Jimmy and Leslie’s Mini-Adventure

Today’s Date: September 21, 2025

Today’s Start Point: Yachats, Oregon

Today’s End Point: North Bend, Oregon

Today’s Miles: 78.97 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 488.97 Miles

When I woke up, I was not very optimistic about the weather conditions with the forecast predicting two waves of showers, ending at about 1:00 pm. Since I rode through a couple of hurricanes last year, I figured that I might as well put on a rain jacket and rain booties and go.

The roads were wet and the air was heavy, but it was not bad. I rolled through Yachats and headed south. I would be passing through Searose Beach, Heceta Beach, Florence, Dunes City, Gardiner, Winchester Bay, and Lakeside, with our final destination in North Bend, Oregon. Just as yesterday, Les would go ahead in the car and we would compare notes at the end of the day.

Just south of Yachats I passed through Cape Perpetua, which provided ample iconic views of the Oregon coastline. On the Cape is Thor’s Well (must be a Marvel fan around). According to the Yachats Tourism Website:

“Also known as the drainpipe of the Pacific, the well is actually a hole in the rock that only appears to drain water from the ocean. According to some researchers, the Well probably started out as a sea cave dug out by the waves, before the roof eventually collapsed and created openings at the bottom and top through which the ocean sprays. The huge hole is likely only around 20 feet deep, but it still manages to produce amazing sights.”

It sounded interesting until I read that someone drowned in the Well three days ago, the third death since 2017. No thank you, I would rather ride my bike on shoulderless roads with cars, campers and trucks flying by.

Past Cape Perpetua, I started a two mile climb to the Neptune State Scenic Viewpoint. I took the climb slow and steady, with the best part being the accompaniment of a continual chorus of barking sea lions all the way up. Once to the top, it was definitely a scenic outlook in all direction. Looking north I could see the Heceta Head Lighthouse and to the south more rugged coastline. The descent from the Viewpoint was fast and fun, I never had to touch the breaks as I got up to 45 miles per hour.

I continued south along the coastline as the weather began to clear, glimpses of the sun peeking through. I passed through a tunnel north of Heceta Beach which is just “loads” of fun (the quotation marks are meant to indicate sarcasm). Before you enter the tunnel on your bike, you hit a button that causes lights to flash on both ends of the tunnel indicating that a cyclist is present. There is no shoulder in the tunnel so I just rode along hoping that the flashing lights did not give motorists an incentive to cover their “Hit a Cyclist” on their roadkill bingo card.

In Heceta Beach and Florence I rode through a residential neighborhood with houses with electric gates and “No Trespassing” signs. Obviously, I had come across a rich people zone in their natural habitat.

From Florence to Winchester Bay (a distance of about 25 miles), I passed through the Oregon Dunes Recreational Area, which means dirt bikes and ATVs. During this stretch, the dunes were shielded from me by hills and a thick forest. Only the sound of the whining engines of the motorized vehicles made me aware that the dunes were on the other side.

As I moved inland, the climbs became more numerous and steep. What surprised me about this area is the amount of large lakes that I passed by. At times it reminded me more of Colorado than my recent experiences in Oregon. It was a nice change of pace, almost splitting the ride into two parts, coastal and forest.

Once in Winchester Bay, I got off of Highway 101 and took a side road that ran back along the Pacific. The road took a left and climbed two miles with a nine percent grade to Umpqua Lighthouse, one of the few remaining working lighthouses along the coast. About halfway up the climb, the pain in my knees reminded me of my 65 years. I started to think that I have seen a lot of lighthouses and maybe I could skip this one, but no, don’t worry, I continued on. I would like to say that the lighthouse was the most spectacular lighthouse I have ever seen, but in the end it was a lighthouse. Lake Marie, which was 200 feet further up the climb, was better.

After that it was time to ride to our final destination of North Bend, Oregon. The road was relatively flat and, I have to admit, uninteresting. Without having to worry about photos, I could just ride. My drivetrain sounded awful, and I knew, or at least hoped, that a good cleaning would fix the problem.

When I was about five miles from North Bend, I met another bike traveler going my way named Keenan. He was in his 20s and had started in Utah with an ultimate destination in Northwest Washington. Once he got there he saw that the weather looked pretty good, so he headed south along the Pacific route. I asked him how far he was going and he said as far as his money would allow. I liked him a lot, his speech peppered with “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” speak-dude, awesome, etc. He told me he had never met anyone with the name Keenan and he was afraid that when he did the person would be an a&$hole. Ah, the fears people have.

The last challenge of the ride was the bridge that crossed Coos Bay. It was two lanes with no shoulder. It was also very steep with a 100 yard grate at the top. As with the tunnel, I had to hit a button that would set off yellow flashing lights alerting motorists to my presence. It was a heads down sprint to get over the top, and then a sprint down the descent into North Bend.

When I got to the hotel Leslie was already there. She had found a place for lunch on the bay with fresh oysters. I cleaned my drivetrain (thanks to supplies from the local dollar store) and it was off to dinner at a brewpub in Coos Bay. I am happy to say that I have yet to eat any fast food on this trip unlike last year (another thanks to Les).