In May of 2022, we were newly retired and waiting for our new house to be finished. We were eager to start our nomad traveling life but couldn’t leave the country because of the delays going on with our house build. So, we decided to do something I have wanted to do for a long time – ride my bike from Seattle to San Francisco. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate. The story of the trip is here. I ended up getting to Lincoln City, Oregon before deciding to stop trying to bike in cold rainy headwinds. I have been wanting to try this again, and this year I had a great opportunity. My son, Jess, has also had the Seattle to San Francisco ride on his bucket list, and he invited me to join him for a few days. We decided I would start where I left off last time, Lincoln City, and ride with him until Crescent City, California. My wife Meg would again be our van support and setup our campsites during those 6 riding days. The weather was much better this time and I have a lot of good pics.
I ended up riding 306 miles with Jess. We had no real problems. We rode the same speed, took turns being the leader, and shared our breakfast and lunch and snack breaks. I probably would have done the same schedule if I had been alone. The Oregon Coast is not flat. Riding this route means that you are climbing up or coasting down, pretty much all of the days. While hills can be annoying, we have learned to understand that elevation is what makes the ride challenging, and makes you feel even better when you can do it. In order to enjoy the ride, you need to accept the hills and that leads to a more satisfying ride. Jess helped me to stop and see the views instead of just focusing on the challenges.
We stayed most nights in campgrounds. We would start riding early and Meg would take down the tent, clean up camp and repack the car. We liked to ride a couple of hours before we stopped for breakfast. I really miss American breakfasts while traveling internationally, and this ride really helped me get my diner breakfast fix. I like eating out in other countries but they just don’t do breakfast like I got on this trip. By the time we were done riding, Meg would be setting up our new camp and starting on making us some good camp dinners. She had already gone to the grocery store and got us more beer and snacks. We were a bit spoiled :>) Sometimes we would have some time to find an after ride beer in one of the small Oregon coast taverns.
During the hill sections and the long sections on the highway shoulders near the logging trucks I often thought about why was I doing this. I have a lot of reasons to keep bike touring.
- I like it. I feel good on a bike seeing beautiful views and smelling the ocean breeze. Being in nature on a bike just puts me in a good mood.
- I need to get into shape. Biking helps my body physically as well as mentally. Of course, I probably eat and drank a bit too much on this trip because my body needed the “fuel”.
- It feels good to do challenging things. This was not an easy goal and I am proud of achieving personal goals.
- I also really enjoy spending time with my son. Doing hard things together make it even more special. It felt more rewarding seeing Jess going through the same experience that I was. I missed my other son but was also happy that Meg could be part of this journey.
So Jess is the real superstar here. He is on a 3 week bike tour and I only was a part of 6 riding days. He still has another 8 days before he crosses the Golden Gate bridge into San Francisco. Meg and I need to get back to Washington State to continue our Seattle summer with friends and family before heading back to Europe on September 1st. Jess will be on his own for the rest of his ride. I have now done 2 segments of the Seattle to San Francisco ride so I still hope to do the third segment (Crescent City to San Francisco) some day. Although, I really enjoyed the Oregon Coast and might just do that segment again. Or maybe we find another route; Jess and I are already dreaming about some other epic biking challenges.
Update!!!! Jess made it to San Francisco!!!!
