touring strategies

[Mr. Coffee]

I do carry some tools, but my ultimate "get out of a bad situation" tool is my cell phone. I'm not planning to go off road or ride into really remote areas though.

Yes, you are on the east coast. Even in fairly built-up areas out west (e.g. Oregon and Washington coasts) there are many dead spots in cell coverage. If you go into some of the interior areas you might not have cell coverage at all unless you are in a town. This would all be on paved roads.

My own recommendation is to invest in something like a Garmin InReach. Yes, they are expensive. Yes, Garmin software sucks. But one of those will save your sorry butt in an emergency.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Marinas look like a possible charge stations, but the Orygun outback seems iffy for now. The Coast from Aberdeen on down
is a pretty flat ride 'til ya get past Seaside, OR. From there on down 101 gets real scary in peak season. I should have gone in April.
Ain't no flat riding around here, & i'm bored to death with what's local. Any day now I'm gonna load the bike & take off with
3 batteries.

I'd pretty strongly recommend that coastal Oregon (and to a lesser extent Washington) be done before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. There's less traffic (sometimes a lot less, especially between Manzanita and Astoria) and hotel rates are a lot cheaper if you go that way.

There can be a lot of traffic on the 101 basically from Astoria to Newport. The good news is that there are multiple alternate routes that can get you off of the 101 that are interesting and fun to ride.

Also, it is best to ride the coast North to South. Largely because the prevailing winds during good weather are generally out of the northwest, so if you ride northbound you are basically riding in stiff headwinds all the time. Also, the highway departments (especially in Oregon) have been pretty good at making sure that the wider shoulder is on the southbound lane. A final benefit is that 99 percent of the viewpoints and pullouts you'll want to stop at are on the west side of the road, so riding southbound means that you merely turn right to get on and off them.

Wouldn't it be nice if cafes or other business installed bike charging stations coin-op with a little
keyed locker...

They do that in quite a few places in Europe.

 

[john peck]

I'd pretty strongly recommend that coastal Oregon (and to a lesser extent Washington) be done before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. There's less traffic (sometimes a lot less, especially between Manzanita and Astoria) and hotel rates are a lot cheaper if you go that way.

There can be a lot of traffic on the 101 basically from Astoria to Newport. The good news is that there are multiple alternate routes that can get you off of the 101 that are interesting and fun to ride.

Also, it is best to ride the coast North to South. Largely because the prevailing winds during good weather are generally out of the northwest, so if you ride northbound you are basically riding in stiff headwinds all the time. Also, the highway departments (especially in Oregon) have been pretty good at making sure that the wider shoulder is on the southbound lane. A final benefit is that 99 percent of the viewpoints and pullouts you'll want to stop at are on the west side of the road, so riding southbound means that you merely turn right to get on and off them.



They do that in quite a few places in Europe.

Peak season on 101 is scary even if your in a HUM=V. I'd druther have gone toward the end of march.
but somehow that got cancelled. The high plains of eastern Orygun out near Fossil are great in spring.
I've done 101 as many times as I care to. Right now I'd like to be on the John Day river somewhere.
I've got a nice old bamboo fly rod complete with antique reel & cotton line, but that's just for brook trout.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

... Right now I'd like to be on the John Day river somewhere.