An estimated 600 riders turned out for “De Ronde” last year.(Photos © J. Maus) The De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia — a ride through Portland’s hills inspired by the classic Tour of Flanders — will not be held this year. With the ride’s April date approaching, I’ve been getting a steady stream of emails about … Read more
At the start of the De Ronde.(Photos © J. Maus) Oregon Public Broadcasting will air coverage of Portland’s cult ride the De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia on their Oregon Field Guide program tonight. The ride — which is a loosely organized, grueling bike ride/race that traverses many miles of Portland’s steepest hills — attracted over … Read more
The fabled Lion of Flandersled the riders out of NorthwestPortland this morning.-Slideshow below-(Photos © J. Maus) Portland’s unsanctioned spring classic, the third annual De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia, attracted an estimated 600-700 riders today. They were treated to a gorgeous day with clear blue skies and temperatures well into the 60s. They started this morning … Read more
Scene from a Cross Crusade race at Horning’s Hideout in 2007(Photos © J. Maus) Two of the year’s most challenging rides are slated for this weekend: the infamously, absurdly hilly De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia (a.k.a. the Tour of Flanders) on Saturday and the Horning’s Hustle mountain bike circuit race on Sunday. Many participants will … Read more
Flyer for ’09 event.–Download PDF, 150K-) When organizers of the “De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia” (or, Tour of West Portland) first did the ride back in 2007, they were shocked when 100 people showed up. Last year, despite the guarantee of 8,000 of climbing (depending on whose GPS you looked at) over 45 miles, an … Read more
A ride that was organized to pay homage to a legendary bike race in Belgium, has now become a legend of its own.
A Google Earth view of the Tour of West Portland route. The ride follows a 45-mile route over the region’s steepest hills and is said to be “horribly hard.”.
The mysterious, Portland version of the Tour of Flanders sparked lots of interest last week.
Yesterday I received an anonymous email about a mysterious, “penniless, suffering, pirate ride” coming to Portland next week (4/7). The flyer (below) proclaims it will be: “a test of 18 (or so) nasty climbs of West Portland in honor of De Ronde Van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders).” Sounds like a suffer-fest. Here’s the route, and … Read more