My partner and I woke up at 4:00am and loaded up our touring bikes with coffee, burritos, sandwiches, and moon pies that we’d made the night before. Our route took us to the Trolley Trail to Oregon City to Highway 213 until Wagonwheel Park, south of Mulino. At the time, we didn’t know that this was one of the BikeToTheEclipse.com suggested routes. Nor did we know that it was pronounced “Mul-EYE-no.”
The trip there was blissfully quiet until Highway 213, where eclipse traffic was in full effect. We often outpaced the stop-and-go car traffic, despite riding slowly because we were wary of right hooks. The single most harrowing moment of the trip happened just south of Oregon City, when the driver of a semi truck veered entirely into the bike lane just in front of us, forcing us off of the road. Thankfully, because traffic was moving slowly, we had enough time to react.
We were some of the first people to arrive at Wagonwheel Park. As we waited for the eclipse, we were happily surprised to see group after group of people on bikes arrive! I stopped counting at thirty bikes. Most of the people that we talked to mentioned that they had followed the BikeToTheEclipse website to get there.
After the eclipse, the ride back to Portland was a completely different experience. Northbound 213’s shoulder was narrow to nonexistent, and the traffic was moving much faster. Despite this, the number of bicycles on the road together created a relieving sense of safety in numbers. From Wagonwheel Park all the way back to Portland, we were always between other groups of bike riders. The groups would regularly change as people peeled off to take breaks in the shade, but at no point were we the lone bike riders on the road. Because of this, the return trip was much more fun and enjoyable than the trip there.
How was your eclipse trip?
