Eclipse Trip Report

I set out at 7 am as planned expecting to turn around once the traffic got scary. There were lots of bikes on the route. One called out my name.

Matt Wear and I work together at New Relic. He spent the weekend route planning while I invested in this wiki site. I said, ok Matt, I'll follow you. gps

Matt posted to colleagues:

The route was great. I started with one of the bike to the eclipse routes and modified it pretty heavily. I used google maps street view to ensure that there was always a decent shoulder on the road.

We did hop on I5 in Wilsonville for one exit to get us across the Willamette. I randomly chose a park in Hubbard which turned out to be great as well. We even had a picnic table there.

I would say the traffic was light on the way in. Although, a car did honk at some bikes ahead of us once (there will always be one of those guys).

On the way back traffic bunched up here and there between Hubbard and Wilsonville, but it was manageable and clear sailing after that. There was a decent wind out of the North on the return ride.

I followed up:

I would have been in trouble without Matt because I simply hadn't done enough homework. We had one two mile stretch without shoulder. Matt had a plan B but we didn't take it because traffic was light there. I definitely rode better on the way down.

I got freaked out watching my bike computer's range calculations on the way home and ended up taking the Wilsonville SMART 2X bus up I5 where traffic was just fine by noon.

SMART, South Metro Area Rapid Transit, has triple racks on the front of half-sized busses. Now that is bike friendly.

The one honk was the only low point in the ride. And they weren't even honking at us. The group of maybe five riders well ahead of us had one rider riding two abreast. The "honker" thought this was so out of line that he gave them five long blasts. This because he had to cross into the absolutely empty oncoming lane to get safely around them. I know that type. They hate bikes.

I'm reminded of the Cycle Oregon route through Southern Oregon where the late night drunks filled up a pickup with empties and smashed them throughout the bike paths before we arrived the next morning. The irony is that our fees kept the Southern Oregon high school athletic programs running that year. There. I got that out of my mind for now. On totality: It was just like the pictures. It was as if, right on time, someone dimmed the lights and projected a picture of an eclipse up into the sky. I can see where that would be pretty magical for someone who had never seen a projector work.

If I had it to do over again I would have brought binoculars. Of course nobody recommends that because of the retinal risks. Please, forget I even mentioned this before our next eclipse.

Our destination:

I set out to Woodburn but ended up following Matt to Hubbard. We watched from the park. I excused myself to recharge my battery then returned to the park for totality.

See Topo Map or Aerial Map

See Eclipse at 35,000 Feet for routing complexities of a viewing flight by commercial aircraft.

See 2000 Years of Eclipse Forecasts recounting progress toward to-the-second predictions.