April 23, 2021
GPHQ 8: Logie Trail Road
Maybe it’s the lack of appeal of the city’s best bike paths now, lined with ad hoc shelters like ribbon shantytowns, but Rachael has started hitting the hills again herself. Up through the zoo to Council Crest a few days ago; yesterday, a jaunt up Mount Tabor; and today she’s following in my footsteps by riding out to Rocky Point. Her ride is a success, as she’ll report back later. It doesn’t sound like she had any difficulty with the hills at all, and they were the best part of the ride. We’ll have to synch ourselves up and hit the hills together soon.
Not today though. It’s the last day before a rainy spell and I want to get a longer but different ride in myself. My plan is to take the Helvetia Ride, one of our favorites from the past: a loop that starts east out Skyline and drops off west in to Washington county at Johnson Road, then looping back through Helvetia before climbing back over the ridge again. A beautiful ride with a lot of climbing, and a terrific descent down Johnson that I’m anxious to video.
That’s the plan, anyway. I sabotage it though after returning home from coffee by picking up the suspense novel I’ve been reading, Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon. I’m nearing the end, and once I’m into it I don’t want to put it down again without finishing. Slow reader that I am, it’s well after 11 before I finally leave home. With an outdoor table reserved at Mingo’s at 4:30, I’m not sure I have time for Helvetia after all. It will have to wait. I’ll knock off Logie Trail today instead, and maybe bring Rocky along for the Helvetia ride once the fair weather returns again.
Logie Trail is yet another road dropping down from Skyline, so I’m off climbing up the ridge again - the fourth time in eleven days. For a change from Cornell/Johnson though, I decide to take the slow road through Leif Erickson Drive. It begins by riding Thurman Street west across the Balch Creek Bridge and out to its end, through one of the prettiest neighborhoods in the city. There’s always something worth stopping for along upper Thurman.
Unsealed Leif Erickson Drive provides the most tranquil route up the ridge, and probably the easiest. I should really ride it more often, but I have to be in the right mood for it. It’s a slow, relaxed six mile ride to the end of Leif Erickson where it intersects with Saltzman, and then another two miles of gravel up to Skyline. The climb stiffens a bit on Saltzman, but for the most part you don’t really notice that you’re steadily gaining altitude.
So, an easy climb if you don’t mind the eight miles of unpaved surface, which really isn’t bad as long as it hasn’t rained recently. Best though is the fact that it’s barricaded to motor vehicles; so it’s just you, the walkers and joggers, and a few other bikes in an eight mile tunnel of green. Therapeudic.
Up on top, it’s a relief to find pavement again. I follow Skyline north to Cornelius Pass again, but instead of continuing to drop down from there to Rock Creek like I did yesterday I stay with Skyline for the next four miles just for the variety and to refresh my memory of this part of the road. Almost immediately I’m reminded of why I’ve come to prefer Rock Creek - not only is it much quieter and more secluded, it’s also significantly easier. There are a couple of pretty good climbs in these four miles, just steep enough to push the boundaries of my definition of fun.
Logie Trail is another road I haven’t dropped down for a long time, long enough to have forgotten that I don’t really care for it so much. It’s probably my least favorite of the eastside descents from Skyline, if you don’t count Germantown and Cornelius Pass, which I never ride anyway because they’re much too busy. Like Rocky Point, it’s a steady, steep plummet that should be a lot of fun. It’s just a bit too tense for me though, so that for the first mile I can’t really relax and enjoy it. The surface is more irregular, the hairpins are sharper, the grade seems steeper - I never quite feel secure on it unless I slow down considerably. And, it’s all a drop through the forest so you don’t get the inspiring views ahead that you get on Rocky Point.
After the first mile though the grade eases off somewhat, the road straightens out, and the final mile is great - nothing to worry about except the risk of a dog dashing out from one of the homes lining the road, a risk that’s been on my mind a bit lately.
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Video sound track: Aeolian Tale, by Oregon
On the bottom I’m back on Highway 30 again, racing back to town with one huge truck after another racing past my shoulder for the next ten miles. After two long stretches on this highway in the last two days, I’m ready for a change of scene.
Dinner at Caffe Mingo is great - a bowl of puréed soup with their signature dish, Sugo di Carne. A perfect meal for me, still working my way off of my soft food diet regimen. There is one positive change the horrible last year has brought to Portland - the proliferation of outdoor dining experiences that are possible now. all our local Italian favorites - Mingo, Serrato, Gallo Nero, Justa Pasta - have erected covered, heated outdoor dining enclosures over the past winter. I hope they persist.
Ride stats today: 37 miles, 2,800’
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