Willamette Valley Bike Tour: Recap

Watch the video in case you missed it!

After three days out on the road, it was time for our trip to draw to a close. But we had some time to kill and some bellies to fill before the train was scheduled in the afternoon. Restaurants in the city center were much more lively than I expected given the current “special circumstances,” so we ordered take-out and brought our picnic back to the Capitol park. Across the lawn from us sat a small group of teenagers doing the same thing, except they also took turns performing skateboard tricks. They didn’t look very successful to me, but I’m sure it’s much harder than it looks!

A very quick pedal after lunch had us at the train station. We picked up tags to check our bikes and awaited the 30-minute late train.

Eventually the train pulled up and we made ourselves cozy in the little room again. This time we had a spot on the seaboard half which gave us a chance to gaze upon a different landscape on the return journey.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the one famous for falling apart in the wind

Observations

• Saw much fewer cyclists than I expected, which was a bit of a shame given how pleasant (read: car-less) the route was
• Ratio of Trump to Biden yard signs was about 100:1
• Looking forward to more bike touring in the future! Actually by the time I’m putting these words down we’ve already put a couple more little trips behind us

Gear Notes

• I rode a mostly-stock Jamis Coda
  • Profile Designs bar ends helped with hand positions. Most of the time I lay my hand across the top of the bar ends rather than gripping the bars fully.
  • Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires are pricey but have a wonderful supple feeling that absorbs bumps and rolls very smoothly. I cheaped out slightly by only putting the Supreme on the back tire. The front runs a regular Marathon.
  • Pair of Ortlieb Back-rollers stored all my stuff and things. Plenty of room to spare since we didn’t camp.
• Videos filmed on an Insta360 One R, mounted to a selfie stick and attached to my handlebars with a Manfrotto super clamp. For a couple of shots I clamped the rig to my bike’s seat stay, but in this position I have to dismount to start/stop recording.

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  Here’s how it looks. The selfie stick accidentally blends in a bit with the bridge support in the background