The blue skies and mild temperatures made for a great weekend of Pacific NW bike riding.
Saturday was the Tour De Lab in Portland, OR; a bike tour of the Lucky Labrador brew pubs throughout Portland and fund raiser for Dove Lewis Emergency Animal Hospital. I hung out with Don and the Gorge Delights crew. I’d never really had a good look at Portland, no better way to do that than by bicycle. Got to cross over the Willamette River a couple times and rode through many different Portland neighborhoods.
Lots of Portlanders out jogging, riding bikes and walking their dogs. Nice days this time of year are getting fewer and fewer, so you have to take advantage of every one of them. Plenty of people having a good time riding bikes and having a few beers at the Tour De Lab as well.
It was a lot of fun bombing around Portland in the 52 tooth chainring all day Saturday, Sunday we were back in the mountains on Surveyors Ridge. The weather was perfect, some of the trails were a little loose and dusty, but this is a popular trail and shows the wear and tear by this time of year. Don and I rode with Lee and Chris, who were riding Surveyors for the first time.
Chris was rocking the full DH/Freeride rig, I think he knows now that a “shuttle” ride around here does not necessarily mean “downhill”. He probably got a pretty good workout on the Ridge trail, and there were a few spots where the long travel came in handy.
Don gave the log pile a shot with a few inches less suspension.
Plenty of rocks buried in the loose, dusty soil. Keeping a tight grip on the bars and paying attention to the trail in front of you is always a good idea here.
There are a few rock garden sections that can be pretty sketch. Here Lee negotiates one of the sections on the trusty singlespeed.
The ridge rides around here have a “sawtooth” elevation profile; lots of up and downs. No real long climbs, but plenty of short, sometimes steep ones. Below, Lee negotiates a cliff side section of uphill.
Even though some sections of the trail were not in the best condition, Surveyors is still a pretty decent ride. The views of the Hood River Valley, Mt. Hood and the other Oregon mountain peaks are hard to beat.
Looks like we might luck out and get at least one more week of summer, gotta take advantage of every day.