escaping rain

I once again made the trip east of the Cascade Mountains to take advantage of the drier weather. It was raining lightly as I left Portland but the brighter sky to the east held promise.


Before long I arrived in Lyle, Washington, the starting point for today's ride.
I started up the road, literally. The route starts right off with a 1500 ft climb in the first 5 miles.



About 2/3 the way up I came across a flock of wild turkey. I saw some the last time I rode here also. After reaching the top of the climb the route goes over a few rollers, then breaks out into a treeless plateau.



There were a few snow showers working around the hills. It was fascinating to watch a dark cloud work it's way along, brown hill in front, dark cloud and precipitation obscuring the hill, followed by a white hill! At least the showers stayed in the hills, I had dry roads all day.



I followed my route through Goldendale then down to the Klickitat River. It was colder today than it was last week and the descent was chilly. I followed the river back to Lyle. I wanted a few more miles and had time to ride them so I repeated that 1500 ft climb that I started the ride with.

On the way home I hit snow at Cascade Locks that lasted for several miles west of Multnomah Falls before turning to rain. By the time I got to Portland the rain turned to pea sized hail.

I was glad I rode on the dry side today!


.........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........79..............0.............0..........0...........79
Jan.........105.............34.............0..........0..........139
Feb.........428............108.............0.........24..........536
March.......454..............0.............0.........22..........476
YTD.........987............142.............0.........46.........1175