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  My Tours: Pac West Tour 2006 - Research

I enjoyed by Pac West Tour so much last year that I just have to do it again.  But I don't want to do the same route.  There is so much more to see why do it again.  I kicked this around for sometime before I really decided what I wanted to do.  So I will be going back up the coast but this time I will finish in Fort Bragg instead of start there.

The Route

This has been the fun part, coming up with the route.  At first I decided to start in Crescent City and then go all the way down to Fort Bragg.   The only problem was getting to Crescent City.  I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a way that I could get there by public transportation.  The only problem is it's not that easy.  You can get all the way to Arcata via Greyhound, then you'll have to wait for the county bus that comes once a day to take you the last bit to Crescent City.  The more I looked at it the more logistics I had to figure out.  So instead I decided to look further North.

That is when I came up with the Roseburg idea.  A good friend of mine lives in Roseburg, OR.  Roseburg is right off of Interstate 5, that means that Greyhound will probably go straight there. After a bit of more research and phone calling I had much of it figured out.  Greyhound goes to Roseburg from Sacramento 3 times a day.  Next was to figure out how to get from Roseburg over to the coast and hook up with the Adventure Cycling Associate Route. For that I went to my favorite research sites, Crazyguyonabike.com and the Touring Archive on Phred.org.  I was able to find a few entries on both.  After a few more emails I had what I needed to know to make the route complete (thank you to Wayne Estes and John Meier for great information).

So the plan right now is to Ship my bicycle and trailer up to Roseburg the week before I start the trip.  Then I'll take the Greyhound to Roseburg, OR.  Stay in Roseburg for a day to get things put together and visit with Friends.  Then I'll head out the next day for the ACA route along the coast, once at the coast I'll head south all the way to Fort Bragg.

The Destinations

This is always the fun part, trying to come up with the places to stay.  While there are a number of places to stay along the coast it can be tricky to space them according to the amount of time you want to be on the road, the towns that are near them, and the climbing that will be involved.  I've tried to tailor the length of the ride to an average of 60 miles each day.  So far I have come up with the following destinations:

  • Roseburg to Bullard's Bar SB = 85 mi.
  • Bullard's Bar to Gold Beach = 60 mi.
  • Gold Beach to Del Norte SP = 65 mi.
  • Del Norte SP to Patrick's Point SP = 50 mi.
  • Patrick's Point SP to Scotia = 65 mi.
  • Scotia to Richardson Grove SP = 57 mi.
  • Richardson Grove SP to Fort Bragg = 55 mi.

This gives an approximate total of 437 miles for the trip.

The Equipment

For the most part I have all the equipment I need from last years trip.  I will spend some time going over what I do have and what I might change a bit.  The first thing is that I will be using a different set of cycling shoes.  I will be using my Specialized MTB Shoes, not the Shimano Touring set I have.  The MTB shoes I have are much more rigid and allow me to really crank into the pedals if needed.  I do need change a few things like my pants.  I took a pair of levis with me, I need to have something a little lighter.  I also had a very heavy sweatshirt, not this time.  

Menu

This was the one part I was lacking in last year.  I didn't spend enough time on this and will be sure to do so this summer as I get closer to the trip.  One thing I found was that I enjoyed snickers candy bars much more than any kind of energy bar, and as far as I'm concerned I got just as much if not more energy from them.  I actually enjoyed drinking more water than Gatorade this time around, I'll be sure to have both.

Maps

I've already got the section that will get me from Crescent City to Fort Bragg, that was purchased from last year's trip.  I needed to buy the Oregon section, which I've already done.  Next I am acquiring some of the local maps that will get me from Roseburg, OR to the Oregon Coast.  The route is pretty straightforward, it's just being away of what is in the area.

 

 

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