(June19– written by Dave)

44 Miles – 965 feet climbing

Everything went swell at the king of tents yurt at Champoeg Park. We could have done with a proper top sheet and there was a bit of bedmate wrestling over who got stuck with “face on vinyl” but we survived and for sure enjoy a relaxed pack-up without the tent and bits to put away this morning. The other cyclists all still made it out of camp before us. I think we left after 9AM but it was so leisurely that we didn’t really make note.

The morning ride took us on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway with lovely farm and crop views pretty much until we reach Salem at 32 miles. There were a lot more hazelnut orchards but also a bunch of hops fields – the beer kind and a couple very fragrant fields of mint.

All morning I stewed over stopping in Salem at a bike shop to get them to adjust my brakes. I made a bit of a rookie error in not getting them sorted before we left and I was riding without much rear brake and near zero front brake. Not a big deal here in the valley but later in the week when we start going up, proper brakes will be helpful for the down bits.

On the way into town I looked up shops and found two right on our route. The first shop had pads but the mechanic had never changed my brand and type. They offered to do it but I decided to just buy some pads. The second shop, The Bike Peddler had both parts and knowledge but were busier and wouldn’t promise getting it done today. I whined a bit and made sure that they knew we were on a trip and Kurt (one of the head guys there) figured out a way to squeeze us in. We left the bike and headed out to a recommended cafe for a long, leisurely lunch.

Lunch at Venti’s was great but heck, who doesn’t enjoy a nice 2 hour lunch on the sun deck when you have nowhere else to be. Nancy was a little anxious but we only had 12 more miles to ride and the food was great. We swung by the shop early and they were just getting the bike finished up. We were peddling down the road by 3PM – pretty good result I’d say – my rookie error need not be discussed further (right Nancy?!?).

We had a bit of headwind on the last 12 miles, which is unusual for the Willamette Valley. Mostly the wind here goes north to south. It was also heating up but as it was only 12 miles, we survived. We are staying in Independence’s Biker/Boater site, right on the Willamette River. It’s cheap and somewhat cheerful. I rated the cold outdoor showers at the rowing club as slightly, just slightly, above a cowboy shower in a handicapped bathroom. Nancy did not disagree.

We caught up with Gwen, the cyclist from Champoeg, when we arrived. We are the only guests other than a potential small homeless population on the bank below us. There have been a number of police cars passing through the park and it closes after sunset, so I’m sure that it will be fine. We discovered this park a few years ago when it was a Cycle Oregon rest stop. We may not stop here next time but it will do for a night. Given that the park is right in town, we decided to get Thai take away for dinner – at least we didn’t have to cook 🙂

Tomorrow we’re off to Springfield, planning on staying in the same campground we did on our 2024 Chris Crossing trip. We’ll have to cook our own dinner. Yes, we miss having Curtis, our travelling master chef from the Chris Crossing trip. We have a little longer ride tomorrow – here’s hoping the wind gets its act together and gives us a proper hand in the afternoon at least.