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Mar 2

Forest Park

Posted on Sunday, March 2, 2008 in Cycling

Greetings Readers!

I’ve ridden Forest Park more times than I can remember, mostly back in the day on mtn bikes. I’ve coverd every inch of that park, from Skyline to Hwy 30 and from Thurman to Newberry. I’ve ridden it all. I’ve always driven my mtn bike up there to ride.

I’ve also ridden all of Skyline, on my road bike from my house via Thompson Road.

I’ve enjoyed them both and I’ve long wanted to combine the two rides, the climb up Thompson to Skyline, and descend into FP via Firelane 1 from Skyline. Ride FP, them climb back up to Skyline and head home the way I came.

Well, today was that day. We had great weather, and this type of ride is best seved up with a cross bike. Yes readers, a cross bike is for more than just racin’ cross. :)

I took some pics for you today, just a few, after all I gotta ride too!

We’re starting out on Murray Rd, heading north…

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Still on Murray, you can just make out the top of the hills in the distance. That’s where we’re going….

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We have now ridden Murray across Hwy 26 to Cornell, pass Cedar Mill and were at the Thompson intersection, the climb begins….

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cruising up Thompson, the top of the Hill in the distance is Skyline blvd.

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Getting closer……

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Thompson is not a bad climb, it’s about 3.5 miles and the grade is not more than 5%. We are near the top looking back now towards NW Portland and the way we came.

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We’ve decended down from Skyline, to 53rd, and we’re at the entrance to the park, via Firelane 1

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There’s miles and miles of hiking trails in FP, bikes however are only allowed on the Firelanes and Leif Erikson road.

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Firelane 1 is pretty steep, droping 1500′ of elevation in about a mile. It’s an absolute bommer downhill.

At the bottom of Firelane 1 looking west on Leif Erikson, gravel and dirt doubletrack.

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Cruising the Leif, looking down towards the town of St Johns, the shipyards, and Sauvie Island.

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From Germantown Road we retraced our route and headed home. It was a great ride, and there was no thoughts of training, base miles or anything else. Today it was just about getting out and riding your bike. Although the mileage wasn’t to long, the cumulative elevation gain is tough.

Tomorrow is a rest day, off the bike.

Miles ridden today, 35

Miles ridden 2008, 508

-Jim-

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