An occasional series that shares some of the Portland region’s best bike rides.
The sixth annual Oregon Triple Crown kicked off in Waldport on Saturday in nothing short of ideal conditions for a day in the saddle.
Sometimes all it takes to find a good adventure on two wheels is to just look a little harder.
Many of the best roads on Saturday’s Hell of the North Plains ride were in places I’ve ridden or driven near for many years. But somehow, someway, the routefinding raconteurs at Our Mother the Mountain (OMTM) manage to go deeper into (relatively) local backroads than most of us will ever venture on our own.
Nestucca River Road is a fantastic way to get from Portland to the coast.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Riding to the coast from the city is something of a rite of passage for many Portlanders. Getting there via Nestucca River Road is a privilege.
This past Sunday I was lucky enough to try it for the first time as part of the Dirty Sellwood ride. The ride was the fifth annual epic ride collaboration between two great bike shops and their owners: Erik Tonkin of Sellwood Cycle Repair in Portland and Mitchell Buck of Dirty Fingers Bikes in Hood River.
This post is sponsored by River City Bicycles.
You know I have a soft-spot for Columbia County. A ride I did this weekend made it even softer: A 100-mile loop that pulls together adventurous riding that’s relatively close to Portland and offers everything from expertly crafted singletrack and primitive logging roads to carfree paths and smooth country roads.
I call it the Scappoose Vernonia Singletrack Century.
**NOTE: Due to an unfortunate decision from Portland City Council, Dodge Park is no longer open for camping as of 2019. We hope this changes someday!**
This is how easy bike camping can be: Just 30 easy miles east of downtown Portland lies a campground at the edge of the forest nestled between two rivers.
And the best part? The first 20 miles are on the carfree Eastbank Esplanade and Springwater Corridor paths. And by the time you leave this safe riding sanctuary, you’re far enough into the country where you can often see more horses and pigs than cars.
One of the ways I fit cycling adventures into my life is to ride to places where I’m already planning to do something with my family. So, when we planned to meet some friends in Hood River on Sunday, I knew it was a golden opportunity.
The Ride is brought to you by River City Bicycles.
Larch Mountain stands 4,061 feet above the Columbia River in east Multnomah County. The 14-mile climb up the paved road that leads to the summit of this extinct volcano is a thing of magic and/or misery for local bicycle riders.
But there’s another side of this majestic mountain. A side that was revealed to many people for the first time via The Dark Larch ride on Saturday.
The Timber Logjam ride is a symbol of modern adventure cycling culture. Without formal organization or promotion, word of the ride spread through social media. And by Saturday, as welcome sun beat down through frigid air on the Banks trailhead of the Banks-Vernonia State Trail, about 70 people were on their bikes and ready to ride.
Before we get to know Hobo Joe, I want to share a brief programming note…
When I started mountain biking back in the 1990s one of the things that really drew me into it was the solitude. In just a few minutes of pedaling (I was lucky to live close to mountains), I could get away from busy roads full of smelly and loud cars.
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).
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.
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.