by Larry and Jill Weldon
The “Beaches” tour spanned the period Sept. 18th – 25th, 2012. It was based in Long Beach, Washington for Sept 18th – 21st and 23rd – 25th, with two nights in a beachside motel in Seaside, Oregon Sept 21st – 23rd.
On September 18th we arrived at the Super 8 hotel in Long Beach. Michael welcomed the group with maps and details about our rides and the local cultural highlights. Most participants found a restaurant within walking distance for dinner. The evening was spent socializing and getting ready for the next day’s ride.
The first day’s ride was an exploration of the Long Beach peninsula. Michael led us north along the east side of the peninsula to Leadbetter Point State Park where we stopped at the waters edge. Then on our return south we stopped at Michael’s home in Ocean Park to enjoy a delicious lunch buffet prepared by his wife, Melissa. The view from their deck was expansive. Continuing south we followed the “Discovery Trail”, a paved path that wound along the shore back to the hotel. The air off the ocean was misty and cooler than the hot sunny weather we had experienced pre-tour.
With 34 participants on the tour, the group frequently broke into subgroups, and since the routes were mostly low-traffic, there were no angry motorists, and no accidents. Jan Johnson offered a few alternate routes on some of the days.
The second day’s ride was to Ilwalco, a small town on the south end of the peninsula. We headed to the North Head Lighthouse which was high enough for a spectacular view of the coastline. Then we continued along hilly roads to the Lewis and Clark Museum, where we spent a few hours at the excellent exhibit there about the exploration (1804 – 1806) of the route from the mid-west to from the west coast. Lunch in Ilwalco at a small café was quite interesting – we met a man from Pemberton who was cycling down the coast to the tip of South America! Coincidentally, he was well-known to Dolores Franz Los who was with us at the lunch. We had a bit of rain this day but the indoor breaks kept us comfortable.
September 21st we rode to Seaside. We started off on a quiet road for about 15 km through the Chinook Valley. Continuing south we had a stop at the “Station Camp”, an historic spot for both the Chinook tribes that occupied this area for millennia and also for a short time by the Lewis and Clark expedition as they approached their west coast destination. Next we crossed the bridge to Astoria, Oregon – it was about 6 km long and included two “hills” one of which was about one kilometer uphill. The bridge had a fair bit of traffic but some construction on the bridge actually tamed the traffic and helped the cyclists keep clear of it. We skirted Astoria and found a fairly quiet road (#202) to Seaside. On the way we stopped at historic Fort Clatsop, where, in addition to the exhibits, we ate our bag lunches, again prepared to order by Melissa. Continuing after lunch, our arrival in Seaside was very pleasant since the Ebbtide Motel was right on the expansive beach and very well appointed.
The next day we had a choice of rides – the shortest one was to Cannon Beach, a popular tourist destination. Some went much further toward Manzanita and turned back at a scary tunnel – uphill, lots of traffic, and a narrow bike lane. But some braved the tunnel and even continued past Manzanita to Nahalem Bay Sate Park where we had our bag lunch. After lunch we returned to Manzanita, and continued back to Seaside. The hills between Manzanita and Seaside were many and huge, and the hot day added to the challenge.
September 23rd we headed north to Astoria. We worked our way up steep hills to the Astoria Tower, a high lookout with a view of the entire Columbia River mouth. The 164 steps up the tower were in addition to the several hundred meter climb by bike, but the view was spectacular. We visited Astoria – some historic mansions as well as the markets and coffee shops – and then headed back across the bridge to Washington and Long Beach.
The last day’s ride was on a quiet portion of Hwy 101 to the Willapa Wildlife Refuge where we had our bag lunch. Part of the ride was along the Chinook Valley Road, a quiet stretch of about 15 km. The rest of the ride was right along the water’s edge – very pleasant. The loop route brought us back to Long Beach with only a couple of significant hills.
The evening was spent with more socializing and enjoying the elaborate banquet arranged by Michael and Melissa Goldberg, in an Artisan Gallery in Ilwalco. The salmon and roast pork entrées were delicious, as were the many dessert items for those of us who still had room for them. The next morning we drove away from the area, satisfied that we had done our bit for personal health and public avoidance of carbon generation.