I've been trying to convince my roadie brother to stop being a dweeb and ride real bikes so I went down to Portland, kidnapped him, dressed him in some man cloths, and took him biking. The plan had been to hit up Syncline which is a sick spot on the Columbia gorge but its hunting season so bikers are asked to stay off the trails there. Deciding it would be a good idea to do what the guys with guns wanted we opted to go south a little ways on hwy 35 to Surveyor's Ridge trail (trail #688). On the way in we had some spectacular views.
okay so this was actually as we were leaving but same thing. Mt. Hood in all its glory over the sleepy little town of Hood River.
if you turn around while driving south on 35 you see Mt. Adams just over the state line.
After pinning it through prime orchard country in our sweet ride (by which I mean minivan) we pulled off on fsr 17 aka Pine Mont Dr. We rolled up it for about five miles and then pulled off on fsr 680 (dont quote be on that one) where we parked and got ready to rock.
The pre ride shot. Jeff looking good in non-roadie garb from spectrum.
This ride proved to be a true testament to the versatility of my sweet new-ish bottlerocket. For the first bit I jacked the seat up and lowered my talas down to 100mm and the bike climbed like a goat. We went up up up for about 2 miles before the trail leveled off a bit and the sucky views began.
oh and did I mention the weather was terrible too.
We cruised along the ridge for a while up and down and up and up and down and up and up and well you get the picture, lots up up. at about the 3.5 mile mark we reached Rim Rock. I'll say I was a little disappointed, it was actually just a wee little outcropping that was maybe 10ft higher then the trail but we stopped anyway to build a little rock pile, drink haterade, and snap some photos.
looking up on the rock from the trail.
a little stamp put on the rock, i'd assume for surveying
me looking stylish next to our rock pile with a terrible back drop.
Past the rock it was a little more even as far as up to down ratio so we cruised along for a while out to about the five mile mark. We ran across a bunch of gross views and crappy trail but w/e.
crappy single track example a
last time I checked its pretty tough to get views like this on a roadie bike
This just belongs in a movie. Collective, just give me a call and I'll show you where it is.
another terrible view. we turned around at the clearing in the bottom left.
When we got to mile five we decided to turn around so we could get back to town in time for dinner. Just below rim rock Jeff sliced his tire on a nasty rock. We dialed up the rest of the crew who came out to get him (oh ya, did I mention that fsr 17 parallels the whole trail?) and I rallied back to the starting point. There was no way I was going to miss the downhill back. So after granny gearing it back up to the rock this is how it went. Lower seat, raise fork, let some air out of front tire, sip of haterade, braaaaaaaap. I think I took 5 pedal strokes on the way back, averaged 18 mph and hit a top speed of 30.5. Outside of whistler that was the best decending i'd ever done. If you've ever ridden Kachess Ridge, it was like that trail minus all the flat/uphill.
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/3813/
Me railing the last little bit of single track into the parking lot. Just for reference thats a 36t in the front and 11 in the back.
After the ride we headed back in to portland, got out of sweaty cloths, and we over to a cool little pub in the pearl district called the Lucky Lab
okay so this was actually as we were leaving but same thing. Mt. Hood in all its glory over the sleepy little town of Hood River.
if you turn around while driving south on 35 you see Mt. Adams just over the state line.
After pinning it through prime orchard country in our sweet ride (by which I mean minivan) we pulled off on fsr 17 aka Pine Mont Dr. We rolled up it for about five miles and then pulled off on fsr 680 (dont quote be on that one) where we parked and got ready to rock.
The pre ride shot. Jeff looking good in non-roadie garb from spectrum.
This ride proved to be a true testament to the versatility of my sweet new-ish bottlerocket. For the first bit I jacked the seat up and lowered my talas down to 100mm and the bike climbed like a goat. We went up up up for about 2 miles before the trail leveled off a bit and the sucky views began.
oh and did I mention the weather was terrible too.
We cruised along the ridge for a while up and down and up and up and down and up and up and well you get the picture, lots up up. at about the 3.5 mile mark we reached Rim Rock. I'll say I was a little disappointed, it was actually just a wee little outcropping that was maybe 10ft higher then the trail but we stopped anyway to build a little rock pile, drink haterade, and snap some photos.
looking up on the rock from the trail.
a little stamp put on the rock, i'd assume for surveying
me looking stylish next to our rock pile with a terrible back drop.
Past the rock it was a little more even as far as up to down ratio so we cruised along for a while out to about the five mile mark. We ran across a bunch of gross views and crappy trail but w/e.
crappy single track example a
last time I checked its pretty tough to get views like this on a roadie bike
This just belongs in a movie. Collective, just give me a call and I'll show you where it is.
another terrible view. we turned around at the clearing in the bottom left.
When we got to mile five we decided to turn around so we could get back to town in time for dinner. Just below rim rock Jeff sliced his tire on a nasty rock. We dialed up the rest of the crew who came out to get him (oh ya, did I mention that fsr 17 parallels the whole trail?) and I rallied back to the starting point. There was no way I was going to miss the downhill back. So after granny gearing it back up to the rock this is how it went. Lower seat, raise fork, let some air out of front tire, sip of haterade, braaaaaaaap. I think I took 5 pedal strokes on the way back, averaged 18 mph and hit a top speed of 30.5. Outside of whistler that was the best decending i'd ever done. If you've ever ridden Kachess Ridge, it was like that trail minus all the flat/uphill.
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/3813/
Me railing the last little bit of single track into the parking lot. Just for reference thats a 36t in the front and 11 in the back.
After the ride we headed back in to portland, got out of sweaty cloths, and we over to a cool little pub in the pearl district called the Lucky Lab
