[ORRando] Three Capes Workers' Ride Report

cecilanne at comcast.net cecilanne at comcast.net
Mon Apr 6 05:27:15 PDT 2009


Yes, the bridge - thanks for pointing that out, Marcello  -I forgot about it - and considering the fact that I took a tumble on it on a rainy night last November, you'd think it would be seared in my memory . . . . which further reminds me that there are a number of one-lane bridges on Little Nestucca River Road on which oncoming cars sometimes fail to yield to cyclists who may already be on the bri dge . . . 




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marcello Napolitano" <marcello at napolitano.com> 
To: orrando at orrandonneurs.org 
Sent: Monday, April 6, 2009 2:12:59 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific 
Subject: Re: [ORRando] Three Capes Workers' Ride Report 

Sounds like the sections of grooved pavement on Hwy 22 past Sourgrass 
Summit are the same that were there last year when I did the preride. If 
that is the case, there is usually a narrow section of non-groovy 
pavement on the right side. 

For those like me who finish a 300k in the dark, half way though Spring 
Hill Road (about 10 miles from Forest Grove, I would guess) there is 
still a "temporary" one lane bridge. There are two two-feet-or-so-wide 
planks across the bridge, spaced for car tires, that are smooth and easy 
to ride on. The rest of the bridge is made of bumpy wood sections, and 
there is a small step between the smooth planks and the rest of the 
bridge. Be careful if you ride across this bridge in the dark, 
especially if you are in a group and riding side by side. 

Marcello 

cecilanne at comcast.net wrote: 
> 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. 
> 
> From Netarts to Pacific City, there is nothing remarkable about the 
> roads - no obvious hazards other than motorists.  On the climb to 
> Sourgrass Summit on Hwy 22 there is one section where the road drops 
> off very steeply to the right with no guard rail.  The descent on Hwy 
> 22 starts of fine but the road then gets very bad.  When you see the 
> sign that says "Grooved Pavement," they aren't kidding.  Some of the 
> grooves are deep enough to catch a tire and send a rider to the 
> hospital, but most of the are just annoying and a potential source of 
> snake-bite flats. 
> 
> There is construction on Grande Ronde Road - the signs say Local 
> Access Only, but bikes can get through.  There is also construction on 
> Hwy 18, and the worst news of the day is that the turn-off onto 
> Yamhill River Road that we used to take shortly after passing the 
> casino has been blocked, and we now must ride another mile or so on 
> Hwy 18 before we can turn onto the relative peace of YRR.  The 
> construction on Hwy 18 makes this stretch particularly unpleasant. 
> 
> The rest of the route is unremarkable for hazards - lots and lots of 
> RR tracks, some at very bad angles.  On last year's 600 we had a 
> number of riders crash on wet tracks, so if it is raining be very careful. 
> 
> And because our weather for the pre-ride was spectacular, I can pretty 
> much guarantee that for you, it will be raining  . . . . 
> 
> Cecil 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
> 
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