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On Bicycling: Escape From Inferno Vegas to Roll Along Oregon's Pacific Coast – LVSportsBiz

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On Bicycling: Escape From Inferno Vegas to Roll Along Oregon's Pacific Coast – LVSportsBiz



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Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.

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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer

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The ocean views are so expansive, visually-dramatic and smile-evoking that I don’t even notice or feel the burn in my leg muscles as I slowly grind up another roller-coaster hill on my road bicycle along Pacific Coast Highway route 101 along the Oregon coastline.

It’s the best artwork in the world, natural scenery of an amazing array of landscape features from oceans and large trees to beaches and dunes.

They’re all knitted together in a wonderfully aesthetic way.

And the sunny, 70-degree temperature doesn’t hurt either. Click on images two and four to share the visual road scenes of the Pacific.

I’m cherry-picking the most gorgeous natural segments along the Pacific Ocean on Oregon’s coast to bike.

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The PCH is a north-south road with lots of bends and turns and a healthy number of uphills (and downhills).

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My favorite under-the-radar Oregon ocean town is the small community of Port Orford, which has a working port anchoring a genuine and scrappy town of about 1,200 or so.

If you zipped through this town on Highway 101, you might not think there are many residential homes.

But I spent Saturday evening bicycling around some legit neighborhoods that even have an official bike route running through them.

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On Saturday, a local bookshop in Port Orford had its door open. So as I biked on Rt 101, I poked my nose in the open store and there was a poetry reading in action.

I was invited in and even offered pie and water.

I stayed in a motel attached to an eatery and it had a nice kitchenette, too.

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On Sunday I arrived in the Coos Bay-North Bend area to anchor myself for eight nights at an AirBNB at a lovely guesthouse tucked on a steep, forested hill overlooking a river, bay and even dunes where quads are flying through the sand at a national dunes preserve.

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In 1989 during a cross-country solo bicycle ride and bike tour down the Pacific from Seattle to San Francisco, I crossed the Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge.

It was a ridiculously narrow bridge with zero bike lane, a short wall on the sidewalk section and a sidewalk that was also very narrow.

This is Highway 101, so you had mammoth RVs, giant 18-wheelers and logging trucks rumbling literally inches from you as you crossed this bridge.

And 35 years later in July 2024, not one iota was different from this bridge that offered a terrifying experience for bicyclists.

Coos Bay has a funky Empire District that I biked through to reach a small fishing village named Charleston.

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I thought Bill Walton would have loved this tie-dye store. RIP Big Man.

Back off Highway 101 were those dunes and I enjoyed biking on the federal dunes road that had access points for campers and their sand-eating quads.

One camp area even had space and corrals for horses.

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On Monday, it was off to Newport, home of two of my favorite businesses — the Rogue brewery and a fun, author-themed hotel called, Sylvia Beach Hotel.

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Rogue serves up my favorite beer by far — the hazelnut brown ale. It’s a world champion beer. That’s not my opinion. The hazelnut brown ale nectar really is a world champion beer. The sign says so.

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The drive to Newport included a visit and stop at Cape Perpetua, a dramatic section of the land along Highway 101.

It’s mesmerizing.

 

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The bridges of 101 can be seen from many angles.


 

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Oregon

There’s Good News: A beaver birthday celebration at the Oregon Zoo!

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There’s Good News: A beaver birthday celebration at the Oregon Zoo!


PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Zoo’s favorite “branch manager” celebrated a milestone this week, turning 15 years old.  Despite his age, Filbert is still active and doing well. According to the zoo, his care team is keeping him moving with extra swim time and creative training sessions — even spreading out snacks to encourage him



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5-star QB Will Mencl reveals what led to Oregon commitment

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5-star QB Will Mencl reveals what led to Oregon commitment


The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.

Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.

However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.

Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.

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“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”

Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.

“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”

Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.

The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.

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Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.

Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.



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Wine Enthusiast names 2 Oregon sparkling wines among best

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Wine Enthusiast names 2 Oregon sparkling wines among best


‘Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,’ a Wine Enthusiast contributor said of an Oregon wine

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Wine Enthusiast released a list of the top 40 sparkling wines around the world in 2026 – highlighting two bottles of bubbly from Oregon.

“While it can seem like you need a fortune to enjoy high quality sparkling wine, you honestly don’t. Excellent affordable bubbles are being produced around the world, often in places you might not expect. Each of the selections on our inaugural Top 40 Sparkling Wines list delivers personality, freshness, and celebration for under $75,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.

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Wine Enthusiast divided its list into separate sparkling categories including, Champagne, Italian Bollicine, American sparkling and bottles $25 and under.

Snagging a spot on the American sparkling list: Corollary Wines in McMinnville.

Corollary Wines’ 2021 Momtazi Carbonic Rose Pinot Noir scored a spot on Wine Enthusiast’s list of the top 40 sparkling wines of 2026 (Courtesy Corollary Wines).

Corollarly’s 2021 Momtazi Carbonic Rosé Pinot Noir scored 96 points from Wine Enthusiast.

“This is a Peter Max print of a wine, with vivid aromas and flavors to match the wine’s electric Kool-Aid color. It is filled to the brim with aromas and flavors of macerated strawberries, candied rose petals, apricots, and a bitter note similar to watermelon rind. Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,” wrote Wine Enthusiast contributor Michael Alberty.

The second Oregon winery to earn a spot on the list: Lytle-Barnett in Dundee.

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Wine Enthusiast also gave Lytle-Barnett’s 2018 Brut Rosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay 96 points.

Lytle-Barnett’s 2018 Brit Rose Pinot Noir Chardonnay was named among the top 40 sparkling wines of 2026 by Wine Enthusiast (Courtesy Lytle-Barnett, Lester Tsai).

“Bubbles as persistent as an eight-year-old with a question deliver aromas of dried rose petals, macerated strawberries, and a touch of fresh hay and talc. This 70/30 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend is packed with flavors of lemon zest, Honeycrisp apple slices drizzled in caramel, and a dollop of raspberry,” Alberty wrote.

The nods to Corollary and Lytle-Barnett come as the wineries recently helped launch Method Oregon, a nonprofit made up of 50 Oregon wineries aiming to turn Oregon into a global sparkling wine destination.



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