getting there is more than half the fun (83.6% in fact!)
It seems we’re on an every-other-day schedule for sun and clouds. Today was cloudy and sprinkly again. We set out and passed a bay that is a significant source of Dungeness crab. A few miles later, we got a flat tire, which Glen awesomely fixed. Two miles later, we arrived at the cheese mothership. Their …
Continue reading “Day #-16: Rockaway Beach to Tierra del Mar (33 mi)”
Within a couple of miles from our amazing new home (the current owners have yet to be informed) we encountered the Arch Cape Tunnel. Fortunately there was a button to push to alert everyone that we were inside and there was a sidewalk. After an uneventful journey through the tunnel, we were met with amazing …
Continue reading “Day #-17: Arch Cape to Rockaway Beach (26 mi)”
Today was Alissa’s favorite day of the trip so far! So much ocean and such cute beachy towns! We woke up to gray skies and rain. We expected to have rain on this trip and were surprised it took this long to have a wet day. But, the Internet told us the rain would stop …
We knew we had some serious climbing to do today so we set out early. Good thing, since the wind was incredibly strong and directly in our faces. Fortunately 1/4 of the way into our trip, we came to the Berry Patch Restaurant, where slices of pie were available 24/7! Here we learned how various …
The day began with a speedy 10 miles down to Longview, WA where we got lunches to go. Then, as we did in Leggett during the Southern Half ™, we happily accepted some help with our journey. Brian (a Lyft driver) took each of us and our bikes separately across the Lewis and Clark Bridge. …
Continue reading “Day #-20: Castle Rock, WA to Clatskanie, OR (37 mi with cheating)”
After sleeping in, George (via Uber) drove us an hour to the Hummocks trailhead. When he dropped us off, we made him cross his heart and triple pinky swear that he would return to pick us up a few hours later. Very quickly, we joined up with the Boundary Trail, which leads up to the …
Fairly soon after leaving our home for the night, we had a Seinfeld moment. Not much later, we saw this sign so had to stop. The owner of the donut shop asked if we were training for the StP ride. Having never heard of it, we said no, then looked it up. Apparently there are …
Continue reading “Day #-21: Chehalis to Castle Rock (32 mi)”
Still no baby yet! But man do Mark and Jaclyn have quite the collection of antique knick-knacks. We got a late start this morning because we waited around to check out the Yelm Farmer’s Market. Then we had 13 car-free miles filled with gorgeous trees and more of the lovely yellow Scotch broom all the …
Our short rides the past two days were intentional to synchronize our schedule with our good friend Tom, who is moving from Tacoma to Colorado. While we were having breakfast, our other friend Jenny happened by! After breakfast we embarked on our longest ride of the Northern Half ™ thus far. We rode right by …
Who knew this area was train central? We passed this mural leaving Auburn and headed south to Tacoma. Along the way, we found ourselves derailed (ha, ha, see what we did there?) by…you guessed it! A train! Alissa claims she saw more trains today than over the course of her entire life. (Glen can’t believe …
Wait! What’s going on with our numbering system? Well, since we’re going south again, the numbers need to increase. So, we warped forward in time using the magic of the Internet and found out how long it will take for us to get back to Crescent City where we’ll call it a wrap (and rent …
In preparation for our trip, rather than in celebration for having finished it, we decided to eat our way through the city. At the Pike Place Market, we got some delicious cherries (turned out they were from CA) and apple cider. We encountered a block’s worth of people waiting for…something. Turned out to be Starbucks! …
No, we didn’t attach jet packs to our bikes! So, back in 2019 we bought “Cycling the Pacific Coast: The Complete Guide from Canada to Mexico” to inform us what to expect. In the intervening six years, we forgot one of its central lessons: We were, however, reminded of this dictum the previous day when …
Continue reading “Day #-3.5: Crescent City, CA to Roseburg, OR (150 mi)”
Today offered the first real test of our hill training (Mandeville Canyon and The Country in Diamond Bar). Turns out we’re doing this ride at precisely the right time! After arriving in Crescent City, we naturally tried this place for lunch: It was striking to take in both the beach and the redwoods in a …
Continue reading “Day #-3: Klamath to Crescent City (17 mi)”
Today we rode through 10 miles of redwoods. And we also rode through 10 feet of a redwood. Because of the short mileage today, we had time to visit a place from the 1940s roadside attraction era, the Trees of MYSTERY! (Alissa notes that she didn’t find anything particularly mysterious about them.) We got up …
As mathematicians we could not in good conscience use the same numbers over again from the first half of the trip. Moreover, we’re traveling in the opposite geographic direction, so we figured we should also travel in the opposite numerical direction. The day began on a lovely trail right along the coast, but sections were …
They say “well begun is half done,” but in our case, it seems the question is whether half done is well begun! After six years we decided to find out. So, here we are. Look familiar? After grabbing our bikes from the (still) friendly and (extremely) helpful folks at Revolution Bicycles, we headed north, embarking …