It gets dark early, but that doesn't stop our rides. Last night, five COGS riders showed up for a beautiful ride 20 mile ride on nearly empty streets under a nearly full moon.

On July 10th, six COGS riders (Wayne, Gus, Mike, Alan, Liam and Pam) met for breakfast at the Hotel Oregon in McMinnville and then headed north on the West Side Road for eight miles, where we began climbing 1,700 feet up Turner Creek Road.  The climb was challenging with all of us carrying our camping gear and grinding uphill on gravel, but what a descent to Trask River awaited us on the other side!  This may have been when I broke a spoke on my rear wheel, which I didn’t discover until the next day.  Wayne had a tire puncture on the road to Trask River C.G as well.   These were the only mechanical mishaps any of us had for the rest of the tour. After setting up camp we all waded into the Trask River for a cold bath.  Wayne’s brother Larry brought us some beer, a perfect end to a really great day of cycling.  Total for day 1: 42 miles and 3,270 feet.On the second day we rode through Tillamook, stopping for groceries on the way and then rounding Cape Meares to Cape Lookout State Park, where the hiker biker camp was equipped with lockers with USB ports to charge up our electronics, a bike stand with tools and a tire pump, a hot shower, and an ocean beach- all for $8/night!  Total for the day: 35 miles and 1750 feet.Day 3 was the longest day, and the route up the Nestucca River Road from Beaver was spectacular, with little traffic and the wind at our backs we climbed 1800 feet alongside the Nestucca River for about 30 miles to the summit at McGuire Resevior (McMinnville's watershed), and descended on Panther Creek and NW Meadow Lake Roads.  One rider (this reporter) opted out of returning via busy West Side Road and instead chose to climb some more hills and grind some more gravel on Hill Road North back to McMinnville, where we spent the night at the Hotel Oregon before heading home the next day.  Total for the day (including Hill Road North): 66 miles and 4600 feet.

All agreed this was one of the best three day tours we'd ever done, if not the best.  Wayne Johnson planned and led us on a spectacular loop from McMinnville out to Cape Lookout and back, mostly on roads with little or no traffic and incredible scenery all the way.

Last night Wayne took 11 cyclists on 10 bikes on a wonderful loop around Magnolia and Queen Anne.  The sky was threatening to make us wet but we only saw a few drops post ride.

We started at Evanston Plaza in Fremont, which can be seen nicely in this google photo:  https://goo.gl/maps/si6mJ9VJyJqQcSBM7

Thanks, Wayne!

- Gus Jansson

Four COGS riders shrugged off the morning drizzle and departed from the Coleman Dock in time to catch the 9:10 ferry at Fauntleroy - 13 miles away via Alki.  We were on time, however the ferry was not.  That gave us some time to chat with an intrepid gentleman cyclist from Topeka, who had arrived at Seatac at 4:30 that morning and was on his way to San Diego.  Some of us were a bit jealous, and we provided tips on routes to the Oregon coast.  From Southworth we pedaled the 13.4 miles to enjoy lunch in Port Orchard with John's niece, a retired Navy captain who owns the Deep Draft Brewery in Gorst (https://deepdraftbrew.com).  We should plan a ride to sample some product, maybe on an overnighter ;-)

Gus, Arnie, Linda, John and Mike (aka Godzilla) lunching at "The Dock" in Port Orchard

The weather had changed from cloudy to partly sunny as we left Port Orchard aboard an electric passenger ferry across Sinclair Inlet.

Aboard the Kitsap Transit ferry across Sinclair Inlet- yes, there is a bike rack!

In Bremerton we stopped for a moment to pay our respects to the USNS Turner Joy - famed for involvement in the "Tonkin Gulf Incident."  We crossed over the bridge to Manette and enjoyed rolling terrain along the water through Illahee and Brownsville.

The little port of Brownsville on Port Orchard Inlet

Near Keyport, this reporter's beloved 1997 Rodriguez "Kermit" slipped a disk (cassette lock ring).  So that was the mysterious rattle I’d been hearing!  I had no tools with me to deal with it, but there was a bike shop six miles away in Paulsbo (Infinity Cyclery) where a young and very capable bicycle chiropractor was able to get Kermit up and running with minimal delay.

We stopped for some caffeinated rocket fuel at Hot Shots Java in Paulsbo, where two riders decided to take a shortcut (that turned out to be not-so-short) to the Bainbridge ferry and two riders were still feeling frisky enough to take on Baker Hill.

Gus and Mike opting to walk across the Agate Pass bridge on the narrow sidewalk

All four rejoined aboard the ferry back to Seattle.  It was a somewhat challenging 60 mile ride with some hilly, lovely riding between Bremerton and Bainbridge (the three ferry rides add another 15.6 miles).  Look for this ride to be reposted later this summer, as it is one of my very favorite local routes.

Sunday, May 1, Grace led us on a wonderful ride in Tom’s honor.  It was very nice to see so many COGS riders as well as friends and family of Tom come out for the ride.  Especially nice to see Tom’s niece and her husband, Lerryn and Nick, in their matching Schaefer Beer bike jerseys riding on Tom’s old tandem, a bike that Lerryn knows very well as it was built by her dad, and Tom’s brother, Bill. 

Thank you, Grace!