# Where are those Mountain Roads



## stunzeed (Jul 27, 2007)

When I moved to the PNW from Florida I have always dreamed of riding some twisty, climbing mountain roads. Where would I be able to find some routes like this preferably with low traffic and within a reasonable drive from PDX?


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## dwc032 (Feb 1, 2011)

Bend has plenty of low traffic Cat 1,2,3 twisty climbing roads. A lot of those roads have snow on them still, but will be cleared by the snow blowers in the next month or so.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

The East side of Portland had a lot of climbing between Portland and The Dalles...There are numerous routes out that direction with longer climbs and some good twisty descents. Larch Mountain would be a good place to start which also has come climbs near Multnomah Falls in the area.

If you want to go west the climb to Timber is nice. There is also a 13 mile or so climb outside of Carlton that takes a while to get up. Going north there are several from Scapoose to Vernonia.

Your best bet is to go and talk to a few shops and have them direct you on a few good climbing routes.


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## bismo37 (Mar 22, 2002)

I like to link some hilly Gorge area riding with a climb up Larch Mtn. It's nothing like you have indicated in your photos though. Just pretty pine forests. But it is steady, sustained climbing with a well-earned fast descent.

Maybe climbing up to Mt St Helens would be more of the scenic stuff you are looking for. But that's a good drive north and in the middle of nowhere. I'm still wanting to do Tour De Blast at some point.


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## krhea (Dec 8, 2007)

Yo Stunzeed, email me direct...got a great 70mile european alpine ride for you relatively close to PDX.

KRhea

KRhea (at) portland velo (dot) (net)


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## thumbprinter (Jun 8, 2009)

krhea said:


> Yo Stunzeed, email me direct...got a great 70mile european alpine ride for you relatively close to PDX.
> 
> KRhea
> 
> KRhea (at) portland velo (dot) (net)


care to share it with the rest of us??


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Come out to the Dry Side through the Columbia River Gorge. Drive to Hood River or The Dalles area. Check in with the shops around there for hints. I live near Lyle on the Washington side and have a couple of killer loop rides involving the Klicktat River canyon and the White Salmon drainage. Dry already, in fact I am doing the Centerville loop from my house today...about 60 miles with maybe 6k' of climbing and some super switchbacky mountain (canyon?) roads. Some of that ride on my Picassa if you are interested.

https://picasaweb.google.com/dhanson928/RoundTheBlockRide#

There are dozens of great mountain filled loops out of Hood River and the Dalles. Look into some of the stages of the Mt Hood Classic stage race..that is coming soon, by the way. One of my favorites is from Hood River to the Dalles, then over forest road 44 and back into Hood River via Hwy 35..an almost exact century of lots of climbing and spectacular mountain scenery.


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## stunzeed (Jul 27, 2007)

Gnarly 928 said:


> Come out to the Dry Side through the Columbia River Gorge. Drive to Hood River or The Dalles area. Check in with the shops around there for hints. I live near Lyle on the Washington side and have a couple of killer loop rides involving the Klicktat River canyon and the White Salmon drainage. Dry already, in fact I am doing the Centerville loop from my house today...about 60 miles with maybe 6k' of climbing and some super switchbacky mountain (canyon?) roads. Some of that ride on my Picassa if you are interested.
> 
> https://picasaweb.google.com/dhanson928/RoundTheBlockRide#
> 
> There are dozens of great mountain filled loops out of Hood River and the Dalles. Look into some of the stages of the Mt Hood Classic stage race..that is coming soon, by the way. One of my favorites is from Hood River to the Dalles, then over forest road 44 and back into Hood River via Hwy 35..an almost exact century of lots of climbing and spectacular mountain scenery.


WOW..that looks amazing..how is car traffic on those roads? Do you happen to have a GPX file or any mapped file online somewhere I can download?


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## Ride-Fly (Mar 27, 2002)

krhea said:


> Yo Stunzeed, email me direct...got a great 70mile european alpine ride for you relatively close to PDX.
> 
> KRhea
> 
> KRhea (at) portland velo (dot) (net)


Can I get in on this too???  

The only thing is I hate to drive to start a ride! So I'm hoping starting out in Lake O doesn't add too many miles to this route since, 70 miles is about as long as I can ride (time consumption-wise and lactic acid burn-wise!) 

KRhea, how do you like the Portland area climbs compared to Boulder's mountains? I loved the fact that you can ride the Peak-to-Peak Hwy from starting out at Boulder. I love the pics that Gnarly has in this thread and it looks even prettier than riding in the Rockies but unless you live near that, I would think most would have to drive to start the ride.


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## Ride-Fly (Mar 27, 2002)

Gnarly 928 said:


> https://picasaweb.google.com/dhanson928/RoundTheBlockRide#


AWESOME shots Don! Got any more!?!? The pic in this thread is the best!


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

Ride-Fly said:


> AWESOME shots Don! Got any more!?!? The pic in this thread is the best!



Here are links to the ride reports on that loop. The first link has a bunch more pics of the Hood River, Dufur, Hood River loop, and a ride profile with a Garmin track. 

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=219509

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=193772

Here is one a bit further east..in the Coulee country.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=227337

I should really take more pics on my rides around here, but I've gotten too jaded after riding them often for some years...I forget how most people aren't so lucky to live where the road biking is this great.

Other rides worth mentioning in the Gorge area? Hood River to Lost Lake. Hood River to Cooper Spur is one of our regular Saturday rides..BTW..rides start from downtown HR on Saturdays...informal and often pretty brutal...in a friendly way.

The 3 summit Road Race is back in the Mt Hood Cycling classic since they fixed a washed out bridge last summer...My all time favorite for later in the Summer when it is hot down low. Google the courses to see the route and profile...Mostly run on back logging roads that are paved...there is almost never any vehicle traffic on these roads and the climbing is spectacular.

Enjoy.
Don Hanson


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## erj549 (Jul 26, 2008)

Gnarly 928 said:


> I should really take more pics on my rides around here, but I've gotten too jaded after riding them often for some years...I forget how most people aren't so lucky to live where the road biking is this great.


Yeah don't take that stuff for granted. Living in Florida, I can ride almost all of the year, so I have that going for me, but I can only hope I get to ride somewhere so beautiful some day. Those photos are great and really makes me want to go there. I will definitely keep an eye out for your future ride reports, so keep them coming!


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## stunzeed (Jul 27, 2007)

erj549 said:


> Yeah don't take that stuff for granted. Living in Florida, I can ride almost all of the year, so I have that going for me, but I can only hope I get to ride somewhere so beautiful some day. Those photos are great and really makes me want to go there. I will definitely keep an eye out for your future ride reports, so keep them coming!


erj549 - I moved here to Oregon from Florida about a year ago and have not looked back. My rides were up and down A1A not even a turn on our 100 mile routes. The sun rising over the ocean on my morning rides was bliss but it did get old. Here there is so much and the riding is so different...climbing is a whole other world


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## erj549 (Jul 26, 2008)

stunzeed said:


> erj549 - I moved here to Oregon from Florida about a year ago and have not looked back. My rides were up and down A1A not even a turn on our 100 mile routes. The sun rising over the ocean on my morning rides was bliss but it did get old. Here there is so much and the riding is so different...climbing is a whole other world


I'd love to move somewhere a bit more mountainy. The real trick is convincing the wife that that would be a good idea. I'm in Gainesville in central Florida, so I have a bit more scenery than just riding up and down A1A, but the scenery still is nowhere close to a lot of the stuff I see posted on here by others all over the country.


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## ronbo613 (Jan 19, 2009)

Here you go. It's all up and down around here.


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## bismo37 (Mar 22, 2002)

erj549 said:


> I'd love to move somewhere a bit more mountainy. The real trick is convincing the wife that that would be a good idea. I'm in Gainesville in central Florida, so I have a bit more scenery than just riding up and down A1A, but the scenery still is nowhere close to a lot of the stuff I see posted on here by others all over the country.


Another ex-Floridian in the NW here. I moved to OR about 6 yrs ago. I love the riding out here. I do miss the backroads outside of Gainesville though. There were some really good rides and fun with the GCC.


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

bismo37 said:


> Another ex-Floridian in the NW here. I moved to OR about 6 yrs ago. I love the riding out here. I do miss the backroads outside of Gainesville though. There were some really good rides and fun with the GCC.


 Anyone considering the Pacific Northwest as a new home should be aware that the weather here really IS as bad as "they" say. See it all the time....people move here after visiting in the summer or seeing the pics or reading the Chamber of Commerce promos...They are ecstatic for their first summer...make it through the first winter..ok, but then the weather gets to them...

It is NOT a myth that it rains and is cloudy and nasty for much of the winter, and the winters can be long. Daylight hours are short, as well. 

There is a reason that many many of the RVs' license plates in the desert southwest are from Washington, Oregon or BC from Thanksgiving till Tax day.. 

Many residents from the NW arrange their vacation time to be somewhere with sun...somewhere not the Northwest...So think about that..

Just sayin/'


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## stunzeed (Jul 27, 2007)

Gnarly 928 said:


> Anyone considering the Pacific Northwest as a new home should be aware that the weather here really IS as bad as "they" say. See it all the time....people move here after visiting in the summer or seeing the pics or reading the Chamber of Commerce promos...They are ecstatic for their first summer...make it through the first winter..ok, but then the weather gets to them...
> 
> It is NOT a myth that it rains and is cloudy and nasty for much of the winter, and the winters can be long. Daylight hours are short, as well.
> 
> ...


this is very true..albeit my first winter I was fine. I mountain bike and snowboard so it keeps it interesting so far and I feel is really making me appreciate those sunny days were as in florida a sunny day was the norm


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