VELOuisville: Part 1 of "This Was The Ride That Was"

On this last day of 2010 thoughts drift back through time . . . back to Great Rides of 2010. It was a stellar year in my cycling career - attempts at racing, my first bike-tour, "epic" commuting. But one of my favorite rides of 2010 was not so grand as these, just a little jaunt up HWY 101 in OR!!!! To hike up MT. NEAHKANIE!!!! On SINGLESPEED CRUISERS WITH COASTER BRAKES!!!!!!!

THE BIKES

I like renting bikes when I travel, that way I can ride bikes I wouldn't normally get the chance to try out. I keep hoping for something other than a singlespeed cruiser and while sometimes I can find a "sweet whip" (as the kids on the corner say), usually it's a version of the Torker you see on the left. They're not terrible, just more painful than I would prefer.

THE GOAL

Mount Neahkanie is near Manzanita, OR, which is about three hours from Portland. The famous Highway 101 goes over and through it. A gravel road just off the highway leads to the trailhead, the trail leads to the summit. The gf and I decided to throw ourselves at the mountain and see what happened.

THE RIDE

Highway 101 is a two-lane road that runs all along the Pacific Coast. Lots of cyclists ride it. More cars drive it. The stretch we were on did not have a shoulder or bike lane. It did have a steep steep steep incline and lots of traffic, including logging trucks. I have a predictable response when passed too closely by large motor vehicles - AAAAHHHHHH!!!!! - I got to use that alot riding on 101.

Eventually my had-to-weigh-70lbs Torker and I made it to the gravel turn-off. The gf and I walked toward the trailhead, but it was farther than we thought and kept going uphill. The bikes were abandoned (well, parked on the side of the road) and

Finally, the trail! Hooray! The trail! The trail! The trail . . . keeps going up . . .and up . . . and up . . . .

We persevered and eventually made it to the top.

On our way back down the trail we kept thinking about the traffic on 101 and the coaster brakes on our Torkers ("aaaauuuggghhh!"). The gf is bolder than me and before we could get back to the bikes she arranged a ride down the hill with a guy who had a pickup. He was very nice, but had to give us the obligatory business about not wearing helmets "Hey man, we're on vacation" (okay okay, it is a lame excuse).