Meet the Road Blog – briantowey.com
I’m in the car business and I’ve been paying for ALL of my personal medical expenses for 15 years – extravagant things, like if I get the flu and need to see a doctor…
Just a note to the UAW guys – the rest of us in the business take our pay and benefit cuts when sales drop. As in, that day.
But if this provision made the new Challenger run harder, longer – it was a good investment and I am opposed to removing it.
Last night, I “raced” a bicycle at PIR for the second time this year. What a freakin’ cluster…
I’m a Cat 4, and I get what that means. But, for God’s sake, is it so hard to pedal a bike around a 60 ft wide race track without running into stuff..? PIR is quite wide, but not without obstacles – some care and planning are warranted. It’s not like everybody doesn’t know what is possible…
Turn 7 was re-profiled for 2008 and it took a while to figure it out in the car (2nd gear, third gear, early turn in and throttle, rotate the car, etc…) – but everybody did. The bikes nearly came to a stop there once last night and half the field never did work out that the track narrows at exit. WTF?
Team mate E1 and I tooled around at the back of the field after the 2nd prime – both of us having concluded that we wanted to reduce our exposure. The field was crawling and at times became 10 riders wide at the front (blunt end). Every time I queued up to get into a rotation the third guy would sit up… That’s fine – I had helped to organize the chase last week and this time my plan was to let others do some work to see if I had any sort of sprint (I don’t). Maybe everybody else had the same plan… again.
But, we’re Cat 3’s and 4’s – and this isn’t the friggin’ Tour de France… It isn’t necessary to force your way between the barrier and the field in a sprint for a possible 10th place finish!!! If you F***ed up the last lap and started the sprint 30th – you can give it a go again next week…
Somebody is going to get hurt, and I don’t really feel like I need that right now. Racing is always a calculated risk – and the calculation says to stay away from PIR for a while. But, I need to race something, somewhere… I’m not much of a climber, but maybe the Tabor series will be more sensible – everybody has to work or get shelled there… Maybe stick to the Cat4 40+ races and the harder road races or mountain bikes. Maybe I should focus some more time on making sure a fast car is available for Rose Cup… aaah, the warm, friendly and happy security of a roll cage…
On the up side, Wes ended up 3rd on the night – pretty good for a Cat4 in a 100 plus rider Cat3/4 field. Well done.
But, In the end, E1 ended up on the ground on the second to last lap after riding us back to the front with 2 laps to go. It sounded like somebody had steered him into the barrier on the finish straight – why go straight when you could be having so much fun turning..? One of the teenagers elbowed his way between me and the barrier (using his body as first notice that he was coming through) and sprinted into the back of two guys who had sat-up after mis-timing their final efforts. Brilliant!!!
I feel like I dodged one (or eight) last night.
Pretty much as close as you can get to a flat ride around here. The ride starts next to one brew pub and ends next to one that has outdoor seating (there are coffee shops near by, as well).
The route follows old Hwy 30 out to The Dalles and continues east to an 18 mile loop that starts by following 15 mile creek on lightly traveled rural roads.
This is a ride that friends have used as a training ride for newer riders preparing for long (100 mile plus) organized rides.
There are plenty of amenities (including food, drink and a bike shop) available in The Dalles, so it is an easy ride to do unsupported.
77 Miles and 4,200 feet of climbing.
Most of the rides from Hood River cover roads to the south (up the Hood River Valley), or to the east (including The Dalles). This ride does a little of both and covers one of the epic Gorge climbs (7 Mile Road).
This ride never exceedes 2,000 ft in elevation, which makes it a good early season option for avoiding poor road conditions and colder temperatures. In the summer months The Dalles can get very warm and this ride is best done on a cooler day or with an early start.
This ride starts at Egg Harbor (a good place for breakfast, and you’ll need it) and ends in front of 3 Rivers Grill (a good place to sit on the deck and have a frosty cold beverage).
From Hood River you work up the West Side of town The roads are light with traffic and pass through orchards and one of the town’s golf courses. You then cross the Hood River and up a short hill toward the town of Odell before crossing The Valley to the east for the ride back down East Side Road.
Now, back in Hood River, travel east on old Hwy 30. Hwy 30 from Hood River to Mosier is now a very wide bicycle trail (beware of loose dogs, unatended children and bewildered tourists – travel cautiously). From Mosier keep riding east on lightly traveled roads through more orchards, with views of Mt. Adams and the Columbia River. This portion of the trip includes a twisty 2 mile decent from Rowena Crest that is so beautiful that many car and motorcycle manufactures choose to film advertisements there.
Once in The Dalles, work your way over to 10th Street and continue east to Cherry Heights Road (near the center of town). Cherry Heights gains about 1,000 ft before the first little decent and then rolls before beginning a decent back toward the west end The Dalles and the start of the 7 Mile Road climb.
Here you can turn left and tackle the 1,500 ft climb (it’s kind of a shortcut) that will then decend to Mosier. Or, you can continue another mile or so back to Hwy 30 and return to Hood River over the same route on which you came. The climb is worth the trouble, however. There are spectacular views any time you choose to look for one and the decent will permit you to reach speeds that you have believed are myths told by comentators of bicycle races on television
If your goal is to see it all in The Gorge, this is a good start..
72 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing.
This ride starts in downtown The Dalles – next to a Taco Del Mar (good fast food) and a Tavern that serves a decent burger and sandwiches (Zims).
Leave The Dalles to the east and complete a loop on lightly traveled roads through farm land.
37 Miles and 1900 ft of climbing.
This ride starts at the Lyle Cafe (small town diner) and immediately climbs 5 miles to a plateau filled with ranch land.
Wind your way toward Goldendale, then return down the Klickitat river which has some of the most scenic road you’ll find anywhere.
64 Miles with 3200 feet of climbing. Possibility of windy conditions.
This is a nice 34 mile ride from Troutdale. We got kind of lost and had to ride in the dark a bit, but this is a great scenic route with lots of little climbs.
Close to town with relatively little traffic once you’re off the main road.
Brian
Highway One/Big Sur
California
Alfred Hitchcock could not have conjured a scarier highway—122 miles of vertigo between Monterey and Morro Bay. Two lanes for nearly its entire length, the road meanders along cliff tops poised high above the Pacific, including 33 bridges and countless drop offs into liquid oblivion. Anyone faintly squeamish should not attempt to drive this route.
I stumbled across this and any scary road might be interesting on a bike and fun in a car…
Last weekend was the first edition of the Cherry Blossom Classic stage race in The Dalles, Oregon. This race is basically an early edition of the Mount Hood Cycling Classic using stages that are all east of Hood River to take advantage of more reliable spring weather.
3 days, 4 stages and a boat load of climbing.
I was invited to ride with what turned out to be the biggest single category team ever to race out of a bicycle shop in Hood River – Mountain View Cycles. We were mostly a bunch of old guys racing in Cat 4. It was an impressive showing with some great support and I am very optimistic that it will grow into a good team with some nice results.
Day one was a 38 mile circuit race of two laps with a lot of wind. Day two was an 8 mile time trial in the morning and a criterium in downtown The Dalles Saturday afternoon and a 55 mile 5200 feet of climbing road race on Sunday (map above).
I finished mid-pac, which is better than I would have done a year ago. I must earn redemption!!! – at least I’m headed in the right direction…
I shall return.
BT
This ride starts in Mosier (5 miles east of Hood River) and travels 9 more miles east to Rowena, by way of the “Rowena Loops”. At the finish point for this ride you can cross under the freeway to Mayer State Park on the Columbia River.
The Loops are a 600 ft decent (and climb back) on a 2 mile stretch of road that is very popular amongst car manufacturers for use in advertisements.
The round trip is 18 miles and has 1,500 feet of climbing.
