No Meandering Here, (But some there)

June 23, 2022

Creswell to Cottage Grove Two Ways

So today is the beginning of the end of this tour for Jim and me as we stopped meandering and are focused on getting my bike to a mechanic without incurring too much more damage to it.

Our Comfort Inn offered an excellent breakfast, as usual, and something unique-a touch-free pancake maker. It made and served me two yummy pancakes with a hand wave. Could this be the future of short-order cooks?

We sent Amber, Rich and Cheryl off on a meandering, 4-bridge 35-mile route early and then we hung about the hotel for a couple hours. Then we took a straightforward, definitely non-meandering course directly to Cottage Grove.

Cheryl, Amber and Rich preparing to meander

The weather was sunny, 60’s, slightly breezy; a perfect riding day. Our route was flat and almost traffic-free except for a small section. We rode through areas filled with American flag-flying ranchettes and occasional orchards.

Once Jim and I hit town, we checked with the motel and, as expected, our room was not ready. So we took off to look at 3 bridges here in town that we will be by-passing tomorrow as we go straight to Eugene.

The Centennial Bridge is a bicycle and pedestrian bridge spanning 84 feet over the Coast Fork of the Willamette River alongside Main St. in Cottage Grove. It was built in 1987 by volunteers using mostly timbers salvaged from the Meadows and Brumbaugh bridges, which had been dismantled in 1979.

This wooden and steel cable suspension bridge crosses the Coast Fork of the Willamette upstream from the Centennial Bridge. Originally built in 1965, it has been rebuilt 4 times and it no longer swings. But it was still fun to ride over it.

A little further upstream stands the Chambers Railroad Bridge, one of only 8 remaining covered railroad bridges in the US and the only one west of the Mississippi River. It was built in 1925 to carry logs into the JH Chambers Mill and lumber out of the mill. The mill was closed in 1950 after a fire burned it down and the last train went through the bridge in 1951. The city of Cottage Grove bought the bridge in 2006 and restored it at great expense. It is quite an impressive structure!

The next four bridges were seen by our meandering cohorts, Amber, Rich and Cheryl.

The Currin Bridge was built in 1925 to replace another bridge and was named after an early pioneering family. A new concrete bridge was completed in 1979, and the Currin Bridge was closed to all but pedestrian traffic. It is the only covered bridge in Oregon painted 2 different colors, with its white portals and red sides. However, I couldn’t find any information as to why it was so painted.

The Dorena Bridge was built in 1950, spanning the Row River at the upper end of Dorena Reservoir. It was bypassed by a concrete span in 1974. The town of Dorena, named for Dora Burnette and Rena Martin, is underwater at the bottom of the reservoir.

The Stewart Bridge was built in 1930 and has been damaged and repaired several times. It was last reopened for pedestrian access in 1996; it is currently inaccessible though.

The Mosby Creek Bridge was constructed in 1920 and named after pioneer David Mosby. He settled near the current site of the bridge, near the east end of Cottage Grove. It had a major restoration in 2002 and receives regular maintenance from the county and remains open to traffic.

Here you can meander along with Amber, Rich and Cheryl:

Today's ride: 16 miles (26 km)
Total: 379 miles (610 km)

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