Portland, OR to Northern Oregon Coast Circuit

The route from PDX (into which we flew) out to Astoria was noisy, grimy, and filled with busy traffic -- a result of a poor route selection on our part.  We also faced some pretty stiff headwinds coming up the gorge from the ocean.  Instead of taking Hwy30 to Astoria, we should have taken the more enjoyable Hwy202, which is attained by taking Hwy26 to the Banks-Vernonia Hwy.  The coast was perfect, as was the weather (late August).  And Oregon bike lanes are everything they are reported to be.  Lots of great little restaurants along the coast.  Upon returning to Portland, we opted to take the Amtrak back down south, which was comfortable enough and far less hassle with respect to getting our bikes on board.