The mysterious, Portland version of the Tour of Flanders sparked lots of interest last week.
Photo by Dave Roth (more here)
I wasn’t able to make it, but from what I’ve heard over 100 people showed up to challenge the brutal route through the hills of west Portland. I still haven’t found any photos, but I did notice that local racer/framebuilder Ira Ryan had this to say about it:
“Oh my god! So hard. We started out riding up Saltzman and then back in on Skyline. Raining off and on as we turned up Brynwood and within 10 meters about 1/3 of the riders were walking. So steep. John Leonard muscled over the top in his 39-23! The burn was intense as riders were dropping off the back like paratroopers.”
So what’s the scoop? If you were there, I’d love to know how it went.