My friend Ed and I got out yesterday for another dirt road exploration yesterday, again on our singlespeeds. We took the Max train out to Hillsboro from Portland where we headed into Banks for a few miles on the Banks Vernonia trail before getting onto some rural gravel backroads. Due to the wet weather we didn't have to contend with dust or even thick mud, just rim eating fine grime. The road we were exploring was Strassel Rd which was pretty nice. While it was steep in parts and forced us to walk here and there, it would be no problem on a geared bike. There was very little traffic and no rabid dogs. It was definitely beautiful in spots but as always when on back roads heading out to the coast, sections of clearcut here and there which are rather depressing. We enjoyed a nice descent on Strassel Rd which spilled us out onto Timber Rd where we resumed climbing although with no need to walk. Timber Rd is fantastic, probably one of my favorite roads in the area although just far enough away that I don't ride it too often. There was minimal traffic which included a few logging trucks but they generally gave us a wide berth. We rode into Vernonia for coffee and lunch and then returned to Hillsboro via the 18 mile Banks Vernonia trail and then back roads.
The proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335973@N00/sets/72157633053478798/with/8576784877/ I definitely want to do some more exploration into the coast range as spring moves along. There's definitely a lot of potential for dirt road rambles although without a car there's just no way of avoiding long days on the road which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Oh, same as last week. Neither of us were on Rivs but there were plenty of RBW purchased accessories. I wouldn't hesitate to do this ride on my Hilsen. I just ended up riding the SS again in solidarity with Ed whose geared bike (Rawland) isn't running. --mike -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
