I needed 80 miles of riding something this weekend, and the weather on Saturday was supposed to be tolerable - cloudy in the morning, increasing showers during the day. To that end, I settled on the Bridge of the Gods ride - haven't done it since last June, it has the requisite distance, and its very pretty. Not only that, it ISN'T Washington County or the Willamette Valley, which I've seen a lot of this winter.
Friday was 82 degrees and sunny. Woke up Saturday at 5am to hear this strange sound. Must be wind in the trees, I thought. Nooooooo. Rain. Major, persistent rain. After staring at radar maps on the computer, I figured it wouldn't be THAT bad. Grabbed my rain jacket and wool jersey, ate breakfast, packed up (pbj on matzo for this ride) and waited for Jason to show up. And waited. He eventually did show up, having gotten up at 5am, made the same astute weather observation I did, and changed out most of his gear, including his bicycle. He wanted one with fenders, and his Sekine (an early 80's Japanese bike assembled in Canada by First Peoples) had returned from Bike Gallery after its drivetrain transplant (courtesy of Sekai the organ donor).
Headed east to McMenamin's Edgefield in Troutdale - still raining, but 54 degrees. Found Cecil, got organized, and headed out, shortly after 7am. We went north to Marine Drive, enjoying a stretch on the bike path down along the river, then crossed the Columbia on the I-205 Bridge.
It is quite noisy, with the bike lanes in the middle of the bridge, so no conversation until the other side. Then heading east on the Old Evergreen Highway, until Camas. The road is in perhaps not the best condition, so strict attention to the road surface was in order. Then we were in Camas, with a brief stop at Burgerville to eat something before the climb up to Cape Horn. The rain stopped while we were in Camas. West again along the river, watching all the trains (freight and Amtrak) go by, and enjoying the scenery once we were into the National Scenic Area. First it was meadows and lakes out to the river, but we soon started climbing through mossy forests with lots of creeks and waterfalls. A brief drop, then back up. I always am asked if riding a bicycle on SR-14 is awful. Generally, no. There is usually a good shoulder, except for a few areas where the road is just very narrow because the hill falls away steeply. Drivers are mostly polite, but that semi that pulled off to let some cars by, and then pulled back on and passed me at the same time... The guardrail was uncomfortably close, and the truck wasn't passing me fast enough.
Then past the first clear area, more climbing through forest, another clear area, and we started the descent to Cape Horn. It was gray and cloudy today, but we still stopped to take pictures of each other and the view. The rain started up as we pushed off, so I took the descent very, very prudently. Last time I did this in the rain, the road was very slippery. Fortunately, not so today. Continuing on west, passing through various Lewis and Clark Memorial sites, then Skamania, then Beacon Rock State Park, where we had another stop. Still raining. After Beacon Rock is it not very far to North Bonneville and Bonneville Dam, and then a few more miles to Bridge of the Gods, where we cross back into Oregon.
The Bridge of the Gods is a metal-grating bridge, and it had been raining quite steadily. We decided to take the lane so we'd all have room to manuever. I had some initial squiggles on the grating and then it was ok. Jason and Cecil, with their narrower tires, were having a bit more difficulty. Except for the one car that felt the need to pass us with an oncoming car, it was ok. No one fell down. However, we were all happy to be done with that part of the ride! Cecil said it was one of the scariest things she's ever done on a bike. Paid the toll, then rode to the deli in Cascade Locks to find lunch. I had food with me, but got a nice big hot chocolate. The customers and staff wanted to know where we'd started our ride, and wondered if we were freezing. By then we'd ridden 50 miles. While we weren't freezing, Cecil and I did treat ourselves to dry socks.
Off again, noting that the rain had ceased. Made it to the end of Cascade Locks and realized I had left my hydration pack, with wallet, keys, phone, and camera back at the deli. Ack! Zipped back and picked it up (quiet place there. I'm sure they do better business on nice days), and then we headed west on the bike path that paralleled I-84. It was gorgeous - mossy trees arching over the path with lots of mist. This path is one that has to be done with someone who knows where to go, the first time. We told Cecil not to get too far ahead :-) Under the freeway through a tunnel, climb up the stairs to the fish hatchery, go up the freeway off-ramp (conflicting signs - Wrong Way and Bicycles Go This Way :-) ) through some more campgrounds, under the freeway again, and finally, just before the path dead-ends, climb over the guardrail onto the I-84 shoulder.
After a mile of that, we got off at the Warrendale exit, and headed west on the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. In previous years, the pavement has been deteriorated to abominable. But at the end of last summer they repaved it. Oh MY! Smooth pavement the entire way! Past Ainsworth, then the kind of boring stretch, eventually ending up at Multnomah Falls. We stopped to take pictures, eat something, and admire the falls. What with all the rain, and it being spring, they are pretty spectacular. Remember, while Niagara Falls has volume, Multnomah Falls has height :-)
Off again, barely missing getting hit by someone driving poorly in the parking lot. I let out a scream, which he heard and stopped. Then Cecil lit into him. Then off again, past Wahkeena Falls, etc, etc, etc. Wow, that new pavement was nice! And it wasn't raining....until we passed through Shepperd's Dell, right before the last big climb of the ride.
Passed Latourelle Falls, then started the climb up to Crown Point. It took me 20 minutes, which is about right. We then stopped at Vista House, and watched as the sky opened. Enormous raindrops, with extra wetting agent in them! A cyclist came down the road and announced that this was no fun, he wasn't going to ride to the falls this day. We allowed as how we'd already been to the falls and were heading back to Edgefield. He wanted to know if we knew about the (hot) showers there. Oh yes :-) It was still dumping as we headed up towards Women's Forum, but cleared as we summitted. Blue skies could be seen to the west. Sunshine even.
Then all the way down to Troutdale, passing through Corbett and Springdale, around the big corner with the trees all around it, past the Tippy Canoe and Tad's Chicken and Dumplings (I've never eaten at either), then across the bridge over the Sandy River, and checked out the new pedestrian/bicycle bridge at Glen Otto Park. Through Troutdale, where Cecil started talking to a cyclist on a Bianchi with a Carradice seat bag (rando alert! rando alert!). He wanted to know how we enjoyed our ride out to Bridge of the Gods. And how did he know these things? It was a fellow OrRando member, who'd watched the whole ride planning process play out on the mailing list.
Back to McMenamin's, hot shower, fries and ice tea (beer for the others).
86 miles, 6:31 riding time. Just under 9 hours total.
You can see all my pictures for this ride here:
And Cecil's pictures here:
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