With a baby at home, I haven't gotten many changes to do any "real" mountain biking lately, since that involves getting in the car and leaving town.
However, all is not lost: I still get quite a bit of dirt riding in. In Portland we are blessed with America's largest forested urban park, aptly named Forest Park. For nearly 10 miles the park drapes the entire north slope of the Tualatin Mountains, from their 1100 foot crest at Skyline Drive all the way down to St. Helens Road near sea lavel. About 30 miles of trail are open to bikes.
Since I live east of the West Hills (as the southern end of the Tualatins are known) and work west of them, I have to commute over them. I have the choice of riding directly home in just under an hour, taking an extra hour (or two) and hitting some of the trails in the park. Lately I've been doing that at least once a week with my trusty Karate Monkey commuter. Most of these pics are from last Friday's commute.
To get to the park from work, first I have to ride pavement to the ridge crest at Skyline Drive. I climb continually through subdivisions like this:
The climbing is mostly gradual until I start getting close to Skyline, and then there is no easy way. There are a couple of 2-3 block stretches with a lung-popping 15% grade. This is exactly why I have my 3-speed hub set up with two "ranges": 40x18 for most of my commuting, and 36x22 specifically for this ride. This gives me a low gear of 35 inches, and I can still barely make it, especially with our recent warm weather.
What's that, you say? Oh, I've strayed into technical pontifications again. Oops. Maybe a couple more photos can fix that. I know it's still pavement, but the rural scenery sure is nice once I start riding the rollers of Skyline Drive:
On most of my rides (including today) I leave Skyline almost immediately, blasting down Firelane 3, one of the best entrances to the park. But last Friday I decided to ride a few miles down Skyline and hit Newton Road, maybe the nicest descent in the park. 2-3 miles and 1000' of blasting down trails like this:
Most of the trails in Forest Park are deteriorated dirt roads, sometimes covered with railroad ballast rocks to rattle your teeth. Newton starts out that way, but about 2/3 of the way down it crosses Newton Creek (3 times, and I have yet to ride the first two rocky crossings successfully) and then turns to flowy singletrack for the rest of the descent.
I pause to snap the Karate Monkey at a stream crossing. Yes, it has running lights. Yes, they are bright enough to be quite visible in broad daylight. With the ability to detours like this on the way home from work, I have The Ultimate Commuter Bike.
Usually my Forest Park rides have me riding down the ridge on the trail of my choice, dumping me down onto St. Helens Road. Also known as US 30, it's a moderately busy highway, but with a huge shoulder and scenery like the St. Johns Bridge, designed by the same guy who did the Golden Gate Bridge:
Eventually I'm downtown, and just a couple more miles of cruising the waterfront to get home:
So like I said, I haven't gotten to do much "real" mountain biking lately. But with a commute like that I really can't complain, now can I?
The Following Week
So yesterday I had to drive to work, but after getting home I realized I had a little extra time on my hands. Newton "Road" was still on my mind, so after dinner I decided to grab the Vulture and head out the park for a quick spin. Barely an hour of daylight left, so I had to keep it short.
I start into steep climbing immediately, heading up Firelane 12. I'm glad I have my new 30x26 "granny gear" (yes, both bikes have 2-ring/2-cog gearing now), and this is the first time since my geared-bike days that I've been able to climb the whole thing without having to walk parts of it. Once I reach BPA Road I'm treated to a nice view of Mt. St. Helens.
Sorry about the powerlines in the photo, but one thing you quickly learn about Forest Park is any photo taken at a clearing is going to have a powerline in it.
Eventually I reach the top, cruise Skyline briefly and claim my reward, another descent down Newton. Sweet. The Vulture's been jealous lately, and wants to pose at the same stream crossing:
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