Into the Hinterland we go.
(All photos courtesy Ron Lewis/OMTM.cc)

Welcome to The Ride, our occassional series where we share amazing adventures in Portland and beyond. If you have a ride to share and want to see it featured here, drop me a line.

Just across the Columbia River from Oregon the Gifford Pinchot National Forest beckons bike adventurers. Last year I spent a very memorable day getting to know it better during the Gifford Gravel 50 (which is back for its second running this Saturday).
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Looking back towards The Dalles where we started.
(Photos and words by Gabriel Tiller/Limberlost)

Welcome to The Ride, our ongoing series of inspirational adventure stories sponsored by 21st Avenue Bicycles. See more from this series here.

It’s becoming that time of year again when cyclists start coming out of hibernation and you can usually count on it being sunny (or at least not snowy) in the rolling grass hills of the eastern Columbia River Gorge. One of VeloDirt’s longest running rides — the Dalles Mountain 60 — took place last weekend starting anarchically from the unassuming parking lot of Holsteins Coffee in The Dalles. For a non-event, just a murmur between friends on Instagram or the simple expectation of tradition every second Saturday of March, it’s a rather popular ride.
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Heading up Bacona Road.
(All photos: Gabriel Amadeus Tiller)

The latest entry in our The Ride series comes from none other than master of creative endeavors (on and off the bike), Gabriel Amadeus Tiller. Gabe joined RideWithGPS Ambassador “Unpaved” and a few dozen other intrepid souls for the “Timber Logjam” ride this past Saturday.
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Many roads like this beckon adventure seekers just miles west of downtown Forest Grove.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

This ride recap is sponsored by 21st Avenue Bicycles. They’ve stepped up to bring you more coverage of the great bike adventures that await right outside your door. Stay tuned all year long as we explore the best backroads and bikepacking spots in Portland and beyond.

Nearly everyone who rides around these parts knows about Hagg Lake and the beautiful road that winds around it in the hills west of Forest Grove. But did you know there’s another body of water a bit further west that’s also worth checking out on your bike — especially if you love exploring forests and logging roads?
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Our reward for some tough climbing.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

This ride recap is sponsored by 21st Avenue Bicycles. They’ve stepped up to bring you more coverage of bikepacking and adventure rides. Stay tuned all year long as we explore the best backroads and bike-camping spots in Portland and beyond.
[Read more…]

Pisgah Road near Gunners Lakes Mainline was a wrong turn that turned out right.
(Photos J. Maus/BikePortland)

Note: Welcome to the first in a series of posts sponsored by 21st Avenue Bicycles. They’ve stepped up to bring you more coverage of bikepacking and adventure rides. Stay tuned all year as we explore the best backroads and bike-camping spots in Portland and beyond.

There’s a certain satisfaction that comes with finally doing a route that has been in the back of your mind for a few years.

That’s what I did on Sunday by finally connecting dirt roads from Scappoose to the Banks-Vernonia Trail (at Buxton trailhead). In all it was just under 80 miles, with 21 of them on beautiful, often rugged, and remote backroads that I’m still day-dreaming about. Here’s how it went down…[Read more…]

Mere minutes from downtown Portland. The view of
Washington County from SW Fairmount Blvd.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

This post is part of our SW Portland Week.

Council Crest: If you live in Portland and like to ride bikes, chances are you’ve heard of this legendary destination. When I first heard about it, I recall how it garnered mythical status — as if its summit would rise above downtown Portland like a snow-capped Himalayan peak.
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(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Just off Highway 6 in the Tillamook State Forest about 45 miles west of Portland lies some of the region’s best singletrack. And I’m still wondering why it took me 11 years to finally discover it.
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Great roads await in the hills surrounding the Banks-Vernonia State Trail.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Once you open yourself up to the possibility of riding unpaved roads, a whole new world awaits. That, to me, is one of the most exciting things about the “gravel riding” revolution. It’s like we just scored a bunch of new places to ride and it came without loss of blood or treasure.
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Steeped in Oregon pioneer history and beloved by locals,
I cherished the chance to ride Burn Road.
(Photos J. Maus/BikePortland)

This is part of my coverage from a recent stay at the Coastal Mountain Sport Haus, an inn and lodge located in Vernonia that caters to bicycle riding guests.

After riding the Beaver Falls Loop for the first time on Saturday, I was already smitten with the riding possibilities in Columbia County. Then the next day, my hosts at the Coastal Mountain Sport Haus — Glen and Sandy Crinklaw — led me on another one of their favorite rides: The Burn Road Loop.[Read more…]