amgen people’s coast classic

Completing the Coast Route – North Bend to Brookings

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
People's Coast Classic Day Five-43

Exploring the coastline in Cape Blanco State Park.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

I’m back in Portland now, but I’ve still still got 114 stunning miles of the Oregon Coast Bike Route to share. We didn’t have any connection to the outside world on our last night in Arizona Beach on Thursday night. Then yesterday, after our final, 50-mile final day on The People’s Coast Classic, we had to hustle into a shuttle bus in Brookings in order to get back to Portland at a respectable hour.

So below are my photos and a few thoughts from the last two days of the ride…

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Day two on the ‘People’s Coast’ – Getting off the highway

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
People's Coast Classic - Day Two-51

I found this fun trail near Boiler Bay.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Today’s ride was all about what happened off Highway 101.

The 50 or so riders on the People’s Coast Classic woke up early from an RV Park campsite on the outskirts of Tillamook to tackle an 80+ mile route that took us all the way south to Newport. Along the way, we sampled some prime (as in, off the highway) sections of the Oregon Coast Bike Route. Even with one of the three capes of the legendary Three Capes Scenic Route closed due to a landslide (some chop-happy loggers clear-cutted a section of forest right above the road and there was a landslide as a result), the route was still something I won’t soon forget.

Netarts Bay Road was an early-morning treat. The pelicans and sea gulls far outnumbered the humans…

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Getting started down the ‘People’s Coast’ – Astoria to Tillamook

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
People's Coast Classic - Day One-2

Few towns can match the scenic charms of Astoria.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The fourth annual Amgen People’s Coast Classic got off to a near-perfect start today. The ride is a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation and everyone on the ride has been impacted by some form of arthritis in one way or another. Some people are riding for their children or other family members who have been stricken with the disease, others are riding for friends, and some are riding for themselves — using bicycling as a key part of their ongoing treatment.

The PCC is smaller than its sister ride, the California Coast Classic. There are only about 50 riders here this year. Add in all the support staff and volunteers and we’re still shy of 100 people. But what this ride lacks in size, it more than makes up for in the essential elements of any great organized ride: the support and food has been top-notch so far; the people are fun and friendly; and the route is world-class (even if the infrastructure itself is subpar in many sections).

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