I started an hour later than last week, just because! It was cloudy as I began my journey. As I climbed up to Vista House I got into those low clouds. The views from there today were disappointing. It was a good thing I've seen the sights from there many times. I felt sorry for the tour bus of Japanese tourists who were there. They probably missed their only opportunity to take it all in.
I left my camera home today, figuring that I took all the photos I could possibly need last week. That may have been true, but there were things that were photo worthy so I was making due with my cell phone's camera.
This photo taken from Vista House seems to be the result of a fogged lens.
The Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway is one of my favorite places to ride. Pretty sights, slow traffic, gentle grades, all make for a great place to ride.
I was a little disappointed to see all the little vendor tents set up at Multnomah Falls. I feel they distract from the beauty of the place. If I wanted to shop knick knacks I would have stayed in Portland and attended Saturday Market.
I made better time today than last week. Fewer photo stops and no long food stops. Before long I was in the Upper Hood River Valley, being watched over by Mt Hood.
I varied from last week's ride a bit when I got to Parkdale. Instead of joining Hwy 35 I turned and rode towards Cooper Spur. I knew that there was a road that went there from farther up the valley, Race Across Oregon had taken that route in 2009. I wasn't sure if the road was paved from the Parkdale side, but it was as far as I could see up the road and I figured if I ran into rocks I could just turn around.
As it ended up it was paved all the way up. It was a nice alternative. No traffic today, and cut 8 miles of Hwy 35 off of my route. It added 2 miles to today's ride and also added 800 ft of climbing. No big deal. It was a very scenic segment. Not far reaching views, more just riding through forest.
Before too long I got to the top, Cooper Spur.
Immediately after the resort there was a fun 2.5 mile descent that brought me down to Hwy 35 where I retraced last week's route for the remainder of the ride.
I didn't take any more photos, just kept pedaling. I shaved an hour off of last week's time, mostly by limiting off bike time. I was just .2 mph faster on the bike.
............BIKE............LIFECYCLE.....ROLLERS....TOTAL
Today.......138...............0...............0..........138
Jan........618...............0................0..........618
Feb........692...............0................0..........692
March......940...............0................5..........940
April......934...............0................0..........934
May........905...............0................0..........905
June......1152...............0................0.........1152
July......1020...............0................0.........1020
Aug.......1000...............0................0.........1000
Sept.......486...............0................0..........486
_________________________________________
TOTAL.....7765...............0..............5.........7770
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