Well, second time trying to post this.
Rode the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway from Beaverton to Eugene over the weekend. The route actually starts at Champoeg State Park outside Newberg but started from my house. There's a connecting route from Portland as well. Spent 3 nights/4 days doing the ride over 214 miles. Averaged about 12 mph and hit a top speed of 37.2 mph. Took my time and did a lot of sightseeing. Had about 20lbs in my panniers on my 2011 Fuji Newest 3.0 road bike. Thought I'd give everyone a short day-by-day log of the ride. Feel free to ask questions etc!
Day 1: Beaverton to Champoeg - 27.95 miles. Great biker camp. $5/night. Connected to the main campground and includes lockers with built in outlets and additional outlets outside of the lockers. Picnic tables, bike stands, fire pits, restrooms and showers included. Route takes you along a busy highway with speeds of 70 mph. Passes through tow of Newberg, last chance for food etc before you hit the last 10 miles to the campground. Plenty of trees for you hammock campers like me.
Day 2: Champoeg to Independence - 55.10 miles. Riverview Park. $10/night. Self service bike repair station. Located near downtown of the small farming town with grocery stores and food within walking distance. Picnic tables, bike stands, one central fire pit, restrooms, one cold outdoor shower, no outlets (but the camp host let me use the one on the RV). Slim pickings for trees but enough to use the hammock. Ride takes you through Oregon's State Capital of Salem, the last big town to get supplies. Ride has you riding against traffic on a busy highway for several miles.
Day 3: Independence to Brownsville - 71.92 miles. Pioneer Park. $10/night (Memorial Day to Labor Day), Free (After Labor Day to Memorial Day). Located near downtown of this even smaller-than-Independence town. One grocery store across the bridge about a mile from the park. Picnic tables, no fire pits, no bike stands, rest rooms, no showers, outlets located in the restrooms and outside the building. Plenty of trees BUT most are too big to use a hammock on. Ride takes you through Albany, the last town to get supplies before you leave civilization. There's a small store in Jefferson that you might want to refuel at before you hit Scravel Hill, a series of three daunting hills before you drop back into the valley.
Day 4: Browsville to Eugene - 59.04 miles. Armitage County Park. The bikeway ends here and sadly there is NO biker campground. Tent sites are $30/night. Because of this I declined to stay and left after browsing Eugene a bit. Picnic tables, fire pits, no bike stands, rest rooms, no showers. Beware of riding in Eugene. Whomever planned the bike paths thought it would be cool to have them going against traffic in most places and then darting in and out of traffic in others. Terrible city to bike in. You can ride an additional 35-miles south to Cottage Grove where there is a biker campground but I do not have any information on it.
UPDATE: Apparently Armitage County Park DOES have a hiker/biker camp. $20/night. Picnic tables, fire pits, rest rooms, showers, laundry, unsure of bike stands. Not listed on the sign but found this out after emailing the park.
Questions, comments?
Also, where is the right place to post a wanted ad? In terms of looking for someone to do a long distance ride with you?
