finally sunny, met some nice bikers and climbed the astoria column!
from txt (SteveJo)
Laundry'd this morning. may start riding soon, very late start. only 40 someodd miles today.
from txt (Robert)

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Tour Delirium

After riding all day, eating dinner, and perhaps drinking a little, you may suddenly find everything absolutely hilarious. Likewise, lounging about in a park, eating cold cuts you may be struck by a case of the giggles. This is nothing to be alarmed by, it is simply a common side effect of touring known as "Tour Delirium." The combination of good food with vigorous exercise leads to this condition, and experts generally agree that it is not life threatening, or (unfortunately) a permanent condition.

Further research has shown that this effect is generally achieved with a group of 6 or fewer, but more than two.

(Robert)

Astoria

Breakfast of Champions

Ate a huge breakfast at "Dock by the Bay" in Bay Center, Washington. It was an excellent, and oyster heavy meal, with portions large enough to keep us going for the rest of the day. I got the "Docks Hangtown" which was a 3-oyster omelet, hash browns, toast, with two strips of bacon on top for good measure. The oysters came out of the adjacent bay, and were very fresh, and the toast was warm and buttery. Really one of the best breakfasts I've had so far.

You may be put off by the $2 cost of the pancakes, but the cost is entirely proportional to the size- these pancakes are a full inch thick in the middle, and roughly 12" in diameter. You could easily make a meal out of one of them, two if you are particularly voracious.

We didn't have to eat for another six hours, which is astonishing. Normally we snack frequently and have a meal every for 3-4 hours of riding.

For dinner we found a taco truck in the parking lot of the Texaco across from the Astoria Maritime Museum. (An excellent museum, we didn't stop in this time but I've been there before.) It was recommended to us by a local as being good and cheap. When we arrived it had all the earmarks of a good taco truck: authentic spelling and a family manning it.

The carne asada burrito was ok, having good meat but being heavy on onions and light on everything else. However, for being within spitting distance of Washington and for $5, it was a really good burrito. So if you are ever 13 days out of CA on a bike tour, and need a burrito, look for the taco truck on 17th and Marine.

(Robert)
@ fort stevens. 51 miles today. laid down another 4.13 in 12 min doing laps of the campground cause i was antsy.
from txt (Robert)
The 600ft climb up to Astoria Tower is super hard on a loaded bike. then we tried to run
up the tower's spiral staircase.
from txt (Robert)
Oyster omlet & 12'' pancake brunch. will be in astoria later today, should be awesome.
from txt (Robert)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

A few miles out of Tokeland, third flat of the day for the group. fogy & a cold headwind too.
from txt (Robert)

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

In Aberdeen, WA. I miss canada, the cutest girls ive seen since getting back to the US were 2 germans bike touring.
from txt (Robert)
Stopped for lunch after 40 miles of headwinds & intermitent rain. i had 2 burgers, a shake, soda, & corn dog. w onion rings. delicious.
from txt (Robert)

Monday, July 6, 2009

also, steve is twittering the tour as well @zeit_ist_geld Just saw a eagle snatch afish out of this lake. totaly awesome.
from mobile web (On the Kindle) (Robert)
using the Kindle to check the weather at the request of the dudes. suprise, chance of showers for the next week. we are in a rainforest ...
from mobile web (On the Kindle) (Robert)
Everyone seems to like bike tourists. Lots of questions and support. A group of motorcyclists pointed over and threw up the horns.
from txt (SteveJo)
Can't stop eating. we've been making huge pots of soup and cleaning out roadside stores.
from txt (SteveJo)
Then made it to the beach, strewn with huge sea logs. camp ranger gave us a discount. Rode 35 miles in the rain today- wasn't that bad.
from txt (SteveJo)
Next took a side trip to the Hoh rain forest. Camped by the river and some local chainsawed us up some firewood and loaned us his ax.
from txt (SteveJo)
Rolled through Forks, WA 2 days ago just after a huge 4th parade. Apparently also the setting of mormon vampire book series Twilight.
from txt (SteveJo)
40 m yesterday, plus a hike & trail running. no cell service yesterday. raining, will ride until it is too miserable.
from txt (Robert)