This has been one of the best first days of a bike tour! We started off with breakfast at a place where Erin was overwhelmed by the vegan options, then we headed out of Eugene along a really nice bike path along the Willamette River. The weather was perfect – upper seventies and sunny, with a decent tailwind. We ride along back roads through mixed farm and forest – all of it so green – as we followed the Willamette up to Oakridge, where we stopped in the world’s coolest bike shop (you can buy Carhartts and cast iron pans as you enjoy the view from their deck). We then threw back a few pints at the brewery, where we played two genres of trivial pursuit, young players (easy) and baby boomers (stupid). We swung by the DQ so I could get my blizzard fix before setting up camp at an abandoned campground on the river. Tomorrow we’ll head deep into the Cascadian forest as we travel the Aufderheide Highway, where there is certain to be swimming and hot springs along the way!
Bums away!
