As Gandalf once said “You Shall Not Pass!”
I was out for a 2-3 hour ride on Saturday, trying to take advantage of a break in the weather. We’ve gotten well over 13 inches of rain in the PDX area in December, it’s the 3rd rainiest month on record. Needless to say, this isn’t normal. No matter what you think you know about Pacific Northwest weather.
Monday’s hike showed how swollen the creeks are in the coastal range, and today was an exploration of the roads around the Bald Peak area. I was kind of making it up as I went along, but by the time I got to A Blooming Hill Winery, I had an idea of what I wanted to do. Mother nature had a different idea.
The Tualatin River had overflowed it’s banks and into an adjacent farm field, which comes right up the road, it decided to cross the road and flood the fields on the opposite side too.
The detour I had to take didn’t exactly take me that far out of the way. However, it was pretty interesting to see how flooded everything was in this area. The forecast calls for more heavy rain in the coming days. While this has meant great things for the Cascades (snowfall is being measured in feet) and their ski areas, all it means for the valley is flooding,landslides and apparently closed roads.
Hopefully we get back into a more “normal” winter for here by January. I don’t mind riding in drizzle, but pouring rain and 30+ mph winds have meant a bit too much indoor riding this month.
Thanks for reading,
-Pete
ON & OFF RHODES 
I hear ya. This rain has been too much. And yeah, I ride in the rain as a regular commuter. But as you said, drizzle to showery is one thing, pouring all day is another. There have been a few days this month where I opted to take transit. And the horrible wait times and crowded buses the last time I did made me think maybe I was better off just getting soaked…
But fun rides are another matter. Thankfully for me, I have been busy with wrapping up projects to do any “fun” rides (or hikes) this past month, so the rain didn’t matter as much. But I need to get out there!
I’m less than a mile from one of the MAX stops in Hillsboro, so that has been my default lately. Luckily it’s about the same time as riding to work, but not nearly as fun.