First look at ’75 Classic Rides: Oregon’ guidebook

Cover

Remember last July when I shared the news that four — yes four! — new bike guidebooks based on Portland and Oregon would be hitting the shelves this summer?

Back in March we were introduced to Ellee Thalheimer’s Cycling Sojourner, an excellent new guidebook for multi-day tours on Oregon’s backroads.

Today, I got a sneak peek at another one of the new books: 75 Classic Rides Oregon: The Best Road Biking Routes, published by The Mountaineers. This full-color, paperbound book is written by freelance writer and north Portland resident Jim Moore and is should be on store shelves now.

Jim has been riding Oregon’s most beautiful roads for years (I rode with him up to Timothy Lake back in 2005) and he’s poured a lot of insights and great writing into this project. He’s a talented wordsmith, so don’t expect the typical boring guidebook prose. “The descriptions are more experiential (and sometimes irreverent), to give people a personal feel for each route,” Jim recently shared.

The book features a wide range of routes from the coast, the high mountain passes and deserts, Oregon’s famous wine country, and everything in between. There are also urban routes and family-friendly rides as well as “epic challenges”.

Here’s more from the publisher:

75 Classic Rides is a new full-color Mountaineers Books guidebook series authored by passionate local cyclists who’ve put thousands of miles on their bikes to bring you the very best road cycling routes across their respective states. The focus is on one-day rides (a mix of loops and one-way courses), but you’ll also find suggestions for link-ups and some inspiring longer routes for touring.

Terrain varies from flat, paved trails to epic mountain challenges, and each route description starts with the basic essentials to get you going: a brief overview, full-color map, elevation profile, difficulty level, round-trip distance, and road conditions.

Here’s a list of the Portland-area rides that are covered in the book:

7. Banks–Vernonia Trail
8. Hagg Lake
9. Bald Peak Two Ways
10. Wine Country Tour
11. Sauvie Island
12. Skyline Boulevard Traverse
13. Marine Drive Path
14. Eastside Neighborhoods
15. Double Volcano
16. West Hills Highlights
17. Eastbank Esplanade
18. Springwater Trail
19. Lake Oswego Lollipop

And a look at the layout:

One of the photos in the book (of the Alsea Falls/Coast Range route #25):

The book also includes tips on the best places to stop for food or a cup of coffee, it has turn-by-turn cue sheets, mileage logs, and all the data can be downloaded online.

Catch Jim for his book-signing on July 6th at 7:30 pm at Powell’s Books in downtown Portland. More info and details at Powells.com.