Red Bat
Coast Bike Ride to Printer's Picnic 9.2010
The annual Oregon AAPA Printer's Picnic was in Eugene so I proposed to Matthew that we take a long bike ride down the coast to get there from Portland.
Our bike trip was Wed-Sat. Day 1: Tillamook Bus from Portland, plus the connecting bus 1 hour south to Neskowin just north of Lincoln City. We biked 35 miles to Beverly Beach 3 mi N of Newport. Since we started biking about 2:45pm arriving 6:30/7pm we missed a glorious sunset (reserved for RV campers) as we were stuck up in an isolated hiker biker camp (pen!) with bear notices. No one else camped that night but we did have an excellent dinner (thanks Matthew). Matthew hung all our food in a tree just in case. And we made endless jokes about being bikers in the zoo.
Next morning it was raining and we were kicking ourselves for setting up our tent in the wide open. A little coast squirrel threw nuts on us as we made breakfast. We set out in the rain, and rode 3 miles with rain pelting our faces. My Gore-Tex booties also failed. Soggy in Newport we decided to get a motel and stay the night -- it stopped raining then, but we enjoyed a full day in Newport -- county museum with toothpick bridge, thrift shops, and Nye Beach -- awesome exhibit made from plastic washed up on the beach. Plus we made a new kitty friend. We enjoyed a beer in an old pub on Bay street, and while I didn’t go (I’d been before) I paid a visit to my beloved Ripley’s Museum chain. Our motel however was... bad... it was cheap, but we never stopped finding something to b*tch about -- the long-term neighbors 2am “you love the bottle more than me”, the smell. the smell, did I mention the smell.. and other icky details. The good news is we really got to explore Newport. By the way the bike shop in Newport, has showers, and a bikers lounge for travelers if you are passing through and need a break.
The third day we left first thing the morning and headed to the very awesome Salvation Army (meeting some lovely Canadian travelers going from Alaska to Central America! Matthew found a $60-80 fishing reel for $10) before catching the Lincoln county bus south.. to catch up on our miles. We got off in Yachats. Great town - we made sandwiches in a park down by the ocean, and hundreds of dragonflies flew overhead. The Log Church Museum was a treat, plus we met another Portland bike tourist while getting coffee.. and the Lions Thrift shop – sweet I got two printer’s rollers for $2!
Finally.. again about 2pm we started to bike south. Wonderful sunny day and great coastal views through Cape Perpetua. We planned to bike at least to Florence, but when we stopped at the Carl Washburne Campground/Beach access, we took a long beach walk, and decided to camp and do more miles the next day. For over an hour we had the beach to ourselves except for a sea lion who was dying. He/she popped her head up when we went by.. but on our return didn't even lift her/his head. We also saw a dead pup and another sea lion in pieces. With the Sea Lions cave nearby.. this beach must be where they go to die. The hiker/biker campground was great.. a group of 5 Canadian 18-20 somethings were there as well who we invited to our fire... they enthusiastically said they'd love to join us.. but we ended up having the fire to ourselves as they never did join us (kids! I managed to bitch about being snubbed for at least 24 hours).
On the fourth day we got up early to get going on miles. Right before Sea Lion caves there were 30-50 Sea Lions in the waves, surfing up and down the biggish waves together! I made a poor decision of looking while riding up a hill with bad side surface road, and my bike and I fell over into the road. Bruised I carried on, glad that no car passed as I fell right into the lane. Lovely day again, but cooler and foggy. In Florence we dilly dallied. We went to yard sales in the retirement community area off the 101, also thanks Linda's Thrift for being awesome ... again! Than some sass and grease at the Dunes Cafe. Finally at 2pm.. we got to biking again. We were heading to Eugene via the 126. 50-60 miles depending on the sign. But 15 miles before Eugene there is a bus we could catch in Veneta. The route was a little hillier than expected, but overall really nice -- except the long tunnel going uphill -- Matthew and I both sweated profusely through the entire thing and hugged each other afterwards. We then realized that I was looking at the weekday bus schedule, and we missed the last bus in Veneta. Luckily Matthew's friend Cameron in Eugene picked us up with a pickup truck. Immediately we took showers at Cameron's bike shop before meeting up with my printer friend Kirstin and her posse at Pizza Research Institute, which was followed by sweets. Cameron pedaled Matthew and me around in one of his pedicabs! we loved it! We had a cross Eugene dark ride through Amazon park off street paths to get to Kristen’s where we stayed the night.
On Sunday Matthew and I attended the Printer's Picnic at Dean and Lou Rea's house. It was good to see Ivan and Shannon, my printer Portland friends, but also other printers I see once a year at this picnic. After lunch, we printed a page on Dean's press. Matthew rode off to spend a few days in Eugene working on bikes with Cameron and his brother Reed, and I got a ride north back to Portland.
Coast Bike Ride to Printer's Picnic 9.2010
The annual Oregon AAPA Printer's Picnic was in Eugene so I proposed to Matthew that we take a long bike ride down the coast to get there from Portland.
Our bike trip was Wed-Sat. Day 1: Tillamook Bus from Portland, plus the connecting bus 1 hour south to Neskowin just north of Lincoln City. We biked 35 miles to Beverly Beach 3 mi N of Newport. Since we started biking about 2:45pm arriving 6:30/7pm we missed a glorious sunset (reserved for RV campers) as we were stuck up in an isolated hiker biker camp (pen!) with bear notices. No one else camped that night but we did have an excellent dinner (thanks Matthew). Matthew hung all our food in a tree just in case. And we made endless jokes about being bikers in the zoo.
Next morning it was raining and we were kicking ourselves for setting up our tent in the wide open. A little coast squirrel threw nuts on us as we made breakfast. We set out in the rain, and rode 3 miles with rain pelting our faces. My Gore-Tex booties also failed. Soggy in Newport we decided to get a motel and stay the night -- it stopped raining then, but we enjoyed a full day in Newport -- county museum with toothpick bridge, thrift shops, and Nye Beach -- awesome exhibit made from plastic washed up on the beach. Plus we made a new kitty friend. We enjoyed a beer in an old pub on Bay street, and while I didn’t go (I’d been before) I paid a visit to my beloved Ripley’s Museum chain. Our motel however was... bad... it was cheap, but we never stopped finding something to b*tch about -- the long-term neighbors 2am “you love the bottle more than me”, the smell. the smell, did I mention the smell.. and other icky details. The good news is we really got to explore Newport. By the way the bike shop in Newport, has showers, and a bikers lounge for travelers if you are passing through and need a break.
The third day we left first thing the morning and headed to the very awesome Salvation Army (meeting some lovely Canadian travelers going from Alaska to Central America! Matthew found a $60-80 fishing reel for $10) before catching the Lincoln county bus south.. to catch up on our miles. We got off in Yachats. Great town - we made sandwiches in a park down by the ocean, and hundreds of dragonflies flew overhead. The Log Church Museum was a treat, plus we met another Portland bike tourist while getting coffee.. and the Lions Thrift shop – sweet I got two printer’s rollers for $2!
Finally.. again about 2pm we started to bike south. Wonderful sunny day and great coastal views through Cape Perpetua. We planned to bike at least to Florence, but when we stopped at the Carl Washburne Campground/Beach access, we took a long beach walk, and decided to camp and do more miles the next day. For over an hour we had the beach to ourselves except for a sea lion who was dying. He/she popped her head up when we went by.. but on our return didn't even lift her/his head. We also saw a dead pup and another sea lion in pieces. With the Sea Lions cave nearby.. this beach must be where they go to die. The hiker/biker campground was great.. a group of 5 Canadian 18-20 somethings were there as well who we invited to our fire... they enthusiastically said they'd love to join us.. but we ended up having the fire to ourselves as they never did join us (kids! I managed to bitch about being snubbed for at least 24 hours).
On the fourth day we got up early to get going on miles. Right before Sea Lion caves there were 30-50 Sea Lions in the waves, surfing up and down the biggish waves together! I made a poor decision of looking while riding up a hill with bad side surface road, and my bike and I fell over into the road. Bruised I carried on, glad that no car passed as I fell right into the lane. Lovely day again, but cooler and foggy. In Florence we dilly dallied. We went to yard sales in the retirement community area off the 101, also thanks Linda's Thrift for being awesome ... again! Than some sass and grease at the Dunes Cafe. Finally at 2pm.. we got to biking again. We were heading to Eugene via the 126. 50-60 miles depending on the sign. But 15 miles before Eugene there is a bus we could catch in Veneta. The route was a little hillier than expected, but overall really nice -- except the long tunnel going uphill -- Matthew and I both sweated profusely through the entire thing and hugged each other afterwards. We then realized that I was looking at the weekday bus schedule, and we missed the last bus in Veneta. Luckily Matthew's friend Cameron in Eugene picked us up with a pickup truck. Immediately we took showers at Cameron's bike shop before meeting up with my printer friend Kirstin and her posse at Pizza Research Institute, which was followed by sweets. Cameron pedaled Matthew and me around in one of his pedicabs! we loved it! We had a cross Eugene dark ride through Amazon park off street paths to get to Kristen’s where we stayed the night.
On Sunday Matthew and I attended the Printer's Picnic at Dean and Lou Rea's house. It was good to see Ivan and Shannon, my printer Portland friends, but also other printers I see once a year at this picnic. After lunch, we printed a page on Dean's press. Matthew rode off to spend a few days in Eugene working on bikes with Cameron and his brother Reed, and I got a ride north back to Portland.