Sun and Hundreds of Miles of Open Roads Beckon Visitors From Rainy Portland/Vancouver
THE DALLES, OR, March 17, 2008 — “Last year in Oregon 677 people fell off their bikes…and drowned,” Oregon humorist James Cloutier once wrote. Now two rural counties in the unique rain shadow of Mt. Hood and the Cascade
Mountains are joining forces to promote cycling on the rolling hills of their wide-open spaces under blue skies, where there is more sagebrush than people, and 10 minutes from the Columbia River a cyclist can be pedaling on a little trafficked open road, and the only souls they will encounter have feathers or fur. Both counties are located at the
eastern end of the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area and are only a 75-minute drive from Portland International Airport.
Sherman County’s new “Windmills & Wheat Fields Scenic Cycling” brochure can be downloaded at www.sherman-county.com and promotes a 50-mile ride of moderate difficulty and 3,000 feet of elevation with views of Mounts Hood and Adams, wind farms and pioneer schoolhouses. The route takes riders through the ghost town of
Kent and through the town of Moro, and suggests restaurants in Wasco — the Lean To Café & Goose Pit Saloon for lunch.
“With miles and miles of open roads, incredible scenery, very little traffic and lots of sun, this is a great area for cyclists to escape the rains on the western side of the Cascades,“ said brochure author and cyclist Nancy Allen.
In adjacent Wasco County, The Dalles Cycling Association has recently formed and a group of local volunteers will publish a similar brochure this spring. In the interim, the group has published nine routes on the local cycling shop website, www.salmoncyclery.com.
Former cycling champion David Zimbelman, proprietor of Salmon Cyclery on 2nd Street in downtown The Dalles says, “The Dalles is uniquely situated as a yeararound Northwest cycling destination. Lying in Mount Hood’s rain shadow, cyclists can enjoy the beautiful ridges and valleys forged by the world-famous Missoula Floods as they encounter rolling wheat fields, orchards, and vineyards on lightly traveled roads. In fact, the combination of great weather, superb scenery, great roads, and little traffic make the area one of the world’s preeminent places to enjoy road riding.” Both counties are promoting cycling of all kinds and to all levels — from road cycling to mountain biking to cycle cross. “There are great places for families and groups,” says Sherman County’s Allen.
Cycling is providing a boost to the local economies. In downtown The Dalles, cycling groups can now be seen shopping at Klindt’s Bookstore, the oldest bookstore in Oregon, or having breakfast or lunch at the new Petite Provence, which features French pastries, salads, sandwiches and espresso. Cyclists can often be seen parking their bikes outside the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles and taking in its exhibits before heading west on the historic Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway, over the Rowena Loops (featured last year in a 2-page Velo News pictorial) and on to Hood
River.
This April 20, 2008, the popular “Cherry of a Ride,” benefiting St. Mary’s Academy in The Dalles in conjunction with The Dalles Cherry Festival, is a great introduction to the area with 30, 48, 60, 80 and 100-mile routes. Registration info at
www.stmarysacademythedalles.org.
Professional cyclists race over the Rowena Loops stretch as part of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic now in its sixth year. The six-day, six-stage race is May 13-18, 2008 and starts to the west in forested Hood River County with four stages in the high desert of Wasco County, with top pro cycling teams from Canada and the US competing. The race has earned the highest ranking on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar and was named as one of only three UCI women’s point races in the nation, an honor that will make it an Olympic qualifier event.
Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Race Director Chad Sperry says, “We are incredibly excited at the Classic receiving the highest ranking on the pro circuit. It insures that every pro team in the U.S. will be here hunting down points for the national series.”
The Classic is a homegrown event says Sperry: “the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic has grown far more rapidly than any other race on the pro circuit, far surpassing events that have been in existence 2 and 3 times longer than we have. We feel strongly that this success is in large part due to the overwhelming natural beauty of the area, the spectacular roads and venues, and the tremendous community support.”
