Highway 101 West Coast Bike Tour – Astoria, OR to Brookings, OR
2 states and 700 miles down Highway 101 on our bikes!! We finished the Washington section, around the Olympic Peninsula then down the 101, in about a week. After a couple days off, we began riding Oregon’s stunning coast. What an amazing ride so far!
Day 10 – 39.2 Miles
We left the comfort of our friend’s house in Astoria after two relaxing days off and continued south down the 101. We had a goal to make it to Nahelem Bay to meet up with yet another friend. We rode 39 miles and arrived about 3. This was our first of many amazing Oregon State Parks that we would visit during the Oregon stretch. Upon arrival, we found the hiker/ biker campsite and setup camp while we awaited Natalie and Josh’s arrival. We were stoked to reconnect with our friends and spent the evening catching up and walking on the beach.
Day 11 – 72.7 Miles
In the morning, we packed up camp and started riding as early as we could. We tend to be early risers, but the chilly mornings are especially hard to ride through as our feet turn to bricks of ice. Despite the chilly start, we rode all day taking casual breaks at the many state parks and scenic view points stopping for the day at Devil’s Lake Recreation Area. These hiker/ biker campsites have been pretty awesome and all for only $8/ person.
Day 12 – 25.2 Miles
We started riding towards Newport knowing we would take a break there. Sean’s bike was still giving him a little trouble, so we had our sights set on the bike shop. We arrived at about 1 pm after 25 miles of riding only to find the bike shop was closed on Mondays in October. With little choice, we decided to book a room. Thankfully, there was a decent room for $50 for the night nearby, and we enjoyed taking a short day.
Day 13 – 22.6 Miles
In the morning, we went back to the bike shop. The mechanics there were kind and quick to get his bike in the stand. With a few adjustments, Sean’s bike “Big Red” was riding smoothly. We left Newport around noon and continued south. Not long into our ride, we encountered one of many long bridges. Thankfully, the car tailing us over the bridge was patient, gave us plenty of space, and held back traffic. We rode for about an hour before the billowing clouds let loose. About 22 miles into our day, we entered the town of Yachats. Soaked, we were easily tempted to stop at the Yachats Brewing Company and decided on another hotel room for the night to dry off and warm up.
Day 14 – 55.5 Miles
We woke up to a sunny morning and were back at it. Just south of Yachats, we stopped at Cape Perpetua to view the phenomenon of the ocean sink hole named Thor’s Well. We took a few minutes at the overlook at continued pedaling. This was an especially picturesque section of the highway as we hugged the coastline for over 20 straight miles sometimes pumping uphill followed by smooth coasting downhill. We ended our day by setting up camp at Tugman State Park.
Day 15 – 72.2 Miles
After our typical oatmeal breakfast, we were rolling again. Around noon we approached Coos Bay with another lengthy bridge. We again got really lucky with a patient driver behind us as we struggled to maintain a 15 MPH speed pumping as hard as we could uphill. For no apparent reason, 2 cars in the opposite lane yelled at us for holding up traffic, but the cars following us were kind and gracious. We maintained a great pace all day and decided to stop after 72 miles at Humbug Mountain State Park.
Day 16 – 49.6 Miles
Our last day in Oregon started with a brisk morning. We left Humbug Mountain State Park and were soon at Prehistoric Gardens. Around 11, we came to the town of Gold Beach and stocked up on groceries. We had about an 800 ft climb ahead so we decided to wait to take lunch at the top at the scenic viewpoint. After a tough climb, we enjoyed our picnic lunch. During lunch, a family of six joined us at the overlook. We started chatting and learned that they were traveling by bike from Quebec to Mexico and onward to Cuba. The kids ages ranged from 9-15, each had their own bike and gear. Pretty awesome stuff.
After lunch, we kept on trucking staying shore side for the majority of the day. When we got to Brookings, we indulged ourselves with a motel, chips, and bad TV leaving less than 10 miles to the California state line.
Overall, Oregon was dreamy. We biked 350 miles in a week and loved all of the State Parks, Recreation Areas, scenic viewpoints, and beaches. I feel as though Oregon might take the cake for most scenic section of the 101. But onward to California 🚴♀️🌎🚴♂️
We are Bekah and Sean enjoying this beautiful planet one bit of Infinite Geography at a time. Follow our life in motion here or on Instagram.
Infinite Geography 