# Columbia River Gorge Ride Report



## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and it just happens to have some great cycling roads too. The Historic Scenic Highway in Oregon is approaching it's 100th birthday, and has spectacluar views and few cars. There are miles of muts along the Columbia river in Portland & Vancouver. You can choose flat rides or extreme climbing rides.

These shots were taken during 2 rides, as my battery died on the 1st one.

The challenge is weeding the gallery down to a reasonable number of photos to upload. There are so many views and great shots along this route. Enjoy!


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

That sure beats a sharp stick in the eye. What was the mileage?


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## PdxMark (Feb 3, 2004)

Great ride report and photos. It's one of my favorite rides. A couple weekends ago we did some riding, including a gorgeous ride up the Kliclitat River from Lyle to Blockhouse Road, the south to Centerville, then Centerville Road back to Lyle. Another fabulous ride at about 57 miles. For an extra 20 miles you can take it to Goldendale for the turn-around.


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## haiku d'etat (Apr 28, 2001)

your seat is too high.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

That's a gorgeous area. I love the old historic highway, but I've never ridden it. Only 15-20 mph wind? So it was a calm day!

Someday in the next few years, we'll settle in the Hood River Valley, and I'll probably run into you on a ride.


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## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

JohnnyTooBad said:


> That sure beats a sharp stick in the eye. What was the mileage?


The route I inked in red on the map is 95 miles. I like to extend to hit 100, but was pressed for time that day.


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## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

JohnnyTooBad said:


> Great ride report and photos. It's one of my favorite rides. A couple weekends ago we did some riding, including a gorgeous ride up the Kliclitat River from Lyle to Blockhouse Road, the south to Centerville, then Centerville Road back to Lyle. Another fabulous ride at about 57 miles. For an extra 20 miles you can take it to Goldendale for the turn-around.


Sounds like a good route. I've been craving the ride from the river at Maryhill st park to Goldendale. That's another I'd want to hit @ 5:00 a.m. to miss traffic. I have a good friend who has a home in Trout Lake, so I may get to do some riding in that area with a local base.


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## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

*Now I'll know how to answer*



haiku d'etat said:


> your seat is too high. (my legs are too long?)


When Live_Steam or Physsassist asks me "you know what your problem is?!"


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Wow. I love those looking down the river views. One of my good friends just moved up your direction two weeks ago. His aunt runs an orchard somewhere near there. He started visiting a few years ago and fell in love with the place. I'd like to come and ride up there sometime.


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## undies (Oct 13, 2005)

Oustanding! 

Did you have to do any riding on I-84 or did your route avoid that slab?


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## JoeDaddio (Sep 3, 2005)

Very nice. You took some time putting that together! You all are lucky if you get 2 uncaptioned pictures of my foot from my rides.




joe


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## MerlinAma (Oct 11, 2005)

Thanks for the pics!

We visited that area in the fall of 2006. Drove out to Hood River and saw the sights along the way. Also went to a couple of bike shops in Hood River.

I'd like to come back and spend more time - and ride my bike!


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## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

Undies said:


> Did you have to do any riding on I-84?


Yes, about 2.5 miles. It's not too bad, but what was a tailwind at Beacon Rock outbound is a head wind going home.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Love the commentary.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

This ride report just makes me ask why I moved away from the west coast.
I don't have an answer anymore.
Nice pics and report.


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## Uprwstsdr (Jul 17, 2002)

That's a great ride. beautiful photos.


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## bmxhacksaw (Mar 26, 2008)

Pixxor # 21:
I used to ride over that bridge everyday when I lived on Mill Plain Blvd (across from the Air Acadamy) and was a bike messenger in Portland. BTW, I did it on a 24" wheeled BMX cruiser.


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## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

JoeDaddio said:


> Very nice. You took some time putting that together! You all are lucky if you get 2 uncaptioned pictures of my foot from my rides.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My architect friends would snicker and roll thier eyes. The map really should have been an inset in a broader general area map. What's with 11b showing up so far out of order (tee hee!). And what's the deal with picture sizes/scale and font points?


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## I am The Edge (Jul 27, 2004)

wtf is going on here?


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

She drove him to the other side.


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## fasteddy07 (Jun 4, 2007)

Sa Weeeet

One hell of a ride report..


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

I've been in that area once. Beautiful place. Nice report.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

i love the vista house. was there about 7 years ago. that area is spectacular.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

One of the best ride reports I've seen here. Appreciate the time you took to number the pics with corresponding numbers on the map. Nice touch!

That's the kind of ride one could travel for.


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## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

DrRoebuck said:


> That's the kind of ride one could travel for.


Well if any of y'all find yourselves in the area, let me know - I'll show you around. This is a pretty spectacular ride, but there are others - both less and more demanding.


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## carter1 (Aug 5, 2004)

My wife grew up in Mosier on 7 Mile Hill Road. We visited her family a couple of times before they moved east. I've often thought about how incredible the road riding would be there. Thanks for the report.
c


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

Very cool. Thanks for posting the pix and commentary. However, it makes my usual routes look extremely boring.


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## GeoCyclist (Oct 31, 2002)

*Wow, Great Ride Report!*

My wife and I did a 6 day tour of the Columbia river gorge the summers of 2003 on our tandem. Unfortunately my camera broke the very first day of the tour, so no great photo. One of the best days out was riding along the old road. One of the most exciting rides was coming down from Hood mountain lodge on our tandem; one great 90 mile ride from the top Mount Hood lodge all the way to downtown Hood River. Great place to ride if you don’t mind the climbs and wind.

Thanks for the ride report!


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## KeeponTrekkin (Aug 29, 2002)

*Spectacular...*

Spectacular scenery and great presentation. I'm still laughing about the woman you don't know....


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## gowencm (Mar 4, 2007)

Really fantastic. i've gotta get out to the west coast...


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Beautiful pics & a great report. I was only in that area once. That was in 1976. My wife & I took a motorcycle trip from Ohio through the Canadian Rockies to Vanvouver. From there we went to Seattle, Oregon, then headed east to get back home.


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## ilmaestro (May 3, 2008)

awesome photos! thanks for posting.

what tires were you running for that ride?


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## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

*Continental Gatorskin Ultra*



 ilmaestro said:


> awesome photos! thanks for posting.
> 
> what tires were you running for that ride?


I went to Gatorskins this winter when I was getting 3 or 4 flats per week. On one of these gorge rides, I hit a rock the size of my fist and cut open a side wall in a Gatorskin - a 3/4" cut. Booted it with a business card from gateway cycles, which happened to be the closest place I could pick up a new tire. They were amused to see the boot. Shawn to Keith "and you said no one ever uses these cards".

I went months without a flat in the Gskins. Recently I had this one and one other - ran over an upholstery tack. I'm pretty happy with these tires, but I did just get some Krylions to try out.


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## Chase15.5 (Feb 17, 2005)

How could I have lived out there for 3 years and not ridden that? Great pics. Thanks for sharing.


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## brujenn (Nov 26, 2007)

*I like to hear myself talk, too.*

I know, this is an old thread and I should just let it die in peace, but I did this ride again on a sunny day and had time to take more pix.

I promise I'll behave and file another report for different ride within a few weeks.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Well I certainly don't mind your resurrecting the thread. Them's nice pictures!

Gotta visit Oregon someday.


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