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Cruising Oregon's Scenic Byways
In my case, the tall ship was a Triumph Sprint and the star was good ole Rand McNally—though it's tough to get lost when there's only one road. I also found my share of wheels kicking and winds singing. Gray mist, too...
I must go down to the seas again,to the lonely sea and the sky,And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sails shakingAnd a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.- John Masefield
There’s something compelling about coast roads. Drawn primordially to the water’s edge, we seem to want to cruise coastlines whenever we can. When I moved to British Columbia 15 years ago, one of my few disappointments was that no coast road exists. And for good reason. The BC coast is a collision of mountains and deep-sea trenches: steep slopes and sheer walls of rock tumble straight into the ocean.
Oregon’s long, unsheltered coastline differs dramatically from the fjords and inlets that characterize much of the coastline to the north. Long windblown beaches sweep out into the Pacific as breakers roll and crash on rocky headlands. Outside the summer months, weather becomes an issue in motorcycling the coast, which is notorious for Pacific storms that swirl in a 1,000-mile arc, drenching the land strip between the ocean and the Coast Range. It’s no accident that some of the world’s largest temperate rainforests, and tallest trees, are found in these parts.
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