Annual OHPV Elsie-Vernonia loop 9-6-09

[admin]

Annual OHPV Elsie-Vernonia loop  9-6-09

[kirkej]

And you thought you were going to sneak away for the Labor Day weekend...

Join us on Sunday, September 6th, for our seventh annual Vernonia/Nehalem River Loop ride through the Coast
Range.  We'll meet at 8AM at Timber Junction (on Highway 26 intersection of
Highway 26 and Timber Road, 7 miles west of the Highway 47 turnoff). On the
northwest corner of Timber Junction there is a former restaurant which had a parking lot
with ample room to pull off, unload bikes, and organize car pools over the
hill. As there is a lot of space around this intersection, we will gather at the closest
practical spot near that lot.

The Banks-Vernonia State Trail has had some improvements and is quite
rideable. Most of the abrupt transitions on and off trail bridges have been fixed
or improved, at least near the Vernonia end, but keep your eyes open anyway.

The plan is to ferry cars over the hill to Elsie first, so we won't have to
climb the big hill on 26. Riders could choose to start at the view point on
Hwy 26 above Timber Junction to the west and "warm up" with a 900 vertical
foot descent.

The hard core folks are planning to make this a complete loop,
starting at 6:30 am at the Elderberry Restaurant and climbing over the summit
east to Timber Junction. This requires 1400 feet of climbing over the
1680 foot double summit of Flat Iron Mountain pass, and adds 15.6 miles.

From Highway 26 and Timber Junction, we'll head north along Timber Road,
through Vernonia and Mist on the Banks-Vernonia Trail and Highway
47.  We'll then turn onto Highway 202 to  Birkenfeld for lunch at the General Store.
The GS has a good cafe where they make killer hand-dipped milkshakes
among other things. We then continue along 202 and Fishhawk Falls Highway
to the Elderberry Restaurant in Elsie.

By the way, the GS has scheduled a blues festival on Saturday and
expects to provide camping. Might be an option for anyone who wants
to make a longer weekend of it! You should probably check with them by
phone, as this was a last minute kind of event and may still be evolving.

In all, the Timber Junction riders will finish the ride a few hundred feet
lower than they started, with only a couple small climbs in between.  I can
forward the map with the elevation profile if you're interested.

So, here's a summary:

Full loop riders start riding at 6:30 from the Elderberry Restaurant in Elsie

Car shuttle drivers (if any) depart Timber Junction at 8AM, Sunday, September 6

Meeting spot: Timber Junction, intersection of Highway 26 and Timber Rd, 7
miles west of Highway 47

Distance: about 60 miles from Timber Junction to the Elderberry Restaurant,
plus 15.6 miles for those riding the complete loop. An optional side trip
to the Elk Meadows would add another five miles or so.

Significant rain will cancel the ride. I'll post here the evening before if this looks
likely.

Who's going to come and ride with us?

[Jeff Wills]

Who's going to come and ride with us?

Well, duh... like Diane and me would miss this!

I think I'll have to map this on Bikely.

[kirkej]

Well, folks -- the weather is not looking very encouraging to me.     My threshold tends to be around a 40% probability of rain, and midday Sunday is currently forecast at 60%.

I am not saying the ride is canceled quite yet, but the probability of doing so is increasing rapidly.....

I dislike this, as I am really fond of that ride.

[Jeff Wills]

Well, folks -- the weather is not looking very encouraging to me.     My threshold tends to be around a 40% probability of rain, and midday Sunday is currently forecast at 60%.

I am not saying the ride is canceled quite yet, but the probability of doing so is increasing rapidly.....

I dislike this, as I am really fond of that ride.

Yeah, but it's going to be a warm rain! Diane and I will be at the Elderberry Inn at 6:30AM to do this. We may get wey, but we're still crazy!

BTW: I finally got the map put on Bikely:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/346334

[bike2work]

I hate to be a wet noodle Jeff, but it ain't even gonna be a warm rain.  It rains a lot in Birkenfeld and Vernonia.  Among all the times we've been there between the OHPV ride and the Oregon Randonneurs rides I think it's only once that it didn't rain at all on the ride.  Maybe it was just mist.  Of course that's why they have a town up there called Mist.  It also doesn't help that the Randonneur ride is in the early Spring and the OHPV ride is in the early Fall.

So when a ride is scheduled for Vernonia I always assume it's gonna rain somewhere along the way.  That doesn't mean I'm going to like it.  Some of the Randonneurs seem to like riding in the rain.  But I'm not that sort of rider.  Just a wet noodle.

[Tha Capt]

Thanks Kirk for the attempt

Rain keeps me home for most any event.

If I get caught out in it - thats different - I make the best of it - but to go out intentionally - I have plenty to do around the shop

[kirkej]

The probability is still sitting at 60% for rain tomorrow, and Vernonia is running 10% above that. This is too much for us, so we are canceling on the ride.   

Jeff, I guess you are ride leader now. Good luck for you, Dianne, and anyone else who shows up!

[Jeff Wills]

The probability is still sitting at 60% for rain tomorrow, and Vernonia is running 10% above that. This is too much for us, so we are canceling on the ride.   

Jeff, I guess you are ride leader now. Good luck for you, Dianne, and anyone else who shows up!

Okley-dokley!

We're going to be at the Elderberry Inn at 6:30AM. If it's pouring, we're going to do Plan B: start at Timber Junction at 8AM, ride to Vernonia and return... about 25 miles round trip. If no one shows up at Timber Junction, well...

[kirkej]

It will be interesting to get the ride report from Jeff. I just ducked outside and did a bit under half of my minimum (10K needed) ride to keep my position in the Consecutive Days Of Riding challenge alive (144 days as of yesterday).

Got chased back inside, hoping for a few more breaks to finish 'er up for today. Would not want to be out there for an 80 mile ride.

[Jeff Wills]

So Diane and I got up at O-dark-thirty, and drove out to Elsie to see if anyone would tempt the Fates. On the way we went through a couple big showers, so we weren't optimistic. We hung out at the Elderberry Inn, but no one showed up so we exercised Plan B.

(BTW: I got coffee at the Elderberry Inn... and the waitress remembered us from years past! We've got a reputation!)

We drove back to Timber Junction under partial cloud cover and patches of mist, so it was looking a little more promising. At the parking spot we got the bikes unloaded under clearing skies, so it was definitely looking promising. No one showed there either, so we set off on wet roads but dry skies.

It was a painless ride all the way to Vernonia, aside from a couple dogs that ran out in front of Diane. The bike trail had some debris on it- nothing big or unexpected, just a lot of seeds and general goop on the surface.

We stopped at Leonetti's for our 2nd breakfast- waffles for both of us. As we were sitting, the skies opened up with a shower, and I said that we could let it pass and ride back while dry. The shower stopped and we mounted up to head back. That's when it started sprinkling- no problem, the trail has lots of cover.

Once we got on Timber Road, though, it started raining in earnest. No problem... we just kept an eye out for what little traffic there was. And then it started pouring and cold water started running down my back.  Ewww... but we were on our way home, so we kept moving enough to keep warm.

We got back to the van with it still pouring, so loading up was a chore. We did find that I'd left the headlights on while we rode... good thing they shut off automatically! It started right up.

On the drive back we punched through a couple more showers. Both of us are thankful we didn't stay riding any longer.

Anyone want to do a ride Monday? The Vancouver Bike Club is riding from Edgefield up Larch Mountain tomorrow. I'll post the ride announcement seperately.