[ORRando] Three Capes Workers' Ride Report

[cecilanne at comcast.net]

Yesterday,  I rode the course for next weeks 3 Capes 300.  I will eventually write up a full report for my blog, but for those of you who care only about the details of the course and whether there are any road hazards to avoid, here is a report. 


The ride starts out at the Grand Lodge and heads toward Highway 6 by way of Pacific Avenue, Ritchey Road, Stringtown Road and Gales Creek Road.  There's nothing exceptional to report about those roads except as always to be on your guard for pick-up truck drivers who don't know the laws about safe-passing distances.  The shoulders on Highway 6 are wide, but there is still a lot of gravel on them, so watch out for that.  The route does an out-and-back on Timber Road - there seemed to be much less gravel on Timber Road than was there last weekend - perhaps the Birkie Monsoon washed it away.  There will be a staffed control on Timber Road just past the first really steep switchback (we make you work for your snack).  The route then backtracks to Highway 6 for the cross to the coast.  From Timber Road to just outside Tillamook, the shoulder on Highway 6 ranges from wide to nonexistent.  There are several narrow bridges where you will have to ride in the roadway.  Just about a mile from the summit there is road construction and Jersey barriers have been placed in the shoulder so, again, you will have to ride in the roadway.  Fortunately, it is only for a short distance.  The main hazard on Highway 6 is the enormous numbers of yahoos hauling their ATV's out to Sandlake for a day of drunken eco-system destruction.  Watch out for the ones hauling trailers, they don't seem to realize (1) how wide their trailers are and (2) that trailers sometimes swing back and forth. 


The road into Tillamook is good - nice wide shoulders, decent pavement.  The first stretch of Bayocean Road is also nicely paved but after that it deteriorates pretty badly  - LOTS of potholes!  After you turn off onto the Cape Mears Loop, the road surface becomes very rough, just in time for that 2-mile climb at 6 to 9 %.  The road is narrow, and so is the shoulder, so be careful.  From Cape Meares to the climb up to Cape Lookout, the road surface ranges from decent to crappy, with lots of potholes, so be careful on the descents.  The road up to Cape Lookout has a bike lane, but is filled with debris.  The road down from Cape Lookout has some very dangerous potholes and sinkholes - in some places the right side of the road has sunken quite drastically, so be very careful if you like to go downhill fast - some of the holes are hard to avoid.