So once again it has been proven that the book I have out from the library SUCKS BIG TIME. Every time I use that book, either the directions are wrong, or there’s some hideously long hike-a-bike that somehow didn’t get written about. (Mountain Biking Portland by Scott Rapp) I hadn’t ridden the “wild side” of Forest Park (north of Germantown Road) before, so I didn’t know what to expect. We parked at my usual spot on Saltzman off of Skyline, and we rode down Saltzman to Leif, left on Leif. My riding buddy managed to keep up a strong pace on Leif, which for some reason, I can never do when I’m by myself. It was a bit longer than I anticipated to Germantown Road (isn’t it always?). When we got to the parking lot, we turned left on Germantown, past Fireline 9, and took a right on Firelane 10. YOW! Let the fun begin.
First it was a fast and fun downhill, then up for a loooong time, but it was a good up. Ridable, long, yes, but manageable. Eventually you hit another parking lot which you just go straight thru to another unmarked gate. From here lots of fun, fast downhill, a total blast! It took you down to where there’s usually a creek in the winter, and a slippery, rocky section beside (and in) the creek bed. I was totally proud of myself for riding over all the rocks, I just kept up my pace and tried not to think about it too hard.
After that some more ups and down, and we came down to just about hitting Hwy 30. Then we took a sharp left on the hideous BPL Road up…and up…and UP. The book describes it as “1 mile of an unrelenting 1000-foot vertical climb” which does give you a warning. However, you’d think it would say like “1 mile of super steep, super loose, rocky hike-a-bike.” Oy. Amazing views though, especially since the sun was setting. When we finally got to the top, we were both totally beat (my hips were seriously hating me). The rest of the road was short and up and down (still, more up than down) until we were shot out to Skyline. We took a left on Skyline, and then we were supposed to take a right on Newton Road back down to Firelane 10 to the Germantown Parking lot, but we were both so tired, we just rode all the way back to the car on Skyline (plus it was almost completely dark in the trees and my lights suck).
So all in all a 2.5 hour ride, tack on another 30 minutes to go back on Leif instead of Skyline. And of course, finding a different way other than BP, back to Leif.
