07.26
A lot of awesome times were had in Portland this week, but writing it all up would require a lot of effort (effort I should be devoting to other things at the moment), so I’ll put that off for a few more days.
In the meantime, here are maps for the four rides I did.
Tuesday: On Jim’s recommendation, I climbed Montgomery and did a circuit around Council Crest, then rode out to Skyline. I was originally intending to go out to Newberry Rd on Skyline, but got a text from Andy about dinner, so headed back early to meet up at the Blue Moon.
Wednesday: I picked this route mostly to say I have been to Washington. With the exception of the portion on the Marine Drive trail, it was pretty urban, and the Evergreen Highway on the Washington side was in especially poor condition. I wouldn’t ride this route again (much less recommend it), but still had fun anyway. Unfortunately, since this route involved paths are are closed to car traffic, I can’t seem to embed the Google Map directly. Here is a link: http://bit.ly/cWo49K
Thursday: Went out with Jim and George (who were on a tandem!) to ride a picturesque route on the old scenic highway between Hood River and Rowena in the Columbia River Gorge. Along the way were nifty things like tunnels and overlooks! Also, the descent (and climb) on the backside of the Rowena Overlook was a blast… even with scary crosswinds. Again, since parts of this are on dedicated bike trails, all I can do is link to the map: http://bit.ly/cWjCQC
Also Thursday: After an excellent lunch in Hood River (and a nap in the van), Jim and George dropped me off east of Multnomah Falls to ride back to the city. This was probably the most scenic ride of the week. The various waterfalls were, of course, worth stopping for, and Vista House is, well, aptly named. The descent between there and the Sandy River was pretty consistent, so kept the bike in highest gear for a loooong time. Pretty sure my route back through the east side of the city wasn’t the best, but I was going on dead reckoning at that point. Managed to get a flat at some point on Halsey. Thankfully the rental place had given me a nice toolkit and spare tube.
So roughly 120 miles in four rides. Throw in all the commuting I did, and I’d call it a successful week. I was planning one more ride up on Skyline again for Saturday morning before I left, but ended up spending the whole night out with Austin and friends, so nixed it in the end. While some of these involved significant (at least to a flatlander like me) climbs, they were all pretty gradual grades. I think the steepest portion might have been Montgomery. At first I was anxious about whether I’d be able to climb for such an extended period. Turns out I had nothing to fear. It’s not like I was racing them, and they weren’t that long, or steep.
On a side note, I rented my bike from Waterfront Bicycles and couldn’t have been happier with them. They were always helpful, and very forgiving when my seatpost and saddle got stolen on Tuesday night (replaced free of charge).