Did you have much rain today?
Here in Oakland, Oregon it rained about 50% of the time.

Yes, I agree. Ultimately it is best to reserve the walk-on and hand-off option whenever you can. This trip that option was full even when we booked almost 5 months in advance. The Coast Starlight is a really popular route so it might be easier on some of the less traveled trains.
I think the bikes will be there in Portland though; the attendant was sympathetic and implied he would make an effort to get them on an early train.

Pretty disgusting that Amtrak can’t even tell you if they’ll be able to load the bikes on the train.

I will provide one once it is back on the bike.

Do you have a photo of the bag on your bike?

I'm pleased to see you found the Amazon Creek bike trail in Eugene, which goes right by Bike Friday and Euphoria Chocolates.

Their Salsa bikes are designed for gravel so they are more ruggedly built than carbon racing bikes and came with fender and rear rack mounts.

We are looking forward to meeting you as well!

Amtrak has always guaranteed that they will get you to your destination but not when. On our very first trip with them, something went wrong with the engine and we were about 3 hours late for a connection. But they held the connecting train so we wouldn't miss the connection, and made up the time in the wee hours of the morning when everyone is supposedly asleep. I have heard that they sometimes use bus bridges to get people around as well if necessary. We have learned that once you board, you are on "Amtrak time" and it works best to simply relax and enjoy the ride and not worry about the time. The bike box issue is new so I guess we'll see what happens.

Looking forward to see someone else’s take on our homeland. I’m sorry we won’t be a home to meet up. And that’s really disgusting about Amtrak and the bikes. Even on the busy west coast corridor they can’t really be relied upon as a bike option. Good luck on making it to Portland on schedule! The last time we rode this line north we had an unplanned two or three hour layover in K Falls.

For good reason. It’s my favorite also.

Did Jim mention that you are most loyal Amtrak users and should get priority service? Not that it would help, but it's true!

I look forward to reading your journal.

How are the carbon fiber folks going to carry their gear? Do carbon bikes have eyelets for racks?

I hope all goes well, and I look forward to meeting all of you in Springfield.