Yesterday's
coffeeneuring ride with Calvin featured Oregon's rural countryside. For today's ride, I wanted to show him some very different terrain. We decided to do the Bridge of the Gods Loop.
My partner Jeff and I picked up Calvin in our car for the drive out to Troutdale. Kevin met us there.
While one can start a BOG loop pretty much anywhere, the "traditional" ride start is at
McMenamin's Edgefield, where there is ample parking and, more importantly, ample beer in the pub at the conclusion of the ride!
The weather was crappy but our spirits were high as we set out. The bike path along the Columbia River is always beautiful.
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| Marine Drive Bike Path. Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo. |
Crossing the I205 Bridge into Washington State is noisy and nearly all uphill, but at least there's a nifty bike path right down the middle.
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| Jeff crosses the I205 Bridge. Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo. |
With all the rain, we were looking forward to our coffeeneuring spot. The
Caffe Piccolo Paradiso at mile 20 in Camas was perfect.
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| Blurry photo, apropos of the rainy day! |
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| Obligatory bike shot |
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| Breakfast or dessert? |
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| Vanilla Latte & Pumpkin Bread |
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| My riding buddies are kinda cute, doncha think? Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo. |
Sadly, we couldn't stay warm & cozy in the cafe, so we headed out into the rain.
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| Start of the climb up Hwy 14. Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo |
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| Lots of mist and rain. Pretty in it's own way. Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo |
At the ride's mid-point, we crossed back into Oregon via the Bridge of the Gods. The nice folks in the jeep in front of us paid our tolls!
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| Bridge of the Gods. Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo |
We had a sit-down lunch in the Charburger. Window seat with great views of the bridge!
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| Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo |
It's been pointed out to me that we sure do eat a lot of food on these rides. Yes, yes we do.
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| Not going hungry. |
Leaving the Charburger, we found this fresh kill in the parking lot. Looks like this guy is going to be on someone's wall soon.
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| Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo |
From Cascade Locks west to just before Multnomah Falls, we followed the historic Columbia River bike trail. More fairy tale forest.
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| Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo |
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| You'd think they could have come up with a better solution here... Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo. |
Leaving the trail, we followed the Old Columbia River Hwy, passing many waterfalls along the way, including the ever-spectacular Multnomah Falls.
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| Multnomah Falls |
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| We climbed to the high bridge |
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| If you know where to look, you can see Jeff & Kevin! |
After leaving the falls, the road climbs up to Crown Point, for one last killer view down to the Columbia River before the road heads back down to Troutdale.
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| The view of the river from Crown Point never gets old. |
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| Fading daylight at Crown Point. |
Finally back at McMenamin's Edgefield, we had dinner and beer, a nice reward after nearly 82 miles, much of it in the rain.
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| Photo courtesy of Calvin Boo |
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| Seriously creepy 3D artwork over our dinner table. |
Coffeeneuring mileage for the weekend: 159 miles!
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