Meet the Road Blog – briantowey.com
Ken Sutherland is in the car and is making steady progress. Ken had a very good start but had to throw out the anchor at the exit of turn one for a big tank slapper being executed (sans pirouette) by the Evil Genius car, number 63.
At the moment we are 3rd in class with the second of the Honda Performance Development CR-Z’s attacking. The other HPD Honda is the class leader.
A couple of years ago, a big fall storm / flood destroyed several bridges on Oregon Hwys 35 and 26 making it impossible to reach the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area for several weeks. During the same storm, the bridge that crosses the Hood River just west of Parkdale (the middle fork, I think) was lost, as well.
In order to use the route that crosses over Vista Ridge to Red Hill Road between Lolo Pass Road and Parkdale, it is necessary to cross the river. There are no homes west of the river, so nobody knows (or cares particularly) when the road will open again. But, it is kind of a cool ride and we’ve all ridden it many times as it was previously part of the Road Race Course for the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic.
Eric Sletmoe had crossed the river recently from the Parkdale side and was able to persuade the rest of us that it would be a good route for the Saturday morning Hood River Group Ride that leaves from Ground Coffee Shop at 8am. Lara had made the portage, as well, and 8 o’clock is too early to argue about stuff like this, anyway…
The ride is pretty incredible, as it uses a lot of National Forest Service road that pretty much goes to “nowhere”. The tricky part is that around here “nowhere” is usually “up there somewhere”, so there’s going to be some climbing.
I haven’t totally figured out the NFS road labeling system, but I think it’s something like this – 2 digit numbers are paved, 4 digit numbers are spurs of 2 digit numbers and if they end with a zero, they are kind of paved. Avoid the odd numbered 4 digit variety – we did some four digits with zeros – they were just fine.
In any case, we made it safely on pretty good roads, and since we crossed the river relatively early in the day the water level was pretty low. Most of us took our shoes off so that we could walk across the temporary “bridges” that had been made and our feet never even got wet.
We stopped at The Taqueria for some burritos afterward and it all made for a pretty good day.
I pushed for this to happen, so I’m not really going to blame the other guys for not talking me out of it. But, today against our collective better judgement, and because the race organizer said that the snow was rapidly melting, six of us drove up to Mount Hood Meadows and embarked on a mission.
There is almost always some comedy involved in a long bike ride. The perps today were Tony Dirks, John Kenney, Eric Sletmoe, Mike Jones, Jeff Lorenzen and me – on this day, AKA The Six Stooges.
It was a pretty simple idea, really – ride the Road Race course for the
upcoming (starts a week from Thursday) Mount Hood Cycling Classic stage race. What could go wrong? MHCC Race Website.
It’s a lot of climbing, and in this case hiking. This is a stage that belongs on a Grand Tour (it would be a hard day in The Tour of California, anyway), and I feel fortunate (usually after a couple of martinis) to have the opportunity to race a course like this – and in my own back yard!!!
It makes sense to have a look first, and a look we had. The race organizer (Chad, who is rapidly becoming one of the most prolific race organizers in the country) now knows the true situation (where the rubber doesn’t actually meet the road because there is 3 ft of snow between them), and there is still time to sort it out. The expedition, it turns out, was a brilliant idea.
I needed a stop at Home Depot anyway (for some things related to food), and they have a big parking lot – so, why not ride from there…?
This ride is good for a rainy Hood River day, or when you want to ride when there are stiff westerly winds (it will blow you up the biggest hill).
Anyway, not too long with some climbing and great views.
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
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
