Sutherlin Inn Memorial Weekend Ride (last weekend in May) - join us!

Every year BF owners Leign & Ivy Robinson and Charlie DeRego host a delightful Memorial day weekend based around their hotel in Sutherlin, a 1 hour drive (or 3 hour ride) from Bike Friday.

The weekend includes easy flattish riding along the incredibly scenic Umpqua river, pub stop with a riverside deck, picnic stop on the riverbank with an old iron waterpump to fill your bottles, ice-cream stop an absurd 15 minutes later, a winery stop and lunch at a real old fashioned soda fountain to enjoy maltshakes "like you will never forget" in a quaint hamlet full of antique stores. Whew, sounds like a hard day's riding!

The only cost for the weekend, should you choose to stay at the Sutherlin Inn, is a super accomodation special: double room for single rate including a bagel breakfast. All other meals are at your own expense. Lee and Charlie just want people to get together and have fun.

Read about the Inn and ride here, and see below for a full description of the two routes. The rides generally start out 9am Saturday and Sunday though this is flexible - the first stop is the coffee shop a couple of minutes down the road.

Each year some folks from Bike Friday do it and occasionally ride the 40 miles from Eugene to get there.

Reserve direct with Sutherlin Inn. Toll-free 1-800-635-5425 Fax: 541-459-6815.

ROUTE DESCRIPTION OF TWO BICYCLE RIDES STARTING AND ENDING AT SUTHERLIN INN, Sutherlin, Oregon, I-5 Exit 136

ROUTE 1 - RIDE EAST OF INTERSTATE 5
DISTANCE: 25.6 miles

UPSIDE: Sutherlin main street, stream crossing, historical town of Oakland, Tolly's restored soda fountain, covered bridge
DOWNSIDE: Miles of delightfully similar scenery

Starting from the Sutherlin Inn parking lot, head north toward Central (Sutherlin's main street). Turn right on Central and head east through town, noticing especially the White Horse Coffee Company on the right at the far end of town.

White Horse is 1.9 miles from the motel and has a plaster image of the company's trademark winged horse out front. Owner Leo Christian buys beans from around the world and has them shipped here. He roasts them and ships them all over the United States. He roasts the beans for the three different coffee blends we use at Sutherlin Inn in our gourmet coffee, and we grind those beans fresh daily on our premises.

Beyond White Horse, you'll see a sign for Bike Route 13. We're not sure exactly what the route designates, but we're pleased that somebody was thinking about a bike route out here and thought enough about it to erect a sign. If you ever find out what Bike Route 13 is, please let us know. We're curious. We've asked around and have yet to find anybody who knows.

When you reach Southside Road and see a sign pointing toward Cooper Creek Reservoir, you'll have come 3.2 miles from Sutherlin Inn, and you'll be riding the best road for bicyclists and cars on the whole route. The shoulder is wide, and the road is flat. Don't turn off this wonderful road. Keep right on going until you see a sign pointing left to Fair Oaks and the Fair Oaks Grange. This intersection is six miles from the motel. Turn left here and ride two-tenths of a mile to Fair Oaks Road, where you turn right.

Follow Fair Oaks Road another two-tenths of a mile to a fork in the road, where Driver Valley Road takes off to the left. Go left here. You'll soon find yourself on a short, steep hill down to a little bridge and stream. Pause on the bridge if you like, but be mindful of the hill you face as you cycle up the road from the stream. It's the steepest hill of the day, just as steep as the hill you descended to get to the bridge. If you stop on the bridge, you'll lose your momentum and have to proceed up the steep hill from a standing start. If you don't stop on the bridge, you'll have a running start up the steep hill, but you'll also have missed the opportunity to reflect on the beauty of this site. Take your pick. What's important to you?

Driver Valley Road is a big horseshoe of a road leading first one way (northeast) and then the other (southwest). When you notice the road turning and going back the other way, you'll have come approximately eight miles from the motel.

You'll see country and more country as you continue along Driver Valley Road. There are no noteworthy landmarks to mention here. There are hundreds and hundreds of trees battling for life against invasive Spanish moss. You can't miss them. They're a sad sight to see.

When you come to Elkhead Road, you'll have cycled 12.3 miles from the motel. Continue another three miles to Oakland's city limits, where you'll see a fork in the road. Bear left there onto Locust Street and follow it into quaint downtown Oakland, a town preserved much as it was years ago. Oakland has a museum, a hardware store, a number of antique stores, and several restaurants, each worth a look.

Our primary destination in Oakland is Tolly's, a soda fountain out of the past combined with a restaurant in touch with the present. Tolly's prepares its chocolate malts the old-fashioned way, with real ice cream, milk, chocolate syrup, and dry malt. If you have never tasted a real chocolate malt before, here's the place to try one. They're authentic. They're good, very, very good. Be forewarned, though. A Tolly's chocolate malt will spoil you. A so-called chocolate malt at a fast-food restaurant will evermore taste like glop to you in comparison to a Tolly's malt because that's what it is. You'll spend days and years looking for a malt equal to the one you enjoyed at Tolly's. The rest of the food at Tolly's is good food, too. A Tolly's chocolate malt and a Tolly's hamburger will change the way you dream of such things forever.

Downtown Oakland along the route we have just traveled is 16.1 miles. We have another 9.5 miles to cover to return to Sutherlin Inn along the most scenic route.

As you exit the front door of Tolly's, turn right. Then turn right again (north) onto 1st Street, which is the old north-south highway, Highway 99. Before I-5 opened, all the traffic headed north to Portland or south to Medford used to take this highway.

As you might imagine, Highway 99 was one busy road then. It passed right through downtown Oakland and downtown Sutherlin, and they were bustling with travelers. The ladies would be shopping. The gents would be cooling their radiators. The kids would be enjoying a chocolate malt in Tolly's.

You could head south here on your bicycle and take Highway 99 directly back to downtown Sutherlin if you wanted to, but you'd be missing a pleasant ride through some beautiful countryside. Come along and take the scenic route.

After cycling north along 1st Street for four-tenths of a mile, you'll arrive at a one-lane bridge. Cross that bridge when you come to it, and look both ways across the majestic sight of railroad tracks and river running side by side.

Beyond the bridge, make a left on Green Valley Road, and ride nine-tenths of a mile to I-5. Cross I-5. 1.9 miles along Green Valley Road from I-5, you'll come to an intersection where Green Valley Road goes off to the right. Don't go right. Go straight ahead, keeping the stream on your left. Further on, you'll come to another intersection. Continue straight ahead once more, and soon enough you'll see the Rochester Covered Bridge, where you may want to stop for a photo or at least take in the scenery.

When ready, cross the bridge. In short order, you'll come to a fork in the road. Bear right there onto Stearns Lane, and take it to Highway 138. Turn left onto the highway and take it back to Ponderosa Way, the first street on the right after you pass under I-5. Turn right there and proceed to Sutherlin Inn. Congratulate yourself. You have just cycled 25.6 miles.

ROUTE 2 - A RIDE WEST OF INTERSTATE 5 DISTANCE: 42.7 miles

UPSIDE: Rochester Covered Bridge; 20 miles along scenic Umpqua River; one-lane bridge across the Umpqua; well with hand-cranked pump for drinking water; Henry Winery; historical Calapooia Church
DOWNSIDE: Some hills; 3 miles along a dangerous section of Highway 138

Starting from the Sutherlin Inn parking lot, ride north toward Central (Sutherlin's main street). Turn left on Central and head west along Highway 138. Ride under I-5. Stop at Ray's Food Place on the right to assemble the makings of a brown-bag lunch.

Continue one mile along Highway 138 until you come to Stearns Lane, where you will see a sign pointing to a covered bridge. Turn right. At the first intersection, which is really a fork in the road, turn left, and you will see the Rochester Covered Bridge come into view directly in front of you. The bridge is 2.1 miles from Sutherlin Inn.

Stop to enjoy the bridge and stream. Cross the bridge and ride nine-tenths of a mile to Green Valley Road, also known as Highway 23. Turn left.

All told, you'll be riding 6.7 miles along Green Valley Road to Highway 138. When you see the sign for Metz Hill Road, you'll have ridden three of those miles along Green Valley Road, almost half way. Do not turn on Metz Hill Road. Use it as a distance marker only. Stay on Green Valley Road.

At the end of Green Valley Road, you'll be turning right. Before you do, stop and consider the road you'll be traveling. It's Highway 138, the main highway from I-5 over to the coast. It's a heavily traveled two-lane road, and its shoulders are somewhat narrow at this point. Be especially alert when riding the three miles along this road. Ride single-file, and stay as far to the right as you can. You'll be going downhill most of the way. Resist the temptation to speed and drift over to the left where cars and trucks travel at high rates of speed. Stay in full control of your bicycle to avoid danger and a possible catastrophe.

Once you're in the right frame of mind to brave this three-mile stretch of Highway 138, get going. Go as far as Tyee Road, also known as Highway 33, and turn left there. If you find yourself crossing the Umpqua River, you have gone too far; return to Tyee Road on the Sutherlin side of the river. Even though this road is much less traveled than the highway you just left, you must still be careful. There's enough auto, truck, and tractor traffic to cause you grief if you're not alert.

Tyee Road takes you 21.7 miles all the way to Umpqua proper. Along the way, you'll see Myrtlewood Island (3.8 miles from 138), a boat ramp (6.5 miles from 138), a one-lane bridge (9.6 miles from 138) leading to Loon Lake, James Wood Boat Ramp and picnic area with portable potty (14.3 miles from 138), and Douglas County park and picnic area with portable potty and hand-cranked pump for drinking water (17.3 miles from 138). The last of these makes the best picnic area, that is, if you can wait that long for your lunch. It's tranquil. It's further off the road than the other options. It has drinking water, and it has a portable potty.

When you come to Fanchin Lane, you have come twenty miles along Tyee Road, and you may notice that the river and the road part company here. The river goes off toward the south; the road goes off toward the east.

Tyee Road continues 1.7 miles to Umpqua proper, which is nothing more than a country store where you will find the snacks you know and enjoy and try to avoid. Avoid them if you can. If you can't, nip in for an ice cream bar or a bag of chips and a soft drink. Turn right off Tyee Road when you see the store. Stop there and drool over the snacks or indulge yourself. Turn right at the store corner onto the Sutherlin-Umpqua Road, heading west. Nine-tenths of a mile from this corner is the Henry Estates Winery, 35.3 miles from the start of the ride. Tasting there is complimentary. Henry's wines, both whites and reds, are award winners. Some of them are "estate bottled," made from grapes grown on the winery property. Take your time and savor the atmosphere of this little country winery in a beautiful setting.

From the winery, retrace your way nine-tenths of a mile along the Sutherlin-Umpqua Road back to Umpqua and then continue along the road, also known as Bike Route 18 (no, we don't know what Bike Route 18 designates; do you?), east toward Sutherlin. The distance from the Umpqua store to Sutherlin Inn is 6.3 miles.

A little more than halfway along the way, you'll see Scott Henry Road. Turn left there and travel two-tenths of a mile down this country lane to the historical little Calapooia Church. Imagine horses and carriages surrounding it every Sunday when it was the focus of everybody's week, the place where farm families came from miles around to worship, strut, and share gossip and news. No longer the home of an established congregation, nowadays it's a popular place for romantic, storybook weddings.

Return to the Sutherlin-Umpqua Road, turn left, and cycle the three miles back to Sutherlin Inn. You'll pass a marshland on your left, a prime area for birders, and you'll see Sutherlin's old drive-in theater which has been metamorphosed into an RV park. Beyond the RV park, the Sutherlin-Umpqua Road joins the now-familiar Highway 138. Take it back under I-5. Turn right on Hospitality Way, the first right turn after I-5, and you're back where you started, at Sutherlin Inn.

Congratulate yourself. You have just cycled 42.7 miles.

Shortcut to this article: http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/sutherlin

For more information, follow this link http://www.cloud9inns.com/cloud9_012.htm