chichi

My wife and I are going to be in Portland last weekend in July for the Chris King Gourmet ride. I was thinking of riding to Hood River via Goverment Camp on Sunday and then returning to Portland via the Columbia River on Monday. We would be credit card touring on a tandem.
I was hoping to get some local insight:
We do centuries with 6 to 7000 feet of eleveation in the SF bay area a few times a year, will we be biting off to much on this route?
How is traffic on Hwy's 26 & 35?
Should I be taking any side roads to avoid traffic?
Are their any places to get food or drink after Government Camp?
Am I better off riding to HoodRiver on the Columbia and coming back via 35 & 26? (pervailing winds?)
Any particular place to stay in Hood River?

KRhea

You have a PM.


KRhea

mtnbud

Government Camp to Hood River should be no problem. I'd turn off at Cooper Spur and ride through Parkdale rather than Hwy 35 all the way to Hood River. If you are feeling like it, it might be worth your effort to include the nasty climb up to Timberline to take in the sights. Even if the wildflowers aren't in bloom Timberline Lodge is pretty cool.

I84 out of Hood River is extremely busy and loud. It also has a very wide shoulder. You won't have to ride the whole way on I84. The old Columbia Gorge Hwy parallels I84 much of the way. It is very narrow and very crowded with tourist traffic - especially on the weekends. Almost all the traffic will be traveling slowly and there are usually other cyclists along the road which helps to get cars aware to be keeping an eye open. I'd avoid I84 as much as possible, but you have to ride part of your ride on I84 if you decide to ride it. It might be worth it. I've never tried it, so maybe someone else who has ridden from I84 from Portland will be able to fill you in. Once you get close to Portland, I'd recommend the Spring Water Corridor to get to Downtown.

Google Maps was being difficult along the Gorge - I tried to make a map of the basic route I would use. It will be a little longer, but better IMO.

Wildwood 

I'm not a Portland area local but used to travel on business to Sandy, Or on Hwy 26. From Sandy to Govt Camp is about 25 miles, if memory serves. I have ridden that route many times without incident and enjoyed it thoroughly, but I wasn't riding at peak summer holiday nor on weekends. Weekend, high speed, summer tourist traffic is NOT my friend so this is not a route I could highly recommend to a tandem, especially if the stoker is a loved one.

and mtnbud is correct, the ride from Govt Camp up to Timberline Lodge is a twisty, relatively steep, slog. For the descent back down, a drum or disk brakes would be a good idea. Not my idea of fun in the middle of a century ride, but your mileage may vary.

I've never been on the route to Hood River.

Let us know how the Chris King ride goes.

chichi

This information and some information I found on the Mt Hood Century have got me that the ride to Hood river should is doable. Looks like it will be a challenge, but well worth the effort. Coming back along the river may be the tough part between the traffic and the wind. If I can arrange for a ride across the Hood River bridge will cycling on that side of the river be better?

Jeff Wills

Weekday traffic on SR-14 (the Washington side) can be busy, but the shoulder is wide for most of the length. In the area around Cape Horn (across from Vista House in Oregon) the shoulder becomes narrow, but it's a great view.

I lead a ride the first weekend of July that goes from the I-205 bridge to The Bridge of the Gods on the Washington side, crosses, then returns along the Old Gorge Highway in Oregon (beware the stairs!). It's about an 85 mile loop, but easy even for a bunch of old recumbent riders: https://www.ohpv.org/events/bog/BoG.htm

mtnbud

These might be worth watching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTABD-Td3lo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OrKMttUOZs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egirh6qEq70

chichi

After getting a better understanding of what the word "wind" means in the Gorge I decided to ride out via the the old Columbia River Highway and the rent a car and drive back to Portland and do the Banks Vernonia trail on Monday.

The Chris King Century was fantastic well worth the time, money and effort. Ride to the Dalles via the Gorge was beautiful, had to ride I84 a couple of time for 5 or 6 miles but did not find it to be a problem traffic was light and the paving seemed to have been done in such a way that traffic was not particularly loud, both my stoker and I never felt overwhelmed. Banks Vernonia trail was a very nice way to wind down the weekend, I plenty of time to get the bike packed up and get one more great Portland meal.

BTW when we drove back we crossed a couple of the open steel bridges, they would have scared the (you fill in the blank) out of us, you people are crazy!

Thanks for all the input we thourly enjoyed our selves and will be back to do the ride via Mt. Hood.

adventurepdx

Which bridges are you talking about?

If you are talking about a bridge in the city of Portland with a steel grate deck, like the Hawthorne, the bike path is on the non steel grate sidewalk. If you are talking about the Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia River by Cascade Locks, well, yeah, that one is a bit scary to cross. If you are talking about the Hood River Bridge, bicycles are prohibited (and it would be VERY scary to cross on a bike if we could.)

adventurepdx

And if anyone is interested in a different way to go out by Mount Hood to Hood River, try Lolo Pass Road. It branches from US 26 at Zigzag. It's a good climb up to Lolo Pass (about 3,500 feet), but quiet and quite scenic. There's 5 1/2 miles of gravel after the Pass, though, but this has the added effect of keeping most cars off the road. There are no services between Zigzag and a few miles outside of Hood River, so one would have to be prepared and have a good amount of water. Here's what the route looks like: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/780080

A good way to avoid most of US 26 between Gresham and Lolo Pass Road is use Marmot Road. It's also quiet and scenic, but has some good climbs.
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/780070
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/780074

kenl666

I did part of this route the other day, and the views are really great. I left Sandy, did Marmot > Barlow > Lolo Pass, then into Parkdale and up to Govt. Camp (circumnavigating Mt. Hood). I was able to handle the gravel on my skinny road tires, but I certainly kept the speed down. Most of the gravel is downhill, but there is a little bit of climbing in the gravel section.

If you hang a right when you get to the Dee Hwy, Parkdale is a few miles down the road and there's a mini-mart on the left. When you turn from Barlow to Lolo Pass Rd, if you go right you wind up on US26 and there's a mini-mart at that intersection to stock up before you start climbing. They have great berry cobbler too, yum...