a few weekends ago, luke and i set out with some dear friends, brandon, victoria and cole, on a bike adventure, in preparation for our trip down the oregon coast in june. we had been invited to the bonfire of a friend, rachel, at her parent's house just outside of salem, oregon. we decided that it was the perfect opportunity to ride down from portland to rachel's front door, practicing the same amount of miles that we will need to ride daily to make it down the coast. we loaded up our bikes with our sleeping bags and bungeed the other necessary goods on top of our scavenged panniers, racks, and buckets. i must say that we were the most RAG TAG bike touring group that many of the cyclists we came across on the road had probably ever seen. all five of us rode 60 miles on day one down 99E, with a stop for delicious, authentic oaxacan food in woodburn. we were greeted by the most hospitable hosts, who fed us and watered us well. cole, luke and i passed out under the stars on the shore of the willamette river. the next day, we were pampered with a filling breakfast and headed out onto the WILLAMETTE VALLEY BIKEWAY that led us 80 miles back to portland, through pastoral fields and newberg, oregon. thank goodness the rain held off the whole trip and the sun even came out, leading to some nice spandex tan lines. and i'd say 140 miles in two days? not too shabby...
the nail that went through luke's tire somewhere around woodburn.
enjoying the scenery on the willamette valley bikeway.
the rag tag bike gang
rachel and her dad, our lovely hosts.
pete and ethel
cole, en route
