Third week in a row that Ed and I got out for a ride and took in some new dirt roads. This week we went east to the Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls. Once at Multnomah Falls we decided to climb up to Larch Mtn Rd via Palmer Mill Rd, a steep dirt road used by locals. The fact that it's dirt tends to scare away the tourist. We didn't see a single car on it. Towards where it intersects with a paved road we came to Brower Rd which is closed to motorized vehicles. We decided to explore it. Ed had ridden it in the summer a few years before in the summer. It intersects Larch Mtn Rd which climbs from Troutdale for 14 miles to the top of Larch Mtn. In the winter it's closed at milepost 10 and is covered in snow until May or so. As we rode up Brower we came across more and more snow. Against better judgment we continued on pushing our bikes through snow when it became too deep to ride. The snow was interspersed with snow free areas so we felt comfortable with keeping on in spite of us both wearing less than optimal shoes (Ed wearing Sidis and me wearing Sambas. We finally came out at mile post 10 on Larch Mtn Rd. Our feet were wet and cold, our brakes weren't really working and the road wasn't plowed. For the first couple of miles we descended in tire tracks which left "dry" exposed road. It was a bit sketchy but we survived. Once back in Troutdale it was a nice easy ride back into town after a stop for a V8 as I was having some cramping. I was worried about time but made it back into town with plenty of time to pick-up my dog Dirk from doggy day care. What a great day. I'll most likely ride tomorrow too although most likely a ramble through Forest Park and a trip to the library with some coffee drinking and reading in there somewhere.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335973@N00/sets/72157633101635902/ --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 [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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.
