We hadn’t been riding for half a mile when we spied an unassuming sign on the side of the road. In reality, the sign should have said We watched a pickup truck drive through the water and it was at least a foot deep. So, we turned around and got out to 101 a different …
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Day #-14: Winchester Bay to Bandon (32 mi)
Another day of cycling through gorgeous trees, but no spectacular coast vistas. We first encountered Charleston, where we saw Charlie the Tuna! The best part of our ride was that we were off 101 for all but 4 miles, so mostly had the road to ourselves. Before joining 101, we reached this very helpful intersection. …
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Day #-15: Winchester Bay to North Bend (22 mi with cheating)
The route out of town took us by the Umpqua River Lighthouse. We were as disappointed as these folks that we wouldn’t get to see gray whales. Like yesterday, no coast on today’s ride, but again many, many trees. This lovely map on the side of our road listed all the fun things we could …
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Day #-16: Florence to Winchester Bay (26 mi)
Just as Punxsutawney has numerous colorful groundhog statues throughout the town, Florence is filled with decorated seals. So, as we were leaving, we passed one near the bridge across the Siuslaw River. We soon entered the Oregon Dunes. Miles and miles and miles of REALLY HIGH sandy hills that looked strikingly odd next to the …
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Day #-17: Yachats to Florence (19 mi)
A short ride today because we had a mission we chose to accept: attending a 12:15 pm showing of Mission Impossible. But before we get to the highlights of the morning’s trip, we first have to wish a very happy 4th birthday to Hobie the wonder dog! Now back to the cycling. It was a …
Day #-18: Newport to Yachats (33 mi)
As we were leaving our home for the night, we ran into a family that we met a few days ago at one of the vista point lookouts! We encouraged them to have a donut from the nearby coffee shop, which we had taste-tested (and gave 4 thumbs-up to) yesterday. To depart Newport, the first …
Newport, OR
Happy World Bicycle Day! Despite the theme, we didn’t actually spend much time on our bikes today. Instead, we explored Newport. We started with the obligatory visit to the local bike shop, Bike Newport. Then we went to the tide pools in the Outstanding Natural Area (yes, that’s really what it’s called!) by the lighthouse. …
Day #-19: Lincoln City to Newport (26 mi)
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Northern Lights last night. But, according to posts online, it sounds like no-one else in Oregon saw anything either. We took a picture with long exposure just to check and this is what we got. We were less than half a mile into our journey today when we encountered the …
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Day #-20: Tierra del Mar to Lincoln City (33 mi)
True to the pattern, no rain to start the day. So we took off and our first stop was the Grateful Bread Bakery where we got….sconed. We had one last glimpse of the ocean before heading inland. We then spent lots of time on Old Scenic Highway 101, which was great since we only saw …
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Day #-21: Rockaway Beach to Tierra del Mar (33 mi)
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 …
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Day #-22: Arch Cape to Rockaway Beach (26 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 …
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Day #-23: Astoria to Arch Cape (36 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 …
Day #-24: Clatskanie to Astoria (39 mi)
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 …
Day #-25: Castle Rock, WA to Clatskanie, OR (37 mi with cheating)
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. …
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Mt. St. Helens, WA (7 mi)
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 …
Day #-26: Chehalis to Castle Rock (32 mi)
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 …
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Day #-27: Yelm to Chehalis (44 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 …
Day #-28: Tacoma to Yelm (38 mi)
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 …
Day #-29: Auburn to Tacoma (21 mi)
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 …
Day #-30: Seattle to Auburn (23 mi)
Wait! What’s going on with our numbering system? Well, since we’re going south again, so the numbers need to increase. So, we took an educated guess at how long it will take for us to get back to Crescent City where we’ll call it a wrap (and rent a car to drive us and our …
Seattle, WA
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! …
Day #-3.5: Crescent City, CA to Roseburg, OR (150 mi)
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 …
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Day #-3: Klamath to Crescent City (17 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 …
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Day #-2: Orick to Klamath (21 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 …
Day #-1: McKinleyville to Orick (34 mi)
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 …
Day #0: Arcata to McKinleyville (7 mi)
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 …
We just couldn’t get enough!
40 miles, 5 bridges, and 0 cars! That’s what the 5 Boro Bike Ride, held on Glen’s 50th birthday, promised. Since we’d spent the past couple of months riding in the rain, we figured we knew the drill and set out in the drizzle, along with 20,000+ other cyclists.
What’s Next?
Alissa: What’s the next entry in this sequence? 306, Hideaway Suite, 2, 222, 230, Fishman’s Cabin, 6, 17, D33, 50, 2, 2, 306, 540, 512, 7, 688, 23, 53, 1, 12, 303, 107, 349, 18102, 4207, 513, 6331E, 316, 4046,… Oh you thought this post was going to be about our next adventure? 😉 These …
Day #27: La Jolla to US-Mexico Border (46 mi)
Alissa: After 1,000 miles, 14 counties, roughly 45,000 feet of elevation gained and lost, a min elevation of -7 feet, max elevation of 1930 feet, and one flat tire, we MADE IT! =) =) [Note: these numbers include our extra help from Day #5.] Our final day began with a giant wide road just for …
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Day #26: San Clemente to La Jolla (57 mi)
Alissa: Our day began with delightful signage in the breakfast room! Hmph. We were NOT planning to ride 57 miles today. But thanks to the few, the proud at Camp Pendleton who decided to close the bike path for their training exercises, we got to ride on “the 5” for thirteen miles instead of six …
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Day #25: Newport Beach to San Clemente (27 mi)
Alissa: It was a strange feeling yesterday being in civilization the entire day and knowing that this would be the case for the remainder of the trip. Even the ride along PCH in Malibu had unpopulated spots, so yesterday was really the first time the whole trip. Our ride today took us through all the …
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Day #24: Venice to Newport Beach (51 mi)
Alissa: And we’re back! I finished up my civic service for the good folk of Los Angeles County at the Pomona Superior Courthouse, so we loaded up our packs and set off for the border. The day started like many bike rides Glen and I have taken: southbound along the beach path going through Marina …
Day #23: Oxnard to Venice (53 mi)
Alissa: My good friend Robert texted me a couple of days ago about the “millions” of butterflies in Los Angeles. Today we woke up to be greeted by all of them! It really was delightful to see so many of them at once, and fairly consistently down to Malibu. I’ve ridden this exact route a …
Day #22: Goleta to Oxnard (50 mi)
Alissa: It was only a matter of time… We’ve been lucky and this is our first flat. (And in a super convenient place–the hotel!) I have absolutely no clue how Glen’s tire and tube came to be in the state shown above, so perhaps he can explain what happened. Fortunately, he’s very good at fixing …
Day #21: Lompoc to Goleta (43 mi)
Alissa: Leaving Lompoc was awesome for a few reasons: it was a gorgeous day, we were heading back toward the coast, we left behind an incredible windy city, we rode through lush green hills, we had an enormous shoulder (basically as wide as an entire lane), and perhaps the awesome-est reason was the gleaming, shiny, …
Day #20: Santa Maria to Lompoc (26 mi)
Alissa: Getting to Goleta (the home of UCSB) from Santa Maria involves gaining well over 3,000 feet in elevation. So, we decided to polish off a third of that and stop in the city of art and flowers, Lompoc, CA. Our day started and ended with a long, continuous series of strip malls. CVS, Walgreens, …
Day #19: Morro Bay to Santa Maria (50 mi)
Alissa: We woke up to a great view of the Morro rock. We stopped in SLO for lunch and a quick visit to the local bike shop. It was a great day for a ride! We had to say goodbye to the coast today for a couple of days as Hwy 1 (now called Pacific …
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Day #18: Ragged Point to Morro Bay (45 mi)
Alissa: Very quickly into our ride we turned inland away from the coast for a bit. After a few miles we stopped to see the elephant seals then made an early pit stop for lunch of burgers made from Hearst cattle and some wine tasting for Glen. Then we went on a tour of the …
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Alissa’s unexpected gift!
Alissa: Glen surprised me with a fun gift: which I gleefully started unwinding wondering what on Earth could be wrapped up inside. I didn’t have to wait long until I found a plastic frog, a glamorous new ring, and a roll of Smarties. Fun times!
Day #17: Lucia to Ragged Point (25 mi)
Alissa: Today we rode through both of the road closure areas, which, thankfully, had opened! We had more lovely views along the coast, and the views to our left looked mostly like this: During our lunch stop at the Whale Watchers Cafe, I, suitably, saw the spout of a whale! And, we encountered fellow cyclists …