Something Old, Something New

If you needed proof of how much the cycling community in the greater PDX area is suffering from cabin fever today provided ample proof. Ricky posted about a ride on February 15th a couple weeks ago on the OMTM Google group and asked for RSVPs to get an approximate count. There was a decent amount of interest. Weather would play the biggest role since it has still been raining a lot lately. Late this week the 15th got pushed to the 16th because of the weekend forecast.

After arriving at the Yamhill School there had to be at least 25 of us who showed up for what ended up being a pretty kick ass route.

2020-02-16 Yamhill Trask Gravel 002 — `Bob, Matt, Dustin and a bunch of people I didn't know`

2020-02-16 Yamhill Trask Gravel 001 — `Wayne, Matt and more people`

We ended up riding out and doing part of a loop that Mia and I have done a couple times in reverse. The descent that we usually get to rip down towards the end of our loop was instead the first climb of the day.

We then followed Moores Valley Road and rode over to a new road for me. From there it was a short(ish) but steep climb and then a bit more climbing after a short downhill. The highlight of this section was some “super secret singletrack” that absolutely rocked on the Salsa Cutthroat.

2020-02-16 Yamhill Trask Gravel 003 — `New to me`

2020-02-16 Yamhill Trask Gravel 010 — `regroup just before the super secret singletrack`

We then dropped back down to Moores Valley Rd and over to Fairdale Rd which is very familiar to me. The next new section was the climb up Trask River Rd. I’ve known about it for awhile and passed the particular off shoot multiple times. Today it was time to learn it. The first mile or so after the gate is a pretty stiff climb and then after that it levels out to a decent grade but continues to climb for over 4 miles.

The wind picked up and the temps dropped throughout the climb. We saw a decent group of Elk off in one of the clearings and the views, while limited by clouds, were pretty spectacular.

I did not dilly dally at the top of the climb. I was a bit cold and I was fighting some leg cramps so I wanted to take the descent at my own pace and pick my own lines.

2020-02-16 Yamhill Trask Gravel 015 — `early on Trask River Rd`

2020-02-16 Yamhill Trask Gravel 017 — `Washout heading back down after the long climb`

After turning back onto Fairdale ,which eventually turns into Old Railroad Grade, I was in survival mode. At least this part is slightly downhill or flat and it was a decent ride back to the Yamhill School.

Here is the route on ride with GPS. I’ll definitely be headed back out for this one for more. Turning it into an epic 75+ miles by leaving directly from the house should be doable as the weather (and my condition) improves.

Thanks for reading,

-Pete