(Photo: Greg Raisman)
This past weekend here in Portland was the warmest and sunniest in recent memory. There also happened to be tons of bike rides and other events going on. In an attempt to make it last just a little longer, I thought I’d share a few photos of the adventures and good times had by readers and friends (and myself!).
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Local graphic designer Gabriel Amadeus grabbed some friends and headed north on a 44-mile loop (route map here) that landed them on some fun backroads near Ridgefield Wildlife Area in Washington…
I rolled out to Sauvie Island on Sunday and enjoyed a nearly traffic free loop…
Lots of racers headed out to Amity, Oregon for the Piece of Cake Road Race. Photographer Nathan Wright captured some of the action…
Cycle Wild, a local non-profit that leads bike-camping trips from Portland, led a group out to Ainsworth State Park in the Columbia River Gorge (City of Portland has a PDF map of the route). Bike touring expert and photojournalist Russ Roca went along and captured some beautiful images…
And finally, Easter Sunday in Portland would not be complete without the Bunny on a Bike ride. The weather brought out bunnies of all ages for what looked like splendid group ride. Thanks to Greg Raisman for sharing the photos…
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for more weather just like this!
My Easter prayer… ” May the good Lord let us see a bunny like proliferation of bicycles on our roads this year, Amen “
Gabe also lead us on the 8pm-midnight Warewold Hustle Friday night down to Gladstone, to Carver, then north and back. 36 degrees when we got back. Brrr.
Busy weekend= getting closer to Filmed by Bike next weekend, followed by Sunday Parkways May 13th, then Pedalpalooza just around the corner.
Yesss!
I’ve done something bike-y for several weekends in a row, including the Tweed Ride and Bunny on a Bike. It’s just getting to be that time of year, and I’m amazed at how much that (plus the weather) has been lifting my spirits lately! There’s just always something to look forward to!
Graphic Designers and two-time North American Champs collaborating for a nice road ride? What’s next, dogs and cats living in perfect harmony? It’ll be anarchy!!
Yeah, after the Werewolf Hustle on Friday and the Ridgefield ride on Saturday it was apparent just how out of shape this winter has made me. This weather is awesome!
I did a ride similar to Gabriel’s through the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge two years ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jr98664/sets/72157624177936614/
I found out after the fact that it wasn’t entire legal, but luckily there are no signs on the south side to that effect. It’s really a shame, as a decent bike path here could make for a really great ride through a natural setting so close to the urban Portland metro area.
“Refunk” blogged about that route in CGOAB, c. 2010. Jean-Paul’s route was full of obstacles. It’s hard to tell from Amadeus’ GPS route and cue sheet whether he found a better way. Any more beta?
BTW, love the casual attitude of the young woman on the back of the longtail. 🙂
thanks for that link! the time i went there was a gate (next to a house, as i recall) & it was posted. Not sure where Crazy Guy and G.A’.s group went in..?
Yeah, I’ve always thought it was messed up that you can drive right through Ridgefield, but bicycles are not allowed. I understand that it’s in order to provide breathing room for the wildlife. . . but if cars (and the suburban development they encourage) hadn’t taken over so much of our landscape in the first place, we wouldn’t have the problems that the Refuges are trying to amend!
Nope, same route, same obstacles. And yeah, it’s not posted that it’s closed to public the way we went in. As for the open-to-cars part of ridgefield, the migrating waterfowl aren’t frightened by slow vehicles, and visitors are told not to leave their cars. We quickly realized that we were flushing flocks of birds up that folks were trying to watch—a big jerk move. If you go exploring, don’t ride the loop that’s open to cars.
The Ridgefield route does look beautiful but also illegal. Some of that route is open only to cars right now, other parts are closed to all access entirely. It’s a major refuge for wintering waterfowl for whom only a small amount of their original habitat remains. The National Wildlife Service is too poorly funded to fully patrol it though.
Sunny, dry, clear skys?
The Worst Day of the Year Ride must have been this weekend, right? 😉
Re: Ridgefield route.
Pretty sure there is no legal access beyond the gate about 3/4 mile upriver from the “end of the road” for Hwy 501. I hiked there once with the pup and when I got back to the parking area, there was a pretty nasty note from the ranger.
The entire refuge is off-limits to bicycles: http://www.fws.gov/ridgefieldrefuges/ridgefield/recreation.html
Which is complete BS, but something that would need to be addressed at the federal level. Kind of like the fact that you also can’t ride a bike up to Bonneville Dam from the Oregon side – if you want to tour it, you have to take a car.
Also, Bunny on a Bike had 172 human participants this year! (I counted everyone while corking 39th Avenue during the ride) I say human because there actually were 2 rabbits on the ride. (true Bunnies on a bike!)