Touring: PDX to Coos Bay

[lynnef]

if you map it out on ridewithgps.com, you'll get elevations. The very easiest way over the coast range is out of Grand Ronde over the Little Nestucca (Sourgrass Summit).

[jeff]

Originally Posted by RonC

How does it compare climbing-wise with other routes over the coast range? Sounds beautiful!

good question - in my memory it's not bad at all, just a steady climb up Wolf Creek Rd. out of Eugene to the Siuslaw River drainage; but it looks like there's another good climb between the Siuslaw and the Smith River drainage that i don't remember.? Like Lynne says, you can get the scoop on the elevation profile/gain on RidewithGPS.com.

[RonC]

Originally Posted by lynnef

if you map it out on ridewithgps.com, you'll get elevations.

Hey, that's a nice mapping site! Thanks for steering me there. I don't care it if has hills, as long as I'm mentally prepared for it. I've ridden the Grand Ronde cutoff before as part of a (longish for me) ride from SW PDX down to the Wheatland ferry, across to Amity, back roads most of the way to the afore mentioned cutoff from HWY 18, 101 down to Slab Creek Road to Hwy 18 (way better than riding 101 over Cascade Head), and then into Lincoln City. I think the climb from the ferry over the hill to Amity was actually slightly harder than the Grand Ronde route through the coast range. It's definitely the easy way across the coast range, though I'm still partial to the Nestucca River Road route, understanding its quite a bit hillier with a short bit of gravel.

[lovedoctor]

Wow! Lots of good info in this thread. Thanks for all the contributions. Looks like we'll be riding mid-July if anyone wants to join.

[jeff]

Be sure to report back on your trip!

[lovedoctor]

Originally Posted by jeff

Be sure to report back on your trip!

Got back on Monday, and it was a dandy of a trip (in a mostly good way). I took the route South out of Forest Grove as posted by some of the helpful folks here to Carlton, then Meadowlake/Nestucca River Rd. First off, I must type this in all caps:

NESTUCCA RIVER ROAD IS CLOSED! until sometime in August. This was not posted anywhere online that I saw, including the BLM website for campsites in the area (that area also closed. You would think they would mention something...) nor the Googles. There is a major repair going on that makes the road just past the summit impassable even for bikes. The detour around it involves many extra miles and a heck of a hill. The only campsite with running water was of course on the West side of the closure, so I ended up drinking boiled river water with lots of floaty bits in it. I was able to get around the construction (a giant pit where the road once was with a backhoe in it) by dragging my fully loaded Big Dummy cargo bike (big and 90 pounds) through a rocky river bed and up a very steep and thorny river bank without the park ranger catching me, but it was not at all fun.

After that adventure, sailing down 101 was a breeze. Lots of campsites and beautiful scenery. Folks in Newport and Coos Bay area generally not too bike friendly, which was disappointing, but for the most part drivers on the sketchy sections of 101 were reasonably accommodating. I talked to two brothers biking to San Diego along the way; they had a map from adventurecycling.org that showed some good side routes to avoid said sketch. I'll check that out next time. My wife and son drove down to Coos Bay and we stayed with friends that homebrew (for the hydrating properties, ya know!) and I hitched a ride with them back up to PDX.

Overall, it was a very memorable trip that will be repeated again. Self-supported touring/camping is a blast, especially when there are at least some small pockets of civilization nearby to refuel and pick up nutritious beer. I would post pictures, or you could just googlate images of "beautiful oregon coastline". Same thing.

[Matt P.]

The BLM has it posted here: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/sale...caNR_final.pdf

Closed through August 17th. It will open up 5 days after I *need* it to be open, so it looks like Cycle Wild's Annual Trip A will have to take an alternate route.

[RonC]

I actually prefer the Bald Mountain - Bible Creek detour route that remains open. It's quite a bit more climbing, but no gravel section. Some of my friends who are less enthused about roads with the word "Mountain" in them feel differently.