All you Portlanders will understand when I say my ride today was Boring.
Took the Springwater Trail out to it's terminus and had a coffee at a garden center/cafe. Mulch and espresso, what a combination!
Thought I would take a new trail and make a loop of it, so I checked out the Cazadero for the first time. I haven't swapped over my tires and just have skinny 28s, but they did fine on the hard packed gravel. I had read this trail goes all the way to Eagle Creek, but Google Maps said otherwise. Guess who was right...
Having dead ended just short of the road, I was left with the sad decision to head all the way back to Boring. Unless I could find some way to get on the road that looked so close on the map...
I have learned the hard way that bike-whacking is never the shortcut that it seems. Well, I take it back, I haven't actually learned that lesson because I tried it yet again. A small break in the ferns by the side of the trail and I decided to schlep my Trek through the brake and up to the road on the ridge.
I hadn't gone far when I found a nice path! It switch backed up the hill, which was a godsend since I underestimated (yet again!) how steep the ascent would be. But who knew where the path would lead?
The higher I got, the more concerned I was getting for bumping into some Y'all Qaeda property owner with a gun and a distrust of young Portlanders on bikes. But I successfully avoided death when I topped out onto a nice road with beautiful views of Mt Hood.
From there it was just a white-knuckler of a ride on the shoulder of busy roads during heavy commuter time. But I got to cross some new paths off the map, and Tillstrom road was quite a pretty pedal if you ignore the honking passerbys trying to run you into a ditch.
All in all, a great day to call in sick.