The EPIC Bridge of the Gods Ride

And here I thought the weekend would get away with no bike ride.... Cecil posts on Saturday afternoon - "anyone want to do a BOG ride from my house?". Knowing full well, I'm sure, that I'd bite.

It was supposed to be a hot day. We rode our "fast" bikes. Left her house shortly after 7am, working our way up to the I-205 bridge (passing through the Nautilus Relay in the process),



west on Evergreen to Camas, a short stop at Burgerville (more water!) and off again on SR-14. As I have documented this ride many times, I'll just put in some pictures and highlights:







Hot, sunny day.
Lots of sweetpeas blooming, on both sides of the river.



Speaking of river, the crossing on Bridge of the Gods was notable in that we crossed, stopped at the toll booth to pay our 50 cents toll, and the toll-taker said: "We don't charge bikes anymore. Have a great ride!". Oh MY.



Snack stop in Cascade Locks. Almost the shortest stop ever in Cascade Locks, but Cecil's rear tire flatted upon departure.
Then the bike path heading west. Always fun. As Cecil and I entered the shade, we both went "aaaaahhhh" in unison. Nice. Carried the bikes up the stairs.



Rode the wrong way up the ramp to stay on the path (one does need a guide for the first few trips). Through the campground on the Tanner Creek trail and...



Yeah. We were not thinking we wanted to ride on anymore of the freeway shoulder than necessary. After a few minutes of pouting, I climbed up to investigate.



Hmmm. Definitely doable. Cecil concurred, so she handed the bikes up, and we cautiously portaged across. A gentleman out with his family absolutely insisted on helping Cecil tote her bike across. Well, if it made him feel better.



Back on the trail, telling Cecil to wait for it; we weren't to the section of guardrail that we abandon the path from. There is a nice gate that was installed for Cycle Oregon, but one can go a ways further on the path.



Then on to Multnomah Falls. I had been planning on ice cream, which is a given on hot days. They had a wonderful homemade ice cream sandwich - soft serve ice cream between two large buttery sugary cookies with chocolate chips. Mmmmmmm.



Plus we took pictures, and I said hi to some neighbors who were out there showing visiting cousins around.



West again. Love the new pavement! Up to Crown Point,



up some more, excellent descent with the Bell Rd option and.... "you think we could get popsicles in Troutdale?" Why yes we could, except the Plaid Pantry was FILLED with persons buying beer and other necessities for hanging out in the Sandy River on a really hot day.



After this, we departed from the scenic portion of the ride, heading in on Halsey, 150th?, Division (way too long on Division; it is a gradual climb and we had a very hot headwind), etc, working our way back to Cecil's.

Just shy of 100 miles, but we were not inclined to make it an official century :-)

All my pics here
Cecil's pics here and her writeup