Oregon Tour 2014 Day 6: Eugene to Albany

The best thing about today's ride was the sheer easiness of it: only a little over 50 miles, gorgeous weather with nary a head wind, and pretty damned flat as well. Bonus: very little traffic. At times I almost thought we were in Iowa, so bucolic and green it was. Not much excitement today. Very hard to capture the landscape with my camera, the Willamette is really a very pretty valley, but seemingly nondescript in a photograph. Perhaps that's just the photographer.

Near Harrisburg, Oregon.

Shedd, Oregon.

Somewhere or other.

Not many amenities in hardscrabble Albany. Stayed at a bare-bones hotel and ate and drank at the same establishment, the Calapoola, Brewing Company, down by the Willamette River.

They had a pretty decent assortment of brews, including something one does't see all that often, a chili beer (which I had to at least sample). I can't even remember what I ate, but it filled whatever void the beers didn't.

Pat and I each had the Santi Amber, a decent beer, naturally made with local ingredients as its description reveals: 

SantiAmber 

ABV: 5.5%
Rich in color, a medium-bodied brew with a soft velvety slightly sweet caramel finish, moderately hopped with Willamette and Cascade for a well balanced Amber. 

The day was a little over 52 miles with traversing Eugene and a couple of sidetracks. If you look at the elevation profile on the left, you can easily see what made the ride, shall we say, less than challenging. Tomorrow we will make up for our shabby hotel with a good campout.