No rain. Highest temperature was 95F on a rest day.

Good timing for big stream flows and green landscape. I started on the first warm sunny day after a long spell of cold rainy weather.

I got tired, but had no soreness or injury.

No flat tires. Only one major bike problem...

A cracked front rim threatened to end the tour prematurely.

Day 5 was the longest. Days 6 and 10 were the hilliest. I needed the rest on day 7.

It was good to finally get a close look at a neighboring region I avoided.

Successful theme. I visited every covered bridge in the Willamette valley.

About 10% of roads had heavy traffic with no shoulder. Most of the route was pleasant.

Waterfalls were great, but it was unfortunate that I visited Silver Falls State Park on a Saturday. I didn't have the energy to see more smaller waterfalls at McDowell Creek County Park but don't regret aborting that excursion because the next two days were the hardest of the tour. I didn't want to be too tired when starting those days.

Historic state parks were a disappointment. Few historic buildings and interpretive signs.

My original route plan connected the covered bridges and ignored the Willamette river. Later I added a day to the route to see more of the Willamette river. I'm glad I spent two nights on the bank of the Willamette River and detoured north to get more river views. Minto-Brown park was a pleasant surprise. Independence Inn was awesome for the river view, boutique style, and the adjacent historic downtown.

I'm glad I avoided the wine country in the northwest Willamette Valley. It's too hilly and has too many entitled drivers.

The Willamette valley is more intensively farmed with high value crops than the rest of Oregon. Hop farms were a novelty. I had never seen hops up close but they are a regular sight in the northern Willamette valley. Grass seed farms are less unique looking but it was my first time to see them up close as well. Mostly in the southern Willamette Valley.

The Northern Willamette valley has many impressive lines of rose bushes along fences in rural areas. Somehow I never took a picture of an example. I have not seen that any place else in Oregon.

Other than Brownsville, historic towns weren't really on my radar screen. But I stumbled upon the oldest farm towns in Oregon. Mt. Angel, Gervais, St. Louis, St. Paul.

The route has many hills but steep grades are rare and mercifully short.

Overall, the tour gave me a satisfying combination of covered bridges, waterfalls, rivers, forested hills, farm valleys, and historic towns.

Volcano views were rare and very distant. This is a valley tour, not a mountain tour.

The green landscape was a refreshing contrast from the Brigham Young's Promised Land tour that was in a high desert climate.

I liked the simple logistics of a tour close to home. It was still very expensive, though.

This was a rare tour to have a network of back roads in most places. Complex navigation was a problem for me. Most of my bike tours have far fewer turns. I don't have or want a GPS on my handlebar. I have never used spoken navigation instructions, and don't think I would hear the instructions in loud traffic.