Day 3 - Portland to Hood River

 

What a beautiful day of riding.  We left downtown Portland on a series of bike paths for about 17 miles.  This is what the day had in store - 75 miles and 3800 ft of climbing.

Once outside of Portland, we entered Troutdale, the gateway to the Columbia Valley Gorge.  The scenery was spectacular, the climbs tough and the descents amazing.  Lots of pictures from today.  After our rest stop at mile 22, the climbing began.  as we got close to the top, the smell of lavender was everywhere.

We then crested the top of the hill and started down a short distance to Crown Point

This was followed by an absolutely amazing descent down to the valley floor.  Great roads, sweeping turns, shade and no cars.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Plenty of waterfalls at the bottom of the valley give you a sense of the height of the canyon walls.

Lunch was next, then on to a bike trail, where, apparently only in Oregon, they felt the need to put in stairs.

I was able to spend the next few miles before the next climb trying to explain the game of baseball to Ian, our UK cyclist.  He will be going to his first ever baseball game in October to see the Red Sox play in Fenway Park.  Not sure I was able to make sense of the game for him, but I did make sure he knew the words to Sweet Caroline.

Another climb was ahead and it was a steep one.  Rest stop at the top was timed perfectly!  The descent was another good one as well.

And then the fun started....

Thanks to road closures, we had to ride along the interstate.  But that only happened AFTER we had to ride a gravel and dirt construction road along the interstate.  The last 6 miles into Hood River were a bit intense.  Cars and trucks flying by at 70 mph.  I was as close to the jersey barriers as possible.

Dinner and beer at a local brewery was earned today.

Word on the street is that tomorrow will be tough...8k climbing and 90+ miles