Hello California!

We made it! California has been wonderfully sunny and gorgeous so far. Plenty of crashing waves, unspeakably tall trees, and plenty of surfers to fill the many beaches along the way. But...I think you'll be relieved to know that we haven't yet traded in our bikes for surf boards, however tempting it may be! :)

All throughout Oregon, these signs helped lead the way. Very, very helpful!

 Just another day, another bay.

 Our first full coastal sunset! (The others were too foggy)

 We made it! Hello Cali!

 Now we have these Californian signs to guide us!

 Our view from lunch on the beach. Always a good call.

 Katie just finished climbing 1200 vertical feet in 2 miles! Arrgh!

 So did Brent!

 We were going to stay there. Oops! We stayed at an RV park instead...twas... interesting?

 The sun peeking through  majestic 1000 year old Coastal Redwoods.

 Journal time!

 This tree was 22 ft in diameter, and over 300 feet tall!

 Delicious local Redwood Curtain brews in Arcata! More carbo loading :)

 Camping at the KOA...another interesting experience.

 That sign was right over our heads. Bright side...we had a great nightlight for going potty! :)

 There are arrows like this one all along the path from different people and events. They're fun to read along the way!

We'll put some more stories up, but for now, enjoy the pics! (Sorry they're not all right side up...just don't drop your computer trying to see them!)

Much love and sunshine!

~B&K~

Crawling & Screaming

So it turns out that throughout the last few days here in Oregon, our lives have gone back to the simple days of our infancy. Crawling and screaming is just about all we do here on the Oregon coast...crawling slowly up the mountains and screaming down the other side!!

It has been incredible getting to know the Oregon coast every day. The sea stacks and other rock formations that dominate the landscape create so many breathtaking views that some days we had to cut our ride short so we'd have time to take a stroll on the Beverly Beach, or take some time to watch the surfers at Devil's Punchbowl.

However, to be completely honest, the landscapes weren't the only things that took up our time. We had to do some carbo-loading too!  How? You ask ? Well, a stop at both the Pelican Brewery in Pacific City, and the Rogue Brewery in Newport provided some of the most delicious carbs I'd had in a long time!  We also stopped at Ben & Jeff's for their world famous fish tacos and shoestring fries...YUM!

We have realized that even with all of the incredible views we have every single day, many times, the highlights come from the time we get to share with friends we make along the way! There's Peter and Franziska from Zurich, Switzerland (check out their blog at: velotuur.blogspot.com -it's in German but pics are nice!), Marita and Reimev from outside Munich, Germany, Wayne from Vancouver Island, Canada, Rose from San Fran (apothocurious.com), Dana from BC, Canada, Antony from Manchester, England, Sarah and Donny from Portland (spoken2thepoint.tumblr.com), Jim and Sean from Minneapolis -yes, it is a small world (cyclingsimply.com), Chris from Portland, and many more. Morale of the story: we've made lots of new friends and we have a lot of places to stay wherever our future travels take us! Everyone's story is intriguing, but by far the most impressive bikers were a family of five: Ryan-dad, Alisha-mom, Jade-8, Eva-4, and Dillon-2. Ryan had two front panniers, two rear and a Burley trailer with Eva and Dillon in it. And Alisha was riding a loaded tandem with Jade. Twas quite impressive! Right now, they're just doing the Oregon coast, but two years ago, they did a 6 month trip around Asia! But at that time there were only two kids...  ... wow.


Oregon has quite the reputation for being the bike-friendly place, and as we've found out, it's for good reason. There have been many stretches of the coast where the Oregon Coast Bike Route followed a separate, much quieter side road, off of Hwy 101. There are usually scenic bypass routes around busy cities, and very clear signage to direct you on your way. Plus, the Hiker/Biker sites at the gorgeous Oregon State Parks are usually separated from the cursed RV traffic that the bikers had already dealt with enough that day! There are literally hundreds of State Parks, scenic overlooks, and other great things to see along the coast, so if you are on the edge about whether or not to come out West and enjoy the Oregon coast...wait no longer! No offense Washington, but Oregon's coast really does make your coast look quite boring. Just being honest! :)

It's also come to our attention that just about everyone we run into is following Bicycling the Pacific Coast which turns out is essentially the Pacific Coast bike touring Bible. So we're running into a lot of the same people every few days as our paths cross yet again. There have even been times when we've rolled into camp and known every single person there. Kinda fun. But if you want to check the book out, it'll give you a more detailed idea of the kind of daily itinerary we have along this trip. Most libraries have it. Tis a fun read...at least for me it is! :)

Well, I think that'll do it for now, but as always, there will be more as the adventure continues, and our thunder thighs keep rollin' down this beautiful coast!

Enjoy the pictures!

 A typical Hiker/Biker site: this one's at Cape Lookout State Park

 One of the many winding mountain roads we 'enjoyed'

 Look at that view! No wonder we're smiling!

 Building those Thunder Thighs!

 The view over Nehalem Bay State Park

 The warmest day yet at Beverly Beach!

 Someone was excited for some Rogue beer!

 Carbo-loading...

 Katie and our new friend Rose at Beachside State Park

 $3.67?? Not for us!!!

 Sunset on the dunes at Jesse M. Honeyman State Park

 My mom always says I don't take enough pictures with people in them. Here you go, Ma!

 Isn't that amazing!?!?

 Sunset Bay State Park. It looked fake.

 Local Dungeness Crab lunch at Tony's Crab Shack in Bandon, OR. Yummy in my tummy!

 More sea stacks in the Pacific

 Water break on  a sunny summer day

 Dinner time! Tonight? Gourmet mac n' cheese :)

 Katie on one of those screaming descents. So much fun!

Just another day on the Oregon coast! 

Hope you're enjoying the blog! Sorry if the formatting is weird. Not much we can do from the local library. :)

Much love from the Pacific Coast! 

~B&K~

Tillamook!

I hope you enjoy the random selection of pictures above!

Here we are in Tillamook, Oregon, 8 days into our cycling, and we are FINALLY able to make a post. Where to begin...

First of all, I don't believe the leg soreness will ever really go away until we give our legs a rest from at least 50 miles a day, but Brent we feel stronger every day! Of course there are days when one feels like they could bike forever, and days when you'd like to hitch a ride on the RV/tour bus that just passed you on the road. So far we have ridden roughly 470 miles with an average of 50-60 miles/day. There was one 75-mile day that luckily ended with grilling oysters over a fire while enjoying free beer. :) (It is widely believed there is no better cure for a sore ace than fresh oysters and beer).

The highlight for both of us has been the great folks we've met, whether they be townies, travellers, or fellow cyclists. Last night we rolled into the Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon and knew everybody staying at the Hiker/Biker Campsite! From the lovely swiss couple, Peter and Franzisca, to Rose who lent us goat cheese, to the older German couple on their honeymoon with whom we shared a seafood feast, to Sarah and Donny who plan to cycle all the way to Argentina, and all of the other friendly faces we've been lucky to encounter, Brent and I are not yet bored with only eachothers' conversation. ;)

It was great to start off the trip well in Seattle, and also to have some time to hang with Jeana (Katie's friend from Peace Corps) and her roommate Melissa and do all the 'touristy' stuff in the city. The first week of the trip spent cycling around Olympic National Park was beautiful and a part of the country that neither of us had seen before. We camped our first night at Squim Bay State Park, where a wonderful random lady told us about a bike path right off of 101 as well as a groocerty store where we could get some veggies for our pasta diner. She actually showed up at the campground that evening with a bunch of produce (and a chocolate bar!) for us just in case we hadn't been able to find the store. (We realize this sounds creepy... but it definitely wasn't! She was a completely innocent nice older woman who knows that exactly what two bikers need after a full day on the road is some dark chocolate.)

The next fews days we went through Port Angeles (where we spent 3 hours at a bike shop but brent was able to get a new bottom bracket!), and Forks (crazy 'Twilight' overkill but yummy ice cream and naps in the shade), and we spent nights mostly at State Parks such as Kalaloch, right on the coast (cold!), Lake Quinalt (where we met our awesome swiss friends biking from Anchorage to Panama) and Bay Center (tiny oyster ghost town, but we shared a site with the lovely older German couple I mentioned before. I think the best part of this night was when Reimev pulled cans of budlight out of his panniers and offered us one while rolling his post-trip smoke.

We made it to Oregon on Monday and are falling in love with the beautiful coastline and bike-friendliness of the state. We hiked up to Ecola point overlooking cannon beach (where the goonies was filmed!) yesterday, spent another night on the coast at Nehalem Bay State Park last night, and have roughly 12 miles still to go this evening from Tillamook to Cape Lookout (where we will again most likely know all the campers at the hiker/biker site.) We are currently filled up on cheese and ice cream, and with our panniers full of clean clothes after a stop at the Laundromat and fresh groceries after a stop at Safeway we'll follow the sun the rest of the way to the cape.

We are staying safe on the roads, warm at night, and we keep going through jars of peanut butter... If you haven't sent us your address please do so! We've picked up some pretty rad postcards.

Much love from the Oregon Coast. Take care and we'll try to write again soon!

B&K