Doug64

My wife and I traditionally do a short tour with our daughters each summer. Occasionally we are able to include a longer rides like two months in Europe. It is all a matter of timing. The older one, Lori, is a teacher, who usually teaches summer school, and the younger one, Megan, has a busy work schedule. This year started out different than any previous year and just kept getting more challenging.

We decided on a route that offered some flexibility, and would be about ten days. We would start from our home and make a loop around the upper Willamette River Valley. There is an Oregon Scenic Bikeway at the southern end of the loop that could vary in distance when used as an out-and-back.

Lori called us about three weeks before the start date to tell us that she had tested positive for Covid. She was vaccinated and boosted, but as a teacher this was her second experience with the virus. She was pretty sure she would be well enough to ride on the start date. She is tough, and is a good athlete. She still runs marathons and participates in Spartan races. We looked at options for shortening some of the days, and eliminate hills if necessary.

Megan called two days before the start and told us she had tested positive for Covid. Her symptoms were more severe, and she was still dealing with the effects after we finished. She rooted for us from the sidelines.





At the start we had three days of 95F, which we seemed to handle pretty well. On the third day, I was struggling a little on the hills, but attributed it to the heat. Two days later, with cooler weather, we started heading north. I was struggling even harder on easier hills, and was starting to get worried. The last 18 miles to Eugene really did me in. I could not make it up the last hill. I got off the bike and tried without much success to walk it up the hill. My wife and Lori were at the top watching the struggle. My wife hopped off her bike, rolled it close to Lori to hold, and trotted down the hill. She grabbed my bike and pushed it the rest of the way to the top. I could barely walk up the last part of the hill to the top. Fortunately, the last five miles into Eugene were relatively flat. We had planned on stopping at Lori’s alma mater to see the preparations for the World Championship Track and Field events.

At pizza that evening I started shivering uncontrollably and was running a fever. Lori said that I’d probably contracted Covid, and that riding the next day “would not be smart”. We still had four days planned to get home. Luckily, we reserved two rooms when there were four of us intending to stay at the motel.

The women rented a car for the next day and shuffled some gear and me home. They went back to Eugene to return the rental car, and for the remainder or our gear and bikes. I tested positive for Covid. The other issue was a cut I got on the back of my leg during the early days of the ride. It was a minor incident, hitting the back of my leg on the chainring while moving my bike. It became seriously infected, and my lower left leg had swollen to about twice its normal size. It was hard to sort out the Covid symptoms from those of the infection. The antibiotics seem to be working on the infection, but I’m waiting for my energy to return.

As we headed home we realized how lucky we were to be at a location that we could get rooms, medical care, medications and transportation. Thanks to two smart, strong and capable women things turned out OK.

BTinNYC

This damned virus.

stardognine

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. 😟 I'm sending a prayer for you and the family. 🙂

Doug64

Thank you, it is much appreciated.

mtnbud

That's a huge bummer. Did you start on the southern end of the bikeway and were heading north?

Doug64

No, we started from our place in Sweet Home and headed south to Dorena Lake then out Row River Road as far as we felt comfortable. Our route back north would have been on the west side of the valley. We just had to get our daughter back in 9 days. She had to be back in Montana for the summer session.
There is the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway that ends in Eugene, but we did not use much of it. The Scenic Bikeway I talked about is the Covered Bridge Scenic Bikeway starting in Cottage Grove heading east.

jamawani 

So sorry to hear ....
Wishing you a rapid and 100% recovery.
(So you'll be ready for you next trip.)

indyfabz

“May I have 10,000 marbles, pleased?”—Kent Dorfman, aka Flounder

Get well soon. I almost certainly had it back in April of 2020. So I feel your pain.

mtnbud

That's nice country over there. The Row River rails to trails is pretty nice. I really like the ride along Brice Creek past Dorena. You can extend past Brice Creek to Oakridge on paved roads, but it's a heck of a climb...

Doug64

you can also go south up Culp Creek, and come down the Steamboat Creek Road to the North Umpqua River, one of the most beautiful rivers in Oregon That is also a lot of climbing.

indyfabz

I think that’s what we did during Cycle Oregon in 2007. We camped at Dorena and eventually ended up in Oakridge for the night. I remember a lot of climbing. Chris King was traveling with the tour and held court in Oakridge with his entourage. The next day we did Aufderhide then down to Rainbow. Great ride.

For those who did not get my Animal House reference, the homecoming parade scenes were shot in Cottage Grove.

stardognine

Didn't know that. I know I've been through Cottage Grove a few times, but I've only seen Animal House a couple times. 🤔
You can easily go a long way in the wrong direction in that area, lol. Or at least I can (and have). 🙄😁

Tourist in MSN

It is my understanding that there are covid meds that can make covid less severe. Have you talked to any medical staff or pharmacists? If it may help prevent long covid, that may be a useful thing to pursue.

Take care.

I just added some home covid tests and a thermometer to my list of things to pack and bring on my next trip.

mtnbud

Yep! That's the route! CO does a great job of finding those remote low traffic scenic roads. The Culp Creek Route that Doug mentioned is awesome too. It's surprising that CO hasn't done that one as far as I know.

indyfabz

Aufderheid was terrific. Gradual until the last 3 miles up to the Box Canyon campground where we had our lunch stop. It was really cool up there, and the ground was wet. It was humid, so I was wet from sweating up the climb. People were using the cardboard dividers from the boxes that held the lunches to sit on. The Forest Service had made a nice campfire. People were packed close like sardines trying to get some heat. I didn’t want to get back on the bike, but it was nicer by the time we got down to the dam. I think it’s called Cougar Dam. Went over McKenzie Pass the next day.

mtnbud

Yes! The Aufderheide is terrific. Another nice ride from the north end of the Aufderheide is to head east to McKenzie pass and head over to Sisters. If you time it right, you can ride it with no traffic as they plow it out around late May, but don't open the snow gates until around the 2nd week of June or so. I beleive CO has also used that road, but after it is open to cars. Traffic isn't too bad on McKenzie pass. It has a lot of tight hairpin corners so it's closed to semi trucks, trailers and big rvs. Most everyone who drives it is doing it for the scenery and is driving slow.

indyfabz

That’s what we did. Rainbow to Sisters on the last day of the event. It drizzled in the morning but cleared up for the scenic part of the climb. We rode east to west in 2002. That year the event went from Nyssa on the Snake River border with ID all the way to Florence on the coast. McKenzie west to east is noticeably more difficult. Both times were in mid-September. Very little traffic.

Doug64

One of Eugen's many bike paths. It is a good way to get through town.


It does not take long to find a quiet rural raod.


It was starting to warm up.


A "cool tie" bandana, they really take the edge off the heat.


We do not usually pitch our tents that close together. There were not many level spots so we just got cozy


The Oregon's Covered Bridges Scenic Bikeway is east of Cottage Grove. There are 5-6 bridges.


I found a good John Grisham book.

stardognine

Smart thinking, on the ties. 👍 I've been using the same old Indian patterned bandana, as my face mask, since way way back. 🤔 When it's in the 90s or 100s F, I like to douse my ballcap in water, and wear it wet. Which is a little dumb, if you wear glasses. 😎🙄😁

But that bandana was just what you needed last year, during the forest fires.

Johnathonbenfie

This sounds like the trip of my dreams, now I want this too, I just don't know how to make it happen because my bike has been broken for a while and I can't seem to fix it. Besides that, if you will have the opportunity for such trips again then I will ask you to let me know.