Riding the Gorge

I joined my social bike group today for a ride of the Historic Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway today. We had 22 folks show up, a pretty good showing for a ride that has a bit of climbing. Most were starting at Glen Otto Park in Troutdale. A few brave souls began at 33rd and Marine Drive about an hour earlier. I had a little pre-ride to the pre-ride commuting 5 miles to 33rd St (primarily because I don't feel comfortable leaving my pickup all day in the secluded gravel lot at 33rd)

Since our group was relatively large we split up by pace for the ride. 3 of us planned a 16-17 mph pace and took off. We had a pretty easy ride up to Chanticlear Pt. We all regrouped there and took a photo.

We blasted down the hill and arrived at Multnomah Falls. It was here that I turned my 1000th mile for the month.

It was a cool day and many of us had hot chocolate or a hot coffee drink. Before too long a few of us opted for a bonus out and back to Oneonta Gorge to see the gorge and the newly re-opened tunnel.

We all made our way back to Troutdale without incident. Along the way we all decided to have a post ride event at "The Dock" at McCuddy's Marina. While snacking and visiting there James and I decided that we really "needed" to ride a bit more.

Off we went in search of 30 miles. We rode along Marine Drive to Kelley Pt Park then made the turn over to Columbia and made our way as far as I-5 before we logged 15 miles, our half way point. The wind had picked up as the day wore on. James and I took advantage of a brisk tailwind to assist us on our way eastward back to McCuddy's where we were parked.

We arrived back there as planned with our additional 30 miles. Enough to give me 100 miles for the day.......for the 5th day in a row.

With almost 600 miles in the last 6 days I think I've made pretty good progress on my agenda after some dashed plans.



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today...........100...............0................100
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....860.....+.........0........=.......860
April total.....790.....+.........0........=.......790
May total.......901.....+.........0........=.......901
June total......543.....+.........0........=.......543
July total.....1322.....+.........0........=......1322
August total...1066.....+.........0........=......1066
Year to date...6656.....+.........30.......=......6686
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++