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The United Bike Lanes of America
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2nd Annual Passport to Pain
It’s never too early to start training!September 15, 2012 – Vashon Island’s 2nd annual PASSPORT TO PAIN (P2P) – 10,000 feet of vertical, 76 mile ride.
Anyone who’s cycled Vashon knows that the Island is a series of brutal hills connected by short sections of… well…. less brutal hills. Face it, a cross section of any Vashon ride looks like your heart beat on Alpe d’Huez. So, what if you strung all these hills together into one long epic circuit of the Island? Crazy? Maybe – but a fun crazy.
So what’s with the name “Passport to Pain”? Each rider carries a P2P Passport, which is stamped at 18 strategic checkpoints along the route, well… if you can get to all 18… or 16… or 12… maybe 8… hey, it’s your ride – it’s not a race. The adventure eventually ends and the stories begin at a big BBQ, but there’s much more to it than that. Interested? Concerned? Get on our list for dates and details. Please email – vashonp2p@gmail.com
All this fun is brought to you by Vashon Island Rowing Club – http://vashoncrew.com
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Oregon Scenic Bikeways
The best of Oregon riding
Explore Oregon’s most scenic regions by bike! Our unique Scenic Bikeways program features routes suggested by locals – so you know you’re getting the best of the best when you ride an Oregon Scenic Bikeway. These routes have been officially reviewed, ridden and adopted, and each one provides inspiration for planning a two-wheeled vacation in Oregon – for visitors and residents, riding here for the first time or the fiftieth. Read more about Oregon Scenic Bikeways.
The routes are diverse, accommodating everyone from beginning to advanced riders, for day trips or extended multi-day adventures. Some Bikeways are linear, some are loops, some are short and some are long. Explore descriptions and detailed maps on the route pages below.
Check out all six Oregon Scenic Bikeways – and then go experience them for yourself!
Scenic Bikeway Itineraries
Itinerary Duration Length Location Metolius Loops Scenic Bikeway
1 day or less 29.5 miles Sisters, Camp Sherman Sisters to Smith Rock Scenic Bikeway
1 day or less 36.9 miles Terrebonne, Sisters, Redmond McKenzie Pass Scenic Bikeway
1 day or less 36.1 miles McKenzie Bridge, Blue River, Sisters Covered Bridges Scenic Bikeway
1 day or less 37.8 miles Cottage Grove, Culp Creek, Dorena Twin Bridges Scenic Bikeway
1 day or less 36.3 miles Bend, Culver, Madras, Sisters, Warm Springs Blue Mountain Century Scenic Bikeway
2 days 109.4 miles Ukiah, Pilot Rock, Heppner Old West Scenic Bikeway
3 days 174.7 miles Prairie City, Monument, Long Creek, Kimberly, John Day, Dayville Grande Tour Scenic Bikeway
3 days 134.5 miles Baker City, Cove, Haines, La Grande, North Powder, Union Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway
4 days 132 miles Salem, Independence, Eugene, Brownsville, Albany -
Community will gather for Kathryn Hickson tomorrow
I am just posting this from Jonathan on Bike Portland.org. I know we all feel connected. My condolences to her family and friends.
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on May 17th, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Kathryn Rickson on May 3rd.
(Photo: Facebook profile)Tomorrow night the community will gather at the corner of SW 3rd and Madison in downtown Portland to remember Kathyrn Rickson. Kathryn is the 29-year-old Southeast Portland resident who died late last night from injuries sustained from a collision with a truck while bicycling through that intersection.
Every time someone dies while riding a bike, it hits all of us very hard. When it happens on a section of bike lane that many of us here in Portland have ridden on hundreds of times, we feel it even more deeply.
Let’s get together tomorrow night and remember this tragedy as a community.
The BTA and Swanson Thomas, Coon & Newton will host sign-making from 3:00 to 5:00 at their offices on SW 2nd (820 SW 2nd Ave, just a few blocks away). We will meet shortly after 5:00 pm at 3rd and Madison. Please consider being there. Thank you.
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Giant Angry Birds Illustration by Baltimore Biker
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Mt Hood Cycling Classic June 8 – 10
HOOD RIVER — The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic will revive two former stages for the race’s 10th anniversary edition June 8-10 in the Columbia River Gorge.
The Scenic Gorge Time Trial is back again this year, along with the return of the Columbia Hills Road Race. MHCC director Chad Sperry of Breakaway Promotions also moved the 2012 event, which features four stages over three days, back one week from its traditional spot on the schedule in hopes of avoiding the need to clear snow from the race route, an effort that has been required each of the past two years.
USA Cycling will sanction the men’s and women’s Pro/1/2 races, allowing riders holding UCI Continental licenses to compete. OBRA will sanction the remaining races, which include Masters 40+/50+men, Cat 3 men, Cat 4 men and Cat 3/4 women.
The racing begins Friday, June 8, with the return of the Columbia Hills Road Race outside of The Dalles about 25 miles east of Hood River. This relatively flat stage could provide a good opportunity for the sprinters before the roads turn uphill. The 18.6 mile loop features just a couple relatively gentle climbs and a speedy downhill run into the finish at the rural Petersburg one-room schoolhouse southeast of The Dalles.
Saturday, June 9, will be a challenging doubleheader with a morning time trial and evening criterium. The Scenic Gorge Time Trial course returns by popular demand after the race featured a shorter course near Mt. Adams in 2011.
“Mt. Hood is going to be tough in that it’s compact and there’s a lot of stuff,” Sperry said. “But we got a lot of complaints that we weren’t running that time trial course. So we’re bringing it back.”
Considered by many to be the most beautiful time trial course in America, this individual 18.5-mile test starts west of The Dalles and heads up and through the looping switchbacks leading to Rowena Crest. Riders then head down past orchards and farmland into the tiny town of Mosier before climbing again up through the tunnels and vistas of the Columbia River Gorge Historic Highway pedestrian/bike path and the finish in Hood River.
For every inch of scenic beauty along the course, there’s an equal or greater amount of pain. If the two significant climbs tucked in amongst the many rollers aren’t challenge enough, the Gorge winds that can howl through the exposed areas have been known to blow a rider from one side of the road to the other.
Riders will need to leave something in the tank for the Downtown Hood River Criterium later that day. The traditional 1km Hood River course is back Saturday evening with its technical downhill 180-degree corkscrew turn and reciprocal climb back to the finish after four more corners and 60 feet of elevation gain.
“It’s going to add a tremendous amount of challenge coming off a tough, tough time trial course and then having to compete in a tough criterium,” Sperry said.
The oddly shaped six-corner course loops around the Full Sail Brewery in the middle of town, and the local Hood River fans show up in force to support the event and cheer for the day’s heroes.
2012 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic:
Friday, June 8 – Stage 1, Columbia Hills Road Race
Saturday, June 9 – Stage 2, Scenic Gorge Time Trial
Saturday, June 9 – Stage 3, Downtown Hood River Criterium
Sunday, June 10 – Stage 4, Three Summits Road RaceFor a more complete article, head over to Oregon Cycling Action. I am reprinting this from them so that my family can plan out annual volunteer outing to support the action.
10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain…a 100% reason to remember the name
